Private School in Pretoria, South Africa

Star College, Pretoria:
Star College is located in Pretoria in the north of Gauteng Province, approximately 65 km north of Johannesburg. Star College is a newly established English-speaking primary and secondary school with an international flavour, contributing to our high academic standards and providing both local and international students with a disciplined and positive learning experience. We try to endeavour a personalized academic approach. We follow the Curriculum of the Department of Education, with an in depth focus on mathematics, science and computer technology, providing students with a higher level of academic excellence.

The mission of Star College is to create a learning community in which:

• Teachers, parents and students work together to develop young people who are confident and achieve academic excellence in a powerful tertiary preparation curriculum;
• Students do not question "whether" they will go to university, but instead ask "when" and "where";
• Students understand that with hard work, dreams are possible;
• Students develop the skills in math, science, and technology necessary to become bold inquirers, analytical thinkers, and ethical leaders in the 21st century; and
• Students are empowered to become productively engaged in the local community and broader society.
• We create a school culture that is built on success, respect, and accountability.

The founders of Star College recognize that the success of students is dependent upon the school's ability to create a culture that fosters meaningful, sustained relationships between teachers, students, and parents and holds all stakeholders responsible for outcomes. It is this culture that forms the foundation of our school. Star College builds this culture from the point of first contact with families and throughout the students' academic experience.

• 100% matric pass rate and endorsement
• Establish an effective character education program embedded in curriculum
• Develop cross-cultural skills through international exposure
• High staff retention rate
• Excellent parent and student satisfaction
• Provide engaging, diverse, and effective extracurricular activities
• Productive community involvement

Star College follows the Curriculum of the South African Department of Education. In addition to that, we implement special Mathematics, Science & Computer programmes. 

Education Programmes for Grades R (Reception year) - Grade 12:
* Pre-primary school programmes
* Primary school programmes
* Secondary school programmes

Throughout the year, our teachers prepare students to compete at International level in Olympiads, as we will be sending students abroad to compete at International Maths, Science and also Technology Olympiads. To further improve the quality and standard of education at our school, Star College has highly qualified foreign Teachers for teaching Maths, Science and Computer Technology.

The core features of <u>Star College which are research based, include:

• Personalized approach
• Continuous relationships
• High standards and performance-based assessments
• Adaptive pedagogy
• Multi-cultural teaching
• Knowledgeable and skilled teachers
• Collaborative planning and professional development
• Family and community connections
• Democratic decisionmaking
• Authentic curriculum

There are many reasons as to why Star College is an effective learning community, a great place to be for a student, parents, and an educator.

1. Small and Safe School:  The size of our school which is small by design, allows us to personalize education, build sustainable relationships with our students and parents, and focus on each student. We strategically build a strong sense of community where each member is valued. Our students develop a sense of belonging and pride in Star College. This quality of our school also provides a physically and emotionally safe environment to our students.

2. University Preparatory for All:  Beginning from very early grades we prepare all of our students for tertiary institutions by creating a learning environment of high expectations and standards. All of our students are exposed to a rigorous curriculum through which our students gain the skills and knowledge to be successful in secondary, high school and beyond.

3. Focus on Math, Science, and Technology:  Our students spend more time studying math, science, and technology. They are better prepared for the competitive global world.  We teach all other classes such as language arts, social studies, art, foreign language, and physical education as well.  It is just that our students spend more time on math, science, and technology than most traditional public schools.

4. Higher Standards and Expectations:  Both academic and behavioral standards and expectations are higher in our schools. Graduation requirements, discipline and promotion policies, homework policies all reflect our high standards and expectations. While expectations and standards are higher, we support our students through a comprehensive support system to ensure success for all.

This comprehensive support system includes but not limited to before and after school tutoring, peer tutoring, Saturday schools, summer and winter programs.  Our students thrive in such environment where expectations are high but a comprehensive support system is available to them at the same time.

5. Knowledgeable and Skilled Staff:  We hire staff members who have incredible content knowledge, dedicated, hard working, and willing to go beyond their call of duty to help our students succeed. Our teachers are skilled to build strong and sustainable relationships with our students and parents and leverage such relationships for academic achievement.

6. Online Access to Classroom Records:  We give our parents and students online access to classroom records. Our parents are able to see current grades, assignments, homework, missing work, attendance, tardiness, and discipline records online by using their passwords given to them by the school on the Internet. We make our computer labs available to our parents and students if they do not have access to the Internet otherwise.

7. Data driven Instruction:  We assess learning of our students on an ongoing basis, every six to nine weeks, to determine how much they learn. Our teachers then analyze the assessment results to develop specific strategies to ensure that all students attain mastery level on what they learn. Our teachers use the assessment data to guide their instruction as well as to place students in the appropriate academic support program.  Our parents have online access to such assessment data too in order to see their child's progress throughout the school year.

8. Increased Student Engagement:  Although we are a small school by design, we provide many opportunities beyond academics to our students to keep them engaged in the school. Our students have after school clubs, special interest groups, sports programs, and school wide events that they can participate based on their interests.

We also provide engagement opportunities that students may not have otherwise such as local, national, and international trips, cultural exchange programs, summer and winter camps.  Such innovative and attractive opportunities improve our students' attitude towards school and make our school an environment that everyone looks forward to coming to.

9. Increased Parent-School Relations:  Strong and sustainable relationship with our parents is a major component of our school design. We organize programs that are specifically designed for parents such as  Parent's Gala Dinner, Parent's luncheons, parent picnics and more.  Our parents are able to participate in local, national, and international trips that we organize too. We also visit our parents in their homes to share our vision for the school and to show our commitment to their children's education.

10. Community Partnership:  We partner with local universities, community based organizations, and other businesses in our community to create further opportunities to our students.  Such partnership allows our students to improve their skills that are necessary to be successful in such a competitive global world.