Heathfield celebrates 60 years of excellence
AMID the Covid-19 pandemic, Heathfield High School will enter its 60th year of serving the community.
Heathfield High School was founded in 1961 with four classrooms at three different venues in Retreat, which included two classrooms in Second Avenue, at the then Retreat Primary School (later named Thomas Whilschutt). Another classroom was established at the Calvinist Church Hall in First Avenue, and one at the Apostolic Church Hall in Third Avenue. Later, the school was built at its current site, which was then called Punt’s farm.
Initially, the school’s learners came mostly from Retreat, Steenberg and Heathfield. However, today we also have learners who come from as far afield as Khayelitsha, Capricorn, Lavender Hill and Westlake.
Heathfield High School enjoys a rich tradition and record of academic, sporting and cultural excellence, and it has always enjoyed a high standing in the community. The school has produced prominent members of society.
The school has a rich anti-apartheid history. Heathfield High was a focal point for political awareness. The school enabled the gatherings of youth who were involved in movements that fought for democracy in the seventies, eighties and early nineties.
Because the school was involved in intensive political awareness campaigns, many lessons taught by teachers had serious political connotations and undertones. During this dark period of injustice, a number of our teachers and students were arrested by the apartheid regime.
From the early 1970s, Heathfield High was deeply rooted in the principles of the Western Province Senior Schools Sports Union (WPSSSU), as well in Sacos. These organisations arranged competitions that encouraged mass participation for learners from disadvantages schools. The rallying chant was, “No normal sport in an abnormal society”.
The impact that the WPSSSU had on Heathfield High was profound.
Heathfield, through its affiliation to the WPSSSU, became the voice for the voiceless. It became the moral compass for the disenfranchised and most vulnerable in society, and it galvanised the resolve of the oppressed!
The blue-and-white tracksuit of the WPSSSU provided and still provides a sense of hope and inspiration for the people of that generation. This was a golden era of school sport and community solidarity, which has left an indelible mark on the school.
The late seventies saw Heathfield High School emerge as a powerhouse in the sporting arena.
Heathfield High became a permanent feature in the WPSSSU’s A section athletics meetings. The school produced SASSSA athletes such as the Mulligan Twins, Michael Chitter, Andrew September, Leonard Peters, Tony Burrow, Freddy Williams, Miche le Grange, Romeo Sibanda, and many others. Williams went on to represent Canada at the Olympic Games and reached the finals of the 800m.
Athletics at Heathfield High cannot be mentioned without naming the great sprinter Terrance Smith, who at one stage held the South African records for the 100m and 200m events from the under-14 up to and including the under-17 age group. Nicknamed “Die Perd”, his records were only broken in the eighties.
No WP team was complete if Heathfield High did not have representatives present, and in the 60 years of the school’s existence, more than 150 athletes from Heathfield High earned their blue-and-white colours.
It was also during this period that Heathfield High School became known as the mecca of volleyball. The school’s volleyball was of such a high standard that for 12 years Heathfield remained the WPSSSU champions, and players such as Lee-Anne Naidoo went on to represent South Africa at the Olympic Games in the beach volleyball division.
The disbanding of the WPSSSU in favour of school sports unity and the rationalisation of teachers saw most schools, including Heathfield, go through a sporting slump, and it has been only in the past 12 years that Heathfield has returned to the athletics arena and for the past 10 years regained and remained a force in the A section competitions.
During this period, Heathfield High School built up a relationship with Roodezandt High School from Saron and Waveren High School from Tulbagh. A highlight of the school’s sporting calendar is the annual triangular athletics meeting.
Forty years ago, sport was arranged by the WPSSSU, which had more than 120 affiliated high schools. All codes of sport were played under this union’s umbrella. Today, sport is organised on a zonal basis, and quite a few schools either do not offer any sport or compete in only one or two codes.
Heathfield High is slowly clawing its way back to become the sporting great it was years ago. We are actively involved in 13 codes of sport, and with the acquisition of the school hall, we foresee volleyball growing back to its former glory. The annual 24-hour marathon and the inter-house athletics meeting have become anticipated highlights of our sporting calendar.
In the early eighties, Heathfield High School was one of the first “schools of colour” to introduce music as a subject. Today, our jazz band is celebrated worldwide, and it continues to produce musicians who are held in high esteem by the music fraternity internationally.
The mid-eighties saw the construction of the tennis courts, which resulted in the introduction of tennis as a code of sport at Heathfield.
In 2015, after nearly 40 years of actively campaigning and fund-raising, the school acquired a hall. Today, the hall is a centre for school productions, sport, arts, and many social and formal community engagements.
The acquisition of the school hall provided the genesis for the formation of the Heathfield High School Alumni Association. It has grown from strength to strength into a strong partner to the school.
In 2018, the school partnered with Battswood Art Centre. The result of this partnership was the extension of our curriculum to include drama, dance and visual art as part of the subject offering from grades 8 to 12.
The prominent people who have attended the school include Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel, Professor Lesley le Grange, Bishop Ivan Abrahams, Dr Ruben Richards, councillor Kevin Southgate, Marc Lottering, David Isaacs and Eduodia Samson.
We are encouraging former learners to support our 60th anniversary celebrations. For updates, follow “Heathfield High School” on Facebook, visit the school, or contact hhs60thanniversary@gmail.com or 021 715 4622.
Yours for free quality public education.
“Because the school was involved in intensive political awareness campaigns, many lessons had serious political connotations