On Wednesday 1 March 2023, Laddsworth celebrated its 120th Birthday.

It was a day filled with lots of celebration and fun for everyone involved. We were overwhelmed by the amount of support shown by pupils, staff, parents, and the Hilton community.

The morning started with a massive cake made by My SPAR - Hilton Quarry, so big it had to be brought to the field by truck.

The entire School dressed in blue, gold, and white 120 t-shirts, were led by Mr. G Lambooy and bagpiper, Mr. I Turnbull, down to the field where they surrounded a 16x10m 120 badge on Stride Field.

We said a prayer, then sang the School song and Happy Birthday. Mr. Lambooy shared some words on the history of Laddsworth before cutting and handing out the cake to each class.

Each grade then split up to do a range of different fun activities, kite building, mini Olympics, the amazing race, treasure hunts, and even a clown, just to name a few.

The day ended with Mr. Lambooy handing out a number of Laddsworth 120 gifts and memorabilia to all the pupils and staff.

We say thank you to My SPAR - Hilton Quarry and all the members of the Laddsworth staff and community that made the 120th Birthday of Laddsworth Primary School so special and memorable.

OUR GIRLS HAVE DONE IT AGAIN

Our Laddsworth Girls A Swimming Team have won the Pietermaritzburg and Districts Girls Inter-School A-Gala and retained their historic title from 2022. In addition to completing "the double," they also brought home the U12 and U13 Relay Trophies, making it a clean sweep.

Our Boys A Swimming Team also had a fantastic result, narrowly coming 3^rd overall in the Pietermaritzburg and Districts Boys Inter-School A-Gala.

Proud is an understatement, and Laddsworth would like to thank all the pupils, coaches, staff, and families for their commitment and hard work put into the Aquatics program this season.

In 1903, 20-year-old Miss Daisy Ladds welcomed 20 pupils to a new school at the Hilton Hall. “The Hilton Road School” opened its doors to pupils arriving on horse trap and donkey, with a group being taken to and from the Cedara station by mule cart. All 20 pupils worked around one large round table, on slates with slate pencils.

The number of pupils at Miss Ladds’ school increased steadily and an assistant later joined her. The school became Government-aided and on 1 August 1918, it was taken over by the Natal Educational Department under the Free Education Act, becoming the Hilton Road Government Primary School, with Miss Daisy Ladds as Headmistress.

With the number of pupils still increasing, Miss Daisy Ladds moved to a newly built school ground above Voortrekker Road in 1937. 3 classes and an administration office quickly became inadequate for the 71 pupils enrolled that year, and more classrooms had to be built the following year. The Laddsworth Lodge townhouse complex now occupies this property.

Following her retirement in 1949, the school was renamed after Miss Ladds in 1958, in honour of her life’s work, years of service and vision. Nicknamed “Laddie”, she is still remembered by past pupils for her discipline and always being firm, but kind.

In October 1988 the School moved again, to its current site in Winstead Road. The new 21 classroom school facility, boasting modern buildings and extensive grounds, was officially opened by the Director of Education Mr A.B. Olmesdahl on 1 March 1989.

Laddsworth has been very fortunate in having had only 10 Principals in its 120-year history. In the last decade since Mr Gavin Lambooy took up the post of Headmaster in 2013, the school has grown tremendously from 510 pupils to the current enrolment of 660.

Major developments in infrastructure, the building of new facilities and significant increases in personnel have been achieved by the School Governing Body in the last decade. The school enjoys a uniquely designed and extensive complex of buildings, gardens and fields, which blends with, and encapsulates the country atmosphere of Hilton.

Laddsworth Primary School continues to enrich the school environment with some of its latest developments including a modern newly built Hall, extended Media Centre Complex, Advanced Computer Centre facility, 9 additional classrooms, together with a new Tuck-shop and first-class sporting facilities.

The school is well positioned to fulfil the previous Headmaster, Mr Stride’s wish for “the school still having to grow, to meet the needs of the community” which he had expressed at the School’s 75^th anniversary 45 years ago.

We continue to “Aim High”, strive to honour our traditions, fiercely guard our values and serve our mission to provide a value-driven, quality education to the Midlands Community.

Laddsworth 5-a-Side Soccer Tournament

Laddsworth Primary School, 23 July 2022

A fantastic day as Laddsworth Primary School held their annual Girls 5-a-Side Soccer Tournament. U9, U10, U11, and Open girls from 10 different Schools took to the fields on Saturday morning.

The Tournament comprised of 8min, round-robin pool games, with points being awarded for wins, draws and goalless draws. From there, semi-finals were played between 1^st and 2^nd of both pools A and B, with the winners progressing to the Final.

The winners and runners-up were as follows.

U9- Winners- Cowan House

Runners up- Laddsworth

U10- Winners- Athlone

Runners up- Cowan House

U11- Winners- Athlone

Runners up- Laddsworth

OPEN- Winners- Laddsworth

Runners up- Bisley

Congratulations to all the girls that participated, as everyone in attendance was treated to some fantastic and often nail-biting soccer, with a number of playoff games being decided by penalty shootouts.

Thank you to The Hilton Quarry Spar for once again supporting and sponsoring the Laddsworth 5-a-Side Soccer Tournament.

It was also great to have “WhatEvent” cover the event, as fixtures, results, and log standings were all readily available to supporters and teams online by link or QR Code.

Overall a great day and way to open the Laddsworth Term 3 sporting calendar #AimHigh

Laddsworth has always had a proud tradition of hockey at the School but 2022 has been especially successful. 20 Laddsworth pupils were selected to represent the Umgungundlovu Districts Primary Schools’ Teams. From those, an impressive 16 pupils were selected to represent the Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland Primary Schools Hockey teams, making Laddsworth one of the most representing Schools in the area.

Congratulations to all the pupils selected, as well as all the coaches and Laddsworth Sports Department for this fantastic achievement.

NATIONAL TOURNAMENT FROM 2 – 6 JULY 2022 - STELLENBOSCH

KZN INLAND U13 A BOYS           Luthando Shelembe

KZN INLAND U13 A GIRLS          Jemma Pitman

REGIONAL TOURNAMENT FROM 25 – 28 JUNE 2022 - HILTON

KZN INLAND U13 B BOYS           Blake Francis

KZN INLAND U13 C BOYS           William Riley

KZN INLAND U13 B GIRLS          Anna May

KZN INLAND U13 C GIRLS          Sophie Hobden

Tessa Moreno

REGIONAL TOURNAMENT FROM 26 – 30 JUNE 2022 - PIETERMARITZBURG

KZN Inland U12 A Boys               William Johnson

KZN Inland U12 B Boys               Nsika Msimang

Sam Wessels

KZN Inland U12 A Girls                 Paige Williams

Amile Nxumalo

Payton Nero

KZN Inland U12 B Girls                 Deborah Lock

Amanda Mchunu

                                                      Lily Strydom

Laddsworth would like to congratulate Matt Bisset from Grade 7, on being selected for the Midlands U13 Rugby Squad.

On 8 March, 2022 The Laddsworth Swimming Girls made History by winning the most important Gala in the Junior School Swimming Program, the Pietermaritzburg and Districts Inter-School “A” Gala. This is the first time Laddsworth Primary School has won the event, since its inception in 1930, 92 years ago.

The Boys team also produced a fantastic result, being placed 3^rd overall, and also for the first time won the U12 Relay Trophy.

Huge congratulations to the Laddsworth pupils, staff and all involved in the Swimming Program.

They all embraced the School’s Motto of “AIM HIGH” and were able to turn the hours of hard work and the early morning training into something truly special.

The fruits of their efforts have created such positivity throughout the entire Laddsworth Community.

Christelle van Tonder (Grade 5) took part in an SA kids Golf Tournament at Umhlali Country Club on 23 January 2022. She won her age group of 9 – 10. The year is shaping up to be yet another great one for Christelle on the Golf Course.

During the Holiday, 9 Laddsworth boys participated in the Junior T100 cricket festival hosted by the Hollywoodbets Tuskers at the PMB oval. The festival took part over 3 days, comprised of around 80 kids across 6 teams, each having an owner, coach and sponsor.

Sam Wessels and William Johnson’s team made the semi-finals while Josh Vurovecz's team ended up winning the final.

All three boys were drafted into the Tuskers Rising Stars Academy and will be trained by the Tuskers coaches and players. A fantastic opportunity for all three boys.

Congratulations to all the Laddsworth boys that took part in the festival.