Shirley was born and raised in Fish Hoek, attended the local schools, and matriculated in 1972. Shirley graduated from the University of Stellenbosch with majors in Psychology and History and completed her HED at the University of Cape Town. She started her teaching career as the school counsellor at Wynberg Girls’ High School (WGHS). During her time at WGHS this time she completed her Psychology Honours (UNISA) and a Diploma in Business Management (Damelin College) part-time, both with distinction.

Shirley’s progression through promotion posts took place at the same school, fortunately being able to concentrate on the pastoral area of schooling. She served as principal of the school for 21 years, retiring in 2019, after 39 wonderful years at WGHS. WGHS was consistently a Western Cape Top 20 Best Performing School during her tenure as Principal. Shirley loves change and her time as principal embraced this in so many ways. Particularly important to her was to be awake to the changes required in the older, more traditional schools and, although extremely difficult at times, these years of transformation were the highlight of her career.

Shirley spent a year seconded to the department mentoring new principals and served as the President of the South African Girls’ Schools’ Association for four years. She was fortunate to attend many local and international conferences which were often the catalyst for deep reflection and change. These all gave wonderful opportunities to give back to education, which had given her so much.

Shirley has a daughter and son, and two stepdaughters. Four grandchildren in Cape Town keep her busy in retirement and she has four grandchildren in USA and Johannesburg to visit.

Currently, Shirley is as a facilitator for the Advanced Diploma in School Leadership and Management though the University of Stellenbosch, facilitating a Teacher Mentor course through the CTLI and working as a part-time assistant for her son. Together with her husband, they love caravanning, reading, and enjoying time to be grateful.