Ugie - History Of Ugie High

History of Ugie High School

On 3 April 1874, shortly after the Allen family settled in Ugie, as traders, William Murray, the founder of Ugie, started a small private school for the children of Allen and all the other pioneers of the area. He was the first teacher. The living room of his homestead was used as the classroom.

In 1879 this school became a state subsidized school and in August of that year Miss Margaret Allen became the first appointed teacher. A small building of sod bricks and thatched roof was used as the school.

In 1880, during the Mpondomise uprising, this building was burnt down. At the close of the war an application was made to the Cape Government for financial aid to re-open the school. The Government was unable to supply the funds.

On 12 August 1885 another letter was written by Mr Henry Trollop, to Sir Langham Dale, requesting financial aid. The contents were misunderstood as the reply was that a grant for a Third Class Interdenominational Public School had already been granted to Ugie.

The residents of Ugie held a meeting on 9 September 1885 and a memorandum was drawn up. The memorandum accompanied by a letter was sent to the Government requesting a yearly allowance for Mr Joseph Clark. Mr Clark had provided private teaching to a number of pupils since the end of the war. The request was successful and the old, burnt-out school was repaired.

An allowance of 30 pounds (R60) was granted to Mr Clark.

During the summer of 1885/86 there had been so much rain and crop devastation that starvation occurred in the area. Many farmers were forced to leave the area and in 1887 the community of Ugie requested the Department to close the school, because of a lack of pupil numbers.

It was only 11 years later, that in 1898 an A3 School was once more granted to the Ugie community.

By the end of 1899 this school had to close because of financial problems. There was thus no school at Ugie. In September the inauguration of the Rev John Knox Bokwe, a Xhose minister of the Presbyterian Church (a missionary division of the Free Church of Scotland) took place in Ugie. He was a gifted and learned man who studies in Scotland. He was the author of numerous books and published a Book of Songs of his own composition.

On 5 November 1990, on his own initiative, he opened a private school at Ugie where white, black and brown children were accommodated. His wife was the teacher and the “Murrary Church” served as the classroom. At the beginning of January 1902, through the efforts of the Rev Bokwe and Mr G Bennie, the school inspector, this school became a A3 public School i.e under state control.

Since 1919 the school at Ugie entered a great advancement. This was mainly due to Ds M.T.R. Smit, who became the minister of the NG Church in 1917. He began with the establishment of a hostel for the poor which later developed into an orphanage and still later into the Children's Haven. Children of neighbouring districts streamed to the Ugie School and it was upgraded to a Primary B School.

In January 1920, Mr J.A. Pretorius was appointed as principal. He aimed to transform it to a secondary school. A shortage of classrooms developed. In 1921, 12 000 pounds was granted for a new school. Mr E. Pallet, a builder from Umtata was granted the tender. The corner stone was laid by Ds M.T.R. Smit on 14 May 1921.

The school, however, was too small and requests were made for additional classrooms. In the meanwhile, use was made of the N.G Church Rectory, a garage, a home and outside room were used as additional classrooms. Since 1938 all pupils were accommodated under one roof and the Department of Justice bought an old school building for the purpose of periodic court sittings. In the same year electric lights were installed in the school.

The establishment of high school was the aim of many people in the town. On 25 August 1959 a delegation was sent to Cape Town to speak to the Superintendent General of Education on this matter. In January 1961 the high school status was achieved.

To cater for the needs of the growing school community extensions were undertaken for the eighth time in 1968. These extensions included a building for the scholastically disadvantaged learners and a new school hall. The new additions have been in use since 1969.

The school committee endeavoured to obtain property for sports facilities as close as possible to the school. Erven were obtained from the Children's Haven and the municipality for the building of the Goedvolk sports complex, which was inaugurated in 1973. Dr P.M. Goedvolk and Mrs L. Goedvolk served for several terms on the school committee and were both deeply involved in the project.

In 1974 Mrs Annette van der Berg, wife of the then principal, composed the music for the words for the school song. Our school song, which follows, reflect, not only the scenic beauty of the area, but also our lofty educational goals.

“On the border of Transkei

Near the foot of Drankensberg

With hills and valleys evergreen

There's a school our Ugie High

Here we build and toil in joy

For the fame of our school

We stared from below

And ever we shall grow

Excelsior, excelsior will our motto be

Excelsior, excelsior for ever ever more!”

The Ugie High School flourished during the early eighties and was awarded higher status:

It received two grants for Head of Department and another grant for Deputy Principal.

Then a heavy blow fell; the M.T.R Smit Children's Haven was relocated to Port Elizabeth on 25 June 1987. This meant an immediate loss of 350 learners for Ugie High School as well as its secondary school status in January 1988.

On Tuesday, 19 January 1988, Ugie Primary School re-opened with an enrolment of 46.

A struggle for survival followed. The struggle, however, proved to be most successful.

In 1990 it was decided to open the school of learners of all races. This proved to be a wise decision. The annual report of 1994 reflected an enrolment of 144.

In 2001 the pass rate was 96% and from 2002 to 2005 it was 100%.

In 2006 the matric enrolment stood at 43 of whom sixteen (16) passed with matriculation exemption.

Currently the biggest drawback for Ugie High School is the large number of teachers (18) who are remunerated by the School Governing Body (SGB). This constitutes a huge drain on the schools financial sources.

The large number of teacher is necessitated by the need of the community – the wide subject choice empowers learners to specialize in the field of their choice. Language needs, moreover, are addressed by three language streams offered up to and including Grade 6.

The unfortunate loss of the secondary status of the school in 1988 also led to the loss of large quantities of learning and teaching support material (LTSM), furniture, laboratory and other equipment – a loss which is still felt today.

The critical needs of the school are indicated in the short list below:

1. More teaching venues.

2. The upgrading and equipment of laboratories.

3. Learning and teaching support material

4. Furniture for:

The school Hall

Staffroom

Waiting room for parents and visitors

Sickbay

5. Computers

6. Maintenance of existing buildings

7. Resource Centre