Northridge Primary School

The absence of an English Primary School in the North inspired the major task of canvassing for, and eventually the building of, Northridge Primary School in 1974. Thanks to the efforts of an extremely hardworking, dedicated group of Sinoville parents under the leadership of Mrs Anne Bouwer the school opened, officially, on 11 May 1976.

The school opened to an enrolment of some 229 learners from Grade 1 to Grade 4. Today the school boasts a complement of 1204 learners with classes including Grades R to Grade 7.Northridge Primary School uses the School Communicator as our primary means of communication with parents. The School Calendar, various resources (Newsletters etc), as well as selected homework, are posted on the Communicator. Please download it today, so that you can stay up to date with school events.

In the Foundation Phase discipline is the responsibility of the class teacher and, on occasion, other teachers with whom the learner comes in contact. Most discipline takes the form of a warning or reprimand but on occasion a learner needs to receive a firmer consequence and in these cases a black dot will be issued. Should a learner accumulate 5 black dots he/she will be required to attend a detention on a Friday afternoon. A detention letter will be sent home advising parents of this action.

A reward system is also in place to encourage and reinforce positive, desired behaviour. Rewards come in the form of stickers on the chart. Once a learner receives 5 stickers in Grades 1-2 he/she will be allowed to wear civvies on a Friday. Grade 3 learners must accumulate 10 stickers in order to be able to wear civvies on a Friday. Parents will be advised on which day the learner may wear civvies.

In the INTERSEN PHASE discipline is encouraged and reinforced through the use of a merit and demerit system. Positive behaviour and good work are rewarded by the awarding of merits. As learners accumulate merits they are further rewarded with certificates, civvies, tuckshop vouchers, trips to the cinema and the top merit earners are take on an outing at the end of the year.

Undesirable behaviour is discouraged by the issuing of demerits. This is usually only done after a learner has been warned. Once a learner has received 5 demerits he/she will be required to attend a detention on a Friday afternoon from 13:35 to 15:30. Should a learner continue to receive detentions it will be taken that he/she is non-compliant with our discipline structure and parents will be required to attend a meeting with the principal and the learner’s educators. Further failure to comply will result in the learner and his /her parents attending a meeting with the SGB. Learners who continually flaunt the rules will be excluded from excursions and camps as a child who cannot behave in the classroom could prove to be a risk and an embarrassment when out of the confines of the school environment.

Northridge Primary has an Aftercare Centre which caters for learners who cannot go home directly after school. In the Aftercare Centre learners are provided with a nutritious lunch and their homework is supervised on a daily basis from Monday to Thursday.

The Aftercare Centre is open until 17:30 (5:30 pm) by which time all learners should have been collected unless special arrangements were made with the manager of the Aftercare Centre.

The Aftercare Centre does not operate in school holidays nor on public holidays. Fees are determined each year and are payable in advance at the beginning of each month.

At Northridge Primary School we offer a wide variety of extra-mural activities. We cater for the sporty child as well as the cultural child.The cultural activities are done throughout the year: Drum Majorettes, Eco Club, Chef Club, Marimba Band, Bible club, Comfort Zone, Brotherhood, Inside- out Club, Science Club.An extra-mural timetable goes out at the beginning of each term which indicates on what day and at what time the extra mural activity starts and ends.