At Nova Pioneer we are focused on developing a generation of leaders and Innovators.

The Hallmark course is a unique course designed for learners at Nova Pioneer. 

The Hallmark course focuses on students’ character, capabilities and connection through purposeful weekly lessons and culminating projects each term.

All Nova Pioneer secondary students attend two Hallmark lessons each week centrally designed by a team of learning designers, post-school success teammates, and instructional leaders. It’s facilitated by a dedicated team of teachers at each campus.  Each Form has a different focus- we hope you enjoy learning more about each year’s course below!

 

Form 1: Looking Inward

In Form 1, students hone in on Character, reflecting deeply on their  values and beliefs, how their life experiences have shaped them, and their personal strengths. They work to deepen their connections with one another, exploring how they can work with others, appreciate others’ diversity, and resolve conflicts with one another. Finally, they look outside of themselves to identify a cause they care about that they want to pursue further.

 

Form 2: Learning From Our Past, Re-Framing Our Future

In Form 2, students develop their Capabilities through the Big Africa History Course, exploring world history from an African perspective and learning how the past has shaped our present. In the first two terms, students study the history of the Continent, global interconnection, and economic and technological acceleration.

In the final term, students look to the next threshold and explore how they as young Africans can reclaim the African narrative and shape the African century.

 

Form 3: The Many Ways of Making Change

Form 3 students complete the Change maker Academy course with a focus on further developing their Capabilities, learning how to solve real-world problems through the frameworks of innovation, social entrepreneurship, and leadership.

In the Innovation pathway, students practice using the human-centered design process to tackle a community problem.

In the Entrepreneurship pathway, students get acquainted with the Business Model Canvas tool and design their own social business.

Finally, in the Leadership pathway, students learn leadership competencies such as ethical leadership and decision-making, communicating effectively, managing and leading others, and mobilizing change.

At the end of their Changemaker journey, students select a Changemaker pathway to pursue into their Form 4 Capstone Experience.

 

Form 4: Putting Ideas in Action

In the Form 4 Capstone Experience, students make Connections beyond their immediate school environment by identifying a real-world problem they’d like to solve, putting together a project plan and proposal for their solution, and then implementing their projects throughout the course of two terms.

Each week, students work with their Capstone groups on their projects, documenting their work and checking in with their Capstone Mentors to tackle any challenges that arose during implementation.

At the end of implementation, students then present their projects to the greater Nova Pioneer community in a Capstone Showcase event.

We are currently piloting Nova Pioneer’s first Capstone Experience at our Tatu Boys campus this term with our Form 3 students, and will launch with our Tatu Girls Form 3 students in January. Stay tuned for a more in-depth blog post on their progress!

Parents make plenty of sacrifices so their children can live a life where they are free to live out their full potential. While parents sacrifice their sleep, hobbies and much more, one of the most important sacrifices parents make is towards their child’s education.

Nova Pioneer understands the sacrifices parents make towards their children’s education and that’s why we are giving interested families looking to enroll their children for the 2022 academic year the chance to save up to KES 15,000 for Primary School tuition and KES 25,000 for High School tuition if they secure their spots by 15th December 2021.

 

How You Can Save On Your Child’s Tuition for the 2022 Academic Year

Families interested in enrolling their child(ren) for the 2022 academic year and who reserve their spots by paying the deposit amount by 15th December 2021, are eligible to receive a discount towards their term 1 tuition of the 2022 academic year. 

 

Terms and Conditions

1. Confirmed enrollment at Nova Pioneer will be subject to all admissions requirements being met. We draw your attention to the following specific requirements:
   • Space being available in the requested grade
   • A successful entry assessment to establish grade readiness
2. The following discount will be applied to the tuition to fees for term 1 of 2022, due to commence at the end of April 2022, specifically, equivalent to the following amounts:
   • Primary School — for those who secure their 2022 spots by 15th December 2021 (and meet all stated requirements including full deposit and enrollment fee paid) KES 15,000 will be credited towards the student’s term 1, 2022 academic year fees.  
   • High School —  for those who secure their 2022 spots by 15th December 2021 (and meet all stated requirements including full deposit and enrollment fee paid) KES 25,000 will be credited towards the student’s term 1, 2022 academic year fees.  
3. In order to benefit from the offer, the student needs to be enrolled at Nova Pioneer in April  2022 and all other contractual requirements and conditions of this offer met.
4. The discount can only be applied to the April  2022 tuition for the specific child for whom a deposit is paid before 15 December 2021 , and not to the tuition of a sibling.
5. All other admissions, enrollment and financial terms remain enforceable. We draw your attention to the following, specifically:
   • Any portion of the deposit paid will be foregone (plus the enrollment incentive reversed) if the student does not take up their place in the 2022 academic year 
6. In order to qualify, a parent would need to pay the deposit amount by 15th December 2021. Should  this requirement not be met in full, the family will no longer qualify for this offer.
7. The offer is non-transferrable and cannot be substituted for cash or a refund.

To start your journey on saving on your 2022 tuition, remember to place your application in just a few steps here.

Thriving in high school is an important part of a student’s success both academically and personally.

We gathered 5 tips on how to thrive in high school

 

 Your Mental Health is Important

Your mental health should be a top priority.

Do not be ashamed to approach  your school counselor  for help.

Guard your mind and consume only what is healthy for you.

 

Choose Your Circle Wisely

It’s okay to have a small circle.

Make friends who influence you positively and inspire you to be your authentic self.

You also need to be a great and supportive friend. 

 

Excellence in Class Work

In Form 1 & 2, it’s important to closely monitor your performance and align it with your interest in order to choose your majors wisely.

Make your notes personal, it will be easier to revise for exams.

Outline your study goals and make sure you live up to them.

Participate in class as much as you can. Ask and answer questions frequently. This helps with mastery.

Explore the different reading strategies and identify what works for you. You’ll not only be set for High School but for life!

 Work hard, not smart.

Check out this blog on how to study for exams

 

Extra- curriculum Activities

Join a club, a sport or even both!

Being active recharges your energy and keeps your mental health in check.

Clubs bring out your strengths and skills that you will utilize beyond high school.

You could finally discover your talent by joining clubs and sport activities.

 

Make Technology your friend

Do not be afraid to do your research online. Make the best out of it.

Remember to also be safe while at it

Internet safety is the knowledge of how to stay safe online by being aware of the nature of the possible threats that you could encounter while engaging in activities on the internet.

Students use the internet both at School and  at home. It is important for Students to be aware of the risks and drawbacks of the internet while benefiting from it.

Here are some tips for students on how to stay safe online.

 

Share with Care.

The internet never forgets.

Once something by or about you is online, it could be there forever.

Ensure you leave a positive digital footprint for future reference

Keep personal information private. This is information such as ; Your Email, Home address and phone number, Passwords, Your school work and other private documents.

 

Don’t Fall for Fake

Content found online isn’t necessarily true or reliable and could involve malicious efforts to steal personal information or identity.

To avoid falling for a fake, It’s important to ask yourself some questions before clicking on a shared link. Here are some questions you could ask; 

• Does it look professional like other websites you know and trust, with the product’s or company’s usual logo.
• Does the site’s URL match the product’s or company’s name and information you’re looking for
• Are there any spam pop-ups?
• Does the URL start with https://with a little green padlock to the left of it?
• Does the message sound a little bit weird?
• Is the email or site offering something that sounds too good to be true,like a chance to make a lot of money?( it’s almost too good to be true)

And what if you fall for a scam what do you do?

• Tell your parent, teacher or other trusted adult right away
• Change your passwords for online accounts.
• Use settings to report the message as spam if possible.

Secure your Secrets

Protecting yourself, your info and your devices means doing simple smart things like screen locks, building strong passwords and ensuring you log out from devices, especially shared devices.

Strong passwords are based on a descriptive phrase or sentence that’s easy for you to remember and difficult for others to guess.

 

It’s Cool to Be Kind

Behind every username is a real person with real feelings. We should treat them as we would want to be treated.

Be kind while interacting with people online.

In the case where you find yourself as the target here’s what you should do ;Do not respond, Block the person and Report them.

In addition to using the app reporting tools, ask your teacher or your parents for assistance.

 

When in Doubt Talk it Out

Recognize that asking for help for oneself is a sign of strength.

Seek the guidance of the Teacher whenever in doubt of anything online.

A school Menu helps us plan healthy and nutritious meals for our students.

Children perform better when their bodies and minds are powered by a balanced and nutritious diet.

Parents and teachers agree that brain power, concentration and general well being are unequivocally improved when kids eat decent meals.

At Nova Pioneer we believe that creating a menu that our students enjoy and look forward to, increases their Joy of Learning. 

As Term 2 kicks off, we have a menu ready for our students.

Click here to view the  NPTP-School-Menu-July-2021-1-

Looking to find the best school for your child can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to be according to Malcolm Gladwell, The Outlier. He advises parents to start their search for the best school by focusing on what they want a school to do for their child.

Here are 5 questions that parents can ask themselves to help them focus on finding the school that aligns with their child’s needs:

  What do I want my child to learn?

This question will outline the specific subject matter, curriculum, level of academic difficulty, teaching style and assessment methods that the school uses. A lot goes into establishing a school’s approach, model and selecting its curriculum.

How does my child learn best?

Establish what your child’s particular learning style is and their challenges. While a lot might depend on the parent and their values, it is important to look at your child’s personality and strengths. Different children will thrive better in environments that are suited for their personality and individual needs.

Will the school be practical for my family’s daily schedule?

This question will provide you with answers relating to distance and location of the school, school hours, and affordability as well as extra curriculum activities so that you can plan around a practical schedule that works for both you and your child. It is important to ensure that you have the means, can maintain a schedule for your child to attend that specific school and support them in their school schedule.

What is the school’s behavior policy?

Some parents might value the whole structured discipline approach while others want a school that encourages and values the student voice. It is important to consider how different school policies and values fit with family values and family life, but most importantly, look for a school that complements and supplements who your child is.

How does the school prepare my child for the real world?

You’ll want to find out whether the school will equip your child with skills to survive and thrive in a constantly changing environment. Schools need to be able to prepare your child for tertiary education and beyond. What’s important is that your child has skills to cope in the real world long after leaving that school.

Whatever questions that parents decide to focus on when looking for the best school for their child, it is essentially about what will work best for the child’s personality, strengths, needs and interests. Also, making the right choice on a school will allow parents to focus on supporting the child and their school in doing the best they can to equip the child for their future.

Original blog post: https://www.novapioneer.com/sa/blog/what-to-consider-when-looking-for-your-childs-school/

At Nova Pioneer, We are keen to keep up with our alumni who are in turn happy to share their post- school journey.

We  caught up with one of our Alumni from the class of 2020, Mark Bilahi an animal advocate and environmental enthusiast who has been volunteering at The Nairobi National Park during his gap year period.

Mark shares with us highlights from his experience volunteering at The Nairobi National Park.

 

What does a typical day for a volunteer at the Animal Orphanage look like?

 

 I start off at 8.am with tending to the baby animals. This involves warming milk and pouring it into the specific bottles for specific animals. The bottles are made to imitate their mothers. I then head over  to the bigger animals where I set up and replace hay, clean up and fill water ponds.

The rest of the day is spent in the park cleaning and generally taking care of the animals.

 

What are some of your best moments working at the Animal Orphanage?

 

 Taking care of the baby animals i.e. lion cubs  and dik dik.  Feeding large mammals e.g. lions and hyenas was frightening but exhilarating .Occasionally,  We  received juvenile animals it was always exciting to see them go back to the wild while full grown and healthy.

 

What’s your favorite animal?

 

That’s a tough one. Top on the list was the striped hyena.  I also felt a deep connection to a baby tortoise that really struggled fitting in. I took him under my wing and nursed him back to health in a safer environment. I also enjoyed being with the lion cubs since I got to watch them grow as they got their vaccines and their weights were measured.

 

Why Animal Advocacy?

 

I enjoy seeing how the animals in the ecosystem balance out each other with their own niches.

Some animals  will never acknowledge each other despite crossing paths but they’re all involved in balancing the ecosystem so if you take one out,one aspect will be overpowered just like when you take something from one end of a seesaw.

 

How Did Being at Nova Pioneer Bring Out Your Passion? 

 

We had Life skills lessons on Monday. These taught me a bunch of out of class skills that I apply on my day to day. 

Team work is one of the skills that has worked so well for me.

 

Which Nova Pioneer culture principle are you living  up to?

 

Greater Together. This is because the endangerment of these animals is something that affects all of us and I believe that we should work together in the conservation of animals.

Joy of Learning, I learnt a lot about taking care of these animals and because this is my passion I am always excited to learn something new from my supervisors and fellow volunteers. 

 

What do you think can be done differently in regards to animal and Environment conservation?

 

We should all take personal initiative in taking care of our environments starting with the basics of for instance recycling and /re-using plastics.

People should also take initiative to visit local National parks and conservancies.

Supporting the conservancies through donations, raising awareness and volunteering for clean ups. 

 

As I write this, I think of my younger self, in the late 1990s, with only a  few years of working experience. (Yes, that was ages ago and I am giving my age away!). I can vividly recall my father – who was my greatest role model – telling me that I didn’t need to become “hardened” as a woman in business to “make it”.

Hardened 

 

When I looked “up the ranks” (ironically a  phrase that I detest but which was a pertinent reality in my early career), in the various organisations that I was part of, for the first 15 years of my career, the women in senior leadership were few, relative to their male counterparts. They were also mostly in fact “pretty hardened”, ambitious-at-all-costs and fiercely driven. Many of them made their jobs their “whole life”. 

Feminine

 

Thankfully I had my dad whispering in my ear on how important it was not to “lose (feminine) self” in the quest for career success or model success in a predominantly male persona (which I think at that time, many women assumed was the only route).

 

Admittedly there were times, when I have/did put my roles of “being a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister and a friend” on hold and de-prioritized these in favour of work, work, work.  Perhaps the subliminal narrative inside my head was that in a business context, feminine roles and qualities were in fact a handicap or sign of weakness.

Grateful 

 

Fast forward a couple of decades to where I find myself now, in the wonderful world of education and as part of the Nova Pioneer family. I truly never even think of my gender in my workplace context – I don’t think twice about being a female. How grateful I am to think that gender is just an irrelevant demographic, right now in my work life.  I don’t feel embarrassed about needing to “rush off and be a mom to my own kids” during a working day or in fact anything else that comes with the territory of my role as mother, wife, sister and daughter. These roles are equally respected and appreciated by the teammates that I work with. How very grateful I am for that, when things felt quite the contrary some decades back for “women in business”. 

At Nova Pioneer we believe that a strong educational foundation in pre-primary school is vital to not only shaping your child’s academic success but also in paving their road for success in life. How your child learns and develops mentally, emotionally, physically and socially is critical to us.

At Nova Pioneer, we use a unique integrated approach to support our youngest of students’ growth. We offer vast opportunities to develop your child’s intellectual curiosity and love of learning. Here are the 5 skills that you can expect your child to develop in pre-primary school:

 

Independence

 

We’ve realized that children become more independent in pre-primary school. Naturally, becoming more independent enables children to take care of their own basic needs, to be mindful of their belongings, and to develop their self-confidence. Nurturing your child’s independence is vital in pre-primary school because it encourages them to not only be resourceful and to learn how to solve problems on their own, but it also gives them the confidence to build up their student voice.

 

Language skills

 

Language develops rapidly during pre-primary school years. There is an increase in the scope and function of speech, and children start to use words to resolve conflict. They understand the conversation and volunteer their own ideas and opinions. Their concentration, memory and attention span increase and they begin to participate in discussions to make sense of the world that they live in.

 

Social skills

 

Consequently, children become more socially aware in pre-primary school, and they learn how to get along with others. They share more readily at school, take turns with one another more easily, and begin to work through conflict peacefully. Their play evolves from parallel to interactive play and they are comfortable forming friendships in a pre-primary school environment. Also, pre-primary school is where children begin to learn more about social cues and it’s where their individual personalities begin to unfold as they are exposed to different people from different backgrounds.

 

Physical development

 

Children attending pre-primary school learn how to intentionally use and control their bodies through the various physical activities they engage in at school. There are also striking physical changes in their body proportions during this time as they grow and partake in challenging physical undertakings when they play with their peers. They become capable and confident of more strenuous activities and learn to have greater endurance. Pre-primary school is also where children start to develop dominance and learn to have control over their hand muscles, which is an essential part of physical development during this phase of their lives.

Emotional Maturity

In Pre- Primary School, children learn to outgrow the heightened emotionalism of temper tantrums. Emotions being  to colour their lives. They become better at controlling their emotions and  can be reasoned with. They overcome problems with separation with their parents more easily as they interact with other children and they are able to build trust with their teachers and Peers.

Lastly emotions become more evident in children’s facial expressions in Pre-Primary School. Their body posture, movements and tone of voice help both parents and teachers to easily identify the Children’s emotional cues.

 

Every Year parents make a decision for their children to either join Public schools or a private school.Here are the  benefits of private school education.

Enhanced Opportunities

One key benefit of private schools is the enriched educational experience that pupils obtain.This is thanks to numerous additional initiatives offered at Private Schools including; extra-curricular activities and a variety of  programs for gifted students.

At Nova Pioneer,in particular, our students are strongly encouraged to participate in at least one of our co-curricular activities. These Includes; Debate & Model UN, Journalism,Blogging & Photography, Drama/music club,Computer club, Entrepreneurship Club, Music Creation Club, Dance Club,Scouting, First Aid & Presidential Award club, Robotics & Maker club,Chess & Indoor games.

We also offer coaching for a variety of outdoor games including; Rugby, Basketball, Hockey, Football and Swimming.

Private schools can create their own teaching methods. At Nova Pioneer, We have a learning design team composed of subject matter experts. They are responsible for crafting all lessons around the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development objectives.

Lessons at Nova Pioneer are delivered using the 5-E lesson plan. This is whereby students discover content for themselves about the lesson( They Get to explore their leadership potential), They are encouraged to be innovative and make connections of their findings with the real world.They then share their findings with the teacher in class who then gives clarification and finalizes the topic.

By the end of every topic, Our learners have done their research, engaged with each other and this enhances their understanding and mastery of topics.

Reduced class Sizes.

 Studies  have  shown that the smaller the class size the higher an average grade a student attains.

At nova pioneer, Our primary class size for Pre-Primary Class is 24 students per class where each class has 2 teachers, For the Upper classes, our class capacity is 32 with 2 teachers per class as well.

This has proven to be a very helpful teacher student ratio whereby each Student gets attention from the teacher depending on their strengths and or weaknesses.

Expectation of Success

The high  quality of education offered at private schools results in very good academic results. The mission of private schools attracted students with similar interests, passions and talents.

At Nova Pioneer, we have seen a steady improvement in our K.C.S.E grades. 80% of our candidates qualify to join Universities as the others join tertiary institutions.

Networking Opportunities

At Nova Pioneer, We have a Post School Success Team. The Team Organizes exchange programs for our students between Kenya and South Africa. The team also offer student job shadowing and internship opportunities in a variety of professional fields depending on each students’ interests.

Our students have earned  international scholarship opportunities to pursue their dream careers.

The Nova Pioneer community is also a source of networks.

Community Feel

Many Private schools make an effort to create a community environment. When school feels more like a community, students can feel safer, more comfortable and more passionate about learning.

At Nova Pioneer our culture principles create such a great bond between students and staff. We call ourselves Novaneers.

The strong feeling of community at Nova Pioneer nourishes the student’s social skills and encourages good behavior.

Excellent Resources

Most private schools have excellent resources and facilities to support learning. From well equipped classrooms to multiple sports facilities. 

At Nova Pioneer, We have world facilities that offer a great learning environment for our students.

Get in Touch With Us

If you’d like to enroll your child for the 2022 academic year, Then please get in touch with us. Visit our website to learn more about Nova Pioneer.