…Orban school bids farewell to an institution
After 17 years of leading Orban Primary School in Windhoek, principal Jan Cloete is preparing to retire, leaving behind a generation of pupils, teachers and memories that have shaped the school community.
The school staff, current and former learners held a farewell day for him where he was remembered.
Cloete, who has served as the school’s principal for 17 years, reflects on his tenure, the challenges he faced and the moments that have remained meaningful to him throughout his career.
For Cloete, his time at Orban has been a journey of growth.
“For me as a principal, it has been a deeply fulfilling journey of growth, resilience and community.
It has felt less like a job and more like building a legacy,” Cloete says.
He says one of his proudest achievements was creating a school culture that combines academic excellence with character building and emotional well-being.
“Building an inclusive, multilingual and supportive community where every child feels valued is one of my greatest achievements,” he says.
Cloete says resource constraints and changing educational demands were among the challenges he faced when he took over the school.
He says these were addressed through partnerships with parents and local organisations, careful budgeting, facility improvements and teacher development.
“Transparency and collaborative problem solving were key to turning those early challenges into opportunities,” he says.
He says the changes he believes will have the longest-lasting impact include learner support programmes, academic and remedial assistance, co-curricular activities and continuous teacher mentorship.
For Cloete, however, some of his most memorable moments have been the quieter transformations of learners who arrived struggling academically or socially and later become confident adults.
“Seeing former students return years later to our school as thriving adults, crediting in part their time at Orban Primary School, is the ultimate reward,” he says.
Cloete’s tenure has seen him work alongside generations of teachers and learners, many of whom remember his leadership and the values he instilled at the school.
For Nelly van Rooi, head of department for languages and social sciences, her journey with Cloete began in October 2023 when she joined Orban Primary School.
She describes Cloete as an instructional and rational leader, who prioritises both his teachers and learners.
“Mr Cloete builds a positive school culture, supports teachers as trusted professionals and always puts the learners’ needs first,” Van Rooi says.
She says working alongside Cloete had been a constructive experience and that she had learnt much from his leadership.
“There is so much I could take from him.
It was indeed an honour to work with him,” she says.
For former learner Megameno Amukongo, Cloete’s impact extends beyond the classroom.
Amukongo (24) attended Orban Primary School from Grade 1 to Grade 7 and remembers Cloete as a principal who balanced discipline with compassion.
“He was honestly one of the best principals. He was strict when it came to discipline, but at the same time, he was approachable, caring and had a really cool side to him,” Amukongo says.
She says his leadership taught learners important values that continued to influence them beyond their primary school years.
“His leadership taught us discipline, respect and accountability, and those are lessons I still carry with me today,” she says.
Amukongo says Cloete became so closely associated with the school that thinking of Orban automatically reminded her of him.
“For me, hearing or seeing ‘Orban Primary School’ automatically means seeing Mr Cloete.”
She says his presence will be missed by former learners and the wider school community.
“He was such a familiar and important figure in the school that it is difficult to think of Orban without thinking of him,” Amukongo says.
As he prepares to close this chapter, Cloete says retirement represents a change in pace rather than a change in purpose.
“It means having time to reflect back, enjoying family life and exploring personal passions that were put on the back burner,” he says.
He encourages teachers to continue teaching with passion, parents to remain actively involved and learners to keep asking questions, work hard and treat others with kindness.
“While I’m stepping back from the daily ringing of the school bell, a piece of my heart will always remain with this wonderful, beautiful school, Orban Primary,” Cloete says.
