Yes

Staff at Cedar House support the view and the research that argues that unnecessarily intense schooling environments create unhappy, unmotivated and neurotic young people. CH does not sweat the small stuff and focus on homework only when it is perceived by its educator to add some substantial value to a young person’s education. There is not a great deal of homework in the junior Grades. From 10 onwards, when CH starts preparing students for external exams, this changes substantially and homework demands become substantial.

There is not a “no homework” policy at the School; there is a view that it is not necessary or educationally sound to load people with work at home just for the sake of providing homework when living fully and joyfully and exploring as many interests as possible should be such a focus of being young. Learners are encouraged to continue their own studies at home where they and their family feel it could develop them in their current and future lives but no pressure is placed on them to do this.

There is no evidence to suggest that homework in the early years of high school has any effect on school leaving results.

Younger students who would like extra stretch work or further reading to do at home usually note this with their teachers who then work with this request.

Cedar House is warm, safe and non-judgmental environment. However, it offers no particular support to students with learning barriers. Some students with such a history flourish in Cedar House; other struggle enormously as they enter the more Senior Grades. Some find the academic demands too onerous.

No

Science club, click club, Marimba, tech club, Cape appreciation club, table tennis, chess, soccer, rock climbing, surfing, rugby, basketball, trail running, netball, hockey.

Physical education

Skateboard ramps, astroturf soccer pitch, basketball court.

Cedar House is a small, co-educational school that is proudly child-centred, proudly independent and proudly progressive.
Cedar House is a school that follows the curriculum of the Independent Examinations Board, hereby heightening critical literacy, creativity and broadly applicable thinking skills.

Cedar House is deeply committed to journeying with a child, to educating the wholeness of a child and to assisting a young person to feel safe, confident and comfortable in the context of what Cedar believes the 21st century will increasingly require.

The academic programme is strong and the school's staffing decisions, around this programme, are rigorous in an attempt to ensure alignment around this vision. Academically, a Cedar House student will be stretched and so a degree of academic aspiration is essential. This is a mature environment that suits a self-reliant and independent learner best; families should take this into account when considering Cedar House School.