The teacher is of course an artist, but being an artist does not mean that he or she can make the profile, can shape the students. What the educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves.” –Paulo Freire

The Competency Based Curriculum (CBC), a practical and workable educational system that focuses on nurturing children from an early age, was launched in 2017 to address the deficiencies of the previous 8-4-4 system. Instead of relying on the student’s ability to replicate the content in a test paper, CBC intends for students to use the material in practical and real-world settings. This system is student-centred and intended to produce students who are prepared to face and solve problems of the 21st century.

Some parents and students have expressed quite reasonable worries and concerns about the announcement and rollout of CBC. After all, this is not replacing dated curtains to give your house a fresh look – this is the future of your child, Kenya, Africa, and the entire world.

In apt form, Nova Pioneer Schools for Innovators and Leaders have done just that! They have innovated, adapted and are ready to lead the new dawn in what promises to be a vivification in the Kenyan educational system. 

In preparing our teachers for this new role, we have gone above and beyond what was expected of us. The Ministry of Education will provide training, but we are providing additional professional development for our teachers so that they can develop a thorough understanding of CBC and an ability to administer with the diligence that Kenya’s future demands.

With the gradual implementation of CBC, we are prepared and supportive of the last class of 8-4-4, our current class 7 students, who will take their K.C.P.E exams in 2023. Our 8-4-4 and CBC students consistently receive equal attention and high-quality instruction.

In response to our parents’ requests, CBC Grade 7 students will now have the option to enrol in either a day or boarding school as they advance from CBC Grade 6 to CBC Grade 7. Our 8-4-4 students who are scheduled to finish their KCPE in 2023 will continue to receive support at their existing campus and will have the option of attending a Nova Pioneer Day or Boarding secondary school.

We have taken a holistic approach to embracing and mastering CBC, from admissions to the classroom; it has to be mentioned that so much of what we are already offering is well suited for CBC:

• The holistic student outcomes that we strive for – The 3C’s that we aim to develop in each Novaneer student: Capability, Character & Connection – match well with CBC benefits and intent, namely that of developing the best interests and talents of the student;
• Our enquiry-based teaching methods that promote student voice and reasoning is precisely the kind of instruction that CBC envisions and that can make it great;
• Our in-house learning design capabilities and team enable us to research, adapt, and enrich CBC curriculum for our teachers and students;
• Our professional teacher development practices — supported by our culture principles of Always Growing and Joy of Learning — give our teachers the mindset to actively learn and constantly get better at new practices.

We will continue to provide the best education possible for our students, give them the resources they need to develop into upright citizens, increase their connections to the global community by increasing their likelihood of participating in initiatives such as Model United Nations or Yale’s Young Learners programme, and we will continue to work hard for their success through our unique Post-School programme even after they graduate from our school.

Ours is a life long relationship, a camaraderie, and we invite our current and prospective parents and students  to dialogue about the plans we have made for the future innovators and leaders of the African century.

Admissions for 2023 are currently ongoing. Click here to enrol your child.

 

Nova Pioneer places high value on students’ post secondary school success.  Post- School Success is a program designed to facilitate a student’s exploration and understanding of themselves.

We are currently working with the Form 4 students to empower them in their course and University selection.

 

Some of the activities planned out in support of the students include;

• Form 4 students have been introduced to the KUCCPS application process and how to calculate cluster points. Over midterm, we will give them an assignment to do their university and course selection practice. Parents are expected  to discuss and guide students on course selection.
•  Form 4 students have compulsory Post School Success sessions on International Pathway University selection. Students are guided on how to create their profile on Concourse Global.
• We are focusing on submitting quality and competitive student profiles and essays to attract university and college recruiters. Our goal is to increase the number of students receiving admission offers from top tier universities and increase the number of students getting scholarships.
• Form 3 and Form 4 students have bi-weekly Post school success sessions to ensure they receive adequate guidance in their post school journey. We are also conducting one on one sessions with the students to offer individualized support.
• We are organizing school visits by University and College Representatives to offer information sessions to the students and enhance their University and course  selection options. We aim at having at least 5 sessions before the end of Term 2.
• We have organized students’ campus experience and tours to give them a glimpse of University life and the resources available at selected universities. On Saturday 30th July, 30 Form 4 students, interested in media related courses, will be visiting Africa Digital Media Institute in Nairobi under this program.
• In an effort to enhance our support to our alumni and expand our network for job shadowing and internship opportunities, we have launched mapping of our alumni and creating a database of opportunities.
• We are working on a robust job shadowing and internship program for our students and this term we will be focusing on creating more partnerships and opportunities. In the spirit of Greater Together and Solutions First, Our Parents have committed to help in identifying these opportunities.

 

Enrollments for 2023 are currently ongoing. Click here to submit an application for your child.

At Nova Pioneer, we delight in learning and bring infectious energy and positive spirit to everything we do because joy fuels learning and hardwork. We ensure our students are engaged in co-curricular activities that help them develop their skills and abilities beyond the classroom. Some of the co-curricular activities our students have been involved in over the past few weeks include;

 

Mother Daughter Event

We had our first ever Mother-Daughter event on 14th May. This was a great opportunity for both mothers and their daughters to bond and appreciate each other. Various activities were planned for the day. The activities ranged from fun games, presentations from students, and mothers and daughters enjoying zumba and motivation speakers sessions. The mothers and daughters had a chance to share how they felt about each other especially during the Fungua Roho session.

 

President’s award

The President’s Award challenges young people to find their purpose, passion and place in the world. It is a self development platform for young people to acquire skills to make a difference for themselves, their communities, the country and the world.

The President H.E Hon Uhuru Kenyatta hosted thousands of students, youth and education stakeholders from across the country for the Gold Award presentations at State House, Nairobi. We had the privilege of being in attendance during the ceremony which culminated in us learning so many wonderful lessons which will support us in developing our learners’ skills thus enabling them to positively impact the society and be world ready. 

Visiting The Nairobi Perfoming Arts Studio

Art club members visited the Kenya National Theatre to watch an educational performance of Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s first ever production of the  iconic play ‘‘I’LL MARRY WHEN I WANT/NGAAHIKA NDEENDA’’ which was being staged for the first time in over 30 years. Nairobi Performing Arts Studio (NPAS) the award-winning Theatre /TV production company and Performing Arts school continues to provide professional training in ACTING, SINGING, DANCE, PRODUCING/DIRECTING and MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS to Nova Pioneer Girls.

St John’s Ambulance 

Over the March/April holiday break, the St John Ambulance cadets participated in the Grand Prior Camp – Mombasa Challenge that was hosted at the Mama Ngina Girls’ High School, Mombasa, between April 7 to April 11, 2022.

The items for competition were First Aid theory, First Aid practicals, drills and talent show. We emerged as the best team in First Aid Theory and Practicals as well as the talent show. Our two cadets Zawadi Wafula and Wanjiku Kamau were the overall best in First Aid Theory, thereby earning for themselves distinguished awards. 

The theme of the Grand Prior Challenge was Drug and Substance Abuse Awareness and our cadets brought it out through their applaudable skit.

We emerged as the overall best team in all the competitions.

We also participated in community service and cleaned the Kenyatta (Pirates) Beach by picking plastic bottles and bags along the beach.

Sports 

With some of Covid-19 restrictions being lifted, we are encouraging our students to actively participate in co-curricular activities. We shall be able to participate in some of the activities organized by various schools. This weekend the students participated in various tournaments in Mang’u High School, Alliance School, Regis School and Pangani Girls.

 

 

The True Talents of Africa football academy at Nova Pioneer secondary school is Kenya’s first private residential football academy.

In partnership with Nova Pioneer Secondary School, The TTA Football Academy program gives talented football students opportunities to pursue football as a career, attain scholarships and grow as individuals through the sport.

The program itself is intensive and runs in tandem with the school schedule with students having sessions up to 5-6 times per week.

Past graduates of the TTA Nova program have gone on to excel locally and internationally.

 

Success Stories

 

The TTA Football Academy Development Model

The True Talents of Africa Football Academy program aspires to maximize player and character development in 3 key areas of a players’ performance.

These areas include:

1. Football Development

Where we focus on 4 key areas of player development:

Mental – Focused on the players’ character development both on and off the field i.e. team work, self-esteem, self-awareness, leadership, etc.

Technical – focused on the player’s technique when on the ball development.

Tactical – focused on the psychological aspects of the game including communication, creativity, leadership…

Physical – focused on the players’ physical development and sports specific athleticism. Enhancing attributes like coordination, speed, and agility.

 

2. Academic Development

All TTA Student-athletes attend a mandatory study hall/extra prep session on a weekly basis to ensure the upkeep of their academic performance.

 

3. Character Development

Every week, TTA Student athletes attend a ‘mental conditioning’ session that serves as a mentorship program. Here, students have different activities aimed at developing various aspects of their character that will enable them to navigate the world as leaders.

 

The program format

The TTA Football Academy program at Nova Pioneer runs in the following format, consistent with our developmental model:

(Note that students are in class during regular classroom hours.)

 

Tuesday	Mental conditioning and Character building sessions	Mental conditioning and mentorship sessions are classroom session focused on the character development of the students.
	Physical resistance training	Physical resistance training is performed through the use of weights and resistance focused on students’ athletic development
Wednesday	Intensive training	Field football training in divided age-specific teams
Saturday	More intense training	Field football training in divided age-specific teams
Sunday	Intensive training or matches	Field football training/matches in divided age-specific teams

 

TTA International Partners

 

1. FC Malaga City is a full-time Spanish football academy for elite 16-20-year-olds from across the globe. The Academy has sent over 30 players onto professional teams and play in matches against the likes of Athletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona.

 2.  Sports Recruiting USA is an agency which has helped players internationally attain scholarships to play and study in the United States college soccer system.

3. FA Euro is an academy based in Florida USA with a residential Programme geared towards developing elite level athletes whilst they pursue their education simultaneously.

4. SoccerViza is a professional agency based in the US that grants the most talented TTA students direct professional opportunities.

5. Brookhouse College UK is an internationally acclaimed residential football academy based in Leicestershire England that develops talented youth footballers from around the world.

 

 

Nova Pioneer provides students with opportunities beyond the classroom to nurture their talents and abilities.  We recently partnered with The True Talents of Africa Football Academy to offer professional football within our schools. The program provides students with different opportunities  such as soccer scholarships.

This year, we are extremely proud of Peter Kolenyo from the Tatu Boys Class of 2021 who just committed to join Cardinal Stritch University on a 67% soccer scholarship. 

Peter is a graduate of the True Talents of Africa Football Academy residential program at Nova Pioneer Boys where he excelled not only on the field but also off the field, scoring an A-in his KCSE Exam.

Above,Peter( Nova Pioneer TTA goal keeper) during a recent match

Peter made the decision after receiving various offers from several universities including Amherst University, Manor college, Irvine Valley, Whatcom University and others.

Cardinal Stritch is one of the most consistent NAIA(National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) Men’s soccer programs in the United States having qualified in the NAIA National Tournaments in 4 out of the past  6 years. 

We are extremely proud of him and we wish him well in his journey! He is set to travel to the US in August and is currently training with the TTA Football Academy’s Under 21 team. He  joins the list of Nova Pioneer TTA Graduates headed to the US this August on Soccer scholarships which includes Cedric Mucui, Kennedy Obanda and Derrick Onyango.

To learn more about the True Talents of Africa programme within Nova Pioneer, click on the video below.

International Women’s Day is celebrated each year on March 8th to recognize the social, economic , cultural and political achievements of women. The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is “Gender Equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.” 

At Nova Pioneer, we are empowering our young women to bravely take up opportunities.  We equip them with 21st Century skills that prepare them for the future.  In them we see a generation of great Leaders who will shape the African century.

This Year as we celebrate the International Women’s Day, we are celebrating these brave young women within the Nova Pioneer community.

 

Our Brave Young Women

We are Proud of Avery Muoki a Grade 5  student at our Athi River Campus who published her first book titled Amber The brave. At 10 years old Avery has already discovered her prowess in writing. She is passionate about the environment. Her book is about a young girl determined to save her village from air pollution caused by toxic fumes from a steel factory. 

We are  proud of Jeanne Sere an alumni of our Tatu Girls Campus who is the founder of tabasamu.ke a company she started while at Nova Pioneer in 2018. She grew from collecting several kilograms of bags with clothes donated by Novaneers to selling re-cycled Ankara waste from local tailors. She uses 20% of her profits to give back to the community.

We are  Proud of Shakira Mwakitawa an Alumni of our Tatu Girls Campus who joined the Nova Pioneer Marketing team as an intern. she has continued to embody the Nova Pioneer culture principles and bravely offers support to the team. 

We are proud of Apetronila Maina, Maya Hawi, Shanice Kituu and Tatyana Murila Students at our Tatu Girls Campus who emerged position 1 in this Years Junior Achievers Company of The Year Competition. Their project “Yoof” aims at  promoting mental health among young people by creating a safe space to express themselves.

Above, Apetronila, Maya, Shanice and Tatyana

 

We are proud of Rehema Amor and Michelle Atika, Form 4 Students at Tatu Girls who took part in this Years National Youth Agri challenge. They emerged among the top 10 finalists in all schools across the country. Their project led to our school being identified as an Agricultural Centre and winning an Agric park worth Kshs.30000 to help Amor and Michelle begin the implementation of their project.

Above Rehema and Michelle giving their presentation

We are proud of Ivy Wanja Mwaura from Tatu Girls who emerged top in the the World Scholars Cup for her outstanding performance in writing and Debate.

We are proud of Getrude Muthoni from Tatu Girls Campus who presented an excellent Virtual tour of our country during the X-culture Business Competition. At the Competition, 15 girls from Tatu Girls gave a tremendous performance. The students will be proceeding to the global round later this year. 

We are proud of our Form 4 class who have been supporting each other, believing in themselves throughout the tight academic schedule and are currently focusing on their KCSE exams.

Join us on our next Virtual Open Day Session to learn more of the amazing stories.

Remember to celebrate yourself and the women in your life today by calling out gender inequality.

 

Counseling Sessions

 

The New Academic calendar has brought fourth changes in the school programs. At Nova Pioneer, we have ensured students adjust to these  changes. Each of our  campuses has a qualified  counselor who provides individual and group counseling sessions for our students.

Teenage years remain to be the most crucial years of a child’s life. Being a child and trying to build a sense of independence in a world that is changing so fast is a major task for them. As a parent, you influence your child’s basic values, like religious values and educational choices. The stronger your relationship with your child is, the more influence you will have, because your child will be more likely to seek your guidance and value your opinion and support.

The change of the school programs in the last few years has challenged the family system’s active involvement in our children’s development, and therefore intentional collaboration with the school promotes successful support to the students. 

Individual counseling sessions continue to be the primary way through which major counseling issues are addressed. This is done throughout the week and on the weekends.

As our students grow up, we have been able to note a need to talk about various challenges that they are facing. 

The different personalities and experiences they have plays a major role in causing conflicts amongst themselves. Group counseling provides a safe space for them to listen to one another and be able to empathize with each other even as they learn. This term we have been able to discuss various addictions including drug and substance abuse. 

 

Family Meetings

 

The family is the basic unit of society. Families also foster a sense of belonging to something greater than oneself. As the Nova Pioneer community, we strive to maintain the sense of connection and belonging in our students even when they are away from home. 

And this is why we have families in the school. Each family has one teacher who is the parent to eight to ten students.  The families have scheduled sessions that take place every Wednesday from 7-7.25 am. Spending 25 minutes at the start of the school day to help students talk through issues they may be having and practice social and emotional skills can have a positive effect on their academic achievement. 

We also work with our parents who continue with the conversations during holidays.

Click here and submit your application today for the 2022 academic year. You can also find Virtual Tours of our campuses here

At Nova Pioneer we encourage  our students to explore their talents by providing them an opportunity to participate in co-curricular activities.

Students are allowed to choose an activity based on their interests.

On Saturday 5th Feb we ferried 13 teams to participate in the Makini Soccer Tournament.

We recorded very promising results as explained below.

 

Under 7 Years team

All the under 7 team made it to the quarter finals after playing a series of matches.

 

Under 9 Years team

All under 9 reached the quarter final stages as well.

 

Under 11 Years Team

Our under 11 team made it to the finals after making it to position 2. We are extremely proud of them for exhibiting high expectations.

 

Under 13 Years team.

Our under 13 team progressed up to the semi finals.

All participants received their certificates of participation.

All the 11 players who made it to the finals received their Silver medals.

 

Under 13 Team at the soccer tournament

Click here for more information on the clubs.

 

Safer Internet day is celebrated on 8th Feb, of every year. Safer Internet day aims to create both a safer and better internet where everyone is empowered to use technology responsibly, respectfully, critically and creatively. 

This year, our students learnt about the importance of being kind to their eye by checking their screen time usage, what they watch and online safety.

The students were surprised by the World Health Organization recommended hours of screen time per day for children.  They argued that the time was too short and that they are usually on screens for  longer periods of time. They were encouraged to take breaks and to reduce time spent on screens so as to protect their eyes and brains.

The students were also reminded about online safety which included being aware of online predators, not giving out personal information, staying away from inappropriate content among other risks

It was evident from the discussions that there is minimal supervision of what the students are accessing online and on television and we would like to request the parents to ensure that the children are accessing safe content.

Would you like to join the Nova Pioneer community? Our enrollment deadline is fast approaching. Click on this link to apply

We Answered all the questions submitted to us last week via our Social Media platforms.

 Most of the questions were similar so we combined them as is below; 

 

 How Much is Your Form 1 School Fees?

Our 2022 Fee Structure is as follows;

Eldoret campuses; here 

Tatu City Campuses; here

You can also find school fees structures of all our campuses on our website

 

We Live in Roysambu which branch can my Son attend for PP1?

We have 2 primary schools; Nova Pioneer Primary- Tatu City and Nova Pioneer Primary -Athi River.

In this case, the Tatu City campus is the closest to Roysambu.

You can also see here the transport schedule

Click here to find more information on our admission process

 

When are Form 1’s Joining?

At Nova Pioneer we follow the Kenyan Academic dates as provided by the Ministry of Education. 

The tentative date provided is 25th April,2022.

 

What is your High School class capacity

We have 34 students per class . In our Tatu City Campuses we have  4 streams per Form. Our Eldoret Campus is still growing and we currently have 2 streams per Form.

 

How Many of your students qualified for University in 2020?

We continue to celebrate our class of 2020 for their exemplary performance.

80% of our students managed to get C+ and above which is the Minimum University requirement.

Here’s a summary of the 2020 KCSE results.

 

When is the Next Open Day?

We host Primary School Open Days every other Saturday at both our Campuses in Athi River and Tatu City. Join us this Saturday, 5th Feb for a campus experience.

Our High School Open days are hosted virtually. You can sign up for our next virtual session here

For more information, contact our admissions team via email on; admissions.ke@novapioneer.com

 

 How are your Alumni doing, Do you follow up with them?

Yes we do.

We are extremely proud of what our alumni do post Form 4. You can find some of the Alumni work here

 

Teaching Vacancies

Teachers are at the heart of what we do. They inspire our students with a passion for learning.

All our Opportunities/ vacancies are posted on the website.  Constantly check on our website to see open jobs as well as understand the hiring process.

 

How did Nova Pioneer come up

Nova Pioneer is a network of schools developing a generation of leaders and innovators.  We launched our first school in South Africa in 2014. We have since expanded within South Africa and to Kenya. Our First Kenya Schools Launched in 2015.

 

Thankyou for engaging us!