At the conclusion of the conference the following 10-point answer was presented:

• They provide an education of the highest quality.
• They specialise in what works well for girls.
• They have a singular, uncompromised focus.
• They provide a non-distractive learning environment.
• They balance collaboration with competition.
• They focus on building character, self-esteem and competition.
• They offer a setting in which girls can take intellectual risks.
• They extend positive female roles.
• They foster good relationships with peers and adults.
• Girls' schools are relevant.

Wynberg is part of the Western Cape and South African Girls' Schools Associations and I am grateful for the interaction with these other girls' schools. This interaction allows an exchange of the best practices in girls' schools in South Africa. It also encourages us to seek always to 
improve our schools to the advantage of your daughters. We trust that they are using their time at a girls' school to achieve the rich benefits of their time at school.

Best wishes to you all for this short break. We thank our many Matric parents who will shortly end their association with Wynberg for their contribution to our school. We wish you strength for the next two months when you, once again, “write matric”!

With warm regards
Shirley Harding
PRINCIPAL

The 2004 hockey season has come to an end - and a very successful season it was, too. The U14A, U16A and 1st teams took part in the annual interschools tournaments. The U16’s and U14’s played at Rustenberg and both did extremely well. The U16’s lost only one match and top goal scorer was Saarah Samodien. After a good morning’s hockey both teams ended up second overall. The 1st team’s tournament took place at Hartleyvale. Unfortunately torrential rain flooded the pitch and matches had to be stopped. At that stage Herschel was ahead and likely to remain so. They were declared the winners with Wynberg coming second.

Congratulations to all the teams for their fine effort !

Jenna Cunliffe

MATRIC ART EXHIBITION

This is an invitation 
to the Matric Art Exhibition. 

It will be held on Wednesday 20 October 
in the Hall and the Art Room 

from 18:00 

and will be a final show-casing 
of the Matric’s art work.

A hands-on, down-to-earth, very practical person, Mrs Inglesby made sure that any event at WGHS - from concerts to sports days to exhibitions - happened without visible effort and successfully. One of the other things about Mrs Inglesby is that she was never around basking in the lime-light and glory afterwards. She would tick off that job and move straight on to the next. Always courteous and friendly in her dealings with others, even when surrounded by irritations and distractions, Mrs Inglesby just got things done. We will miss her hugely !! 

It is with sadness that we bid farewell to one of our colleagues and teachers, Mrs Ilse Meyer. We will be losing a dedicated Computer Studies and EMS teacher, an excellent netball coach, and a loyal friend and student mentor. 

Mrs Meyer is leaving us firstly, because klein Meyertjie’s birth is imminent : we wish Ilse and Pieter well with the many exciting days ahead !!! Secondly, Mrs Meyer has decided it’s time to join her husband who has been transferred to Wellington. Although we will miss Mrs Meyer, we know the three of them will be very happy there. 

STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS

Benjamin Meyer made his appearance at 7:30 on Tuesday 21 September, weighing in at 2.9 kg!! Congratulations and Hurray!!

The music department has once again experienced a term saturated with events.Early in the term, under the supervision of Ms Opperman, the hall was transformed into the stylish environment of a Concert Hall for the Matric Gala Concert. The music girls donned their matric dance dresses and performed to a select audience of teachers, friends and family. 

The audience's senses were reeling from the extremely high calibre of performance, which showcased five years of hard work by learners and staff. The concert was also a way of saying thank you to our faithful matrics who will be sorely missed. We say farewell to Stacey Lewis, for two years an excellent music head. We are now in the process of selecting new heads for all the various musical groups.

Less than a week after the matric concert, the Wynberg family was treated to The Campus of Schools' Concert at the Baxter Theatre, featuring everything from our very own Xhosa society to the Boys' High Big Band. The school has also been the host of numerous Lunch Time Concerts.

Founders Day has been and gone and once again the choirs and orchestra performed beautifully. Then there was the Music Concert - the report is elsewhere in this newsletter - and finally, music students will have their practical examination during the last week of term.

Few people comprehend the amount of time needed to get a piece to performance level. To the teachers, thank you for your hard work and patience. To the girls, keep up the hard work!

MUSIC CONCERT

The Wynberg Girls' High Music Concert was held on 14 September. After the opening speech by Raelene Adams, the enthralled audience was treated to a melange of musical talents. 

Vocalists entertained with favourites New York, New York, The Sound of Music and Over the Rainbow; the Beatles made an appearance with the guitar group's rendition of All My Loving; and music lovers were awed by the impressive piano and saxophone pieces. Of course, no music concert these days would be complete without an appearance by the "soon to be famous" Pop Band! Together with vocalists Atle Tekane and Mary-Anne Khutuka, they wowed the crowd with What a wonderful world and the Click Song. 

Special appearances were also made by the Drumming group and the Chanters - their first-ever performance. The Marimba Band concluded the evening by playing In the Jungle and Thula Thula. 

Sheree Lang, student head of the Cultural Pillar,  thanked teachers and performers for an amazing evening. The concert served as a wonderful opportunity to show off Wynberg's exceptionally talented young musicians.

Anja Hendricks

Shirley Cartmel, our tuckshop convenor and herself an Old Girl, knows how to make people want to stay: a combination of excellent wines, fruit juices and fine food. Shirley Harding expressed the schools' delight at seeing all of our past pupils again. She also paid tribute to Sarah Manners and Karen Vogel who have worked extremely hard to ensure that past pupils do remain in touch. 

THE DAY 

“There is still a deep sense of tradition at Wynberg Girls’ High. The school has learned to move with the times, but the traditions have been preserved.” These were the words of Sanneke Pama, one of the many past pupils visiting Wynberg on the 10 September – the school’s 120th celebration of Founders' Day.

In the hall there was an unusual amount of chattering as past pupils recognised each other and were reunited. Mrs. Bonita Bisset, class of ‘55, noted : “The atmosphere of the school is wonderful! It has remained lady-like without becoming snobbish!”. After a hearty rendition of the National Anthem, the Principal, Mrs Shirley Harding, welcomed everyone warmly, and the guest speaker, past-pupil Sue Gow, class of ‘63, was introduced.

With a mixture of nostalgia and good humour, she recounted many memories of school at Wynberg, submitted to her by past pupils. She told the school of the dreaded “brown, fluffy bloomers” that they were made to wear as part of the school uniform, which sent the audience into fits of laughter. She also recounted the story of a time when the school was under the “reign” of the formidable Ms Currie. Boys from WBHS 
managed to climb over the iron fence that separated the girls from the boys, and they were fearlessly chased by Ms Currie right out of the school! On a more serious note, Mrs Sue Gow encouraged the school to take pride in our country and always to be aware of the positive energy in each of us. She then asked the old girls in the hall a thought-provoking question: “Why do we all come back?”. Her answer for them and to the school was that “We all have a deep-seated desire to re-visit the influences that have shaped our lives, and to try and set ourselves on the right paths again. With these words in our minds, Sue presented a bronze figure, which she had made, to the school. It is to be awarded each year to a student who has provided exemplary “service and commitment to the school”. This year it was awarded to Rebecca Blundell. 

After this, the Wynberg Girls’ Junior and High School choirs entertained the school. Then Old Girls' Union Life Member-ship certificates were presented to the Grade 12 class of 2003. The Founder’s Day assembly then appropriately came to an end with the proud singing of the school song. 

However, this wasn’t the end to the celebrations! There were still doughnuts and hockey and netball matches to follow and all flocked to the sports venues to watchthem. Needless to say, the current students won both matches.

Those who did not earn medals learned how to present their work to experts who were assessing them; this was no mean feat and all the learners are to be congratulated on their efforts.

Mrs D Jaaback

UPDATE FROM THE PEER GUIDES

Once again the peer guides have had an exciting and insightful term. We kicked off by organising a drug talk with a difference. Steve Hamilton, an ex-drug addict let us enter his world of pain and trauma and warned us of the dangers of drinking, smoking and sex. The haunting words of "TB or HIV- wait and see!" will long be remembered. This was possibly one of the most interesting and gripping talks ever held at WGHS.

Later in the term, the peer guides had a two hour workshop with a representative from Rape Crisis. The session was very real and moving as we learnt more about the abuse of women, unfortunately a reality for some at Wynberg. Various role-playing sessions were done, and thoughts and opinions were discussed. We all took away valuable insights from the workshop, including confidence, the knowledge of how to 
protect ourselves from abuse, and how to help others.
Various other projects have been accomplished this term, including research projects compiled by the girls. These are booklets of information on topics such as HIV and AIDS, Abuse and Rape. They are available to be read in the Lifeskills Centre.

The termly meeting with the Wynberg Boys' peer guides was very useful and successful. It gave us a chance to interact with the boys and to share experiences relating to the peer guide system.

All in all, term three has been a wonderful term for the peer guides. In addition to all the exciting things we have done, the service of guiding Wynberg girls through difficulties still took priority and remains very important to all peer guides!

Ellie Shortall