The story of West Riding Primary School

West Riding is a suburb of Table View.  As the population of Table View increased, another primary school was required.

The Western Cape Education Department (WCED)   decided to build a new school in West Riding to serve the communities of Sunridge, West Riding and Parklands.

Table View Primary serves the community of Flamingo Vlei and the older section of Table View.  Bloubergridge Primary takes learners from Bloubergrand, Blouberg Rise, West Beach, Blouberg Sands and Sunningdale.

The building of West Riding Primary started in 2007.  The new school was due to be ready by January 2008, but as it was still incomplete, the WCED decided to start the school in prefab classrooms on the site.

The building was first referred to as Table View Primary 2, then the school was given the name Circle Road Primary by the WCED and finally after consulting with all parents, the School Governing Body (SGB) decided upon the name “West Riding Primary”.

On 21 January 2008, 55 learners started in Grade 1, 2 and 3. with Mr Akerman as the first principal.  The school also had three teachers, one secretary and a caretaker.  In 2009 a new Gr R and Gr 4 class were added to the school.  So many Gr 1’s applied that two Gr 1‘s were started.

On 4 August 2009, the keys were finally handed over to Mr Akerman.

On 1 September 2009, everybody helped to move the desks, etc into the new classrooms. It was on this date that the learners wore the uniform for the first time.  This was a historic day for learners, parents and educators.

Grade 5 was added in 2010, Grade 6 in 2011 and Grade 7 in 2012.

The major obstacle that still needed to be overcome was to develop the area demarcated for the sports field which remained undeveloped from the initial build. While our sports teams were forced to practice on our concrete quad areas, around the lighting posts, they still fared very well in their matches against opposing teams; revealing the promising natural talent and athletic ability of our learners.

It was only on 31 January 2015 that the new fields were used for the first time with the launch of the Value Driven Schools initiative and then progressively more as the grass established with the first soccer coaching / trials event being held on 20 June 2015. The establishment of the new fields paved, the way for the school to develop the natural talent in the school to produce top level athletes in the disciplines of cricket, soccer, athletics, cross country and netball.

We are dedicated to e-learning throughout the curriculum. Our school was equipped with a fully-functional PC lab since the beginning. Each year we receive more equipment and better integrate our technology into everyday lessons.

If you live in the Sunridge, West Riding or Parklands community and have children attending Gr R to Gr 7, please ensure that your child is enrolled in good time.  We look forward to see you at West Riding Primary.