| Bosmansdam High School | |
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Unitate Fortior
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| Location | |
| Adam Tas Avenue, Bothasig Cape Town, Western Cape, 7441, South Africa |
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| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1971 |
| Headmaster | Mr. D.R. Human |
| Gender | Co-Ed |
| Enrollment | 750-800 |
| Colour(s) | Dark Blue, Red & Gold |
Bosmansdam High School was founded in 1971 in Bothasig, a suburb of Cape Town, and is a dual medium Afrikaans and English school. The school is state assisted and therefore, like most other schools in South Africa, it charges a set amount of money for its services. The school offers a wide variety of sporting and cultural activities.
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Bothasig and Bosmansdam High School are located on what was originally the farm, Bosmansdam. Part of the land was taken over by the Milnerton Municipality between 1961 and 1989. Bosmansdam was renamed Bothasig ("Botha's Vision") after the then Minister of Housing (and later State President), Mr. P.W. Botha, presented a house to the first resident.
The town grew rapidly and it soon became clear that there was a need for a High School. The first staff consisted of only seven members. The first school committee was elected on 17 March 1971 under chairmanship of Mr. M.J. v.N. van Schoor. Initially the school motto was UNITAS but changed to UNITATE FORTIOR (stronger than unity). The school colours were also different at first with blue, orange and white making way in 1982 for blue, red and gold. The official emblem and tie were adopted in 1989.
The school song was composed by the well-known Dirkie de Villiers with lyrics by his wife Doll.
1980 saw the first appearance of VOX (voice), the school paper.
Bosmansdam currently offers a wide variety of subjects to its students.
Juniors: At Grade 8 and 9 level all the required learning areas are covered. This includes English (Home and Additional Language), Afrikaans (Home and Additional Language), Mathematics, Natural Science, Economic Management Sciences (EMS), Social Sciences (History and Geography), Arts and Culture, Technology and Life Orientation. At Grade 8 level, introductory Computer classes are also offered.
Seniors: From Grade 10 to 12, students are provided with a wide variety of option subjects. English (Home or Additional Language), Afrikaans (Home or Additional Language) and Life Orientation are compulsory subjects. Students may then choose between Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy. The remaining subjects are divided into three groups. Students must choose one subject from each group. In Group 1, Accounting, Tourism and Life Sciences (Biology) are offered and from 2012 Bosmansdam will hopefully also offer Design in this group. Design is a new subject and Bosmansdam was chosen as a focus school in 2012 and would be one of the first schools to offer this subject. The Western Cape Education Department has since vetoed this decision as a moratorium has been placed on the addition of new subjects in 2012 as the new curriculum is being phased in. Bosmansdam has since appealed against the decision. The final decision is still pending. In Group 2, Business Studies, Life Science (Biology), Physical Science and Computer Applications Studies (CAT) are offered. Economics, Tourism, History, Computer Applications Studies (CAT) and Consumer Studies are the options in Group 3.
Some of these subjects can also be taken as extra subjects.
Bosmansdam has in the recent past been able boast a Matric Pass rate of between 97% and 100% with overall results comparable to neighbouring schools. A highly qualified and motivated staff is largely to thank for this.
Bosmansdam offers a variety of sports to its students.
Summer sports offered:
Winter sports offered:
Chess is also played. Current chess team captain, Clarke Tieties has recently (2010) attained Western Province colours.
As a smaller school, Bosmansdam struggles to compete against the larger and wealthier schools in the Western Cape but within its various leagues, the school is very competitive. The school has achieved most success on the rugby field. The 1st XV competes successfully against the likes of President High School, Table View High School, The Settlers High School and J.G. Meiring High School. 2011 saw the 1st XV losing only one league game to a very strong side from President High School.
Bosmansdam's Netball girls are also always competitive and in 2011 the u/19a and u/16a team both finished second in their zone. The highly talented u/14a team finished first and continued on to the regional playoff stages where they eventually made the final which they narrowly lost.
Hockey is a relatively new sport at Bosmansdam but player numbers are growing rapidly and results are slowly improving as the school establishes itself.
Soccer is however not offered due to a lack of facilities and coaches. Priority is afforded to the traditional sports of the school.
As with most schools in South Africa, the culmination of the sporting year is the highly anticipated event known as Interschools. The entire event spans a week in which the school competes against Labori High School (based in Paarl) in a variety of sports and cultural pursuits. 2011 is the 11th year that Bosmansdam and Labori have been interschool rivals. Debating takes place as well as chess matches during the week. On the Saturday, the other winter sports are decided. Initially the much older Labori with it's boarding facilities dominated interschools with a number of years seeing serious losses on Bosmansdam's side. The tide does appear to be turning as scores are becoming closer and closer. Especially on the netball courts Bosmansdam is expected to dominate in the coming years. Interschools is traditionally decided by the winner of the 1st XV rugby match and on this count Labori have won 7 times and Bosmansdam 4. 2011 saw Labori beating Bosmansdam by 1 point in the final seconds. Bosmansdam has improved steadily over the past 11 years and the one-sided interschools of the past seem to be over.
Apart from interschools, Bosmansdam also has three other derby days (where rugby, netball and hockey play on the same day against the same opponent) against Fish Hoek High School, President High School and close neighbours and fierce rivals, Edgemead High School.
Bosmansdam High School is situated in Bothasig which is part of the urban sprawl of the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town. This means that students are no longer drawn solely from the surrounding community. All schools have been allocated "feeder areas". These are the areas the school is supposed to serve. Any applicants from within this area must be admitted to the school regardless of their ability to pay school fees. As with most schools, Bosmansdam struggles with a large number of parents who do not or cannot pay school fees. Another problem faced is that many residents of the feeder area have in recent years sent their children to neighbouring schools. This forces the school to admit children from outside the feeder area.
There is now a renewed focus to entrench Bosmansdam's role as an integral part of Bothasig and its community. Although not a policy of the school, it is clear that the school is in a rivalry with neighbours such as Edgemead High School and Tygerberg High School. The school has in recent years achieved academic results comparable with these schools and in some cases have surpassed them. It is hoped that Bosmansdam's sporting prowess will give it an edge over close neighbours Edgemead High School, thereby winning the "hearts and minds" of the community.
Recent demographic trends have placed Bosmansdam in a rather unique situation. Recent history has seen the numbers of Afrikaans speaking learners in areas such as Table View (including Parklands and other areas), Milnerton and even Bothasig slowly decline. This has led to Afrikaans medium classes being ceased at Table View High School for the first time in its history. This leaves Bosmansdam as the only High School that offers Afrikaans medium classes in the Milnerton - Table View - Bothasig (including Melkbos, Edgemead, Richwood and all areas in between) area. According to legislation regarding feeder areas, this makes all Afrikaans speaking students in these areas a priority for admittance to Bosmansdam. This could result in significant savings to parents in these areas that have to pay for transport to far-away schools such as Jan van Riebeeck High School and Durbanville High School.