Objects of Substance - Head Girl badge

Letter from Valda Ridgeway (nee Hendren 1944) written to the Archivist in 2000

World War II had a serious impact on resources and materials which impacted on all walks of life, including the Grammar girl. Jewellers, Wallace Bishop would have been affected by lack of staff, the interruption of the usual supply chains, and procurement processes. In response to the scarcity of metal badges, the School looked to creative alternatives to celebrate their leaders with the rectangular royal blue cloth badge with the handsewn "PREFECT 1944" representing a sense of unity and identity for the Sc hool’s prefects. In the 1944 Prefects ’ photograph, the seven girls are wearing their School badges in lieu of a silver Prefect ’ s badge. One can only wonder if that was the girls’ choice or a ruling from a higher authority.