Wynberg Girls' High School
Encyclopedia
Wynberg Girls' High School is a public school for girls in Cape Town
, Western Cape
, South Africa
.
Founded in 1884, Wynberg Girls High School is one of the oldest all girls schools in South Africa. The first headmistress, Miss Margaret Stewart, was supported by two teachers and catered to 27 pupils. Initially a co-educational
school, WGHS soon became an all girls school and was known as Ladies' Seminary.
WGHS is part of the Wynberg Campus of schools, along with Wynberg Girls Junior School, Wynberg Boys' Junior School, and Wynberg Boys' High School
. The school is located in Aliwal Road in the suburb of Wynberg.
School activities at Wynberg are founded on four pillars: Academics, Sport, Service and Culture. The school has excelled in all four of these areas and has subsequently produced well-rounded pupils capable of entering a wide variety of careers.
The school motto is Honour before Honours, which means: personal integrity and character are more important than winning prizes and awards.
, situated on the top of Carr Hill, decided to found a school for girls in Wynberg. Wynberg at this time was a little village on the wagon road from Cape Town
. It was situated near the Military camp
and surrounded by Little Chelsea with its cottages and narrow winding streets.
The minister of the Dutch Reformed Church at that time lived in the old Pastorie where the boarding house is situated today. The church council decided to build a little school building (where the school library is today) and named the school "Ladies' Seminary" - it was soon nicknamed the "School in the Bush."
The school was officially opened in 1885 with two teachers - Misses Annie Brink and Nellie Brink - and twenty-seven young boys and girls. The first principal was Miss Margaret Stewart (1885-1890)
The school motto was chosen in 1890 - and the phrase Honour before Honours means "Personal integrity and character are more important than winning prizes and awards." The first Standard Ten class matriculated in 1892, and until 1936, the school included pupils from Sub A to Standard Ten. The Cape Education department took over the running of the school in 1905.
The first hostel was built in 1885, and was situated where the main hall is today. The new school was built in 1900, and had dormitories upstairs. The room now used as a staff workroom and offices for HOD's used to be a dormitory. Lab One was the kitchen, and the library was the dining room. The school at this time was called Girls' Public School. During this time Physical Education and Sport were introduced into the school. Wynberg was the first girls' school in South Africa to have a fully qualified Physical Education teacher, Mrs Dolly Rees who studied in London. A gymnasium was erected in 1900, and a hockey
field was laid out where the Wellington Quad is today. Activities at school were hockey, cricket and tennis.
of the time were navy and blue, until Miss Hawkins changed these back to the original colours of brown and gold.
The school is built on part of the Waterloo Estate, originally owned by Captain William Underwood. He had fought under the Duke of Wellington
at the Battle of Waterloo
before coming to live in Wynberg. In 1938, a new hostel was built and Miss Hawkins named it Waterloo House, and asked the 5th Duke of Wellington
if she could use and adapted verion of his coat of arms
as the new school badge. A new gymnasium was built, and opened in 1944, after the old building had suffered storm damage.
s were built in Ellerslie Road. In 1969, the swimming pool
was built entirely out of school funds and in 1970 the hockey
field was grassed. The first tuck shop was opened behind the Ballet Hall, where the kitchen is today. The 7th Duke of Wellington
visited our school in 1969, with the names of the houses being associated with him. In 1974, Ballet was introduced as a subject. In 1984, in time for the Centenary celebrations, 17 new classrooms were built on the old hockey field.
was established for the first time, and matriculants were encouraged to become paid up members of the Wynberg Old Girls' Union. In 1993, the library was completely refurbished, a mezzanine
floor put in and the library administrative area extended. A new tuck shop
between the hall and the art room was built.
From 1996-1998, significant technological developments were made, more television sets
and video cassette recorders were bought. The new computer room was opened in 1997, with scanners
, a digital camera
and a digital projector.
During 1997, the hostel and the hockey clubhouse were renovated. Wynberg became the first South African school to lay an AstroTurf
. Computer Studies was introduced as an academic subject in 1998, and A-levels courses were offered either as a post matric course or as one which could be studied concurrently with Grades 11 and 12.
classes, counsellors and the extensive social work
and support programmes.
, indoor hockey, netball
, tennis
, badminton
, cricket
, cross country, soccer, athletics, swimming
, diving
, waterpolo and synchronised swimming. Beyond these sports, WGHS offers competitive sailing
, chess
and aerobics
.
Participation is keen and, in general, play is of a very high standard, with many learners gaining provincial colours and several obtaining their national colours. Learners who do not participate in official school sports are given recognition for excellence in particular sports such as horse-riding
and gymnastics.
In the sporting arena, too, the learners of Wynberg Girls' High benefit from the unique circumstances of being able to share facilities with their brother and sister schools. Diving and swimming pools, an Astroturf
, hockey fields, cricket nets
and pitches, netball fields, squash and tennis courts are among the impressive facilities in the magnificent grounds of the combined schools.
All Wynberg schools are encouraged to support each other in the various inter-schools events allowing learners to experience the benefit of a co-educational system, where they stand as one in supporting their teams.
and particularly those who are musically inclined there is an Orchestra, a Contemporary and Jazz Band
, the Choir, a Junior and Senior Marimba band, Flute and Recorder Ensembles.
For the budding Hollywood stars, orators, politicians and presidents of the future there are drama lessons, public speaking
courses, weekly debating meetings/competitions and clashes. To keep students abreast of the world around them, there is flash debating in the weekly debates held during one of the breaks on the “Topic of the week.”
For those wanting to stretch their creative writing
abilities there is Between the Lines and for those interested in reporting and photographic journalism, there is the Web Committee, Photography Society as well as the Wynpress - the school newspaper
for the students.
Tending the spiritual needs and reaching out to the broader community are the Christian union of the school, Capstone and the Muslim Students’ Association.
All of these clubs and societies come together in a number of very exciting annual cultural events on the school calendar. Each year there is a Major Production which is presented alternately at Wynberg Boys' and Wynberg Girls' High school, there are Interhouse Plays and there are several lunchtime and evening Music Concerts. Pupils also participate in regional events such as the Western Cape Arts Festival and Eisteddfods.
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, Western Cape
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...
, 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...
.
Founded in 1884, Wynberg Girls High School is one of the oldest all girls schools in South Africa. The first headmistress, Miss Margaret Stewart, was supported by two teachers and catered to 27 pupils. Initially a co-educational
Coeducation
Mixed-sex education, also known as coeducation or co-education, is the integrated education of male and female persons in the same institution. It is the opposite of single-sex education...
school, WGHS soon became an all girls school and was known as Ladies' Seminary.
WGHS is part of the Wynberg Campus of schools, along with Wynberg Girls Junior School, Wynberg Boys' Junior School, and Wynberg Boys' High School
Wynberg Boys' High School
Wynberg Boys' High School is a public school for boys in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.It was founded in 1841 and is the second oldest school in South Africa. It had humble beginnings in Glebe Cottage under first Headmaster John McNaughton and changed site three times before moving onto its...
. The school is located in Aliwal Road in the suburb of Wynberg.
School activities at Wynberg are founded on four pillars: Academics, Sport, Service and Culture. The school has excelled in all four of these areas and has subsequently produced well-rounded pupils capable of entering a wide variety of careers.
The school motto is Honour before Honours, which means: personal integrity and character are more important than winning prizes and awards.
1895-1908
In September 1884 the Kerkraad of the Dutch Reformed ChurchDutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
, situated on the top of Carr Hill, decided to found a school for girls in Wynberg. Wynberg at this time was a little village on the wagon road from Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
. It was situated near the Military camp
Military camp
A military camp or bivouac is a semi-permanent facility for the lodging of an army. Camps are erected when a military force travels away from a major installation or fort during training or operations, and often have the form of large campsites. In the Roman era the military camp had highly...
and surrounded by Little Chelsea with its cottages and narrow winding streets.
The minister of the Dutch Reformed Church at that time lived in the old Pastorie where the boarding house is situated today. The church council decided to build a little school building (where the school library is today) and named the school "Ladies' Seminary" - it was soon nicknamed the "School in the Bush."
The school was officially opened in 1885 with two teachers - Misses Annie Brink and Nellie Brink - and twenty-seven young boys and girls. The first principal was Miss Margaret Stewart (1885-1890)
The school motto was chosen in 1890 - and the phrase Honour before Honours means "Personal integrity and character are more important than winning prizes and awards." The first Standard Ten class matriculated in 1892, and until 1936, the school included pupils from Sub A to Standard Ten. The Cape Education department took over the running of the school in 1905.
The first hostel was built in 1885, and was situated where the main hall is today. The new school was built in 1900, and had dormitories upstairs. The room now used as a staff workroom and offices for HOD's used to be a dormitory. Lab One was the kitchen, and the library was the dining room. The school at this time was called Girls' Public School. During this time Physical Education and Sport were introduced into the school. Wynberg was the first girls' school in South Africa to have a fully qualified Physical Education teacher, Mrs Dolly Rees who studied in London. A gymnasium was erected in 1900, and a hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
field was laid out where the Wellington Quad is today. Activities at school were hockey, cricket and tennis.
1909-1914
The first school hall was built during Miss A Chambers' time as principal, which is now the Ballet Hall.Miss King, 1914-1936
Under the leadership of Miss King, a new building for the Junior School was built. The Peninsula Girls' Schools Games Union was formed and Inter-schools events became a feature of school life. Prefect and House systems were introduced and the school magazine was revived, and has been published every year since 1916.Miss Hawkins
In 1936, the Junior School became a separate school. School coloursSchool colors
School colors are the colors chosen by a school to represent it on uniforms and other items of identification. Most schools have two colors, which are usually chosen to avoid conflicts with other schools with which the school competes in sports and other activities...
of the time were navy and blue, until Miss Hawkins changed these back to the original colours of brown and gold.
The school is built on part of the Waterloo Estate, originally owned by Captain William Underwood. He had fought under the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
at the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
before coming to live in Wynberg. In 1938, a new hostel was built and Miss Hawkins named it Waterloo House, and asked the 5th Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 5th Duke of Wellington
Arthur Charles Wellesley, 5th Duke of Wellington was the son of Arthur Charles Wellesley, 4th Duke of Wellington, and Kathleen Bulkeley Williams....
if she could use and adapted verion of his coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
as the new school badge. A new gymnasium was built, and opened in 1944, after the old building had suffered storm damage.
Miss J Urie
In 1963, the school song was composed. In 1965, nine new classrooms were built. In 1968 four new tennis courtTennis court
A tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...
s were built in Ellerslie Road. In 1969, the swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
was built entirely out of school funds and in 1970 the hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
field was grassed. The first tuck shop was opened behind the Ballet Hall, where the kitchen is today. The 7th Duke of Wellington
Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington
Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington, KG , styled Lord Gerald Wellesley between 1900 and 1943, was a British diplomat, soldier, and architect....
visited our school in 1969, with the names of the houses being associated with him. In 1974, Ballet was introduced as a subject. In 1984, in time for the Centenary celebrations, 17 new classrooms were built on the old hockey field.
Mrs C Walters, 1988-1998
In 1988 a Parent Teacher AssociationParent-Teacher Association
In the U.S. a parent-teacher association or Parent-Teacher-Student Association is a formal organization composed of parents, teachers and staff that is intended to facilitate parental participation in a public or private school. Most public and private K-8 schools in the U.S. have a PTA, a...
was established for the first time, and matriculants were encouraged to become paid up members of the Wynberg Old Girls' Union. In 1993, the library was completely refurbished, a mezzanine
Mezzanine (architecture)
In architecture, a mezzanine or entresol is an intermediate floor between main floors of a building, and therefore typically not counted among the overall floors of a building. Often, a mezzanine is low-ceilinged and projects in the form of a balcony. The term is also used for the lowest balcony in...
floor put in and the library administrative area extended. A new tuck shop
Tuck shop
A tuck shop is a small, food-selling retailer. It is a term principally used in the UK, Grenada, South Africa, New Zealand, the Australian states of Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales, and occasionally in other parts of the former British Empire. In New South Wales, the term is...
between the hall and the art room was built.
From 1996-1998, significant technological developments were made, more television sets
Television set
A television set is a device that combines a tuner, display, and speakers for the purpose of viewing television. Television sets became a popular consumer product after the Second World War, using vacuum tubes and cathode ray tube displays...
and video cassette recorders were bought. The new computer room was opened in 1997, with scanners
Image scanner
In computing, an image scanner—often abbreviated to just scanner—is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting, or an object, and converts it to a digital image. Common examples found in offices are variations of the desktop scanner where the document is placed on a glass...
, a digital camera
Digital camera
A digital camera is a camera that takes video or still photographs, or both, digitally by recording images via an electronic image sensor. It is the main device used in the field of digital photography...
and a digital projector.
During 1997, the hostel and the hockey clubhouse were renovated. Wynberg became the first South African school to lay an AstroTurf
AstroTurf
AstroTurf is a brand of artificial turf. Although the term is a registered trademark, it is sometimes used as a generic description of any kind of artificial turf. The original AstroTurf product was a short pile synthetic turf while the current products incorporate modern features such as...
. Computer Studies was introduced as an academic subject in 1998, and A-levels courses were offered either as a post matric course or as one which could be studied concurrently with Grades 11 and 12.
Mrs S Harding, 1999-
Mrs Harding become Principal in 1999. She established the computer room, with a strong commitment to making every learner computer literate. The Art Room and a large classroom teaching venue were opened in October 2002. The Life Skills wing was established catering for life skillsLife skills
Life skills are problem solving behaviors used appropriately and responsibly in the management of personal affairs. They are a set of human skills acquired via teaching or direct experience that are used to handle problems and questions commonly encountered in daily human life...
classes, counsellors and the extensive social work
Social work
Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
and support programmes.
Sporting Activities
Wynberg Girls High offers a wide variety of team and social sports from which learners can choose. These include the standard sports such as hockeyHockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
, indoor hockey, netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
, cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, cross country, soccer, athletics, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
, waterpolo and synchronised swimming. Beyond these sports, WGHS offers competitive sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
, chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
and aerobics
Aerobics
Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness...
.
Participation is keen and, in general, play is of a very high standard, with many learners gaining provincial colours and several obtaining their national colours. Learners who do not participate in official school sports are given recognition for excellence in particular sports such as horse-riding
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
and gymnastics.
In the sporting arena, too, the learners of Wynberg Girls' High benefit from the unique circumstances of being able to share facilities with their brother and sister schools. Diving and swimming pools, an Astroturf
AstroTurf
AstroTurf is a brand of artificial turf. Although the term is a registered trademark, it is sometimes used as a generic description of any kind of artificial turf. The original AstroTurf product was a short pile synthetic turf while the current products incorporate modern features such as...
, hockey fields, cricket nets
Cricket nets
Cricket nets are practice nets used by batsmen and bowlers to warm up and/or improve their cricketing techniques. Cricket nets consist of a cricket pitch which is enclosed by cricket nets on either side, to the rear and optionally the roof. The bowling end of the net is left open...
and pitches, netball fields, squash and tennis courts are among the impressive facilities in the magnificent grounds of the combined schools.
All Wynberg schools are encouraged to support each other in the various inter-schools events allowing learners to experience the benefit of a co-educational system, where they stand as one in supporting their teams.
Cultural Activities
As part of the extramural programme for those who are interested in the area of the performing artsPerforming arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
and particularly those who are musically inclined there is an Orchestra, a Contemporary and Jazz Band
Jazz band
A jazz band is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands usually consist of a rhythm section and a horn section, in the early days often trumpet, trombone, and clarinet with rhythm section of piano, banjo, bass or tuba, and drums.-Eras:SwingDuring the swing era in the mid-twentieth...
, the Choir, a Junior and Senior Marimba band, Flute and Recorder Ensembles.
For the budding Hollywood stars, orators, politicians and presidents of the future there are drama lessons, public speaking
Public speaking
Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners...
courses, weekly debating meetings/competitions and clashes. To keep students abreast of the world around them, there is flash debating in the weekly debates held during one of the breaks on the “Topic of the week.”
For those wanting to stretch their creative writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
abilities there is Between the Lines and for those interested in reporting and photographic journalism, there is the Web Committee, Photography Society as well as the Wynpress - the school newspaper
Student newspaper
A student newspaper is a newspaper run by students of a university, high school, middle school, or other school. These papers traditionally cover local and, primarily, school or university news....
for the students.
Tending the spiritual needs and reaching out to the broader community are the Christian union of the school, Capstone and the Muslim Students’ Association.
All of these clubs and societies come together in a number of very exciting annual cultural events on the school calendar. Each year there is a Major Production which is presented alternately at Wynberg Boys' and Wynberg Girls' High school, there are Interhouse Plays and there are several lunchtime and evening Music Concerts. Pupils also participate in regional events such as the Western Cape Arts Festival and Eisteddfods.
School Song
-
- Founded in the soil of our lands history,
- Looking to a future yet untold,
- Wynberg, Alma Mater, we thy daughters
- Proudly wear for thee the brown and gold.
-
- Glory of our lovely land, the protea,
- Born of our brown earth and golden sun,
- Take we for our emblem, may its beauty
- Flower in every heart that thou has won,
-
- In the mountains finding peace, God-given,
- In great pine and oak trees seeing His power,
- Wearers of the crimson badge of courage,
- Bravely may we meet each unknown hour.
-
- Strong in all of good that thou hast taught us,
- Ready where our duty calls to stand,
- Ever honour seeking before Honours,
- May thy daughters nobly serve thy land.