Herschel Girls School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Herschel Girls School | |
 |
|
| Ad dei Gloriam | |
| Established | 1922 |
|---|---|
| School type | Private, Boarding |
| Locale | Suburban |
| Grades | 0 - 12 |
| Headmistress | Mrs AD van Zyl |
| Exam board | WCED |
| Location | Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa |
| Students | 927 girls |
| Colors | blue and cream |
| Mascot | Hippo, Rabbit and Moose |
| Fees | R 79 720 p.a. (boarding) R 41 320 p.a. (tuition) |
| Website | www.herschel.org.za |
Herschel Girls School is a private boarding and day school for girls in Claremont, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
[edit] History
Herschel was established in February 1922, on land which had been settled since the late 17th century. The property on which it stands belonged to V.A. Schonnberg who, when he sold the main estate in 1834 to Sir John Herschel, the astronomer, retained this portion and named it after his illustrious neighbour.
In July 1921, the estate was bought by The English Church Schools Association, with the aid of a generous loan from the Hon. John Wiliam Jagger MP, to provide for the needs of the many girls living in the Southern Suburbs who wished to attend a private school. The first headmistress was Miss Morley Ralph Armitage, and the school opened on Wednesday, 1st February, 1922, when the first seven boarders arrived.
On the following day, Thursday, the rollcall was taken and the first school day began with prayers led by Archbishop Carter. There were twenty-nine girls on the roll and seven staff members. The headgirl was Enid Harsant. The formal opening was held two weeks later, on Thursday, 16 February 1922. Dean Rolt conducted a brief service, John Xavier Merriman, the Minister of Education, performed the official opening and Jagger delivered the vote of thanks.
At this time the school comprised only what is now the Administration section, but it grew rapidly - the Mary Jagger Hall (named after Jagger's wife) was added in 1926 and in 1930 extensions to the Hall - with the famous open sleeping balconies which were popular at the time, though not with the unfortunate girls who endured them until 1971. Sports facilities were built - the first tennis court in December 1922, though the school did not get its own swimming pool until 1939.
The Depression years were difficult for Herschel and numbers dropped. Miss Ralph resigned in 1933 and was replaced by Miss Harriet Robinson, who imposed higher academic standards and insisted on the building of a new wing to house the kindergarten - in what is now the staffroom. In 1939/40 the Baxter library was added. This is now the lovely chapel. It was Miss Robinson who gave Herschel its motto Ad Dei Gloriam and who designed the new badge with the symbol for Uranus reminding us of the link with the Herschel family.
When Miss Robinson resigned in 1944, Miss Barbara Elcome was appointed, but her reign was short, for she was married in 1947 and left the school. She did, however, secure the addition of the crypt chapel - now the Matric commonroom.
Miss Hilda Caroline McLean was Herschel's longest-serving Head - from 1947 to 1962. During this time, the kindergarten moved up to its own premises at The Hill, and the school's academic standards were given high priority. She left her successor, Mrs Mavis Kittow, a school to be proud of. In 1967 two new Science laboratories were built, while Mrs Kittow's love of the Arts led to many cultural innovations, such as the Holiday Reading required by the English Department over the June holidays.
When Mrs Kittow left in 1970, Dr Barbara Silberbauer was apointed and presided over the celebrations for the Golden Jubilee in 1972, as well as the building of two large new sections- the Arts Block 1977 and a classroom block in 1978. Her successor, Miss Pamela Geldard (1979 to 1985) felt very strongly that priviledged girls should involve themselves in community projects, and established a strong ethos of caring for others.
During Mrs Pamela Duff's headship (1986 to 1997), the school grew phenomenally. A new theatre was added in 1988, a magnificent Resource Centre and classroom block in 1992 and a Sports Centre in 1994. Many other innovations were introduced to keep Herschel at the forefront of South African education, so that the present Head, Mrs Diana van Zyl, inherited an energetic, happy school with superb facilities and dedicated, highly-qualified teaching staff.
Mrs van Zyl in her seven years as headmistress has continued with the building and modernising process. These include a new Music Centre and Media (Library, Computer Lab and Project Room) Centre at the Preparatory School; an enlarged Pre-Preparatory School catering for girls in a Pre-Nursery class; a refurbished Mary Jagger Hall and both schools are now on a combined network. (taken from the Herschel website)
[edit] Academics
| WCED Results | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of candidates | 72 | 62 | 71 | 86 | 79 | 85 | 88 | 84 | 103 | 74 |
| Number of failures | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| University endorsement (%) | 91.7 | 93.5 | 100 | 98.8 | 98.7 | 98.8 | 97.7 | 98.8 | 99 | 97.3 |
| A aggregates (%) | 31.9 | 40.3 | 51 | 32.6 | 44.3 | 59 | 73.9 | 48.8 | 61.2 | 52.7 |
| Subject distinctions | 106 | 92 | 152 | 156 | 151 | 222 | 283 | 208 | 307 | 189 |
