Clarendon High School for Girls is a girls' secondary school

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 situated in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. It was founded in 1903 as East London Girls' High School.

History

In 1872, Panmure Public School, a co-educational school, was founded by the German immigrant, Heinrich Muller. The boys' section became Selborne College

Selborne College

Selborne College is a public, male-only school in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa.-History:Selborne College was founded in 1872 by Pastor Heinrich Muller, a German settler, and at that stage was known as the Panmure Public School...

 in 1907, whereas the girls' section moved to Park Avenue in 1886 before becoming a separate school for girls from grades 1 to 10 in 1903. It was originally between Muir Street and Oxford Street, on the site currently occupied by Grens Primary but having then just been vacated by an Uitlander Refugee camp. In 1905, a new uniform was introduced, consisting of a navy gym with green and white colours on the blazers and hats. A school hostel was also established that year. In 1937 the upper grades were moved to new premises on the corner of Connaught Avenue and Oxford Street, and the lower grades remained as a separate school. The name "Clarendon" was given to both schools in 1957, after the former Governor-General of South Africa

Governor-General of the Union of South Africa

The Governor-General of the Union of South Africa was the representative of the British and later South African Crown in the Union of South Africa between 31 May 1910 and 31 May 1961...

 and his wife, the Lord and Lady Clarendon

George Villiers, 6th Earl of Clarendon

George Herbert Hyde Villiers, 6th Earl of Clarendon KG, PC , known as Lord Hyde from 1877 to 1914, was a British Conservative politician...

. In 1959, a "Clarendon green" uniform was introduced. In 1964 the school hostel, Connaught House, was destroyed by fire. The new hostel was opened in 1967. The school adopted a non-racial admissions policy in 1991.

Houses

Miss Donald, headmistress from 1925-1945, introduced the prefect system in 1933 and in 1934 appointed the first headgirl, Betty Chew, who was later a teacher at the school and coached the first hockey team until the 1980s. She also created the houses, and named them after Marjorie Ketchen (headmistress from 1912-1925), Miss Gittins who became Mrs Booty,deejo and Mrs Hunter, a teacher. These ladies donated the inter-house shield which is still competed for.

Notable alumnae

• Joan Harrison
  Joan Harrison (swimmer)
  Joan Harrison is a South African swimmer and Olympic champion. She competed at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, where she won the gold medal in the women's 100 m backstroke event.-Awards:...
  
  , swimmer
• Wendy Hansen, hockey
• Jeanette Hardwich, swimmer
• Terry-Ann Roodt, lifesaving
• Heather Murdoch, hockey
• Siyolisile Lusaneni, squash
• Lee-Ann Keet, waterpolo
• Marcelle Keet, waterpolo
• Candice Forword
  Candice Forword
  Candice is a field hockey forward from South Africa, who did not make it into the national squad that finished 9th at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The striker made her international debut in 2003. comes from Pretoria, and is nicknamed Cands. She plays for a provincial team called Northern...
  
  , hockey
• Maria Marchetti-Mercer, psychologist
• Dr Laura Longmore, anthropologist
• Dr. Linda Cooper, Educationist
• Taryn Hoskin, Hockey
• Genna Blair, Drama