The St Margaret’s Secondary School mission espouses the aim to develop girls into confident, creative and caring young ladies who will serve God, their country and community. The Character Development programme supports this mission in helping to develop graciousness, as well as a sense of personal and social responsibility in our girls.

The school’s programmes, policies and practices are aligned to its school mission, thrusts, motto, core values and the national shared values. They help our girls develop the socio-emotional competencies needed of the 21st century workforce. The school’s Character Development framework is formulated from Nel Noddings’ ethics of Care and the school’s own Learn-Grow-Glow model. Essentially, all school programmes are designed from this framework, thus ensuring that key moral and socio-emotional traits, competencies and values are systematically developed in all students. There are both long and short term goals and plans for Character Development and the school manages performance and progress in the Character Development goals and outcomes of students.

School leaders set the direction and communicate the vision for Character Development to staff, stakeholders (including parents and ex-students) and CCA instructors. Staff, stakeholders, CCA instructors and student leaders play a key role model in role modeling and transmitting the school values through their actions and the programmes designed. Hence, every teacher / coach takes ownership of the Character Development goals and targets set.

The school’s motto of Charity, Patience and Devotion is espoused in a collaborative learning culture that fosters learning and improvement / innovation while ensuring care for others. The ethos of care is pervasive and transcends all boundaries within the school - between management and staff, amongst staff, between staff and students and amongst students. It also extends beyond the school boundaries as the school makes its impact on the community through its community projects. Structures are established that promote good student relations and ensure student needs are met. Student development in care and social responsibility is assessed.

The school's Lifeskills programme nurtures socio-emotional competencies and sound values in the students. Values are also imbued through sharing at morning assembly and through a values-integrated instructional curriculum. In student discipline, the school takes on the Preventive–Confrontive-Restorative approach, adapted from Thomas Gordon's Discipline as a Self-Control Model. The school’s student leadership framework guides it in the design of its student leadership programmes, policies and practices. There are clear structures established in the identification and grooming of student leaders.

Character Development is given high priority in the deployment of personnel and resources. All teachers are accountable to coach students under their charge to help develop strength of character.

Character Development in St Margaret’s takes a whole-school approach, being deliberately weaved into all school programmes, from the dedicated Character Development initiatives, to its values-integrated Instructional programme.