Northern Park Primary School Academic Structure
Assessment in the Foundation Phase is thorough with no formal examinations being conducted. Continuous assessment is done throughout the year, based on work done by the learner as an individual and as a member of a group. Work covered in Literacy, Numeracy and Life-Skills is used for assessment purposes.
Learners are evaluated on a continuous basis with all work done by a learner, either as an individual or as a member of a group. Learners are exposed to a variety of learning experiences which may include, but not limited to, group assignments, individual self studies or research projects. This is done with the intention that learners gain an insight and interest in a wide variety of skills. To ensure that learners are comprehensively assessed and that every facet of their work is covered, the assessment programme consists of two components, namely:
and
The formal component includes tests that are written under examination conditions while the informal component includes results from class- and homework, weekly spelling tests, projects, self-study tasks, oral activities and any other self or group assignments.
The general appearance of our learners is an important advert for the school. Well presented learners are usually a good reflection of a well managed school. Given that the principal, the staff and the school governing body make every effort to uphold high standards in the school, every learner is expected to be neat and well-groomed and should, at all times, be proud of his/her uniform. Learners must wear their uniform in its entirety. This ruling also pertains to the wearing of school uniforms after hours. Boys’ hair must be kept short and neat at all times, meaning that it should be off their ears, their collars and out of their eyes. Girls’ hair must be well maintained and if longish, must be tied back with clips or ribbons in school colours. Girls may wear extensions in their hair provided these are black in colour, are platted close to the girl’s head and do not pass the collar. No exceptions to this privilege will be permitted and girls not complying with this will be required to remove the improper extensions. Both boys and girls may wear watches, however, only girls with pierced ears may wear gold or gold-coloured studs or sleepers in only one hole per ear. No other earrings or jewellery may be worn except for medical identity tokens which must be registered with the learner’s class teacher. Nails must be well groomed and no nail varnish and/or tattoos is/are permitted.
Suitable Grade 7 learners are appointed as prefects during their final year. It is indeed an honour to serve in this capacity and all learners are encouraged to strive to achieve this recognition. Although these learners serve an invaluable function in the school, the main purpose of this exercise is to expose learners with basic leadership qualities to a variety of responsibilities and to develop their leadership skills.
A lively spirit of competition is encouraged in the school through the 3 sports houses to which learners are allocated upon being admitted to the school. The houses are: Crane (green), Egret (red) and Kingfisher (yellow).
Learners are required to supply their own personal stationery and are provided with a list of minimum requirements. It is essential that learners have these requirements because borrowing from one another is strongly discouraged. Not only is the practice of borrowing unfair on those who have had to finance their own stationery, but it also deprives them of the use of their own equipment.
A compulsory homework programme forms an integral part of a learner’s academic experience and is used to reinforce work done in the classroom and also, to afford learners an opportunity to do controlled self-study projects on their own. Learners are expected to enter their daily homework into their homework-notebooks which must be signed by their parents or care-giver upon completion thereof. Homework is set for all grades from Monday to Thursday. Should a learner not be able to do homework due to an unforseen family emergency, a letter of explanation must be handed to his/her teacher the very next day and the homework not done must be caught up thereafter. Homework varies in form and amount from Grade to Grade. The homework given in the Foundation Phase consists predominantly of reading, spelling, bonds and tables. While these are also set regularly in the Senior Phase, homework is also set in mathematics and for research work.
The school is privileged to have a finely stocked Media Centre which is a very active part of the school. Most of the books, charts and items of interest in the Media Centre have been purchased through school fees. Learners are required to look after books with the greatest of care to avoid the unnecessary replacement of books, which cuts deep into the budget. Should learners not return books timeously, a fine is imposed and should a learner loose a Media Centre book, it becomes the parent’s responsibility to replace the book or pay for it.
The school is fortunate to have a well resourced Computer Centre. Although computer studies is not offered as a subject as such, learners are given basic tuition in the use of computers. Once again, due to the enormous expense in acquiring these computers, learners are required to use the computers with the greatest of caution and respect.
An after-care facility is offered by the school. Learners who are not collected within 20 minutes of school or a sporting activity ceasing, are required to go to after-care. Anyone wishing to make use of this service is encouraged to contact the school secretary on 033-3423222 to get more details on how to enrol a child at after-care. A small levy is charged for this service.
The physical education programme is a curriculum requirement and all learners are expected to participate in it. It is not a voluntary subject and only learners who can produce a valid medical reason as to why they ought to be excused from this programme will be permitted to do so. Learners are informed of the correct sport and practice dress-code and are to ensure that their kit is complete, correct, clean and neat. For sport practices, the prescribed school T-shirts and shorts are required with appropriate footwear. White shorts and shirts are required for cricket. Coloured footwear is not allowed and learners are advised to establish from their coach the sports-code requirements prior to purchasing sports gear. Learners may wear their school tracksuits on cold days or to cover sports kit. The tracksuit top may be worn on its own as a wind-breaker, however, if the pants are ever worn, these must be accompanied by the top as a full tracksuit. In other words, the pants may not be worn as an item on its own.
The School has a policy whereby it intends developing each learner in a holistic manner, therefore, a wide range of extra-curricular activities are offered by the school. While it is not the intention of the school to force any learner to participate in its extra-curricular programme, all learners are strongly encouraged to participate in at least one extra-curricular code per term, however, once a learner has elected to participate in a particular code, it is the school’s opinion that the learner has committed him-/herself to the practices and/or match participation of that code, as the school goes to great lengths to arrange many matches against other schools. A learner will only be excused from an extra-curricular activity by presenting a letter from his/her parent to the teacher/coach before the practice. The extra curricular programme includes, but is not limited to: art club, athletics, chess, choir, cricket, cross-country, drama, hockey for boys and girls, netball, speech & drama, Scripture Union, school plays, soccer and swimming.
The school arranges a number of academic and educational excursions each year for various Grades and all learners from the particular Grade are encouraged to participate in them. These outings usually take place during school hours but some tours extend over 2 or 3 days, requiring learners to spend time away from school and home.
Parent interview evenings are held from time to time so that parents are afforded the opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher to discuss their child’s progress and/or any learning difficulties the child may be experiencing. An end of year exhibition is held to show-case the work achieved by the school during the year. The exhibition encompasses a number of disciplines including art, technology projects, literacy works and various other projects.
Often the school experiences complaints from parents that a part of their child’s uniform has been stolen, only to discover that the item of uniform has been handed in as lost property. Parents are encouraged to ensure that every personal item that their child brings to school is clearly marked with their child’s name. Learners who have a personal item go missing should report it to their teacher and also make enquiries at the Media Centre where all lost property is stored for safe keeping.
The school does not accept any responsibility for monies or other valuables being lost by its learners. Learners should hand money and/or any valuables to their class-teacher for safe keeping. Learners are strongly discouraged from bringing cell phones and/or other costly items to school. However, should it be necessary to bring a cell phone to school, the learner must switch it off immediately upon entering the school premises, hand it in at the secretary’s office and then collect it from her at the end of the school day. Under no circumstances may a learner be in possession of – or have a cell phone switched on during official school hours. Learners not adhering to this ruling are given written instructions forbidding them to bring a cell phone onto the school’s premises.
