Why Choose Woodward Private School?
At Woodward Private School we have a commitment to provide a safe, caring, and supportive environment that focuses on the needs and emotional wellbeing of all learners. Our Learners Code of Conduct and welfare management practices, based on DBE guidelines, aims to foster a whole school climate where personal responsibility and self-discipline are developed.
Learners’ learning is fostered in an environment that promotes success and is concerned with the welfare of every learners. Learners develop a positive attitude towards learning and a feeling of self-worth as they are encouraged to view themselves as being competent and responsible. It is their happiness, development, and acceptance of themselves as people of worth, together with the acquisition of understandings and skills that will assist them to take part in their wider community.
Our Values
Woodward Private School has in place a set of core values that underpin the vision of the school.
The values are unique to our school in that they have been developed by parents, staff and learners, however, they are all linked through their direct relationship to the nine core values of South African schools as outlined in the National Framework for Values Education.
Woodward Private School is a caring school and we have defined four key values using the acronymn ‘CARE’
Mission Statement
Woodward Private School seeks to create a challenging learning environment that encourages high expectations for success through development-appropriate instruction that allows for individual differences and learning styles.
Our school promotes a safe, orderly, caring, and supportive environment. Each learners’ self-esteem is fostered by positive relationships with learners and staff.
Vision Statement
Our vision at Woodward Private School is to empower learners to acquire, demonstrate, articulate and value knowledge and skills that will support them, as life-long learners, to participate in and contribute to the global world and practise the core values of the school: respect, tolerance & inclusion, and excellence.
Cooperation
‘Sharing and learning together’. Cooperation is working together in a team, contributing and sharing in a helpful way.
Achievement
‘Persist and try your best’. Achievement is striving to attain your personal goals, persisting and giving your best effort.
Respect
‘Respect each other and our environment’. Respect involves taking responsibility for each other. Respect is speaking to and interacting with others in a courteous manner. It is about being honest, reliable and trustworthy.
Empathy
‘Treat others with care and compassion’. Empathy means trying to understand other people’s views or feelings and being supportive and caring towards them.’
Shared Expectations
Woodward Private School has developed shared expectations to ensure that the learning, safety and rights of all are respected. The expectations are intended to be positive in that they set out what is accepted and appropriate behaviours for our school community. Our shared expectations are intended to support individual learners and families that come to our community from a diversity of backgrounds and experiences.
OUR LEARNER CODE OF CONDUCT Discipline Procedures There is an obligation for the Principal and staff to implement the Learner Code of Conduct policy fairly and consistently with support from parents and learners. Strategies for dealing with learners’ behaviour that is not consistent with classroom or playground norms will include:
- Teachers to make initial judgments about the time and manner of intervention when learners behaviour is inappropriate
- Learners are encouraged to solve problems themselves and if appropriate be directed to other learners to assist in strategies to resolve the problems
- Discussion and / or negotiation of logical consequences with the learners
- Thinking time to reflect on their behaviour in their own classroom or another agreed setting
- Behavioural Consequences
To promote cooperation learners will:
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- Cooperation is difficult when a learner:
- Appropriate responses to minor/initial incidents
- Major or Repeated Incidents
- Consider other classmates needs
- Think of ways for everyone to have a turn
- Encourage everyone to have a say
- Always has to be first
- Refuses to take turns
- Ignores the ideas of others
- Speak to child
- Learners to reflect on the incident (learners incident report may be completed)
- Reflection Sheet may allow opportunity for learners to take responsibility for actions and repair damage done to people or property.
- Parents contacted
- Withdrawal of privileges, with explanation of how behaviour impacts on others
- Behaviour Management Plan
- Learners Support Group
- In-school suspension
Learners at Woodward Private School are expected to play safely, show respect, learn, be honest, care for others and be responsible members of the school community.
Teachers may require a learners to finish school work which has not been completed in the regular classroom, or to undertake additional or new work or duties at a reasonable time and place. No more than half the time allocated for any recess or lunch break will be used for this work.
Where learners are required to undertake schoolwork out of school hours, the time will not exceed forty-five minutes. The principal will ensure that parents are informed at least 24 hours prior to the out of school hours detention.
Woodward Private School is permitted by DBE regulations to detain learners but will consider family circumstances and negotiate with parents where appropriate. Where family circumstances are such that the completion of work would create undue hardship, the principal may choose to negotiate alternative disciplinary measures with parents.
A Program Support Group may be convened by the school to exchange information and facilitate solutions to the behavioural problems or difficulties of learners.
Summary
Learners’ learning is fostered in an environment that promotes success and is concerned with the welfare of every learners. Learners develop a positive attitude towards learning and a feeling of self-worth as they are encouraged to view themselves as being competent and responsible. It is their happiness, development, and acceptance of themselves as people of worth, together with the acquisition of understandings and skills that will assist them to take part in their wider community.
