Rustenburg Girls’ High School

One of SA's top girl schools with an exemplary academic track record.

I hate to throw shade at the school I’ve spent my whole life at. The school itself is beautiful and it’s definitely great for education but not for metal health. The environment is extremely toxic and the teachers have no care for the students or the problems they are struggling with. The work load is to stress full and gets piled on everyday which causes us students to rebel.I can’t count the amount of times I’ve heard girls crying in the bathroom and complaining about their mental health. All this school focus on is the academics. I used to wake up and dread coming to school. You are not notices in this school unless you’re both an A scholar and an A top achiever in sports. The school uniform is made from an awful metal and is made for people that are skinny and no other body type.

Having been an exemplary primary- school student or “all rounder”, I entered a RGHS a confident, intelligent and happy young lady. However, I left (after 1 year), a broken, disheartened and ashamed girl. You’ll be conditioned to get A’s but at the end of the day, you’ll leave the school with just that… No real sense of belonging, individuality or stability. This isn’t the place for anyone who wants to excel academically because that can only be achieved holistically - take it from a Dux Scholar!

Although this school is acclaimed to be a “good school” there is really not much more to it and I’m not sure what exactly makes it a “good school” other than having a name that has highly proclaimed connotations connected to it. My experience with mental health was awful during my time there and my depression was undermined for more than 2 years. A child will definitely get a high standard of education going there but I’m not sure if it is worth it, given that so many girls have mental health issues. We have spoken about it amongst ourselves countless times and there is not one particular thing that you can put your finger on to pinpoint the issue, other than the general environment. The RGHS environment breeds anxiety and depression and many mental health issues that come with this. Although one of the counselors is excellent, there are just too many girls and too many school-induced issues to be treated. It is a beautiful school but I wish the environment when I was there did not drive me to leave in my second last year of school, right before matric.

The sports head influences eating disorders. Encourages them, even. Need I say more?

If you’d like a guaranteed good matric, you’ve come to the right place. But at what cost? I went to RGHS for 5 years, and not a day went past (especially in matric) that I didn’t hear a girl sobbing in the bathroom. Our breaks are short, our lessons long, the pressure extremely high. The summer uniforms don’t fit unless you’re skinny, racism is high despite many attempts by the school. Only recently was an extremely racist teacher, who said the N word to girls of colour ‘retired’ We do have lovely counsellors. But, they are our LO teachers as well, making it awkward. You don’t want to express your deepest feelings to your teacher do you? The one who doesn’t teach, is one who doesn’t have the right qualifications, and has no idea of what confidentiality is, and will make girls feel uncomfortable by sharing stories of their friends that were told in private. It’s just inappropriate. Although, I applaud Rustenburg for I see the efforts they are making. I applaud some of the teachers. Some of them truly care and will make time out of their day to make sure you are okay too. Some teachers are incredible. Really and truly, but sometimes I feel like they balance jobs of therapists and teacher at the same time, which isn’t fair on them. Some teachers are downright disrespectful. Like talking during exams, eating students food, and not behaving professionally at all. I also find that the banning of school sports skorts has raised red flags. These skorts were part of our uniform and we were made to purchase them, but later in the year they were banned from wearing to school. The reason being they were “too short” and made “some teachers uncomfortable” this is a SCHOOL. If a teacher is feeling uncomfortable of what a girl is wearing, ban the teacher, not the item of clothing! On the topic of uniform, grade 8s are influenced to buy the RGHS hoodie. They are lovely hoodies don’t get me wrong, but… of course, we are not allowed to wear them during school time. I don’t see why. They represent the school, ah but I guess god forbid the students wear anything that they are comfortable in. The strict insane rules of piercings and dyed hair and nail polish is ridiculous. Girls dyeing their hair from natural brown to a natural blond is wrong. They would get in trouble. Girls wearing nail polish or having piercings in is wrong. Why? Is this school so set on banishing any form of individuality and self expression? This school is like taking a long, long walk during a hurricane and fire at the same time, but the only thing keeping you walking, is the reward at the end. The reward of a perfect matric pass. But is that reward worth it, if you get burnt and shattered at the end?

i honestly have met very few girls at rustenburg who actually like it. i’m not exactly sure what it is about the school but it is often quite an unsettling environment. the school also claims to be working hard on diversity etc. but they have failed to pull through on a lot of things. the new principal is making quite a few changes that are in a very good direction but still a lot of students don’t feel their efforts are adequate. sport is given little to no recognition at the school and is put at the very end of the list of importance. even though there are some very good teachers, a lot of them are not appropriate for a high school environment (especially in the maths department).

The school turns out good students but it's not always great socially, however the new principal is really attempting to create a better environment

I went to Rustenburg from grade 8 to 12. While I sometimes found the girls difficult to be around, I always appreciated and loved the teachers. The standard of education was extremely high. From grade 8 to matric, the teachers pushed me to be my best. I went from having one A on my report, to having straight As by matric. The teachers always made sure I understood all the work and offered many after school lessons for those who needed them.

I loved Rustenburg. I went there from grade R to matric and made so many memories. It is tough because the academics are at quite a high standard, but I truly feel they prepared me well for the real and professional world. They are currently making a huge effort with regards to inclusivity and acceptance through their Dialogue Days and various other platforms available for students to address their grievances. The school also offered so many opportunities academically, in sport and extramurals, and in cultural activities like music, drama and art. Yes, there are things that Rustenburg can improve on... no school is perfect and every school has their issues, but overall I feel beyond priveledged to have been able to attend such a good school. Sidenote: the grounds and facilities are really well maintained, clean and beautiful.