All policies are subject to alteration depending on the changing needs of the school, its pupils, parents, staff and the law.
Transformation and Diversity
Transformation is a critical issue for all private schools in South Africa. Diversity, transformation and social justice in the independent school environment is paramount in our thinking and we strive to improve our performance in this regard year on year.
We are committed to the power of diversity and strive continuously to build a balanced and inclusive school community, where no family feels under-represented, to prepare our boys effectively for the future.
To educate and prepare our boys effectively for life in the South African and global context we need to become a more diverse school community. Our intent is to embrace greater diversity in our school, both in our staff complement and in our pupil body. Our focus is primarily on racial and cultural diversity.
We are working to make Pridwin welcoming and attractive to more diverse prospective pupils, parents and staff members by maintaining a policy of zero tolerance of discrimination and prejudice on the grounds of race, culture, religion or gender; actively teaching our pupils, parents and staff the values of respect and appreciation for differences; and examining current practices to make the Pridwin environment more inclusive for all boys and their families.
Our Diversity Forum, established to find ways to move the school more rapidly forward, meets monthly. Several strategies have been implemented at the school, chief of them being to sensitise the school teaching body to unconscious bias and embarking on a strategy that no child is ever to feel “invisible” in our school. Workshop have been held for the teaching staff with five more planned for the months ahead. A Critical Thinking Forum was put together from a number of couples, chosen to represent a variety of diverse family backgrounds, and the Headmaster attended a course on transformation at Harvard (Race, Equity and Leadership).
We continuously strive to better the staff demographic at Pridwin. In 2017, our teaching demographics were: 22% black educators; 70% of interns were black, and 50% of the coaching staff were black. Of our total staff complement, who deal directly with our boys in their daily educational programme, 38% were black.
The demographic of our pupil enrolment improves year-on-year due to our transformation objectives. Our grade 0 intake for 2017 was 44% black, whereas the intake in 2010 for example was 25% black. The total pupil enrolment for 2017 was 31% black.
Please see Pridwin’s policies and charters related transformation and diversity here:
Admissions Policy
Places for entry into Grade 0 are offered on a first-come-first-served basis, with the exception of Old Boy’s sons, Teacher’s sons, diverse candidates and siblings of past or present Pridwin boys. Boys entering Grade 0 are assessed for early identification of skills or problems and some children may be encouraged to seek further specialized assistance at specialized schools. This option is only exercised when it is felt that it is in the best interests of the child or it may be felt that the pupil would be served best by repeating Grade 00 and roll over the place to the following year.
Places for entry from Grade 1 upwards are allocated in the same manner as Grade 0 except that applicants are interviewed and tested and copies of reports from previous schools are requested, in order to judge the suitability for enrolment at Pridwin.
The following additional criteria are used in the selection process:
- The child’s age must be appropriate for the year of entry i.e. the child must turn 6 in their Grade 0 year.
- The child must have the potential to derive maximum benefit from the education offered at Pridwin without over-extending the resources available to the detriment of the other children at the school.
- The parents must indicate a real desire to have their son educated at Pridwin and they must accept the values on which the school is based. The parents must be willing and able to pay the fees, or have been granted a bursary.