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Pretoria Girls High had a busy social calendar in May 2019.

June 11, 2019

Rekord Newspaper 3 minutes read

Pretoria Girls High had a busy social calendar in May 2019:

A small group of very excited PHSG girls and teachers attended the annual Girls’ Schools’ Festival held during 1-4 May. The festival was hosted Paarl Girls’ High and La Rochelle Girls’ High.

First teams in many disciplines competed for best in South Africa’s state schools. As one can imagine, the competition was fierce. The star of the group proved to be Kelebogile Ratsoana, who emerged victorious as Best Senior Speaker of the Festival!

On 6 May, everyone gathered in the pool enclosure to watch the teachers show some school spirit: they strutted, galloped and leaped around the pool area in PHSG branded gear, flourishing green pom-poms.Two assistants amazed the girls and teachers alike with a world-class Hip-hop sequence. Finally the beautifully clad cheerleaders taught the school a few new cheers.

On 9 May, the school gathered in front of the main building to celebrate the birthday of the school’s principal, Mrs Erasmus. As she walked through the Formal Gardens, each prefect handed her an iris until she had a small bouquet. The marimba band played Happy Birthday and the entire school sang along. It was a joyous occasion for all involved.

On 10 May, the PHSG Performing Arts learners treated guests to a spectacular show of talent at the Mother’s Day Concert. The concert opened with Mr Iliev playing the piano and a slideshow of girls with their mothers in the background. It really set the scene for the night.

The PHSG Rock Band made their debut playing ‘Just the way you are’ by Bruno Mars and ‘She will be loved’ by Maroon 5.

It was memorable to see so many girls performing in the guitar ensembles. For the first-time ever, the orchestra accompanied the graceful and elegant ballet dancers, who floated and shimmered across the stage.

The trusty Marimba Band, choirs and the various Orchestral Ensembles built up to the climax, ‘The Best of Queen Medley’ with many mothers humming along.

On Monday 13 May, the German Matric class of 2018 was invited back for a special assembly to be presented with their DSD Certificates.

The Deutsches Sprachdiplom (German Language Diploma) is an external international examination written by our Matrics at the end of every year. Upon receiving these DSD Certificates, our learners’ proficiency in German is internationally recognised and opens many new doors for them in their future travels, studies and careers.

Along with the 15 Matrics that wrote the DSD last year, two Grade 10 (now 11) German mother tongue speakers gave the examination their best shot and very proudly received their certificates as well.

Congratulations to Claudia Strahlendorf, Sarah Vogetseder and the German Matric class of 2018!

The first-ever 3P Derby Day took place on 18 May. Potch. Parktown and Pretoria Girls’ High competed against each other in friendly games of netball, hockey, tennis, cross country, public speaking, debating, chess and squash.

The Allison Kitto Walkway

Jasmine Beeforth (Grade 9): “It certainly was a momentous occasion on 20 May when Mrs Kitto, an Ex-Principal of PHSG, cut the ribbons and walked to the middle of the newly-built Alison Kitto Walkway to view the plaque in her honour. Having taken the podium for the first time again after many years, she addressed the PHSG Assembly saying that change is good as long as the good things remain.

Guest speaker for the day was Head Girl of 2000, Yanna Fourtunis, who had been Head Girl during Mrs Kitto’s time as Principal of PHSG. Her stories made the girls and the teachers laugh and nod nostalgically. Who can forget Penny Heyns and South Africa’s cricketers filling the older generation with awe and excitement?

Jozi Land Art Event

Steeman (Grade 12): “Sundays are not days of rest for artists. Pretoria High School for Girls’ Matric Visual Arts girls took part in the annual Jozi Land Art Event at the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens, orchestrated by Site Specific in order to create art that does not harm the environment and will degrade with time as part of the artwork.

The matric visual arts girls, accompanied by Mrs de Bruyn, Mrs van Niekerk and Mrs Greenberg, created an artwork tribute to the bees.

This artwork was created to raise the awareness of the bees as integral to the well-being of man.

It was made from biodegradable substances and substances that will improve the environment in the long run, such as different coloured sucrose that would serve as food for the bees; ash which is a proven natural pesticide against ticks and fleas, and salt and charcoal. The girls were also exposed to incredible artists such as Annie Le Roux.