Westville Boys' High School 5.07

Westville Boys' High School, often referred to as WBHS, is a public high school for boys located in Westville, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.Early history2015 marked the 60th anniversary of WBHS as a high school. The roots of the school can be traced back to 1861, when German immigrant farmers operated a school from a nine by four metre wattle and daub structure sited on the main Durban-Pietermaritzburg road. They were the first large group of squatters to populate the area, named after Sir Martin West, the first Lieutenant Governor of Natal.The next recorded date of a school in Westville was in March 1935 when the Westville Kindergarten School, a private farm school, first opened its doors. Under the guidance of Miss Gladys Carr, the school eventually outgrew the Church Hall used at the time. In 1941 the school was moved to Bernardo's House, an old house situated on the present school site. This residence on 6acre of land had been bequeathed by Mr and Mrs Bernard to the people of Westville for educational purposes. It was near this site that the Outspan Tree, which marked the first overnight stop for the old ox wagons travailing to the interior, once stood. The Outspan Tree today forms part of the WBHS badge.By 1944 the admissions roll had increased to 66 pupils. The following year the co-educational Westville Government School opened as a provincial institution and operated at primary level until 1955. In 1949, Bernard's House was demolished to make way for the new school buildings which were opened in January 1950. The year 2000 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of these buildings that today form the inner quadrangle of the school. A ceremony was held in recognition of the contribution made by the Bernard family, and a memorial in their honour was erected on the site of the original farmhouse.