Good Boy, Great Saint
What is our philosophy?
St Stithians Boys’ Preparatory school recognizes each boy as a unique individual and provides an environment of security, care, and stimulation so as to ensure that all our boys grow and mature emotionally, intellectually, physically, spiritually and socially. At the centre of all of this, is the emotional well-being of each student who is entrusted to us, as it is the psychosocial wellness of students that impacts directly on performance. As a school we also acknowledge and respect each boy’s special contributions as a holistic critical thinker. Furthermore, we strive to encourage our boys to be leaders in creative and innovative thinking.
What is character? What is our engraved mark?
Where does it start? It all begins with morality which develops from a strong spiritual foundation. It then transforms itself into personal fulfilment (“Happy fulfilment”) and then lastly, self-actualization. Our degree of efficacy is directly related to the success of this fundamental transformational process. How do we intentionally grow our students’ morally? The secret is in values driven education, “The 5 Stones” - the values of Love, Respect, Honour, Responsibility and Courage ensure we transform from the culture of character to a culture of personality and ultimately shifts us from “achievement to performance”. Once this character is imprinted on the DNA or fibre of each boy it would then create integrity.
Growth of Character
School Character “gains through expression and loses through its repression”. Boys should never, under any circumstances, be humiliated/ demeaned or made to feel lesser. To this end we embrace the restorative discipline system, so as to smoothly reintegrate offenders and poor behaviour back into the fold while keeping their dignity intact. We see discipline issues as opportunities for pastoral care and mentoring.
Resilience is strategic to this process of character building. It provides an opportunity to link physical fitness and well-being, awareness of one’s environment, meta-cognition (flexibility in thinking), goal setting (SMART), strong relationship building and finally the opportunity to fail in a secure and safe environment. Our teachers are equipped to guide this process by providing good classroom structure, within a flexible learning space, nurturing curiosity and cultivating a respect for others and their ideas. Parent education and support becomes a crucial priority in building resilience in these young men.
“I do and I give”, this is the very corner stone of our social responsibility. It is an imperative that each boy leaves the boys prep with a sense of service and the knowledge that they can make a difference in the lives of others. Realising this power, “to whom much is given, much is expected” - leads to the development of self-esteem and a sense of self-worth, which sets our boys up for real academic purpose and an experiential learning experience.
Incorporating Character into Academics
This holistic character is leveraged academically through our Habits of Mind and Multiple Intelligences. Habits of Mind form the basis of all our academic planning and is intentional and explicit. These Habits of Mind also become internalised into each of our boy’s character and behaviour. The boy now becomes even more receptive to knowledge and develops an excitement for learning. The effectiveness of such a process would ultimately be enhanced in a blended learning environment and an extension of our Mobile e-Learning and Teaching space (MeLT).
“People who refer to out-of-the-box, see the box…..People who don’t know the box even exists, are the innovative thinkers”. Lisa Goldenberg
