Преторияская женская гимназия: История и современность

Pretoria High School for Girls (Simply often known as PHSG), is a full government, fee charging, English medium high school for girls located in Hatfield, Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is the sister school to Pretoria Boys High School. The high school was founded in 1902 by Edith Aitken.

In the 1880s the South African Republic Government built a Staatsmodelschool on the corner of Skinner and van der Walt Streets and a Staatsmeisjesschool (State Girls' School) on Visagie Street. By January 1900, with the war in full swing, the Staatsmeisjesschool had been commissioned as a hospital, while the Staatsmodelschool had been turned into a prison. Sir Winston Churchill was captured by the Boers and imprisoned in the school building, but managed to make his famous escape from there and took the railroad into Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique).

With Pretoria under British control, it became apparent to Lord Milner, the Colonial Secretary at the time, that the educational facilities in the city needed attention as there was no secondary school for English speaking pupils (and it was Milner's intention to anglicise what would become the Transvaal). The Staatsmodelschool was duly refurbished. It was renamed Pretoria High School and became the first of the so called "Milner" schools in the Transvaal, opening on 3 June 1901 with Charles Hope, who also founded Potchefstroom High School for Boys, as headmaster. Initial enrollment was 32 pupils, both boys and girls, which increased to 132 by August of that year. The school was to later become Pretoria Boys High School when the girls left.

Mr Hope left 15 months later, along with the girls, who were finally accommodated into the old building of the Staatsmeisjesschool. By October 10, 1902, the school opened as Pretoria High School for Girls. It consisted of four teachers and 126 girls under Edith Aitken, but contrary to the name, taught both primary and secondary school pupils until these two groups were separated in 1905. Girls High moved out to its current Hatfield location on 28 July 1915. The primary school continued to occupy the Staatsmeisjesskool premises and is today known as Hamilton School.

During the 2nd World War, the school served the community by supplying items to the needy. This tradition has continued into the present day, with each pupil and staff member annually knitting a jersey, which is given to needy members of the community.

Girls High is a state school that is supported by influential people and organizations. It includes the children of Minister of finance Pravin Gordhan's and Minister of health Aaron Motsoaledi's daughters. The school has also had patronage from the diplomatic community, including diplomats from Chile, Malawi, Uruguay, and other countries. It was voted by the Pretoria News as the best high school in Pretoria.

PHSG is one of the top schools in Gauteng in academic achievement. They are listed in the department of education's top 100 list. PHSG has a rigorous academic curriculum,from 2004–2009, they have had a 100% Matriculation pass rate. PHSG also won the Most Improved Schools Awards of 2007 together with 10 other schools around the country. In 2009, the school had a 99.9 percent Matric pass rate.

The motto of the School is We work in hope, and has a Latin equivalent, Prosit Spes Labori.

In 1936, the school's coat of arms was registered with the Department of the Interior as a "badge" under the Protection of Names, Uniforms and Badges Act 1935. In 1990, after slight improvement, it was registered at the Bureau of Heraldry under the Heraldry Act 1962. The registration certificate was presented to the school by Frederick Brownell, the State Herald at that time. The school magazine of that year includes an explanation of the coat of arms. Heraldic practice in English tradition is to depict the arms of unmarried ladies or widows on a lozenge, a diamond shaped shield. The lozenge makes a bold heraldic statement about feminism. By 1990 only three schools, Girton College in Cambridge, St Patricks Girls High School, Canada and PHSG were known to display their arms on lozenges. The building is still owned by PHSG and is a protected site. This led to a huge outcry on social media and solidarity from the South African public. South African Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa wrote on Twitter: "Let us continue to assert our Africanness in all spaces so that we can breathe & be truly, fully ourselves." Patrick Gaspard, US ambassador to South Africa, also tweeted: "All societies have rules. And sometimes those rules are biased and need to be exposed and protested." An online petition had almost 25,000 signatures within a day. Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi, met with the school management to address the issues.

Girls High alumnae are known as "Old Girls" and there are Old Girls who are chapters in South Africa, Australia, England and USA.