Final Assembly 2025

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Final Assembly Address by Mr Marwick, Friday 21 November 2025

It has been precisely one month since we last gathered as this great GREEN Family – and I welcome you all to this final assembly for 2025.

Our assembly today has a very special purpose, and because of that, our order of proceedings is slightly altered.

There are some routine matters for us to cover – as well as some sombre ones – but it is worth noting that our assembly takes place against the joyous backdrop of the END of the school year for you young ladies and the start of your long, seven-week summer holidays. What a joy!

As you can see from the slide behind me, we will commence with a reading by Miss Sibisi.

I will then say a few words as the Principal; we will pay tribute to our departing staff; and only then will we move to the very important GBVF-related aspect of our assembly.

Our theme today is “Light the Future, Honour the Present.”

It is a humble attempt to hold three things in a single frame:

• The lightness and joy of the year ending.
• The completion of a journey, by staff and learners.
• The solemn resolve to confront the darkness of GBVF with unity and courage.

So, let us begin.

I invite Miss Sibisi to address us.

Readings – by Miss S Sibisi

Our first reading is a short one by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, the Mexican-American poet and activist. It captures the dignity of completion, the beauty of having done one’s best, and the responsibility to carry one’s inner light into the future:

“Go in peace. You have done good work. Go in peace and carry your light to the next place.”

Our second reading refers directly to the reason so many of us are dressed in black this morning:

“There are moments in the life of a nation when silence is betrayal. Today we join millions who refuse to look away — who choose to stand together because every woman’s life is sacred, and every woman’s safety is non-negotiable. We gather not in anger, but in remembrance and resolve: to honour those whose voices were taken, to support those who still carry wounds, and to declare with clarity that the dignity of women must be defended by all. In unity, we become the strength that darkness cannot overcome.”

Principal’s Message – MM Marwick

Good afternoon, once more.

As, for the last time in 2025, we gather together, it is fitting that, before we happily disperse for the holidays, we pause to look back at the year you all have shared; and I am honoured to include the six months that I too have been part of the journey of this great school.

From where I stand, 2025 has been a successful year for our old and grand institution. Collectively, we are able to reflect with quiet pride on a year of hard work, of learning, of growth, and of success. There have been ups and downs, as there always are, and although I have been your Principal for only a trifle under six months, I believe that you young ladies are most deserving of OUR thanks and our congratulations. Well done. Only in the last 48 hours, many of you completed your examinations — the ultimate academic test in the life of a young learner. And you have survived! The proof will be in the pudding, of course, as your reports are in some cases rather reluctantly handed over to your parents, but I trust that you worked hard, that you did your best, and that your results will reflect the effort you invested. Once again – well done.

Our theme today — ‘Light the Future, Honour the Present’ — is not an accident. It speaks to what it means to stand exactly where we are today: at the end of something meaningful, and on the edge of something new. To honour the present is to acknowledge the work we have done, the progress we have made, and the relationships we have built. But to light the future is to recognise that every ending is, in truth, a beginning. It is to carry forward the best of what we have learned, the best of who we have become, and the best hopes we have for ourselves and for this school. And in the face of the darkness we confront nationally, especially the grievous crisis of GBVF, lighting the future is not just a metaphor — it is a responsibility. We are called to be bearers of courage, kindness, justice, and quiet resolve. You are called to be young women — and adults — who refuse to look away.

Let me also, on behalf of you all, thank your teachers for their hard work and dedication this year. Their commitment, their patience, and their admiration for young people are the foundation on which all learning stands.

As with every year’s end, we must say farewell to those staff members who are leaving us — fine people who have given generously of their time and talents to this school.

• Miss Monique du Toit, has been a House Mother in the BE and gave two years of service to GHS.
• Mr Scholem Pillay, has been a physics educator of three years’ service.
• Mr Conor Killeen, has taught Physical Education for five years and has been the GHS Sport Coordinator.
• Mrs Rina Makwela, has been the Senior House Mother in the BE, and served GHS for seven years.
• Mrs Jana Zorger, has taught Life and Natural Sciences for nine years.

We thank them all very sincerely for their service and dedication to GHS. Let’s give them a round of applause, in grateful thanks.

Sadly, we are also today bidding farewell to two great stalwarts of the staffroom, who have collectively served Girls High for 51 years.

• Mrs Amita Ranjan has been a Mathematics educator at GHS for 20 years.
• Miss Elodia Komen has taught Afrikaans at GHS for a grand total of 31 years.

I did invite Mrs Ranjan and Miss Komen to address you all, as is their right after such distinguished service to Girls High, but to the end they remain self-effacing, happy to serve the school and to serve others, and they politely declined. We sincerely wish each of them a long, happy and restful retirement. Young ladies and colleagues, let us honour them with warm applause.

Now, a happier announcement — especially for our Grade 11s.

After meeting with your still rather small organising committee of ONE, I have confirmed that, as Principal, I would be honoured to host a Matric Leavers’ Function in the Norma Burns Hall at the start of term 2 next year: to be precise, on Friday, 10 April. I feel strongly that a school of GHS’s prestige and standing should put on a worthy and elegant function for its Grade 12s, although I understand perfectly why such an event has not been hosted here for a very, VERY long time! The plans are that it will be a stylish cocktail affair — with partners, with beautiful décor, and with all the glamour and glitz that you would expect, though perhaps not quite on the scale or expense of the Seasons’ Ball. If you would like to join the organising committee, please chat to Gabriella Hamblin. I offer a friendly challenge to you, our soon-to-be Grade 12s: build a legacy that future Matrics will inherit with pride.

Finally, as this is our last gathering for 2025, may I wish each and every one of you a safe and happy summer holiday. Rest well. Laugh often. Travel safely. Enjoy Christmas and all its blessings. And I look forward to welcoming you all — sun-tanned, refreshed, and eager for a new year — on Wednesday, 14 January.

Today is not just a normal civvies day; it is a nation-wide shutdown, as we at GHS support this movement to not only raise awareness about GBVF, but to make a stand for those who have been silenced. In Part 2 of this assembly, we will be led by our senior leaders. But before we move there, we have a final song to sing, and it is a stirring song — it is OUR song. Please stand, for the ‘School Song’.

ENDS.