GIVING GENEROUSLY
Saxonwold pupils support a wide range of charities and needy communities through various fundraising drives and activities. These include helping to build houses in Ivory Park, supporting the feeding of a seal and wild dog at the Johannesburg  Zoo, raising funds in the Children 4 Children campaign against AIDS, drumming at the Zoo Lake to raise funds for Environmental Awareness, to name a few activities. Each term is dedicated to a particular fundraising drive.

 LENDING A HAND
Saxonwold has linked up with Buyani, which is a school in the Finetown squatter settlement in Gauteng. Buyani has few resources and operates from a prefab building with a handful of untrained teachers. Teachers needed help on how to apply OBE and on how to manage the school and Saxonwold teachers have lent a helping hand.
Teachers have run workshops on how to discipline children; how to fundraise which resulted in Buyani buying a photostat machine; to practical advice on the best ways of teaching writing. They have also shared their knowledge of school planning. Buyani teachers are now planning on a term by term basis witha view to building up an annual plan which will include such things as sports activities, parent days, puppet shows and SGB and staff meetings. Two teachers, Ms Lagarrigue and Mrs Echakowitz form our Foundation Phase, assisted Buyani teachers with instituting a Staff Development Appraisal System with great success.
Buyani teachers were unanimous that this has been the best kind of training for them because it is very practical. Teachers from Saxonwold feel the benefits have been both ways. Said one Saxonwold teacher, "We have learnt a great deal about the best ways of training and about working in a much less privileged situation. Our children have also visited Buyani and this has exposed them to a different way of life, especially as Buyani has strong links into the local community. They collected plants from their gardens and helped Buyani pupils to gree their school environment. The contact has also helped to develop our pupils' social skills." 

 USED AS AN EXAMPLE
Kagiso, an educational body, has used the Saxonwold classroom as a basis for developing education video material. It chose Saxonwold because it is one of the most advanced schools in using the OBE methodology at primary school level. The SABC has flighted this material for the last few years on its Sunday morning Education programme.

KEEPING UP WITH EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
The school believes it is important for the Principal, Marion Wheater, to keep in touch with worldwide educational developments. To this end it has raised money to send her regularly to the International Confederation of Principals' Conference, which is held every two years and is attended by private and state school principals from all over the world. has taken her to Korea ((2001), Scotland (2003), and Cape Town (2005). She believes this has broadened her horizons but has also demonstrated that Saxonwold holds its own among the best in world education. The Deputy Principal, Mrs Kotwal, attended the Conference in New Zealand in April 2007.  

 SAXONWOLD AND RESEARCH
Saxonwold welcomes any relevant research around teaching and the development of young people. As a result the HSRC has used Saxonwold pupils and parents to research its teaching of home language and how this aids learning in other languages. Media Watch is also researching learners' views with regard to producing relevant news for young people. IZI, a German company, did an international comparison on children's humour amongst 8, 9 and 10 years olds from Saxonwold Primary, and the Sunshine Project used Saxonwold for a project on inclusion.