History of the School

Athlone Primary School stands proudly at the Northern entrance to Pietermaritzburg. The school was first established in 1959 and since it's first day has provided the children that have passed through the gates with an enviable education and a myriad of happy memories. We are a feeder school to all of the major high schools in the KwaZulu-Natal region , both private and public. Many of our pupils have been awarded scholarships to these institutions for both academic and sporting achievements. We continue to be extremely proud of all of the youngsters we have had the privilege of nurturing through their primary school years. In 2009 Athlone Primary School will be 50 years old! We have stood the test of time with great success and are proud to be a part of the heritage of excellent education that is found in Kwazulu Natal. (more info about our 50th birthday celebrations here)

• Administration
• Aftercare Facility
• Classes
• Code of Conduct and Disciplinary System
• History of the School
• Remedial Program
• The Computer Room
• The Library
• The Tuck Shop
• Uniforms
• Extra-mural activities

Administration

The School administration is run by three extremely remarkable ladies. Our friendly receptionist,  Sabie, our hardworking bursar, Merle and our efficient secretary, Debbie. Between them these ladies will be able to answer any questions you may have regarding the day to day running of the school. Without them the system would come to a grinding halt! You can contact  them by calling the school during office hours or by popping in and asking at the front desk to see one of them. Contact us.

Aftercare Facilities

The aftercare at Athlone is run privately by Mrs. Norma Maybury and is available to all the pupils at the school. It is currently housed in the two pre-fabricated buildings below the Junior Primary school. We are currently exploring options to expand our aftercare facility and to provide a bigger, more permanent building for its use. Watch this space! Our Carers work tirelessly every day until 5.00pm. As well as providing supervised playtime, they also help the children with their homework. It is important however, that parents get involved with homework done by their children as well, and we encourage them to check it every evening in order to keep up to date with both the child's work and any school notices that may have been sent home. Should there be a problem with a child, the Aftercare staff will act quickly and contact the parents if necessary. Rates and contact numbers can be obtained from the school office. Contact us.

Classes

    The ethos at Athlone School has always been and will continue to be, one in which all the children are educated in small, child orientated classes. Although our school has grown considerably in the past few years, the school management has been forward thinking in their planning and has been able to provide both new classroom facilities and additional staff  in order to cater for the increase in pupil numbers. Although this means that our school fees are higher than some of the other local government schools in the area, it also ensures that we can continue to offer an education that is both of a high standard and multi-faceted. Our children leave Athlone School with confidence and skills that enable them to achieve their individual goals and potential to the fullest extent in high school and later life. This is largely due to our dedicated teaching staff who continually provide both professional and personal commitment to each child in their care.

We currently offer three classes per grade from entry level at Grade R to the final year of primary education in Grade 7. Our class numbers are between 20 and 25 in the Junior Primary and between 25 and 29 in the Senior Primary.

Remedial Program

Remedial tuition is offered at Athlone by a privately contracted teacher. Ms. Kemp is our remedial teacher this year. She will work closely with our teaching staff to offer the best remedial tuition to those individual children who are identified by their class teachers as needing support. All assessments are completed at school with the input of staff and parents. The children are tutored individually or in small groups during school hours.

The Computer Room

Athlone has a small, but well equipped computer centre which is continually being upgraded as technology advances. Every child at Athlone has an hour long computer lesson each week where they are taught vital computer skills. The junior primary classes are taken by their own class teachers, and the senior primary is ably taught by Mr. Stuart Rogers. They work with a variety of programs including: Microsoft Access, Excel, Word, PowerPoint etc. in order to obtain a very good grounding in the use of and all round knowledge of computers. The skills that they learn in these lessons are transferred to their general school work for use in a variety of subjects, including project presentations. This year we are reintroducing the Future Kids series of programmes which have proved most successful in helping children learn sound computer skills in the past.

The Library

The media centre at Athlone School is one of which we are very proud. Following a devastating fire in 2005, we have rebuilt a bright, user-friendly and spacious facility which is the heart of the school. We have an extensive stock of reading and research material.The library also houses a bank of internet connected computers which are fully utilized by both staff and pupils for research, lesson planning and project completion. We also have a room in the media centre for visual media presentation. This room is also occasionally used for music lessons, ballet and our daily morning staff meeting. The library is open daily until 3.15pm. During this time children are able to sit and chat quietly, read, do homework, work on projects or work on the computers under supervision.   

Pupils from Grade R to Grade 7 are involved in media lessons each week. During this lesson, facilitated by our resident librarian Mrs. Brenda Wepener, they exchange books, which they read in their spare time, and they are given media science lessons.  They are taught how to look after books, how to access and process information, and are encouraged to extend their knowledge and interests through reading a variety of reading genres. In recent years our pupils have excelled at both regional and national levels  in the "Kids Lit"  literature and general knowledge competitions. This is an international competition which is adjudicated by international quiz masters. Our success in this regard is testimony to Mrs. Wepener's dedication to maintaining a growing and vibrant media centre as well as running book clubs and general knowledge quizzes.

The Tuck-Shop

Our tuck-shop this year will be run by Mrs. Kahler. This is a private enterprise and will provide healthy snacks and lunches for our pupils.  It is open at small breaks for Grade 1 and 2 and at big break for the rest of the school. It also opens for a short while after school and is open at Saturday morning sports fixtures held at the school. Lunch can be ordered on Monday to Thursday by the pupils. View the weekly menu and price list here. Sweets, crisps and cool-drinks are sold in the tuck shop on a Friday only. We encourage our children to choose from the selection of healthy snacks and drinks on offer.

Uniform Shop

Our school uniform shop is run privately by Mrs. Alice Simonovic. The shop stocks both new and second-hand uniforms. For details of uniform requirements please contact the school office. Contact us.