ALL-ROUND EDUCATION

Academics

From Grade R into Foundation Phase and through Senior Primary, our academic program is intentionally designed for boys, to be both challenging and supportive.

A Highbury Education

Highbury’s academic focus is for each teacher to create a stimulating environment that embraces diverse learning styles, enabling every boy to acquire the necessary skills, knowledge, attitudes and values that will equip him for the following year… and beyond.

From Grade R into Foundation Phase and through Senior Primary, our academic program provides boy-centric teaching and learning across the academic spectrum. Our teachers have our boys’ best interests at heart and know exactly what boys need in their academic journey. Teachers are trained to identify boys with barriers to learning so that measures can be put into place so they are able to succeed and thrive at Highbury. For boys who are needing to extend themselves in the classroom to keep them engaged, our teachers ensure that they offer differentiated learning opportunities that help bring out the best in those boys.

Highbury teachers know boys and what they respond to, providing them with more activity, competition and creative ways of learning. Our academic programme is intentionally designed for boys, to be both challenging and supportive.

Explore our Academic Programmes by Phase:

Grade R

Grade R is our biggest point of entry at Highbury, as twenty boys from Weavers’ Nest are joined by over 40 boys from our other feeder pre-primary schools. It is our first ‘boys-only’ Grade, as it is at this age (5, turning 6) that boys and girls begin to differ significantly in their readiness to learn and in their receptiveness to different styles of learning. Education in the Grade R year focuses on social and emotional development as well as strong foundations for reading and maths. Grade R at Highbury leverages our whole estate and a full range of specialist teachers, easing boys into their formal Foundation Phase years.

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Foundation Phase Grades 1-3

Our Foundation Phase classrooms are built around a sunny quad and it is as common to see teachers engaging boys within their classrooms as it is to see them outside, enjoying active learning in its many forms. The Grade 1 year is a year of phenomenal growth as boys make leaps and bounds in their ability to read, write and do maths. Grades 2 and 3 build and layer on these skills through theme-based learning that engages boys’ hearts as well as their minds. While global data shows that boys are reluctant readers in comparison to girls, Highbury leverages all we know about how boys learn best to encourage a love of reading.

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Senior Primary Grades 4-7

Senior Primary at Highbury evolves from the more nurturing class-teacher based approach in Grade 4 and 5 into teaching boys to move independently between specialist teachers in Grades 6 and 7 to ensure they are well prepared for the transition to high school. Growing organisational skills and self-awareness are key as boys test the boundaries and need to learn consequences first-hand.

Our teachers understand the needs of pre-teen and early teen boys and focus on developing strong relationships to engage them in learning. Boys are able to explore a wide variety of extracurricular and sports offerings to find and develop their unique talents. The Senior Primary journey culminates in the Grade 7 year, in which we focus on building the skills, both academic and social, that our boys need for a successful transition into any of South Africa’s top high schools and colleges.

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