Rustenburg School for Girls

Rustenburg Girls' High School and Rustenburg Junior School are public schools situated in the suburb of Rondebosch in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. Rustenburg was founded in 1894 and divided into Junior and High Schools in 1932. The school offers a range of cultural activities and societies.

Rustenburg School for Girls
Location
Cape Town , Western Cape South Africa
Information
Type	All Girls Public School
Motto	palmam qui meruit ferat
Established	1894
Headmistresses	Mrs Peterson (Junior), Mr M. Gates (High)
Grades	R–12
Students	350 (Junior), 863 (High)
2020 Fees (Junior)	R38,865 pa
2020 Fees (High)	R48,500 - R51,500 pa (tuition) R57,400 - R59,700 pa (boarding)
Houses	Michiel Vos, Cambridge, Bleby, Innes, Marchand
Website	rustenburggirls.org.za www.rghs.org.za www.rgjs.co.za

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 [1] 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 and Headmasters 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
• Mrs Susan Schnetler (Acting), 2006-2007
• Ms Laura Bekker, 2007-2015
• Mrs Susan Schnetler (Acting), 2016
• Mr Michael Gates, 2017 -

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 - 2018
• Mrs Peterson, 2019 -

Academics

Rustenburg Girls' High School

In 2009, the Sunday Times published a list[2] of the top 100 government schools in the country, based on the 2008 matric results and Rustenburg was placed fifth.

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]

A 2013 survey by "Fairlady" magazine listed Rustenburg High School for Girls among the top 25 schools in the country.[6]

In 2014, Rustenburg again qualified for inclusion in the Top 20 list and was placed 6th.[7]

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.[8]

In 2019, a Grade 7 girl, was number one in the Western Cape for Horizon Maths Competition.

Grade 12 NSC Results	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Number of candidates	127	130?	142	152	161	154	136	143	151	152	149	171	143	166
Pass Rate (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Matriculation Exemption/ Bachelors Pass	98.4%	97%	99%	97%	97.5%	98%	99.3%	97.9%	98.7%	99.3%	99.3%	99.4%	99.3%	100%
A aggregates/Distinctions	50	47	-	-	-	--	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Subject A's	-	262	324	313	373	458	467	430	508	607	581	631	510	614
Subject B's	-	199	357	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Top aggregate	-	106,1%	92.3%	90.8%	90.8%	94%	93%	96%	96.7%	96.2%	97.5%	96%	97.8%	96.0%

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 highly acclaimed High School Music Department features an Orchestra, Choir, Chamber Choir, Jazz Band, Wind Band, String Quartet, Vocal Quartet, String Ensemble and Savuyisa (Marimba Band).

Notable Old Girls

• Frances Ames, neurologist, psychiatrist, and human rights activist[9]
• Jodi Balfour, film and television actress[10]
• Louise Carver, singer [11]
• Janette Deacon, archaeologist
• Mabel Malherbe, South African politician[12][13]
• Debora Patta, broadcast journalist and television producer[14]
• Leila Reitz, the first woman elected to South Africa's parliament
• Edith Layard Stephens, botanist[15]
• Désirée Talbot, opera singer [16]
• Marjorie van Heerden, book illustrator
• 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

In popular culture

Scenes in the films Spud 2: The Madness Continues and Spud 3: Learning to Fly were shot at the school.[17]

See also

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

References

1. McIntyre, Josephine (1994) White stoep on the highway
2. Sunday Times Top 100 Schools Survey
4. Western Cape Education Department
5. Western Cape Education Department
6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. Bateman, Chris (January 2003). Frances Ames – Human Rights Champion. South African Medical Journal, 93 (1): 14–15. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
10. "SUBJECT CHOICE Grade 10 2019" (PDF). Rustenburg Girls' High School. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
11. Louise Carver Archived 2 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
12. Women Marching Into the 21st Century: Wathint' Abafazi, Wathint' Imbokodo. HSRC Press. 2000. pp. 254–. ISBN 978-0-7969-1966-3.
13. Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Capetown, Volume 7, page 154, 1972
14. "Newsletter Number 52" (PDF). RGJS. July 2010. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
15. Plug, C. (25 December 2014). "Stephens, Miss Edith Layard (botany)". S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
16. Désirée Talbot
17. Prince, Natasha (12 July 2013). "Spud 3 brings craziness back to CT". Cape Argus. Retrieved 14 June 2020.