Donatus Primary School

The Donatus Primary School is a Government School, situated at the corner of Lang street and Bert Jansen street in Otjiwarongo. Otjiwarongo is an urban town in the Otjozondjupa Region, in the North Central part of Namibia. During September 2009, the initial planning of the MoE was that the Donatus Primary School will start with 2 Grade 1 classes and will grow gradually according to the progress of the grades of the existing learners until Grade 7.

The Donatus Primary School opened its doors on the 11 of January 2010 with three Grade 1 classes, one Grade 2 and one Grade 3 class. The Grade 2 and Grade 3 learners shifted over from the by then existing Donatus Combined School. They were a total of 189 learners.

The Principal together with 4 teachers started from scratch, with 6 classrooms, 2 store rooms and an ablution block. One classroom served as the teacher’s media centre cum staffroom cum reception and the one storeroom as the principal’s office. The school received 20 dual desks and 40 chairs for the learners as well as a cupboard and a chalkboard in each class. The three buildings were standing in bare field between grass and bushes, where it was built during 2008 and 2009 respectively. There were no basic necessities like electricity, water and a sewerage system. An Administrative Officer was transferred to Donatus Primary School on 1 February 2010. Another Grade 1 class teacher was appointed in August 2010 in the teaching load of the principal. The first male Institutional Worker was appointed on 1 March 2010 and the second Institutional Worker, a female, was appointed on 1 August 2010.

The planning of the Ministry of Education was to start gradually by building the next 3 classrooms and storeroom which must come in use the next year during July of each year. It was received during 2010.

The planning for 2011 was that the Donatus Primary School should have started with:

• one new Pre-primary class,
• three Grade 1 classes,
• three Grade 2 classes,
• one Grade 3 class and
• extends to Grade 4,
• – but by the end of November 2010 the MoE changed their plans.

They decided that the whole Senior Primary Phase of the Donatus Combined School, consisting out of 1 class per grade, must also shift over to the Donatus Primary School. It brought along tremendous changes in the whole planning and set up of the school.

New classrooms were to be built and furnished over the December holidays, new staff to be appointed on a very short notice. The administration was to be done to get all the new learners and their parents’ details on the school’s database so that the opening of the school and the re-allocation of the learners should be smooth. The Donatus Primary School opened its doors in January 2011 with 493 learners and a staff of 1 principal and 15 teachers, 1 Administrative Officer and 2 Institutional Workers.

This sudden change at the Donatus Primary School caused that we had to re-allocate the whole staff to teach in other Grades and subjects except for 3 teachers, who remained in the same grades but needed to serve as grade heads for their respective grades in the Lower Primary. It was a difficult time for especially the Senior Primary teachers, because we still borrowed classrooms from the Donatus Combined school until our classrooms were handed over to us. The learners had to stay in their register classes and the teachers had to rotate into the different classes which they taught. All the teachers had to first find their feet with their subjects they have to teach in this newly established school. There were no teachers’ resources to back them up. During 2011, 2 blocks of 3 classrooms and a store room was received.

The Donatus Primary School also started with athletics as an extra-mural activity in 2011, as well as with netball and soccer as Winter Sport.

The Donatus Primary School started in January 2012 with 531 learners and a staff of 1 principal, 1 Life Skills teacher and 15 teachers, 1 Administrative Officer and 2 Institutional Workers. On 1 February 2012 the first two Head of Departments were appointed. By now there were 3 classrooms of Grade 1 to Grade 3. 1 Block of 3 classrooms and a storeroom was received during 2012 for use in 2013.

In January 2013 the Donatus Primary School opened a second Pre-Primary class and expanded to 3 classrooms in Grade 4. The total number of learners were 660 and a staff of 1 principal, 2 Head of Departments, 1 Life Skills teacher 18 teachers, 1 Administrative Officer and 2 Institutional Workers. Another 2 Institutional posts were filled by 1 November 2013. 1 Block of 3 classrooms and a storeroom was received during 2013 for use in 2014.

The Donatus Primary School started in January 2014 with 749 learners and a staff of 1 principal, 2 Head of Departments, 1 Life Skills teacher, 20 teachers, 1 Administrative Officer and 4 Institutional Workers. By now there were 3 classrooms of Grade 1 to Grade 5. 1 Block of 3 classrooms and a storeroom as well as a second ablution block was received during 2014 for use in 2015.

In January 2015 the Donatus Primary School opened a third Pre-Primary class and expanded to 3 classrooms in Grade 6. The total number of learners were 845 and a staff of 1 principal, 2 Head of Departments, 1 Life Skills teacher, 23 teachers, 1 Administrative Officer and 4 Institutional Workers. On 7 August another Institutional worker and an Assistant-Administrative Officer was appointed. On 1 September 2015 a second Administrative Officer was also appointed because the Donatus Primary School became the Cluster Centre as well. 1 Block of 3 classrooms and a storeroom was received during 2015 for use in 2016.

The Donatus Primary School started in January 2016 with 949 learners. The demand for Grade 1 was so big that a fourth Grade 1 class was added to the establishment of the Donatus Primary School. Initially this was done as an afternoon class, but it was very quickly changed to the morning session to the benefit of the learners. The staff consist out of 1 principal, 2 Head of Departments, 1 Life Skills teacher, 26 teachers, 3 Administrative Officers and 5 Institutional Workers. By now there were 3 classrooms of Pre-Primary to Grade 7 with the exception of Grade 1. In 2015 4 classrooms were built as well as the new Office block.

The Donatus Primary School started in January 2017 with 1060 learners and a staff of 1 principal, 1 Head of Department because one of the Head of Departments was appointed as a Principal at another school; 1 Life Skills teacher, 27 teachers, 3 Administrative Officer and 5 Institutional Workers. A fourth Pre-Primary class was opened to feed the Grade 1 classes. Grade 2 expanded to 4 classes. because A bottle neck which formed in Grade 4 with the implementation of the new curriculum, where some new work was omitted, caused the opening of a fourth Grade 4 class to accommodate all the learners. The creation of a Learner Support class was requested but not fulfilled. During this year the Donatus Primary School only received a third ablution block. The planning decision of the Regional Office of Otjozondjupa indicated that there is no money to build more classrooms and that we must start with some classes to be offered during the Afternoon session. The School Board of Donatus Primary School started with fundraising as well as looking for other sponsorships to help fulfill in the needs of the school.

In January 2018 the Donatus Primary School opened with a total number of 1115 learners and a staff of 1 principal, 1 Head of Department & Life Skills teacher and 32 teachers, 3 Administrative Officers and 5 Institutional Workers. Pre-Primary to Grade 3 as well as Grade 5 consisted out of 4 classes each, while Grade 4, 6 and 7 had 3 classes each. The Principal of Donatus Secondary School agreed to borrow the Primary School some classrooms which was built for future use, as the Regional Office of Otjozondjupa were planning to expand the Secondary School. Two of the Grade 3 classes shift to the newly built classrooms of the Donatus Secondary School, but used the gate between the two schools for Assembly and break time, not to disturb the Secondary School classes.

The Donatus Primary School started in January 2019 with 1167 learners and a staff of 1 principal, 1 Head of Department & Life Skills teacher, 33 teachers,

3 Administrative Officers and 5 Institutional Workers. By now there were 4 classrooms of each grade from Pre-Primary to Grade 4 and Grade 6 with the exception of Grade 5 and Grade 7 which had 3 classes each. The two Grade 3 classes were still on the premises of the Donatus Secondary School. On 1 October, the long awaited second Head of Department was again appointed.

The Donatus Primary School started in January 2020 with 1220 learners and a staff of 1 principal, 2 Head of Departments & Life Skills teachers,

3 Administrative Officers and 5 Institutional Workers. By now there were 4 classrooms of each grade from Pre-Primary to Grade 5 and Grade 7 with the exception of Grade 6 which had 3 classes. The Covid-19 Pandemic hit the country and the second Head of Department of Senior Primary started working after the first Lockdown. The classes were divided into two groups, the groups came to school on every alternative day and some learners learned from home. All extramural activities were stopped.

The Donatus Primary School started in January 2021 with 1255 learners and a staff of 1 principal, 3 Head of Departments, 1 Life Skills teacher, 33 teachers,

3 Administrative Officers and 5 Institutional Workers. By now there were 4 classrooms of each grade from Pre-Primary to Grade 6 with the exception of Grade 7 which had 3 classes. On 1 October the second Junior Primary Head of Department was appointed. A 4-Classroom Block with a storeroom was sponsored by GGP Japan to the Donatus Primary School. The year 2021, was used to the recover academically after the pandemic and thus did not offer any extramural activities. But rather offered Learner Support to the learner’s benefit.

The Donatus Primary School started in January 2022 with 1261 learners and a staff of 1 principal, 4 Head of Departments, 1 Life Skills teacher, 34 teachers,

3 Administrative Officers and 5 Institutional Workers. For the first time there were 4 classrooms of each grade throughout the whole curriculum of the Donatus Primary School.

In January 2023 the Donatus Primary School opened with a total number of 1305 learners and a staff of 1 principal, 4 Head of Departments, 1 Life Skills teacher and 35 teachers, 3 Administrative Officers and 5 Institutional Workers.

All extramural activities are back in full swing.