Dunvegan Primary School – Memory Lane
Brief
History of Dunvegan Primary School
In
September 1967, Miss J.C. Olive was informed that she had been appointed as
Principal to open the Dunvegan Primary School in January 1968. On 2nd
January 1968, the Transvaal Education Department moved in contractors and
furniture into the 
prefabricated site in Hurlyvale. On
15th January 1968, Miss Olive and ten teachers reported for duty and
the following day, 280 pupils arrived. Dunvegan Primary School was up and
running.
On 4th
May 1968, the PTA held its first fundraiser – a braai and games evening – and
raised R250.00. On 27th May 1968, the School Committee met to judge
the School Badge Competition. The design chosen symbolised
growth.
In September
1968. the new school site was officially handed over to the contractor, Mr.
Rudolph.
When the
school reopened in 1969, the enrolment had risen to 485 and a teaching staff of
15. In November 1969, a “roof wetting” ceremony was held at the new school. On
the 8th and 9th December 1969, the School Board assisted
the school in moving into the new school premises.
On 14th
January 1970, the school opened on its present site with an enrolment of 678
pupils and 23 staff members. Building work was only fully completed by July
1970. On the 21st November 1970, the Director of Education in the
Transvaal, Dr A.L. Kotzee, officially opened the
school. A plaque commemorating this is to found at the entrance to the school’s
reception area.
The sports
grounds were developed over the next two years. A past parent, Eddie Freeman
recalls, “I well remember spending all of one Saturday morning with about 5 other
parents trying to mark out the football pitch. The education authorities had put up the goal posts and try as we might
we could not got the measurements right. Eventually when it was time to go home
we reached the conclusion that the goalposts had not been put in square with
each other. I forget how the problem was resolved but resolved it must have
been because we had a parents versus pupils match later.”
In January
1981, the school received its second Principal, Mr. Derick
Hull. School enrolment was 800 pupils and 33 teaching posts. In June that year,
the School Hall was named after the first Principal, Miss Joyce Olive.
In June
1991, Dunvegan Primary School became a “Model B” as voted on by parents (86.9%
in favour) at that time. In 1992 the status of the school was changed to that
of a “Model C” school.
In July
1991, work began on Phase 1 of the new Media Centre, which would comprise of an
auditorium and a Junior Primary Library. This facility was in use by January
1992. In September 1994, work began on Phase 2 which would house a Senior
Primary Library, a Media classroom, a Teacher’s Room and a Computer Centre. In
June 1995, computers were installed into the Computer Centre. The centre is
known as The Betty McCreadie Media Centre, named
after a past teacher who instrumental in developing a library at the school in
the 1970’s and 80’s.
In 1997,
legislation classified Dunvegan Primary School as a State School (no longer a
Model C School).
In February
1997, Mr. Colin Johnson became the third Principal of Dunvegan Primary School
following Mr. Hull’s retirement.
In May 2000,
the school began its own website. In June 2002, the old prefab classrooms were
demolished and the building of a new classroom wing commenced. The new wing was
completed in December 2002. It comprises of 4 classrooms, change rooms, a
Tuckshop and a second computer centre. In the period 2008 to 2011, the original
perimeter fencing was replaced with a brick and palisade wall.
The School Song
Dunvegan School the pride and joy
Of every girl and boy
Your oak trees point towards the sky
Small acorns may grow high.
Towards our goal we too aspire
To raise Dunvegan’s fame
With sportsmanship and honour
too
In everything we do.
We’ll prove ourselves in every test
Dunvegan School is Best!
Some Photos from the Past:
The first
Standard 5 Class at Dunvegan Primary School (1968):
Back: Wayne
Selkirk, Carlo Leusink, Charmaine
Arundel, Mrs A.E. Lambert, Cheryl Nicholls, Sabrina Maio, Joan Eyers.
Middle:
Edwin Larkman, John Macvie,
Garth Steward, Ruth Edwards, Jennifer Canning, Glenda Edwardes.
Front: Peter
Jackson, Bernard Rundle, Stephen Nicholas, Heather King, Beverley Montgomery,
Edna Purcell.
Absent:
Colleen Bosch, Ian Marot.
Grade 1
Pupils on their First School Day in 1970 on the new premises.
The first group of boys to have been at
Dunvegan Primary from Grade One through to Grade Seven (1974):
Back row:
L. Visser, R. v.d. Berg, S. Hunter, D. Foulner, T. Ballantine
Third row: J. Jordaan,
K. Gennell, M. Botes, C. Borchards, D. Dawes, J. Bancroft, C. Cammidge
Second row: L. Körner,
T. Ormerod, D. Todd, M. Murphy, G. Techow, A. Kelly, S. Adamson, G. Maclean
Front row:
S. Odendaal, J. Papa Demetriou,
R. Lowe, G. Shearer, S. v.d. Knaap,
F. Reynolds, S. Venter, J. Foerg, H. Taylor
The first
group of girls to have been at Dunvegan Primary from Grade One through to Grade
Seven (1974):
Back Row:
J. Mortimer, H. Pienaar, G. Waller, J. Enslin, S. Daniell, A. Fullerton,
B. Harber, A.van Vuuren,
U. Höfer, J. Ferguson
Third row:
L. Bamford, A. Hall, M. Burnham, A. Oates, D. Morehen, Y. Adams, T. Sterley, S.
Taylor, S. Delport, A. Pechey,
D. Grove
Second row:
S. Feben, L. Hunter, M. Tissen,
L. Cole, K. Coetzee, L. Marais, R. Sidwell, S. Sinnett, L.A. Kneale
Front row:
F. Dollery, L. Dedlow, L.
Miller, M. Hayter, M. Hunkin,
V. Ahrens, H. Atkinson, J. Boyd, Y. Meyer, D. Callaghan
The School has had Three Principals thus far:
Miss Joyce
Olive 1968 – 1980
Mr. Derick Hull 1981 – 1997
Mr. Colin
Johnson 1997 – Present
MY JOURNEY THROUGH DUNVEGAN
PRIMARY
Our Head
Girl of 2007, Taonga Zulu, wrote a wonderful poem as
her Farewell Address to the School:
My Journey in Dunvegan
It all started
here in Dunvegan in 2001,
And that was
the time when we had fun.
With Mrs.
Ferris ready in her purple gear,
I had a
wonderful Grade 1 year.
We learnt to write numbers and the alphabet,
But we hadn’t
quite mastered it then yet.
But the
teachers were patient and helped us through,
That’s why we
were able to go to Grade 2.
This is where
things got a bit demanding,
We even had to
learn cursive handwriting.
But I also
made many new friends,
And with Mrs.
James as my teacher, I had a good time in the end.
Grade 3 with Mrs. Smith was next,
And here we
had to write in cursive text.
We had busy
books, Maths and readers we read.
And we wrote
in blue pen, not pencil lead.
Grade 3 to
Grade 4 was a huge difference.
Besides the
fact that we’d changed in appearance,
We learnt new
subjects like I.T. and N.S.
We even
changed classes and wrote cycle tests.
This was a new
environment for us all,
But in my
class you were never to fall.
Because Mrs.
van de Meijden, standing tall as the nests,
Always said,
“Children, remember to try you best!”
Grade 5 was such an exciting year,
We went to Kidz Kamp, our very first tour.
My teacher,
Miss Swart, was very sweet,
And being in
her class was such a treat.
Grade 6 was work and projects galore,
We didn’t know
that we had so much in store.
But the year
was great, especially when we had to go
To our second
tour, Die Oog, Serolo.
Serolo was a great camp,
The food was
great but we were always damp,
For we hardly
ever could resist,
The heated
pool with all the mist.
Soon our work
and projects were done
And we would
all have fun.
But this
didn’t last very long,
For our final
year was coming along.
The highlight
of our Grade 7 year,
Was definitely
the Bush Pigs tour.
We learnt so
much about nature,
And what we
should do to conserve it for the future.
We had so much
fun everyday,
And enjoyed
ourselves in every way.
Like when we
all got soaked in the mudsticle course,
And the teachers
had to join in, of course!
I remember the competition for dung spitting,
Those things I
dreaded even touching.
But then I
thought about what a great person once said,
“Afrika is nie ‘n plek vir sissies nie!” So I spat the
dung instead!
After Bushpigs, the prefects were mentioned,
and we were so
thrilled to represent Dunvegan.
Some of our
tasks were tough but most were great,
And now I
think we’re ready for grade 8.
And that’s thanks to all the teachers who’ve helped us through
Our junior
grades and senior ones too.
They’ve been
our guides in this journey we roam,
They’ve been
like parents in a second home.
My final year is near it’s end,
And it’s time
to say goodbye to old friends.
And I’ll never
forget that at Dunvegan Primary,
I had a
special seven year family!
~ Taonga Zulu ~
Head Girl Dunvegan Primary 2007