Talk:Paul Roos Gymnasium

Nickname woefully inaccurate
The info box states that the pupils of PRG are nicknamed "Maties". This is not true at all. Maties is the nickname given to students at Stellenbosch University. As far as I know, there is no uniform nickname given to pupils of the school. The closest one can think of is "Paul Roosers", but that is not the same thing. At competitive sporting events, the school often refers to itself as "The Maroon Machine," but the phrase is not used outside of the school.41.133.62.97 (talk) 17:45, 26 October 2010 (UTC)Nick


 * seeing as how no one objected, I changed the entry. I'm not entirely happy with the alternatives I have entered, as neither of them is in common use outside of the school itself (and even there, it is very limited) but feel free if you anyone feels the need to remove them.  Just don't re-insert "Maties".  It's wrong.41.133.62.97 (talk) 15:17, 28 October 2010 (UTC)

In context I have no objection to the change and have not reverted it. However, let's not raak op hol. Internally to the school, "Maties" was the nickname used in my day in reference to our rugby teams etc. The fact that externally the name applies to the US students is irrelevant to that fact, so it is wrong to say that it is wrong. At the same time, this article being a public statement, it was misleading, and hence inappropriate, to use "Maties" in the position where it was replaced by "Paul Roosers". This expression might indeed not be the same thing, but is both clear and inoffensive in context (IMO of course!) and was (and is) commonly used both internally and externally. JonRichfield (talk) 08:07, 18 September 2013 (UTC)

Someone's To-Do list
For the school to have a presence on Wikipedia is praiseworthy, but to avoid friction and embarrassment some serious homework is necessary. Most urgently, the various claims must be supported by citations. As things stand an unfriendly editor could remove half the article at a swoop. The article for Stellenbosch High School is far from perfect, but should give some idea of options for improvements. I am not the one either to undertake the task or the research, but I'll keep half an eye on this page, and may lend a hand if required. It would be a great shame, reflecting poorly on its traditional prestige, if the school were now to be left without an articulate voice in its own support.

Inter alia, the tone needs to be adjusted to address external perceptions of the institution. The function of a WP article is to convey reference material, not a prospectus, nor an essay in self-appreciation. More substantial history would be good. A more extensive list of alumni and curricula in the form of collapsible tables would be less offensive to the uncommitted eye and more useful. Think about it. JonRichfield (talk) 08:07, 18 September 2013 (UTC)

'''Julle manne moet vinger trek! Is dit nou werklik die beste weergawe van julle skool wat julle kan aanbied? Of is trots op 'n mens se skool nie deesdae van belang nie? Julle steek af by byvoorbeeld Stellenbosch Hoërskool, en dit is niks om mee te spog nie!''' JonRichfield (talk) 17:08, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

Coat of arms
I was not involved, nor aware of the discussion at the time, but I see that the coat of arms has been removed from the Wiki commons and accordingly from the article. This is a shame and leaves the school without any illustration whatsoever. I should think that it should be possible to get the necessary formal copyright approval to post a photograph of the coat of arms on https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:UploadWizard

Then it would be legal and acceptable to use the picture in the article. Alternatively,consult with friends attached to Stellenbosch High School about the form of licensing that they used for posting their coat of arms. JonRichfield (talk) 17:08, 8 February 2014 (UTC)