School Focus: Highbury Preparatory School

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.

At Highbury we believe in a well-rounded education, and don’t make our boys choose between sport or culture – our days are planned to enable them to always do both. Our boys have the benefit of exploring their full cultural potential and discovering they have many roles to play as a scholar, athlete, artist, musician and friend. From music, to art, to speech and drama, public speaking and even an orchestra, Highbury will equip your son with a cultural grounding for life.

In a boys-only environment, it is ‘cool’ to sing in the choir and in Chapel and to learn and show off your dance moves (in class or just around school). We encourage boys to take individual music lessons during the school day, as learning an instrument takes dedication and practice, extending the brain in a unique manner. Highbury’s cultural programme is designed to nurture and support boys as they grow in confidence and expressive ability, moving into high school as adept communicators. Our quality music education cultivates social skills, teaches discipline and patience and boosts self-esteem. It is joyful and it is brave and our boys love their barefooted time in our spacious FP and SP music rooms.

Every Highbury boy is able to explore many cultural experiences and happily find his niche: be it acting, playing an instrument, movement to music, public speaking, singing in the choir, or interacting during class music and drama.

Sport is a key pillar of the all-round primary school education that we provide at Highbury.
Our prime motivation for offering sport is to provide a learning area that will give our boys an opportunity to:

Highbury is privileged to be able to offer a short-term remedial facility for Grade 1 to 4 to those boys who need consistent academic support. Boys benefit from remedially qualified teachers as their Class teacher. Learner Support Class teachers work in parallel to the grade team to cover the same curriculum, working through a boys’ strengths to address his areas of difficulty.

In this way, boys who need remedial teaching can remain part of the Highbury family, experiencing friendships, sport and cultural activities with their peers, while receiving full-time remediation. After Grade 4, step down classes of remediation are offered in English and Maths to support the boys in their integration into mainstream classes. We are also able to meet our boys’ needs on site, with professionals coming in to offer their expertise in our LAD centre (Learning and Discovery Centre).

Kool-To-Care (KTC) is a programme at Highbury which ensures that boys across the grades care for one another and treat each other like brothers. Every Highbury boy from Grade 1 to 7 is part of a Kool-To-Care group of one or two boys from each Grade, led by their Grade 7 boy and supported by a mentor teacher. Boys within a group are ‘KTC buddies’ and make an extra effort to greet, get to know and encourage one another, not only around school but also bumping into each other out and about. KTC groups meet twice a term, taking part in a lesson or activity, directed by their Grade 7 leader.

Most KTC activities are focused on either outreach or on cementing our Culture of Honour in each of the boys’ lives. It is always so heart-warming to hear how protective and attentive the older boys are towards their ‘little brother’ buddies, and how attached each one of the little boys gets to their Big Buddy. The brotherly bonds created between the boys across the whole school makes Highbury the extra special place that it is.

One would have to traverse vast distances to discover anything quite like the natural setting which Michaelhouse enjoys and our school capitalizes on a myriad of opportunities to include the environment as a critical part of our learning. The outdoor programme for our E (Grade 8), D (Grade 9) and C Block (Grade 10) boys keys into the major advantages of a Michaelhouse education: fostering curiosity, resilience and belonging.

The additional benefits of environmental awareness, and cultural understanding are fundamental to the journey or personal growth which our boys enjoy while they are challenged physically and mentally miles away from the home comforts of daily school life.

Michaelhouse believes that outdoor education is essential for holistic development, shaping our boys into thoughtful, capable, and environmentally conscious individuals.