WYNBERG BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL PROPOSED ENGINEERING AND DESIGN FACULTY
architechure, urban design and graphic design by dhk architects
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CONTENTS 2
History
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Transformation at Wynberg
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Proposed Engineering and Design Faculty
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The Place of the Technical Subjects
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Conceptual Masterplan
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Campus Restructuring Third Floor
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Campus Restructuring Second Floor
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Campus Restructuring First Floor
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Campus Restructuring Ground Floor
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Proposed Refurbishments + Engineering wing
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Civils Construction Workshop
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Passageway Connector
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Engeneering Wing: Civil and Engineering Faculty
20 Court
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Diagrammatic Section
24 3D Views Plans +
29 Afterword
30 Get Involved How To
Working
32 Moras Trust The Supera
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HISTORY Wynberg Boys’ High School, founded in 1841, was the first educational institution of its kind in the southern part of the Cape Peninsula. It was also the first of the quartet of ‘great’ schools for boys founded in 19th century Greater Cape Town – the others being Rondebosch, SACS and Bishops. Established in or near Oude Wijnberg, the first grant of land made in the 17th century by the Dutch, the Wynberg Boys’ Public School enjoyed from its beginnings, the most beautiful and historic setting probably of any other school in South Africa. Deriving its name from the area’s cultivation of wine and its surrounding mountainous beauty, Wynberg Boys’ High has, for educational and sporting reasons, drawn the interest and support from the public at large for the past 177 years. Still standing on the verge of the Trovato-link roadway is Glebe Cottage, original schoolroom to Wynberg’s first
handful of scholars and today a National Monument. From those few pioneering pupils, the school grew quickly through the 19th century, expanding from its Tennant Road property to modern, purpose-designed buildings off nearby Aliwal Road. Acquiring additional space for playing fields through the generosity of its neighbour, Lord de Villiers of Wynberg, the school was later able to hone the skills of so many talented schoolboy players – for rugby, Doug Hopwood, Dave Stewart, Lionel Wilson and Rob Louw among them. Others, earlier and to follow, included the cricketers Aubrey Faulkner, Allan Lamb, Garth le Roux, Richard Levi and the great Jaques Kallis. Classrooms and the different school halls were where the intellects and different gifts of a host of Wynberg pupils were nurtured: Col Deneys Reitz, Dr ID du Plessis, Prof Jack Littlewood, Judge Douglas Scott, Prof Cyril Karabus, Mendel Kaplan, Andrew
Feinstein, Siyabonga Beyile and so many others, all of whom have made notable contributions in their different fields to South Africa and the world beyond. The Anglo-Boer War, Two World Wars and a savage Depression took its toll on Wynberg Boys’ High, as they did on comparable institutions in South Africa. The Rolls of Honour, which are the school’s proud record of its servicemen fallen in war, show the extent of the involvement of young Wynberg men and how their memories are venerated. There were many years when, in the dark days of Apartheid, Wynberg Boys’ High remained bound to operate within the confines of racist state legislation, yet because of the relatively integrated nature of the home suburb, vital points of contact remained. Later, as the High School moved on to the spacious Hawthornden Estate on Wynberg Hill, modern buildings and ample facilities
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catered for the growing numbers of pupils applying for admission. In different senses, Wynberg’s schoolboys came into their own at last, after 1994 and, as a well and truly integrated institution, the school flourished. No school, even one as established as Wynberg Boys’ High has become, can continue on a successful trajectory without the input and leadership of the highest quality staff and headmasters and in both respects, the school has been singularly fortunate. While selecting individuals for commendation poses its own problems, one recalls with admiration the gritty resolve of founding headmaster John McNaughton who embodied the school’s later motto “Supera Moras”, “Never Give Up”. He, departing from the comforts of a Scottish Public School to take on the challenge of semi-literate children in the backwoods of the Cape Colony, left behind a thriving public
enterprise. Leading the school were Edward Littlewood, the complete educationist, brilliant and masterful in leading the school for 27 years, Bill Clegg with his unremitting zeal for ‘an even better Wynberg’, and the well-loved and principled Bill Bowden. Rowan Algie’s codifying of Wynberg’s ‘Four Pillars’ – Academics, Sport, Culture and Service – helped staff and pupils to keep in sight and mind what the school’s fundamental priorities were. In the years following a degree of the ‘de-regularisation’ of education, Wynberg has been lucky in having in succession, two men possessed of similar vision and the same degree of purpose in expanding Wynberg’s horizons – Keith Richardson and Jannie de Waal. For them it was not enough for the school merely to reflect on past glories or to mark time while its competitors drew alongside or surpassed it. Richardson’s constant stress on ‘The Wynberg Brand – Friendliness, Manners, Pride
and Aiming High’ brought the school to a new awareness of these critical elements in human interaction. Their intention has been, while honouring the heritage and meaningful traditions of the school and sustaining its high academic and sporting standards, to emphasize skills development and thought processes. Continuing under Jannie de Waal’s headship is the building of pupils’ confidence in handling technology, of widening their expertise in the field of IT and indeed the expansion of the school’s capacity for offering an enhanced technical programme via specialised subjects to provide Wynberg pupils with real life work experience. De Waal’s vision in this is exactly in keeping with his forbears in leadership at the school. That is, Wynberg Boys’ High, as it has done in the past, is placing itself strategically to meet the needs of the future. In trying to correct
the imbalance in the country’s economy, WBHS will introduce the specialised technical subjects which may only be taken in conjunction with mathematics, physical sciences and engineering graphics and design. The introduction of technical subjects will extend the priority presently given in South Africa to academic courses and careers and address the critical need for tuition in practical courses, ideally beginning in the secondary stage of schooling. The benefits of such courses are assisting youth development, adult education, job creation and boosting the supply of technical skills in South Africa’s industrial sector. Wynberg Boys’ High expects to be on trend in filling these needs. Demonstrating the school’s commitment to this project, the first of these subjects – electronics – has already been introduced, starting in 2018 with two classes of Grade
NO SCHOOL, EVEN ONE AS ESTABLISHED AS WYNBERG BOYS’ HIGH HAS BECOME, CAN CONTINUE ON A SUCCESSFUL TRAJECTORY WITHOUT THE INPUT AND LEADERSHIP OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY STAFF AND HEADMASTERS AND IN BOTH RESPECTS, THE SCHOOL HAS BEEN SINGULARLY FORTUNATE. 10 students. It is currently being taught in an existing science laboratory but strongly deserves its own home. Within the caring environment that the school affords, every Wynberg pupil has felt nurtured, encouraged and shaped but also readied to accept the challenges that life presents. Wynberg remains a school where South Africans of every colour, culture or religion can feel at home and become the best that they can be.
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TRANSFORMATION AT WYNBERG It is with profound gratitude that today, 2018, Wynberg Old Boys, parents and friends – indeed the whole School Family – acknowledge that nearly 25 years ago Wynberg Boys’ High helped lead the way in normalising race attitudes at school level in South Africa.
Race attitudes hardened through the earlier years of the 20th century until 1948, when, with the coming of the National Party Government and its Apartheid laws, Wynberg Boys’ High was forced to develop as ‘part of a separate national community’.
There have already been successive school-leaving ‘years’ of learners at Wynberg who have never known segregation – the post 1994 ‘rainbow children’ who have only experienced and benefited from the sophisticated teaching and highest-grade extra-mural facilities on offer at the school.
After a dark age in the school’s life, 1990 eventually dawned, and with it, the coming of the Model C schools and then, the following year, Wynberg was able to open its doors to boys of every race group – an excellent way of celebrating its own 150 years as an educational institution.
It was not always so. For, with the advent of the Cape School Board Act of 1905, the rule of separate public schools for separate races became enforced and with that the easy tolerance amongst the peoples of the Cape’s southern suburbs disappeared, it seemed at the time, forever.
Teachers at Wynberg believe that from the desegregation of the school there has emerged as well a community restored and transformed. While there is naturally a greater social richness through the fact of mixing and sharing, there is prevalent now at the school a new vision for the education of boys – individually and collectively. This is something
demonstrated by the pride taken in the school by learners, their parents, Old Boys and the wider Wynberg community. Transformation, by its very nature is an on-going process, and at Wynberg there is a commitment to transform the school to suit the multi-faceted face of South Africa. Wynberg is a school that welcomes diversity in all spheres: racial, social, cultural and religious. In order to celebrate and nurture this diversity, all policies in the school, through a consultative process, have been made more inclusive and have been adapted to give everyone in the school community a voice. These changes in policy have resulted in fairer representation in recruitment of staff, and in admissions of boys into the school to reflect more equitably, the demography of South Africa. The changes in policy have also seen a commitment to recognising, celebrating and honouring different religious practices, diverse cultural expressions and the
WITH ‘THE WYNBERG WAY’, ‘THE FOUR PILLARS OF EDUCATION’ AND THE DECLARATION THAT ‘WE AT WYNBERG UNDERSTAND BOYS’ THE EFFECTIVE AND COMPASSIONATE INTERVENTION WITH EACH INDIVIDUAL BOY HAS BECOME THE NORM. THE APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES HAS HAD THE EFFECT OF RAISING AND TRANSFORMING WYNBERG BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL TO A NEW PLATEAU OF EXCELLENCE. many talents that boys have to offer. This inclusive policy is the catalyst for transforming Wynberg into a harmonious space where the dignity of every person is recognised and honoured. To that end, the transformation process at Wynberg will continue.
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This document presents the proposed Wynberg Boys’ High School Engineering and Design Faculty as envisaged in the 2021 Vision Document – the first in a series of capital works projects identified by the school executive
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PROPOSED ENGINEERING + DESIGN FACULTY In 2017 the WCED published a discussion paper ‘Guidelines for the implementation of Technology and Technical Subjects’.
support youth development, adult education, job creation and the all-important provision of a skilled South African work force.
In response to the paper and aware of the critical shortage of learners proficient in the industrial and tertiary educational sectors, Wynberg Boys’ High recognised the urgent need to design and incorporate an engineering and design faculty within its existing school structures.
To implement these new subjects, Wynberg Boys’ High requires 3 new workshops and 3 additional classrooms. The 2 former woodwork and metalwork workshops, used as classrooms since those subjects were phased out in 2005, will be incorporated into the building works for the new faculty subjects.
Wynberg Boys’ High School has identified the following technical streams to be incorporated within its present curricula and facilities: Civil Electrical The introduction of these subject streams will provide learners with opportunities for real-life work experience as well as entrepreneurial training. Introducing this model would
Because WBHS’s buildings, designed to accommodate 450 learners in 1981, have had no extensions since then and today accommodate nearly double the number, the school’s need for new facilities is an urgent one. This is particularly so if the vision of a completely new Engineering and Design Faculty is to be realised within the next few years at Wynberg. In addition to starting an appeal for funds within our own
community and its traditional supporters, we will appeal for and make maximum use of the Rand-for-Rand assistance offered by the Western Cape Education Department.
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THE PLACE OF THE TECHNICAL SUBJECTS In Grade 10, the first year of the final phase of High School, learners elect to take subjects that they will carry through to matriculation in Grade 12 and certification with the National Senior Certificate – or NSC. There are four core subjects that each learner must offer – their home language, a second language, mathematics or the lower level maths literacy, and life orientation. Each learner must also offer at least three elective subjects along with the core subjects. There are many combinations of elective subjects which the learner may offer in addition such as history, life sciences, economics or visual arts. Learners who choose to take a technical subject are required to do so with certain restrictions in place. They must also take: •
Physical sciences (a combination of physics and chemistry)
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Engineering graphics and design (the drafting and technical drawing as done by architects)
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Mathematics
The coupling of these specific subjects with the technical subjects make it one of the most rigorous academic paths that can be taken at Secondary Education level. Wynberg Boys’ High plans to offer three subjects in total from two of the technical streams: Civil and Electrical. We already have students studying the subject of electronics from the Electrical stream and have identified the subjects of construction and woodworking from the Civils stream as in the most demand by industry and thus the most relevant for our learners to follow.
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9 Academic Precinct
CONCEPTUAL MASTERPLAN Wynberg Boys’ High commissioned dhk Architects to provide an analysis of the school campus and develop a revised masterplan to reflect the spatial implications of the upgrades proposed in the 2021 Vision Document.
THE MASTERPLAN PROPOSES THAT THE SCHOOL CONSOLIDATES ITS DIFFERENT EXISTING AND PROPOSED FUNCTIONS INTO 3 PRECINCTS. THESE ARE TO BE: AN ACADEMIC PRECINCT, A RESIDENTIAL AND POOL PRECINCT AND A SPORTS PRECINCT. A priority project is the planned Engineering and Design Faculty to be sited within the Academic Precinct. To conceptualise the ideal location for the new Faculty and its scale, the function of the existing buildings has had to be re-arranged to be more subject-efficient.
Residential and Pool Precinct
Sports Precinct
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CAMPUS RESTRUCTURING THIRD FLOOR
NEW
Block C
Block B
The following pages will demonstrate the proposed subject spread over the building’s different floor levels as well as the proposed new wing. The top-most level encompasses the consolidation of different academic classes and the creation of a new staff workplace. The science laboratories are to be retained in their present spaces, but have been ear-marked for a complete refurbishment to make them experimental hubs of learning. The language subjects have been discretely clustered over different levels to bring cohesion and to introduce the idea of subject zones.
Administration wing
Hist.
Hist.
Geo. Geo.
Eng.
Eng. Eng.
Eng.
Eng. Eng.
Sci.
Sci.
Admin Wing
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CAMPUS RESTRUCTURING SECOND FLOOR The third level retains all the IT facilities and adjacent resource centre – in a sense the heart of the technology-driven approach to learning in which Wynberg Boys’ High leads the Province. This zone has already been fitted with break-out rooms for group work and a green-room for film and sound recording. This centre will undergo further development so that all our pupils can access every single possible tool available, matching the best equipped schools globally.
NEW
Existing Art
Afr.
IT
Afr. Afr.
Classroom Classroom Classroom
IT
IT
Afr. Afr.
Block B
Media Room
IT
The science laboratories are to be redeveloped as mentioned on the floor above. Bathroom blocks are to be made larger and locker-rooms provided for all learners.
Block C
Afr.
Bio.
Sci.
Admin Wing
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CAMPUS RESTRUCTURING FIRST FLOOR
NEW
Block C
In the second level we have grouped the mathematics, economics and a biology classroom together. The first level of the proposed wing contains variable classroom spaces, with movable partition walls where individual rooms need to be enlarged for a single lecturing space.
Workshop Cafeteria Math. Math. Math.
Classroom
Math. Math.
Classroom Classroom
Classroom
Bio.
Block B
Admin Wing
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CAMPUS RESTRUCTURING GROUND FLOOR
NEW
The ground floor contains the ‘heavy’ workshop spaces for civil engineering, sited in the existing maintenance yard space. The present residence within Block E is to be converted to a civil’s theory room.
Workshop
Workshop Classroom Classroom
Block C
Block B
Admin Wing
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PROPOSED REFURBISHMENTS + ENGINEERING WING The proposed new wing is to be located as a projection eastwards of the existing block E and will have Visual Arts, EGD and the technical subjects. This is the preferred location for the wing because of the different opportunities it offers: 1. The E block is the school’s original workshop wing, formerly containing a first floor metal workshop. This wing also contains an outdoor space, currently the maintenance yard. 2. If required, this proposed engineering and design wing can be expanded to connect with block D. This new faculty will be a hub of creativity and design. Drawing, sculpture, painting, design, construction, building – all activities in the school that create will be housed here under one roof. This is destined to become a very exciting space to showcase the work of our learners.
Academic school buildings Block E
Proposed Technical Wing
Academic school buildings Block D
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CIVILS CONSTRUCTION WORKSHOP The proposal is that the Civil’s construction workshop be sited in the existing maintenance yard. The maintenance yard will be relocated to the courts’ precinct (where the vineyard is at present.) The roofing of the workshop will be in a lightweight, weatherproof material. The present residences on the ground floor of E block will be converted into the civil’s theory classroom. Learners taking either one of our two civil’s subjects will be focusing on the principles of the built environment. Those choosing construction will learn about infrastructure built with materials such as concrete and new sustainable technologies. The second civil subject is woodworking that dovetails perfectly with construction. The learners will focus on all parts of a building made from wood. For example, they will be developing and testing roof trusses of varying spans and loads.
“Knowledge of subject principles, combined with applied skills, equips the Civil Technology learner with a unique set of skills, placing him or her apart from other learners and at a level and category in great demand by industry, tertiary institutions and entrepreneurs. Learners with Civil Technology as a subject fare markedly better during the first two years of tertiary level engineering than learners without this background, giving the former an advantage over their peers”. (CAPS Civil Technology DBE 2014)
Part One Civils Yard
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PASSAGEWAY CONNECTOR Part 2 is the construction of a new passageway located on top of the existing walkway. This is to improve the connection between the school buildings and the new wing to improve access for all. Materials for the new passageway will be in the same lightweight, weather-proof material as used in the civil’s workshop roofing.
Part Two Connector
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ENGINEERING WING: CIVIL AND ENGINEERING FACULTY The civil and electrical faculty is, in principle, to be housed in the existing E block and its extension. This extended building will form the edge of the courtyard, currently the large parking area. This semi enclosed area will be used as a working court for both the civil’s and the electrical workshops. The construction material of the new faculty building will be different to that of the existing school buildings in that it is of a light-weight design and style expressive of the purpose and use to which the new faculty building will be put. The third subject to be housed in this faculty is already offered at Wynberg – electronics – which was launched in 2018 with two classes of students choosing to study it. Learners taking electronics design and test control systems, going on to build integrated circuits for communication and control purposes. Their tertiary pathway lies, with further study, in their becoming artisans or engineers.
Part Three Engineering Wing
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WORKING COURT The proposal for the working court is that it be a hardsurfaced space affording different uses: an area onto which the two workshops could spill out; provide accommodation for miniexhibitions and practical classroom sessions and also be a space for students to congregate before and after classes. A few parking bays will remain from the original large parking area, several existing trees will be retained and new ones planted, together with benches and other public-space furniture.
Part Four Working Court
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DIAGRAMMATIC SECTION We are not just building an advanced addition to an existing space – we are also refurbishing as new the original E block. The envisaged costs include this refurbishment as well as the equipment and materials for the subjects themselves.
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PLANS GROUND FLOOR EXISTING SCHOOL BUILDING
FOYER
PARKING COURT
Civils Workshop
STORAGE
Civils Theory
128m2
FOYER
177m2
Classroom
60m
2
Workshop
110m2
UP
PHYSICAL SCIENCE CLASSROOM
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School Hall
109 m²
762 m²
2380.76
PLANS FIRST FLOOR
STAFF ABLUTIONS 294 m²
MATHS
MATHS
56 m²
Maintenance office
MATHS
58 m²
58 m²
MATHS 59 m²
ABLUTIONS 13 m²
EXISTING SCHOOL BUILDING
8 m²
PROPOSED SCIENCE CLASSROOM 71 m²
C LIFE SCIENCE CLASSROOM 70 m²
B
Civils Workshop
172m
A
2
BREAK AWAYS
BREAK AWAYS
Classroom Office
13m2
100m
2
1
Classroom
78m
2 3
Classroom
100m2
2
4
5
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PLANS SECOND FLOOR AFRIKAANS
AFRIKAANS
56 m²
AFRIKAANS
58 m²
58 m²
EXISTING SCHOOL BUILDING
AFRIKAANS 59 m²
PREFECT COMMONS 17 m²
C
B
Existing Art
97m
2
CEILING HATCH TO ROOF
Existing Art
115m
2
BREAK AWAYS
BREAK AWAYS Classroom
56m2
Workshop
Classroom
78m
100m2
2
A
1
2 3
4
5
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AFTERWORD The proposed ENGINEERING and DESIGN FACULTY of Wynberg Boys’ High School is the first of a series of 5 year, long-term plan projects for which we are seeking additional funding from both the state and private sectors. The other key projects are: 1. The refurbishment of the science laboratories. 2. The construction of a multipurpose indoor sports centre. 3. Additional Boarding and Day Boy facilities. 4. Staff Accommodation. To the Wynberg Boys’ High leadership the major capital projects listed above are essential if the school is to retain its position in the forefront of top South African schools, in respect of modern classroom technologies and state-ofthe-art facilties. Without continuously upgrading as well as engaging purposefully with the demands of new curricula and educational methods, Wynberg stands to lose its
leading position to comparable competitive institutions. With constant pressure to achieve new heights and with enrolment increasing yearly, the need to provide additional boarding accommodation becomes critical; Wynberg’s sporting history requires redoubled efforts to honour its sporting greats by adding to our sports facilties; with continuing emphasis on scientific advancement, Wynberg learners deserve the most up-to-date laboratories and equipment available; transformation of Wynberg Boys’ High demands race parity of staff and for teachers otherwise unable to teach at Wynberg, medium-cost or subsidised housing on school property makes this a most important and desirable concept. As part of our campus development masterplan however, our immediate goal is the realisation of the ENGINEERING and
DESIGN FACULTY building. As indicated above, this development, adding to the success of our woodwork and metalwork subjects in the past, requires major financial expenditure both with the Western Cape Education Department’s Rand-forRand assistance and from benefactors and donors in our own Wynberg community of Old Boys, past and present, parents and friends of the school.
THE KIND OF EXPANSION PROPOSED IN THESE PAGES RELIES UNQUESTIONINGLY ON THE SPECIAL VISION AND COMMITMENT FROM WHICH WYNBERG BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL HAS BENEFITED IN THE PAST. IT HAS BOUND THE PAST TO THE PRESENT, ENSURING A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR THE SCHOOL AND FOR GENERATIONS OF ITS STUDENTS TO COME.
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GET INVOLVED This is a call for funding. We are looking to build relationships with businesses, organisations and individuals. We are seeking donations towards capital costs, equipment and fitting out as well as creating ongoing sponsorships. In addition to contributing to this vision and the benefits that it will bring to future generations, the more immediate rewards for investors include naming rights, tax benefits, and BEE rating scores. If you would like to find out more about opportunities for involvement please contact the headmaster. Jannie de Waal, on 021 797 4247 or jdewaal@wbhs.org.za.
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THE SUPERA MORAS TRUST The Supera Moras Trust has been established to receive funds on behalf of the school. It is enabled in terms of its official standing and registration to solicit donations for the benefit of the school. Donors are afforded significant benefits, details of which can be provided by the Trust Administrator, Mr Barry Jessop of Dorrington Jessop Inc. The Trust is registered with the Master of the High Court, Cape Town and as a Public Benefit Organisation with the South African Revenue Services. The Trust number is IT 4977/2008 and the PBO number is 930/048/781.
The present trustees are: 1. Judge Owen Rogers (chairperson) 2. Mr. Fritz Bing 3. Mr. Michael Ward 4. Mr. Michael Lewis 5. Mr. Andrew Feinstein 6. Mr. Keith Richardson All funds received by the Trust are invested either with Allan Gray Fund Managers or with Coronation Fund Managers. Unless donations are given without restriction (in which case the donations will be dealt with by the trustees at their discretion) each donation is invested separately and is thus ring-fenced. Donations are dealt strictly in accordance with the donor’s wishes.
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www.wbhs.org.za
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