2012 Matric Sleepover

Every year, it is tradition, as a Matric privilege, to be allowed to Sleepover at school. This is done in Wellington Quad on the Sacred Grass, which no one is allowed to walk on, until their sleepover.  This year was no exception, but the Matrics of 2012 used every opportunity to bond, dance, play and sing.

As soon as the bell rang on Thursday afternoon, we all rushed to the Grass with our camping gear, to find a spot to put our tents up.

After unpacking, changing into casual clothes and preparing ourselves for the fun to come, we were allowed to swim, as the only grade, for the first and last time since our Grade 8 Pool Party which had been part of our orientation at Wynberg.

With our fires now lit, and the sun going down and our meat on the braais, the music started up and we began to dance for what would become 4  hours of non-stop dancing. We found ourselves dancing to the likes of Mandoza, Lykke Li, David Guetta, Beyonce, LMFAO, and even Brenda Fassie! After dinner, we moved to the hall, where we carried on dancing: the Tech team dimmed the lights and put on colourful flashing ones, so our school hall was tranformed to a dancing hall. We did a dance video together before settling down to watch a “chick flick” together, and headed back to our tents.

When we got back forms of entertainment included Charades, 30 seconds, face-painting  (“MATRIC 2012 SLEEPOVER”). There was interior decorating: signage was transformed to Hogwarts locations: we found a “Womping Willow”,  a bathroom was the location of Moaning Myrtle, and red and white tape was threaded across staircases so that people would have to walk over and under to get places. Useful tips about our teachers was given to the Grade 8′s on a board dedicated to them.  Posters were turned upside down, Newspaper was taped over mirrors in the bathrooms with encouraging comments for the gazer: “You look nice”, “I like your hair”and “Yes, you are the fairest of them all”. A note stuck on the staff room window was promised to undo what we’d done the following day at break.

In the wee wee hours we drew up into a large circle to talk about life, memories and future. We laughed a lot, at times wanted to cry, and we poured our hearts out. What is certain is that we can never look at each other the same again. The Matrics of 2012 stayed up all night, watched the sun come up in an assortment of pink, purple and blue. We saw our school and each other afresh. And those had been sleeping, woke up to laughter, the shaking of a tent and more music and dancing.

Huge thanks to the teachers who spend a night of theirs in the school, making what is a highlight for us possible.