Ex-pupils, teachers and staff of Thomas Wildschutt Junior Primary School in Retreat celebrated the institution’s 90th anniversary with a thanksgiving service on Sunday February 28th. The school, previously named the Retreat Wesleyan Church School, was started in 1926 by the Wesley Methodist Church. The name was later changed to the Retreat Methodist School in 1933 and then to Thomas Wildschutt in 1959.
The school was a wood and iron structure and only had 35 pupils. In later years the school was expanded and today it is the learning institution for over 500 pupils who come from all over Africa.
Some of these pupils joined in on the celebrations on Sunday. There were singing performances, prayers, poetry readings and a commemorative candle lighting for pupils, teachers and principals who had passed on.