If all goes according to plan, construction of the new school building of the Dome Combined School will be completed by 21 June.
However, there is no date as yet for the school to move from its current premises on Loop Street to the new grounds on Fourth Avenue.
The new school building will have a hall – which the school has never had before – 26 classrooms, an admin block, a media centre with a library and a tuck shop.

For the school’s 365 Grade R to Grade 9 learners, it will be a joyful day when temporary classrooms and barren ground finally make way for a proper single-storey school building, a grassy playground, a soccer field and a multi-purpose court.
The contractor, White Leopard, started in August 2022.

The school is situated on municipal grounds, earmarked to build the school as a joint project of the Departments of Education and Public Works.

Illegal dumping previously sullied the vacant lot, and the hope is that the development of the land will benefit this residential area.
Dome Primary School opened on 11 January 2017 with 58 learners from Grade R to Grade 3 who started their new school year as English-medium Dome Primary School learners.

At first, they were accommodated at the A.M. Lembede School in Tumahole.

A few months later, three temporary classrooms awaited them at their school premises in Loop- and Delver streets.
The initial three temporary classrooms quadrupled to 12.

Along with the school principal, Wilna van Buren-Scheele, the teachers, supporting personnel, and general workers did a splendid job of bringing colour where there once was nothing.

The land where the school is currently situated was zoned for educational purposes in the seventies.
The mobile classrooms were only temporary, and the school has needed a permanent structure for a long time.
In 2020, engineers visited the school premises and confirmed that the clay soil and wetland would make preparing the land and building too expensive.

Since safety and cost are considerations when building a school, the decision was to build on the Fourth Avenue premises.
According to the principal, the school will benefit from the additional space and separate ablution facilities for junior and senior learners once they move to the new premises.

Having a hall will also mean the school can host concerts and functions on the premises for the first time.
Ms van Buren-Scheele praised the contractors and role players for their regular feedback at technical meetings and the ongoing quality control tests.