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Philosophy:
"We believe that our pupils are stretched in many
areas of school life, and they are encouraged to aspire
to excellence in all they do. Our teachers value
excellence, as well as all-roundedness, and we are a
very busy school. We enjoy that – it means that we drag
every opportunity out of each moment of the day. ...We
believe that Bishops is a school in which learning is
cherished and pursued vigorously. We have a strong
high-tech environment, with huge resources in our
intranet of learning programmes and laptop assisted
instruction, but we know that at the heart of any
learning are the human relationships between those who
teach and those who learn. We are a part of South
Africa’s national curriculum programme, and we support
the educational aspirations of our nation." - Grant
Nupen, headmaster.
Academics:
At Bishops we subscribe to the adage that ‘education is
what remains with a person when he has forgotten
everything he was taught’. We do indeed have a proud
tradition of success in examinations; perhaps more
importantly, boys find themselves able to cope when they
go on to further study. But while excellence can most
easily be measured by results and qualifications, there
is more to it than that: indeed, we believe that this
kind of success is an inevitable by-product of good
teaching – actually, of good education.
Class Size: At the
core of the Bishops academic system are two fundamental
notions: first, class size is restricted to 24 except in
special cases; second, staff are engaged in order to
contribute to the teaching in just one subject, which
means that they are able to devote their energies in
just one direction and become even greater experts in
their field. Where possible each staff member has his or
her own dedicated classroom, fully equipped as the needs
of the subject dictate, and serving not just as a
teaching venue but as a subject-specific environment.
Streaming: In some
subjects (notably English, Mathematics and Afrikaans)
boys are assigned to groups according to their ability;
in the initial stages a boy might be misjudged, but then
the grouping would be adjusted: the aim is that each boy
should be in a set which is stretching and yet within
his reach.
ICT: The school’s
computer network is a sophisticated one allowing for
many administrative tasks and advantages; it is also the
hub of the computer-based teaching and learning that
happens.
 In
Grade 9 all boys acquire a laptop, and with classrooms
networked, either by cable or wirelessly, a good deal of
teaching is done via the laptop; where material has been
prepared beforehand, this would be available through the
intranet. The intranet also allows for work to be
delivered to boys electronically, and handed back by
them on-line, and of course it gives boys easy access to
an extensive array of learning programmes, resources,
planning materials and storage capacity.
Cultural: Bishops
lives up to its reputation of providing for its students
a superior all-rounded education by offering a wide
range of cultural activities. The music school has for
many years been acknowledged as one of the leading
instructors in the country but added to that are other
sectors such as drama and the visual arts, as well as a
wide variety of societies that give the students the
freedom and choice to explore and develop their talents
in almost any sphere of interest.
Sport: The Bishops boy's passion for sport is
renowned and, in some instances, held in awe on school
sports fields throughout South Africa. There are fewer
tougher rugby matches than the matches against Bishops;
there are fewer more difficult cricket games than those
against Bishops. Every boy in the College is expected to
do two afternoons of sport every week, winter and
summer. In the near future the school will be developing
a modern fitness centre that will enable boys to prepare
themselves physically for any challenge, sporting or
otherwise. The school already has its own biokineticist,
who consults with injured players and organizes
rehabilitation programmes. The school doctor specialises
in sports medicine and sports injuries, and, in the
winter season, the school employs a physiotherapist.
Pastoral Care:
Pastoral care is essentially fostering a school
environment that enables each individual boy to be
happy, engaged, productive, inspired and recognized.
Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, it is a
school environment in which teachers see themselves as
pastoral careers and have the power, resources and
opportunity to shape, mould and lead the boys in their
care into positive adulthood. The role of pastoral care
within a school is thus to enhance the educational
process of our boys by promoting their spiritual, moral,
mental and physical development at the school and within
society, preparing them for the opportunities,
responsibilities and experiences of adult life and
positive manhood. It has been said: “Children need roots
and wings”.
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