Pretoria High School for Girls
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Pretoria High School for Girls, also called Girls High or PHSG, is a public high school for girls located in Hatfield, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa.
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[edit] History
In the 1880s the South African Republic Government built a Staatsmodelskool on the corner of Skinner and van der Walt Streets. The school had only been functioning for a short while, when the Second Boer War broke out in 1899 - many staff members and pupils joined the commandos. The building was used as a prison, and it was at this time that Sir Winston Churchill was captured and imprisoned there. Later, he made his famous escape from the building.
As the war dragged on, it became apparent to Lord Milner, the colonial secretary at the time, that better education was needed. There was no school for English speaking pupils, so the Staatsmodelskool was refurbished. It was renamed Pretoria Boys High School and became the first 'Milner' school in the Transvaal. The school opened on 3 June 1901 under the headmaster Charles Hope, MA. The initial enrolment was 32 pupils, both boys and girls, which increased to 132 by August of that year. Mr Hope left the school 15 months later, the girls leaving at the same time. They moved to the old building of the Staatsmeisieskool and named it the Pretoria High School for Girls. The remaining classes were split into primary and high school and remained like this until 1905.
[edit] Motto
The motto used to be We work in hope, but it was turned into a Latin equivalent, Prosit Spes Labori.
[edit] Coat of arms
In 1936, the school's coat of arms was registered by the State Herald, and in 1990 a certificate bearing the coat of arms and confirming the 1936 registration was presented to the school by Mr F.G. Brownell, the State Herald at that time. The school magazine of that year includes an explanation of the coat of arms.
[edit] External links
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