why highbury

The Highbury Advantage

We understand the importance of the early years in moulding the young boys who come through our gates. Here’s why you should trust us.

Investing in a Highbury education for your son means you are giving him the best possible foundation. Highbury offers your son all the advantages of a dynamic education, through academics, culture and sport – while equipping him with Christian values and the skills to succeed in the 21st century.

Why Boys only?

Highbury knows boys. A wealth of institutional knowledge since 1903 enables us to not only understand boys but also know how different they can be from each other

Here at Highbury, the boys have,

The freedom to express themselves, in whatever they are
passionate about

The space to explore the boundaries of their talents

The benefit of not being compared against girls

The guidance of teachers focused wholly on meeting the needs
of the boys in their class

The beauty of their qualities being celebrated on a daily basis

School days at Highbury are structured to keep boys engaged, for example:

Boy-centric termly themes like Dinosaurs, Medieval times, the BFG

Plenty of movement, in the classroom, in movement breaks, outdoor lessons and more

Action learning and sensory experiences that enable boys to learn by doing

Relational teaching where every boy is known, cared for, encouraged and challenged. Teachers build relationships with the boys in their class that go beyond the classroom onto the sports field or into other areas of interest

Cultural activities scheduled to not clash with sport so that boys can take part in both

Positive reinforcement that rewards boys for correct behaviours and for making good choices.

Discipline that works for boys, for example giving a Foundation Phase boy the chance to bounce on a trampoline outside the classroom twenty times and then come back in to sit and work

And being boys-only means that we can do fun things like secret swims on hot days in underpants!

We treasure our relationship with St Mary’s DSG in Kloof, our sister school, and thoroughly enjoy meaningful regular interaction days between the two schools.

We are proud members of the International Boys’ School Coalition, through which we access the most up to date research on how boys learn best. Download their PDF here on ‘Why a School for Boys?’.

Why Invest in Primary School?

When you invest in a Highbury education for your son, you are investing in giving him the widest variety of experiences in his primary school years. Not only will he be exposed to 17 different sports and the widest range of cultural activities, but also all of the ‘beyond the classroom’ experiences that set Highbury apart. Being boys-only means that boys take part wholeheartedly in activities that may otherwise be traditionally dominated by girls. Over your son’s primary school years at Highbury, he will have every opportunity to explore his strengths and weaknesses and discover his unique talents.

Primary school must kindle your son’s passion to learn. School is a long journey and a good, strong start will set him up for a lifetime of successful learning and personal growth. At Highbury, we make learning fun for boys.

Barriers to learning can significantly hamper a child’s progress. If they are not identified early, the learning deficit can grow each year and become harder to rectify. At Highbury, our experienced teachers work hard to identify barriers to learning early and to put in place the support that boys need to ensure they are overcome and that their potential is realised. Learning is a cumulative process. A strong foundation is vital as it cannot necessarily be ‘caught up’ in later years.

Highbury offers a more nurturing, constructive approach to learning life’s lessons. This is the environment you want your child to make mistakes in so that lifelong lessons can be learned in a supportive setting. Being a relatively small school full of very experienced teachers who really know the boys here is vital.

At primary school, the relationship between school and home is a much more involved, close one. The more the values of home and school align, the easier it is to embed a set of values that set your child on a positive path for life. Highbury teachers work collaboratively with parents to ensure the best possible outcomes for each of our boys.

At the end of Grade 6, at age 12, your son is halfway through his school journey and halfway through his journey to adulthood. There is no doubt that the first half makes a big difference to the second half! A major research study released in 2015 by Spengler, proves that student characteristics and behaviors at age 12 predict occupational success 40 years later over and above childhood IQ and parental socioeconomic status.

There is plenty of evidence that investing in a Highbury education for your son will deliver great rewards.

Learn more…