Infrastructure change throughout Herschel

Miss Harriet came to Herschel on the assurance that further extensions would be undertaken, when she came to visit the school, she noticed a lack of infrastructure for this potentially beautiful school because of the large amount of land which the school consumed. Miss Robinson then agreed to join the role of being the principle of the Herschel Girls’ School situated in Claremont during 1930 only if the council would spend more money on the buildings of the school grounds, which indicated her determination to transform Herschel from ordinary to extra-ordinary and to improve in the infrastructure at Herschel.

During the 1930s, there were many financial problems brought on by the Great Depression. This was a time of economic and political strain during this time throughout South Africa. The demand for South African agriculture and mineral exports declined drastically and a large portion of agricultural industry were unable to repay mortgages on their over-capitalised farms. All these financial strains around South Africa at this time led to further dislike of the ruling government, the National Party.

Many new buildings such as a library which is now currently the chapel was built at the Herschel Girls’ School. At this time, there were only fifty-five students who attended Herschel.

Senior open air balcony

In the late 920s and early 30s, it was common to sleep in the open air on a balcony, it was said to be good for one’s health to do so. Many of the houses in Cape Town during this period were doubled-storey houses and many houses had balconies. Further extensions were made around the new hall in 1930 and a sleeping balcony was provided there for the seniors. A dining room, the sleeping balcony and a classroom between the hall and the dining room wing was built.

By this time, the financial strain had subsided and Miss Robinson took advantage of this and saw it as an opportunity for change and then extended Herschel even more. She insisted on building a part of the school which was the Kindergarten, which is currently the Staffroom at the Senior School which had their own toilet facilities as well as a large classroom and Domestic Sciences ( which is now currently called Consumer Studies) classroom which she linked to the hall. Miss Robinson then managed to get the balcony extended, a fully equipped sick bay, an Art room, a new Staffroom with an adjacent cloakroom and a Science Laboratory. All these buildings were completed and opened in 1936. This was the most rapid infrastructural change at Herschel so far.

Library wing

In 1939-1940, the Baxter library was added to the school in the same year that Miss Robinson retired. The library was added onto the school campus, and this is currently where the chapel is today. William Duncan, who was the mayor of Cape Town and a very successful businessman, married Ethel Jagger in 1907-1908. The namely ”Jagger” is one of Herschel’s three houses namely; Rolt, Merriman and Jagger. Each student is put in a house and represents their respective houses in either cultural, academic or sport activities that take place throughout the year.

The Kindergarten

Miss Harriett Robinson has contributed a huge amount of infrastructural change and development o the Herschel Girls’ School and has transformed the school throughout a decade of development and has contributed to the current working environment of Herschel. Miss Robinson is a large aspect of history to Herschel and has laid a foundation for the modern day to build on from what she has provided us with. As time and society changes, technology and infrastructural development continues to evolve and hopefully we can lay the foundation of tomorrow.   

The front of the school

Matric Dances 1949-2012

Once a year, all the Herschel grade 12 girls gather to celebrate a beautiful and exciting evening which many have looked forward to their whole lives. Vast amounts of time is spent arranging he perfect dress, the perfect date and simply looking perfect for this special evening where girl can experience their fantasy of being a princess for one night. They are presented with an invitation which is never less than exquisite and the clue as to what the theme is. Stepping out of taxis, limousines and even fire engines, the girls are greeted by the staff and the grade 11 waitresses and on occasion, even unexpected surprises, such as fire eaters or men on stilts! They are then led into the Primary School Hall after posing for numerous pictures on the lawn outside.
After hours of hard work, the hall is beautifully decorated to the chosen theme of the evening and the girls are seated and served their meals by the grade 11 waitresses. They are entertained by performances ranging from local bands to DJs and on one occasion, opera. The Matric Dance is a very special night or every girl attending and is sure to never be forgotten as one of their fondest memories at Herschel.

The Matric Dance began in the year 1949. It was originally held in the fourth term in the Boarding House dining room and then it was moved to the Mary Jagger Hall in 1972. It was only in 1996 that it was moved to the Primary School Hall where it is still held to this day. Very little money was contributed towards the dance, leaving it up to the girls to decorate the hall themselves. The dance was then moved to the third term in 1964, and again to April in 1973.

There have been many themes over the years and every year the organisers manage to come up with an new and original idea.Originally the Matrics girls decorated the venue according to the theme themselves, but over time, the mothers of the grade 11's and the staff organising the dance took over this role, leaving it a wonderful surprise for the girls when they arrived at the dance. Themes of different cultures or different places were very commonly used, such as 'Spring in Paris', 'New York Hilton', 'Rio de Janeiro Carnival', 'Cuban Style', 'Indian', 'Greek' and even 'Egyptian'. The girls also loved the often used glamorous themes, such as 'Ballroom', 'Hollywood throughout the Ages', 'Catwalk', 'Red Carpet', 'Reflections' and 'A Venetian Ball'.

Many hours of hard work go towards the decorating the hall to the chosen theme. In 1999, one of the girls painted a giant dragon across one of the walls for the theme 'Eastern Fantasy'. A whole elephant was made out of tin foil for the very same year and they even went to the effort of creating a pond outside with real Koi fish in it. A lot of thought is also put into the invitations, which have ranged from an antique key with their invitations engraved on it, to having their invitation printed on old film clippings. The invitation receiving ceremony is always very exciting,this year the 2012 Matric Dance invitations were handed out by well known local DJs, Goldfish.

Matrics of 2012 recieving their invitations from Goldfish

The entrainment of the night usually involves a DJ or a live band. During the eight years in which Mevrou Stanford organised the dance, she hired a band called Spectrum, but in previous years various performers, such as, Mcully's Workshop, Cassandra Crossing and Black Forest preformed. However, the Matrics of 1998 were very lucky to be entertained by one of our very own Herschel girls, Amy Hudson, who sang 'Phantom of the Opera' with her date.

The funding of the Matric Dance was minimal until recently, and in order to afford to make such a special evening, the girls held various fund raising events. One was the Herschel High School fashion show. The venue of the dance was decorated by the grade 11 mothers and many of the Herschel girls themselves for many years. This also meant that catering could not be afforded until recent years and instead the meals were cooked by the mothers and served by the grade 11's. It was only in 2005 that they hired Silwood School of Cookery to cater.The food that would be served on the night would have a connection with the theme.

Although a simple phone call, SMS or even a Facebook inbox is all that is required for a girl to invite her date to the dance these days, but it wasn't all that simple. In the past, girls would send their dates 'acceptance letters' and await for them to sign it, the girls would then proudly place the letters up on the Matric notice board once they had received the needed signature, out of tradition.

It will always be a beautiful night that none of the girls will forget. Every year has its own special memories to be cherished. It was said that the Matric Dance of 1980 ended in all the girls marching around the school singing "Oh when the saints go marching in". Some years the girls even receive a small memento each, such as in 2005 when each girl received a crystal necklace. Many years are to come of this well cherished event and with it, more memories.

Authored by Jordan Barkai and Tamara Haller