1940-1949

Background of Headmistresses and Facilities:

Before the 1940s the world was in a great depression, this depression originated from the 1929 economic crash in the United States. The crash had a large aftermath, which effected economies all around the world including that of South Africa’s. The depression continued for the years leading up to the Second World War, this meant that countries went to war with poor economic situations.
The most significant effect of the depression in Cape Town was the lack of funding since, prices of imported products amplified intensely and the cost of living increased. The lack of funds at Herschel therefore caused the development of facilities to wither slightly and the school could not make new additions for a substantial period of time. However, after the depression came to an end and the war began, funds become available and many buildings and facilities were upgraded and adjusted.

When the war began in 1939 surprisingly it did not bring similar effects to that of the great depression but instead brought interesting pupils to the school such as; the Greek shipping family who sent their daughters to attend Herschel, also Miss Adzemovic who travelled from Yugoslavia to Cape Town and attended Herschel. Along with these pupils many English families started to send their daughters to the school and thus created a supplementary diverse student body.

During the time of 1933-1944, Miss Harriet Robinson was the Headmistress of Herschel which at this time only consisted of 52 girls. Before becoming head of Herschel, she was head of Durban Girls College from 1924-1933. She was a university graduate who had obtained her teaching diploma and was a member of the Linnean society of London. Since she came from a family which highly valued education along with the creative arts, it motivated her to become a part of the education field herself such as being a headmistress.

In her time period with Herschel she achieved many things by further developing the schools facilities and buildings. Concentrating on her years within the decade from 1949-1950 she managed to incorporate a new swimming pool onto the Herschel property. At the same time as this renovation, Miss Robinson decided to extend the new building from 1936 even further. This alteration consisted of two new classrooms and a small cloak room on the ground floor. In addition two more classrooms were built above it alongside the Duncan Baxter Library and an art room and music room.
Lastly Miss Robinson created a new, elaborate entrance way for the Hall which has been desired years after by the staff.

 In 1944, Miss Robinson resigned and returned to England; reasons for her resignation are unknown and she left very suddenly. The new selected headmistress of Herschel was a lady called Miss Barbara Elcome who was only with Herschel for two years from 1945-1947. Miss Elcome like Miss Robinson, was from England and had been a senior mistress at Maynard School in Exeter. She had an honours degree in Science and an education diploma.

She created a comfortable environment for the girls to work in around school and changed a few small things to give the prefects of the school more privileges for example the prefect study room. Along with this small addition to the school she created new female staff quarters and converted the old dining into the borders sitting room.

An aspect to the school which had not received much attention until this point in time was community service or giving back to the community. Miss Elcome encouraged the girls to take part in programmes and activities involving the less fortunate. This lead to the formulation of the club called “Sociological Club” in 1946 which continued for many years. In 1947 she resigned and Miss Hilda Caroline McLean started at Herschel.

In 1949 enrolment for the school increased dramatically, the reason for this in unknown but the boarding house could not cope with the amount of girls now attending the school. Consequences of this were that 15 girls ended up living in a house in Kenilworth with one of the mothers involved with the school. This persisted until the boarding house expanded in the late fifties.

Miss Robinson

 

1940-1949 Academics at Herschel

The academic system at Herschel has changed drastically over the years. From studying the time period from 1940-1949, we can distinguish what academics at Herschel were like then and how they have changed, up until now.

The languages on offer today are: English (Home Language), Afrikaans (1^st Additional or Home Language), Xhosa (1^st/2^nd Language), French, German, Italian and Spanish. From grade 10 up until Matric you are able to choose from a range of subjects, Physics, Life Sciences, Dance Studies(exterior), Drama, Art, Technology, Consumer Studies, ICDL (exterior), Divinity, History, Geography, Accounting, Business Studies and Music. It is compulsory that you take English, Afrikaans/Xhosa (1^st Additional), Mathematics or Mathematical Literacy and Life Orientation and Divinity. You are required to take a minimum of 7 subjects, meaning that you will have study periods throughout the days and weeks. The maximum is 9 subjects that you can take; this can be counted as an exterior subject.

 In Grade 8 you are required to take Maths, English, Afrikaans(1^st Additional), Xhosa, French or German (2^nd Additional), Divinity, Technology, ICDL, Library Studies, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Drama or Music or Art, Economic Management Sciences, Geography and History. In Grade 9 the same subjects are compulsory but Consumer Studies and Arts and Culture are also taken.

In the fourth term Prize Giving is held and the top of each subject in each grade is calculated from their results throughout the year and then rewarded, as well as Academic Excellence students and Academic Medal award winners, at the end of each term the top achiever in each subject is also announced, for that term.

From 1940-1949 the subjects on offer were, English, Afrikaans, Music, French, Botany, History, Geography, Art (senior and junior), Speechwork, Science, Biology, General Knowledge (senior and junior) and Domestic Sciences .Domestic Sciences was a course which included cooking, composition of food materials, best cooking methods and methods or serving, laundry work, dress making, “house-wifery”, keeping accounts and general upkeep of one’s house. In order to pass this course you had to complete each and every individual section included. Prizes were awarded to the top in each subject in the senior and junior sections.

In 1932 a Deportment System was started, this was a system of stripes where any girl could get a minimum of 1 or 2 stripes for a term, from any activity or subject at school. When you had 9 stripes you were entitled to a Deportment badge, all of the stripes achieved by learners helped you to get marks/points for your house (Merriman, Jagger and Rolt).  The Deportment System was discontinued in 1936, but Deportment Colours could be gained the term that followed, receiving Honourable Mention.

One of the similarities then and now are that the Matrics are still entitled to their free/study week, before they start their final examinations in the fourth term. Students who were awarded scholarships and achieved top results in Matric were also posted in The Herschelian, Examination Success and “School Leaving” certificates were also posted.

 Exam Times From 1940-1949:

1940: 3^rd June and 28^th November.

1941: 25^th May and 25^th November.                            1^st December- Trinity College Piano Exams.                  

1942: 1^st June and 25^th November.                               10^thSeptember- Home Nursing Exams.

1943: 31^st May and 24^th November.

1944: 5^th June and 22^nd November.                              19^th September- Afrikaans Oral Exams.

1945: 21^st November.

1946: 3^rd June and 27^th November.

1947: 4^th June and 26^th November.              (Miss Barbara Elcome married in England on July 31^st)

1948: 7^th June.

1949: 7^th June.

* Examinations were and still are compulsory for all students.

Music Theory Examinations, Royal Schools Examinations are still compulsory for all Subject Music Students.

Interhouse debates are held in the 3^rd term and senior and junior girls may partake, extramural debate is also offered, these provide the students with the ability to voice their opinions and gain insight and confidence in what they say, and these were also part of the system in the 1940s.

Key Dates:

·        In 1940 Miss Abernathy took the senior art students to Groot Constantia to paint and draw the surroundings. On September 12^th that year, Dr Jackson (Astronomer), of Royal Observatory gave a lecture on the Eclipse of the Sun.

·        In 1941 Miss Gray took the fifth and sixth form Biology students on April 19^th to Kirstenbosch, to study the plants and hike up the mountain.

·        In 1943 on August 27^th there was a French evening held by Madame Ellis and the French girls. 1^st March there was a school debate on “There should be no professionalism in sport”.

·        In 1945 on 5^th September, Dr Jackson (Astronomer), talked to the seniors about William John and Caroline Herschel. Bishops held form VI dance and members of Matric, form VI and V were allowed to attend on October 13^th.

·        In 1946 the school debate was held on March 22^nd about “The cinema is a bad influence on the modern child”. August 1^st, St John First Aid Course was started. In 1947, on 10^th March, form VI took a day visit to the Museum.

The Senior School, Herschel.1948.

 

 

1940-1949: Extra-mural activities

Extra-mural activities at Herschel during the 1940’s were not quite as diverse as they are today. Today, there are cultural, academic, outreach and sporting activities all offered at Herschel and every pupil is encouraged to be involved in any activity at school, whether it be playing tennis, making an HIV infected child laugh, or simply being a part of the school’s massive choir.

SPORT

During the 1940’s, quite a wide variety of sport was being offered at Herschel, much like today. However, back then the majority of all the sporting activities included inter-house competitions where each house (Merriman, Rolt, and Jagger) would compete to win the inter-house competition of each sport. Some inter-schools competitions were played but not many matches, unlike now where we have sports matches every week and different sports tournaments and tours such as the PGSGU tournaments.

In The Herschelian magazines in between 1940 and 1950, the sports coaches wrote comments on each team member’s performance throughout that playing season. They would also write up yearly reports on the team’s performance as a whole, sometimes even saying that the team did not perform well and struggled to win matches. Herschel played matches mainly against Goodhope, Wynberg, and St Cyprians. One of Herschel’s biggest sports rivals during the 1940’s remains as our biggest rival to this day – Springfield. Nowadays, the whole school goes to support the 1st Hockey Team at their big yearly match against Springfield and we show off the “H-factor”.

SPORT: Then and Now

1940’s	2012
·        Netball (Junior and Senior)	·        Netball [Social, U14 – U18 (A-D)]
·        Hockey (Junior and Senior)	·        Hockey [U14-U18 (A-D)]
·        Tennis (mostly inter-house or inter-schools)	·        Tennis (Social, 1st-4th teams)
·        Lacrosse (Junior and Senior)	·        No Lacrosse
·        Cricket (Junior and Senior)	·        Social Cricket
·        Swimming ·        Diving ·        Lifesaving        (Junior and Senior)	·        Swimming (team and social) ·        Water polo (team and social) ·        Aqua Aerobics (social)
	·        Basketball (team and social)
	·        Social (All Grades) Touch Rugby ·        Volleyball
	·        Squash (team and social)
	·        Soccer (social)

 

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

Non-sport extra-mural activities during the 1940’s had mainly included clubs and societies, such as the Science Society. Nowadays, we have a diverse mix of clubs and societies, mostly under the rule of pupils, and various music groups or ensembles. Nowadays, we at Herschel are encouraged to join at least one club or society. What has become a big part of Herschel are all the different Outreach and Interact activities that pupils take part in to help those less advantaged and make a difference in the community.

A lot has been added to the list of extra-mural activities offered at Herschel; for example, outreach groups including JUMP HI, SMILE, Big Sisters, Red Nose Chicken Club, Outreach Art, Drama, Catering, Computers and History. Also, various different music groups, for example, Fusion – Herschel’s very own acapella voice group, and instrument ensembles. Some clubs that have remained since the 1940’s are the choir, the school orchestra and the Debating Society.

OTHER EXTRA-MURAL ACTIVITIES: Then and Now

1940’s	2012
·        School Orchestra	·        School Orchestra
·        Music Club	·        Music groups, e.g.  Fusion (Herschel’s acapella singing group) ·        Instrument ensembles/ bands: -        Flute -        Guitar -        String -        Saxophone -        Marimba Band -        World Percussion Group
·        Choir	·        Choir and Chorale
·        Brownies/ Girl Guides
·        Debating Society	·        Debating
·        Science, Maths Societies	·        Many different clubs and societies under pupils’ rule
	·        Various outreach activities, e.g. -        Outreach Art, Music, Drama, History, Computers, and Catering -        Big Sisters -        SMILE -        JUMP HI

 

Hockey team 1946.

 

 Authored By: Andrea Ryall, Melissa Liddle and Raeesa Triegaardt