Rustenburg School for Girls

Rustenburg Girls' High School and Rustenburg Junior School make up a public school situated in the suburb of Rondebosch in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. It was founded in 1894. The school offers a range of cultural activities and societies. A 2013 survey by "Fairlady" magazine listed Rustenburg High School for Girls amongst the top 25 schools in the country.^[1]

History

Sketch of Rustenburg House by Montrose Cloete

The school was founded in 1894 in the historic Rustenburg House, which dates from the early years of the Dutch settlement at the Cape ^[2] In 1932, the High School moved into its new buildings on Erinville Estate and Charlie's Hope. Charlie's Hope was subsequently demolished in 1976, before being rebuilt closer to the school. Erinville is now the name of the High School's boarding house. Rustenburg House was declared a National Monument in 1941, but still houses the Junior School.

Headmistresses of the High School:

• Miss Alicia Bleby, 1894–1911
• Miss Jean Donaldson-Wright, 1912–1916
• Miss Caroline Kemp, 1916–1936
• Miss Gwen Hazell, 1937–1951
• Miss Margaret Thomson, 1952–1979
• Mrs Josephine McIntyre, 1980–1991
• Mrs Mary van Blerk, 1991–1999
• Dr Elizabeth Fullard, 1999–2006
• Miss Laura Bekker, 2007 - 2015
• Mrs Susan Schnetler (Acting), 2016

Headmistresses of the Junior School:

• Miss Marion Roper, 1933–1944
• Miss Zoë Orton, 1945–1967
• Mrs Ruth Jones, 1968–1977
• Miss Hazel Lentin, 1978–1998
• Mrs Conway, 1998–2007
• Mrs Di Berry, 2008 -

Academics

Rustenburg High School

Rustenburg High School has been ranked in the top 10 high schools in the Western Cape for academic results in the Matric Examinations for many years.

In 2011 the school was placed as the top school in the Western Cape,^[3] up from position three in 2010^[4] and position six in 2009.^[5]

In 2012 & 2013, Rustenburg maintained its academic standards with a better performance overall, but did not qualify to be considered for inclusion in the top 20 schools in the province.

In 2014, Rustenburg again qualified for inclusion in the Top 20 list and was placed 6th.^[6] In 2015, the Western Cape Education Department stopped ranking the top schools in performance order and instead listed them alphabetically, Rustenburg was included in the list of the top 22 schools.^[7]

In 2014 the top candidate was Yi-Tin Michelle Yuan, with an aggregate of 96.7% and 7 subject distinctions, all over 90%. Michelle was placed 1st in the Western Cape and 2nd Nationally. Previous top academic candidates include: 2005 - Katherine Paterson, 2006 - Carmen Hartmann, 2007 - Kirsten Rowe, 2008 - Rudi Botha, 2009 - Adriana Oberholzer, 2010 - Samantha Filby, 2011 - Nicola Steinhaus, 2012 - Alexandra Mould, 2013 - Nicola Cilliers & Lauren Denny. In 2008, Jana Terblanche was awarded 300/300 for Visual Arts, placing first in the Western Cape and was nominated as one of the best young artists in the country.

In 2009, the Sunday Times published a list^[8] of the top 100 government schools in the country, based on the 2008 matric results and Rustenburg was placed fifth.

Sport

A Rustenburg tennis player at the 2006 Interschools Tennis

Rustenburg has always been well represented in South African and Western Province teams. In 2012, two girls represented South Africa in tennis and Artistic gymnastics while two staff members represented South Africa in sevens rugby and triathlon.

The High School has nine tennis/netball courts, a swimming pool and two hockey/cricket fields. An Astroturf playing field was installed during 2014 and floodlights are planned for 2016.

The following sports are offered by Rustenburg: cricket, cross-country, hockey, indoor hockey, netball, running, football, squash, swimming, tennis, touch rugby, waterpolo.

Music

The High School Music Department is run by Miss Elizabeth Sole and features an Orchestra, Choir, Chamber Choir, Jazz Band, Wind Band, String Quartet, Vocal Quartet, String Ensemble and Savuyisa (Marimba Band).

Notable Old Girls

• Nicky Greenwall, one of South Africa's leading entertainment TV journalists ^[9]
• Yunn-Chih (Yvonne) Chi, member of Blast Impact and Survivability Research Unit ^[10]
• Carol te Water, principal of Greenfield Junior School ^[11]
• Désirée Talbot, opera singer ^[12]
• Professor Catherine Albertyn at the University of Witwatersrand ^[13]
• Prof Lesbury van Zyl (née Wagener)^[14] - Emeritus Professor of Law, Department of Jurisprudence, Unisa
• Louise Carver, singer ^[15]
• Gaby Lomberg, actress and singer ^[16]
• Pauline Vogelpoel MBE, late director of the Contemporary Art Society and member of the International Council of the Tate Gallery
• Elizabeth Voigt, late director of the McGregor Museum in Kimberley
• Debora Patta, broadcast journalist and television producer^[17]
• Mabel Malherbe, the second woman elected to South Africa's parliament
• Leila Reitz, the first woman elected to South Africa's parliament
• Louise Carver is a South African folk rock singer-songwriter and pianist.

See also

• List of primary schools in South Africa
• List of High Schools in South Africa

References

1. ↑ http://www.rghs.org.za/news-article/fairlady-magazine-survey-finds-top-25-government-high-schools-sa
2. ↑ McIntyre, Josephine (1994) White stoep on the highway
3. ↑
4. ↑ Western Cape Education Department
5. ↑ Western Cape Education Department
6. ↑
7. ↑
8. ↑ Sunday Times Top 100 Schools Survey
9. ↑ Nicky Greenwall's Official Site
10. ↑ Blast Impact and Survivability Research Unit
11. ↑ Greenfield School
12. ↑ Désirée Talbot
13. ↑ Catherine Albertyn
14. ↑ Prof LJ van Zyl
15. ↑ Louise Carver
16. ↑ Gaby Lomberg's Obituary
17. ↑ "Newsletter Number 52" (PDF). RGJS. July 2010. Retrieved 3 March 2013. 

Coordinates: 33°57′24.08″S 18°28′43.88″E / 33.9566889°S 18.4788556°E / -33.9566889; 18.4788556