Wynberg Boys’ High & Junior Schools trace their shared history to the official opening on Thursday 1 July 1841 of ‘The Wynberg Established School’ under the Headmastership of Mr John McNaughton. This school in Glebe Cottage on Waterloo Green, a single schoolroom measuring 18 x 30 imperial feet, was both co-educational and multiracial, only officially appending the word ‘Boys’ to its name in 1853 by which time due to increased numbers the school had relocated to what is Bryndewyn Cottage, on the corner of Aliwal & Tennant Roads in Wynberg.
It was from this purpose-built schoolhouse on the Sunninghill Estate that Wynberg Boys’ High relocated to what is now Wynberg Boys’ Junior School’s premises on Oxford Street, and from there to the historic grounds bordering on Trovato Estate in 1981.
Search the Wynberg Boys High Magazines and find out more about the The Oude Wijnberg Museum
One of the delights of school magazines is the simplicity of the reflections on a year in the life of the institution, modestly understating events and achievements on one page and at times contrasting disappointments brought of higher expectations on the next. While across the decades the developments of grounds and buildings and the evolution of events and competitions are recorded, these milestones are but markers of the march of time for the all-important boys and teachers whose names and actions embody both the living and generational history of the school and its communities.
Compiled with undisguised pride, these publications were originally intended both as records and important tools of communication, particularly with the schools’ old boys and former staff – a long way from the more prospectus-driven glossy publications of the 21st century and the proliferation of digital social media platforms. But whether designed for communication or as marketing devices, school magazines remain the most enduring – if not endearing – records of the journey of boys to men against the backdrop of changing times and societal norms.
