NEW ORLEANS SENIOR SEKONDERE SKOOL
School’s profile
We profile New Orleans Senior Secondary School of Paarl, its name a French heritage going back to the 17th century.
New Orleans is a suburb of Paarl towards the east, towards the industrial area, not that Paarl has a great deal of industry for it not a big town and more inclined to viticulture than manufacture.
Paarl, founded by Abraham Gabbema in 1657, just five years after the Dutch first established a settlement at the Cape, is the third oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town and Stellenbosch.
Paarl is reputed to have the longest main street of any town in the Southern hemisphere. It is a fascinating main street with splendid example of Cape Dutch architecture. In places the vineyards come right down to the street. It is also the home of KWV (Ko-operatiewe Wijnbouwers Vereeniging van Zuid-Afrika), the biggest wine co-operative in the world. It was in Paarl that the impetus to have Afrikaans recognised as an official language first began. On Paarl Mountain there is a monument to the Afrikaans language.
But really Paarl equals wine. The KWV is in a sense the capital of South Africa’;s wine injury, The Huguenots brought it, fleeing religious persecution in France. 176 of them came to South Africa in 1688 and their descendants are numerous – not as many as the vines they planted, but numerous.
The settled in the Paarl-Franschhoek area. They gave farms French names – La Motte, L’Ormarins, Dieu Donné, Mouton-Excelsior, Haute Provence, Laborie, La Concorde and New Orleans, which has nothing to do with the Southern USA but lots to do with Joan of Arc’s home town.
School
New Orleans Senior Sekondêre Skool was founded in 1984, a big co-ed school with more that 150 pupils and 60 staff.
The school has excelled at several sports, including rugby. Waylain September and Godfrey Stevens played cricket for South Africa Under-19, Shenette Martin represented South Africa at table tennis, Shirklyn Smith and Shenay Barends played hockey for South Africa Under-19, Sheila Panyeka won South African colours at athletics and Aden Demas will tour Australia with a South African tennis squad. And then there is Hilton Lobberts at rugby.
School information
Name: New Orleans Senior Sekondêre Skool
Foundation date: 1984
Motto: Studium et labor (Study and work)
School numbers: 1550 boys and girls
Rugby teams: 5
Rugby
Paarl people love rugby, and the school has played it from its foundation. It has close rivals in Paarl – Paulus Joubert, Charleston Hill, Noorder-Paarl and, above all, Klein Nederburg.
New Orleans and Klein Nederburg first met at 1st XV level in 1984, From 1997 the derby concept grew till now it is one of Paarl’s main sporting events.
First National Bank first sponsored the event in 2002.
Since 1984 Klein Nederburg have won twice – in 1997 and 2002. On the other 16 occasions New Orleans were the winners.
Two outstanding products of New Orleans are Danwell Demas, the speedy Springbok Sevens player who plays for the Pumas, and tall flank Hilton Lobberts who played for the SA Academy side in 2003 and then in 2004 for SA Under 19 at the World Championships and for SA Schools.
