Lobethal Independent School

LOBETHAL INDEPENDENT SCHOOL

Lobethal Independent School is a combined school found in the rural area of Msinga KwaZulu Natal. It was originally a Primary school but today it consists of grades from Grade RR to Grade 12.
The school was originally founded in 1994, by Miss Malherbe. The previous year the school had started with a Crèche. The school started with no teachers or finances, the teaching lessons had to be conducted inside the church building and the trees around the church. The school has had a lot of growth from the year it was founded, the below timeline will show developments in the school throughout the years.

Lobethal School Timeline

1993- (8 March) Ukuphuma Kwelanga Crèche opened its doors to 20 children. The crèche only had one teacher (Miss N. Malinga) and Gogo Malembe. The crèche used the church buildings of Kwasizabantu Mission.

1994- Lobethal Primary School was established
Grade 0- 2
Enrolment- 47 Learners
Teachers- Miss Malherbe (Principal), Miss Pretorius, Miss Mtshali and Miss Malinga
May- the church moved into the present church mission
June- the construction of the new church building started, including the two new classrooms for the school.
November- The school moved into the new two classrooms
4 December- the inauguration of the new church

1995- The school introduced Grade 3 with the enrolment of 55 learners.
New teacher joined the Lobethal staff Miss Sbisi. The school now had a total number of 5 teachers.
September- The school received some exciting news from the Department of Education of South Africa that the school was finally officially registered.
In this month the school also received some new furniture for the school from Switzerland including a new school bus.

1996- Grade 4 (72 learners)
4 Teachers join the school

1997- Grade 5 was added to the school and the number of learners increases to 87.
Lobethal also welcomed a new teacher Mrs Moll.

1998- Grade 6 was added to the school.
The school this year passed the 100 mark in enrolment with 105 learners enrolled this year.
The school also welcomed new teachers to the school, Mrs Mahlangu, Miss Withofft, Mrs Swanepoel and Miss Nigel.
The school also starts using the new classrooms in the new school building

1999-Lobethal Primary School was finally complete- Grades 0-7, the enrolment stood on 127 learners by the end of the school year.
Lobethal also welcomed three new school teachers to their staff: Miss Mkhwanazi, Miss D Malinga and Mr Swanepoel.

This year the school also prepared to say goodbye to their old name LOBETHAL PRIMARY SCHOOL to become LOBETHAL SCHOOL at the beginning of the year 2000 but still kept their motto:
MAY YOURS BE THE VALLEY OF PRAISE TO THE NAME OF GOD, LOBETHAL.