Athlone School was opened in January 1959. Miss L E Jackson was appointed Principal.  When she retired in 1967, work had started on two additional infant classrooms, a hall, woodwork room and change rooms.  Mr K C Gomm followed, and a Library Research Centre was established. After Mr Gomm’s death, Mr T E Metcalf took over as Principal in 1976 and continued in the tradition of his predecessors committing the school to the pursuit of a high standard of education. In 1989, Mr R J Diederichs was appointed Principal and, having taught at the school, was well aware of the school ethos.

In 1992, Athlone, wanting to play a meaningful role in the change taking place in our country, was one of the first schools to enrol pupils of different races.

In 1994, Mr A L Wepener was appointed Principal.  The staff and parents were aware of the ever increasing importance of information technology – IT.

In 1995, our Computer Centre was established.  It was also at this time that the Governing Body started improving facilities and undertook various developments, namely:

The Pavilion:  This had a dual purpose, as extra storage and parking space was needed and it offered our parents and guests’ an undercover seating area when watching sporting activities. 

JP Playground:  This was upgraded by retarring the uneven area and new tables and benches were purchased.

Aftercare Centre:  A new pre-fab type classroom was built to accommodate the increasing number of learners who attend the Aftercare Centre.

Classrooms:  As the housing developments in our area grew, a decision was taken to build extra classrooms to extend our classes by one extra per grade.  As space was a major problem, it was decided to build upwards and not outwards.

Media Centre:  The Media Centre had become too small to accommodate our growing numbers so the Governing Body decided to extend the Library.  Tragedy struck in 2005 when, due to an electrical fault, the newly completed Media Centre burnt down.  This resulted in starting from scratch again with the rebuilding and restocking, as all the books had been destroyed in the fire. 

Good news, however, came out of the tragedy because the Department of Education agreed to rewire the entire school and this was completed in February 2007.

Swimming Pool:  In 2005, the school entered into an agreement with Mrs Rita Townsend to promote swimming within the school.  This resulted in the erection of a roof over the swimming pool and the pool being heated.  Rita continues to play a pivotal role in the training of Athlone Primary School pupils.

Security:  Due to the increasing need to protect our pupils, a palisade fence was erected around the school and in 2007 a security guard was employed by the school.

Grade R:  In 2010 a comprehensive purpose-built Grade R centre was established.

In 2013, Mr Wepener retired after 19 years of service and Mr Gerrit Coetzee was appointed as Principal.

In 2019 Mr Coetzee transferred to a school in the Midlands and Mrs Sally Shaw was appointed as Principal in February 2020.

Athlone continues to lay a sound foundation educationally and on the sports field and provides an environment in which the child can develop to his / her full potential.