In 1981, funds were raised and the school swimming pool was built in the far corner of the sport field. The pool was officially opened by the Director of Education on 28 November 1981.
Residents living near Manor Gardens Primary School were awakened at 4am on Wednesday, 14 April 1982, by crackling and explosions as the Resource Centre housed in a prefab building burned. This building housed the school’s library with about 15000 books, records and tapes. Mr Raymond Stanley, the headmaster, also confirmed that the whole academic policy that had been worked on for years had also gone up in smoke. Neighbours alerted the fire department and helped keep the fire from spreading to the adjoining buildings.
On 13 August 1984, the building equipment arrived on site to start building the new hall, resource centre and tuck shop. By 12 October 1984, the walls were up and the building was beginning to take shape. The building had the roof on by 12 November 1984.
In more recent years, Manor Gardens Primary began renovating in 2012. Changes made include a Grade R unit, a combo court, and new classrooms. These renovations were completed by 2014.
From its inception, Manor Gardens Primary had 2 sport houses – Cato (green) and King (yellow), named after the early Natal Pioneers. In 1994, in line with the new democracy of South Africa, Manor Gardens made the decision to change the names of the school sport houses, and to have 3 instead of 2. A competition was held. The winning names were Tugela (green), Ifafa (blue), and Umgeni (yellow), all named after rivers in KwaZulu Natal.
