A solid foundation helps develop skills for the future
Educating for life
The Kingswood Junior School academic model is founded on two vital aspects of the Kingswood identity as a school: our philosophy of ‘Educating for Life’ which drives us to interrogate what we are doing to prepare our pupil’s for a rapidly changing world, and our formal focus on character education, one of our key-differentiators as a school.
Across the Junior School, there is an acute awareness and goal of fostering a Growth Mind-set in our pupils. To better understand this concept, see this video.
Technology and Education
“Educators need to think of ways to train today’s generation to be responsible and ethical life-long learners of the digital age” -Christopher Mc Gilvery
While today’s children have an almost innate ability to use and navigate new technologies, their use also opens up a world of learning in its own right. Now, children have access to create, connect and collaborate on a global scale at the click of a button. When our pupils leave school, technology won’t be relegated to the margins of their work; it will be at the centre of it every day.
Our role as teachers, in an effort to best prepare them for life, is to help them become responsible, ethical digital citizens. To learn how, why and when to use technology and to promote inquiry-based exploration, creative and innovative thinking. This is why at Kingswood, we believe in using technology to enhance both teaching and learning.
With this in mind, we recently purchased 40 iPads in our Foundation Phase, to help develop various skills. In Grades 6 and 7 the School has adopted a ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) policy, where pupils engage a little more with the technological developments of the 21st century.
A solid foundation helps develop skills for the future
“TREES” was chosen as the structure around which our academic vision would be cast to provide visual cues to ensure that our ‘little people’ are able to hook into the message and can be part of the development of this model.
T = Technology and Innovation
R = Resilience, Responsibility, Reasoning and Respect
E = Environment
E = Expression through the Arts (music/dance/drama/art) & Entrepreneurship
S = Spirituality
Technology calls to the need to prepare our pupils to be able to navigate this technologically driven word, fostering – most importantly – a balance between technology, core life skills and charater education.
Resilience refers to the deliberate focus on building ‘grit’ and developing a growth mindset to enable our pupils to meet challenges with determination and to take responsibility for their actions, others and their environment. Reasoning refers to the development of critical thinking skills needed to tackle and to solve complex issues. Respect not just for themselves, but others too.
We need to inculcate a love for the environment and to make our pupils aware of our Eco-Schools commitment.
Expression through the creative arts enables us to feed our inner self and to contribute to our emotional well being. Developing entrepreneurial skills is essential in a world which demands innovation in order to stay abreast, and where creating business opportunities will be critical to the future growth of our country.
Underpinning the above is our spirituality and faith which includes our social responsibility and community engagement.