Over the years, we have seen discipline evolve as the needs and development of children have changed generationally. At Nova Pioneer, we believe there is a connection between discipline and character. However, as a parent you may be asking yourself how you can enforce discipline in a way that shows care but still builds character. 

Nova Pioneer Paulshof School Leader, Claudia Pienaar, recently presented a three-part video guide on the fundamentals of discipline and gave parents as she believes parents can begin their journey by redefining discipline in the home. 

In her video series, Ms Pienaar explains that when parents discipline from a place of love, and can also help children understand that for every action there is a reaction, then children can be properly equipped to navigate the world around them.

 

Redefining Discipline in the Home

Ms Pienaar takes on a different approach to discipline by describing it as a bi-product of love and an act of service from parent to child. Have a look at how she explains discipline based on what motivates both the parent and the child:

 

Choices and Consequences

‘With freedom comes great responsibility’ is a saying that Ms Pienaar applies to the themes of discipline in her three-part parent video guide. She advocates that parents need to make it clear to their children that there is freedom to choose however, there is no freedom from the consequences. 

Here’s how to introduce consequences to your children as a natural part of learning and growing:

 

 

Discipline from a place of love

As much as Pienaar provides tips on how parents can discipline their children, she also offers parents tips on how to discipline themselves, as discipline requires parents to keep calm and offer guidance from a place of love and understanding. 

Watch how to teach your child to put words to their feelings:

Parents have the opportunity to coach and teach while instilling positive character traits in their children. When delivered well, discipline can show children better ways to respond to situations. 

Today (June 16) South Africa pauses to recognise Youth Day.  Across Africa, it is the International Day of the African Child.  Both of these acknowledge the initiative, sacrifice and leadership of South Africa’s youth of 1976, who rose with courage to the foremost challenge of their time in resisting apartheid; in resisting a system of education designed to subjugate them.  

In commemorating the youth of 1976 today, we should also ask what the foremost challenge of today’s youth may be?  What initiative, courage and leadership does it ask of them?  And how do schools today need to be different to be arenas in which young Africans can develop the capacity and conviction to meet the present, and shape the future?

 

This can be the African Century

Our mission at Nova Pioneer is to develop generations of innovators and leaders who will shape the African Century.  That mission is grounded upon the realisation that the future will be African, and on the conviction that the potential of that future lies within the boundless human potential of young Africans.  

 

Numerically, the future will be African. 

Just one decade from now, in 2030, there will be more young people entering the workforce across Africa than the rest of the world combined.   By 2100, Africans will represent between 30-50% of the world’s population, compared to just 17% today.  That population growth represents the foremost challenge — and opportunity — ahead for our youth and continent, and one of the top realities that will shape the world over the next 100 years.  

 

Africa’s pace of change

In addition to those numbers, Africa’s youth face a future with the same rapid and accelerating pace of change in technology, global interaction and culture, climate, and wealth as is faced by young people the world over.  Some of these will be positive (more productive technologies, better healthcare), some negative (climate change, infectious diseases), some could be both (artificial intelligence) — but all at a rate that will be both dizzying and exhilarating.  

 

Empowering youth to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities

On the one hand, the African Century could be one of great promise: a rising of Africa’s talent, culture and prominence, contributing to a richer and more equitable world.  On the other, it could betray that promise, with expanding inequality, conflict and suffering.  

The key to what happens, of course, is what we do about Africa’s human capacity — and about youth development in particular.  There are no shortages on this continent of opportunities to do good and do well; of problems to solve, contributions to make, innovations to create or institutions to strengthen.  From the figures above, there is no shortage of innate talent to do that good work.  The question is how we equip that talent to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities?

 

Africa’s education system can be the answer

Africa’s education mission has to be pursued on two fronts at the same time. First by providing all children with access to basic education which in turn gives access to basic opportunities. Secondly by equipping more youth with the kind of skills that they will need to shape the future.

 

Mission I: Provide Basic Education

We need to significantly and rapidly improve the foundational ability of all children to read, write and calculate skillfully.  These are the keys to accessing basic opportunities in life and without these, a child never leaves the starting blocks.  While we have made tremendous progress on getting children into primary schools across Africa, too few of our children are actually developing reasonable competence to read, write or calculate.  This is an imperative and opportunity for both governments and private social innovators alike.  

 

Mission II: Skills to Shape the Future

We also need to significantly expand access to education that equips young people with the skills, self-confidence, character, and social capital to shape the future.  While the first imperative of broadening access to basic education is one shared by everyone in global education, it is on this second imperative that we at Nova Pioneer are particularly focused.  

 

Once more, however, the question is ‘how?’  

 

Encourage a culture of voice, enquiry and collaboration

If our schools are to be arenas of empowerment and invention — in stark contrast to their roles in Soweto of 1976 — then we need to shift our cultures and our teaching to encourage student voice and build skills of collaboration.  

Firstly, that means a shift in how we learn and teach.  From time spent lecturing to time spent posing and provoking questions.  From teacher talk time to more student talk and think time.  From respond-and-reply, to building students’ skills to form hypotheses, articulate and substantiate a view, and passionately yet collaboratively debate, dissent and deliberate on ideas. 

Secondly, it means a shift in relationships.  From a culture of silent obedience to a culture of respectful engagement.  Silent obedience erupts in moments of resistance and recrimination — as we have seen repeatedly across our sector.  Respectful engagement may unearth similar issues, but with more mutual capacity to forge solutions by which we can all live and in which we share a sense of authorship.    

This requires new skills and strategies, and courage as educators and parents.  Many of us adults have grown up in clearly hierarchical cultures, or with norms of quiet obedience to our elders or leaders.  Indeed, respect for elders is a valued norm across much of Africa — and certainly is deeply ingrained in my own upbringing as an Igbo boy.  But relationships that have shared voice and mutual respect across age and hierarchy is needed if we are to equip our children to engage the world ahead with confidence and skill.  

 

Globally competitive standards

If our youth are to shape the African Century to be a century of flourishing, alongside their peers from around the world, then they need to achieve levels of academic growth and skill development that equips them to collaborate as peers and leaders globally.    

Indeed, the single most important cultural norm a school can set is probably holding high expectations.  In all sorts of contexts of resources and external culture, show me a school with strong outcomes and I’ll wager it is a school that sets high expectations and demonstrates its belief that students can meet them.  By stretching to meet high expectations young people gain the single most important lesson that they can from school: that they are fundamentally capable of learning, growing and achieving.  

 

Servant Leadership has the power to transform Africa

In recent years I have had the privilege of leading a session of our secondary schools’ leadership course.  In it, we frame up two notions of what it means to be a leader: the first is a leader who expects the servitude of those that she or he leads — “the boss” we label it.  The alternative is a leader who expects to serve and make better the lives of those she or he leads — “the servant leader” we label it.  Africa has no shortage of formal leaders.  However, our experience and examples of leadership have far too often been that of ‘the boss’, and that has betrayed so much of our possibility.

If our youth are to shape an African Century of flourishing — of greater prosperity and equity — then they will need to develop into a generation of servant leaders.  Sadly, there may simply not be enough visible examples of this today to argue convincingly that it is in practice viable.  We need to make examples of servant leadership more visible, and our youth will need to prove its viability with their example of their own lives.  For that to happen, we have to start early to cultivate an ethic and habit of servant leadership.  It will not develop on its own later.  School is where we start.  

 

In South Africa, accelerate the transformation of our schools by investing in building in new excellence more than relying on past privilege

We cannot be our most excellent as schools, or produce our best society, if we do not draw on and reflect South Africa’s full population.  We need to recognise that the more representative our schools are — in who learns, teaches and leads in our schools; and in the culture and curriculum of our schools — the more excellent our schools will be for all our learners.  I do not think that as a society and as a sector we really yet believe that.  We will need to demonstrate it to believe it.

That notwithstanding, the imperative of transformation is generally acknowledged by the sector, and I think with positive intention.  Why then is change so slow?  I see many reasons: from just not taking it seriously enough; to social biases that particularly influence schools when parents express them (even tacitly); to structural issues like curriculum content that is regulated by exam bodies and changes slowly, or wealth inequality that gives inequitable access; and to more seemingly-innocuous practices such as relying on existing networks to hire or giving admissions preference to siblings or families who live nearby. 

So where do we start?  I think the starting point is investing in developing new and excellent school leadership that is representative.  When we emphasise past experience, we privilege those who have had historical opportunity, and that biases against Black educators in South Africa.  What we need to do as a sector instead is to become much more proactive at recruiting representative talent into schools, and then investing in those educators’ development as masterful teachers and leaders. 

It is fair to ask if a focus on who is in our schools misses the point on the change in culture and curriculum that would validate more of our students’ identities and ideas, and produce more success. Those changes are also necessary parts of transformation.  However, I am skeptical that we can reshape more inclusive cultures without the leadership of more inclusive teams.   

 

As today we look back with appreciation on the youth of 1976, let us also look forward with commitment to the youth of 2021.  We stand once again at a frontier with an uncertain future, reliant as we always have been on our children to shape it.  They hold within them the promise and power to shape the African Century.  The development of their character, capabilities and social connection — heavily through our schools — will determine what kind of century awaits.

Our Nova Pioneer had an opportunity to expose our students to animals when they hosted MobileZoo at the North Riding campus. As part of the Nova Pioneer learning approach we believe that learning doesn’t only occur in the classroom. Through this experience, our students were able to enjoy an interactive and educational session with various wild animals.

The unique interactive experience exposed our students to animals that they would not normally see outside of the zoo and they had the chance to engage with them inside their school. Research has shown that there is value in exposing children to animals and also establishing a bond between animals and children during their early stages of development.

Have a look at some of the benefits that come with exposing children to animals:

 

• Animals can help children develop a sensitivity to others

We saw this during the MobileZoo visit when the students showed extra care when they were handling the furry animals that had visited them at their school.

 

• Animals ignite cognitive curiosity in children

Our students were full of questions as they were introduced to the various creatures. The students wanted to know what the animals eat, where they originate from, whether they bite and many other questions came out of the MobileZoo visit.

 

• Animals make children more aware of the environment

Finding out that some of the animals that came to visit our Novaneers were endangered species made the students realise what is at stake when they do not play their part in looking after the environment that they share with the animals.

 

• Animals help children overcome their fears

We saw a number of our Novaneers overcome their fear of snakes when MobileZoo brought with them a friendly snake to meet the students. Some of the children were initially scared but they gradually warmed up to the snake when they saw that it was not dangerous.

• Animals encourage positive energy in children

During the MobileZoo visit at campus our school was filled with laughter and happiness as each animal was being introduced to our students. It was evident that the visit from the MobileZoo animals brought happiness to our school.

 

Source: https://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/2015/connecting-animals-and-children

The global call to save our environment is critical! Nova Pioneer has made it a point to do its bit for the environment and to teach our Novaneers that the future of our planet is in their hands. Although nations are facing a pandemic with Covid-19, taking care of our environment should be no different this year, as we observe World Environment Day on Saturday, 5 June 2021. At Nova Pioneer we teach our students that the onus lies on each and every individual to take active responsibility to restore our ecosystem.

For this reason, we are committed to finding new innovative ways to reduce our carbon footprint at our campuses. Here are five environmentally friendly ways that we have already started to heal our planet below:

 

1. We say NO to air conditioners

Air-conditioners are classified as one of the major consumers of electricity. The machines subsequently contribute to air pollution and play a role in ozone depletion. Nova Pioneer schools pride themselves with the use of natural ventilation in their classes and offices to regulate room temperature naturally.

 

2. We choose environmental friendly lights

LED lights save energy, compared to the traditional light bulb, which has the same light output as an energy-saving LED light. We use low-energy LED lights in all our schools. This helps us reduce a significant amount of energy at our campuses. We also make use of natural light to significantly reduce the amount of electricity usage during the day.

 

3. What we don’t use, we switch off

Switching off electrical appliances when not in use is not only beneficial in preventing the waste of energy, it also significantly reduces the risk of fire hazards. All our schools switch to dark mode every day after school, to ensure safety at our premises. We switch off all lights and all running electrical appliances that are not in use.

 

4. We practice the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Three sure ways to eliminate waste and protect your environment are to simply reduce, reuse, and recycle. When we reduce we can save money. When we reuse we can help sustain the environment for future generations. When we recycle we save energy. We are proud advocates of the 3R’s as all our campuses are provided with recycling bins to help sort out litter.

 

5. Our surrounding spaces are green

Our schools provide our students, staff, and the neighborhoods that we exist in, with attractive and nurturing green spaces. As a result, this promotes greater physical activity for our students. The green spaces at our campuses are also used for enriching activity, learning, and for teaching various aspects of our curriculum.

We encourage our Novaneer parents to also adopt environmentally friendly ways of living in their homes to help us reinstate the culture of looking after the environment in our children.

Source: unep.org

“So that morning in 1962 I told myself: Let everyone else call your idea crazy… just keep going. Don’t
stop running. Don’t even think about stopping until you get there, and don’t give much thought to where
“there” is. Whatever comes, just don’t stop” – Phil Knight, Shoe Dog.

Over the years, it has become a sentimental Nova Pioneer metaphor to liken the organic growth of the
schools to that of a baby. By gradually opening new campuses, introducing new grade levels and
continuously expanding our horizons, Nova Pioneer has slowly learnt how to crawl, walk and fend for
itself in a fast-changing world. But given the supreme operational and academic performance of the
school in the past year, I would suggest we have gone a step further – Nova Pioneer has been running all
along. In our relentless pursuit of High Expectations, we have definitely done ourselves proud in the most
challenging of times.

On exciting developments, I wish to extend my congratulations to Nova Pioneer Ormonde in electing its first female Student Committee Chair, Zewande Phiri. Having had the honour of being Chair myself in 2019, I firmly believe Zewande’ leadership prowess, social intelligence and stellar academic record make her the immaculate, well-rounded individual needed to lead the school’s student body. I wish her, along with Emmanuel Manzini, Zanele Mlambo, Zainub Butt, Chinedu Edward, Atiyyah Ally and Declan Watson, all the luck, energy and will-power in guiding the student body in this difficult moment in time. The Class of 2021 has always left an uplifting impression on me in demonstrating an unrelenting willingness and enthusiasm for leadership – now embrace your roles as model custodians and servant leaders with the same vigour you have shown over the past 5 years. You are nearing the finish line – keep going, don’t stop running.

In the most challenging of periods in history, Nova Pioneer has successfully adapted to the changes forced by the pandemic. The psychological strength shown by all stakeholders during this difficult period in human history has inspired me beyond comprehension. In the most arduous periods of our short history as a group of schools, we have not lost our values or ethics. In the face of calamity, we have not stopped running. Moreover, the anticipated opening of a secondary school in the Midrand reinforces this truth. In spite of the cataclysmic happenings around us, we have not lost sight of our mission to have 100 schools across Africa within 10 years. I celebrate the global leadership team, school managements teams, ground staff, admin staff, all educators, students and parents for their ‘Solutions First’ approach and unabating efforts to steer the organisation through the darkest of times.

It is no surprise that our alumni, or living founders, are placed in the best universities, colleges and leadership academies on the continent and abroad as well. This speaks to an inherent resilience and intelligence, as well as the infinite post-school possibilities Nova Pioneer offers its students. In this regard, it is imperative that a formally constructed and recognised alumni network across Africa is acknowledged as a necessity. Establishing an official platform for former students to interact, network and collectively find solutions to Africa’s challenges will be a seismic step towards the African utopia we all strive to witness in our lifetime. It is without doubt that creating and revitalising the synergy between Nova Pioneer alumni such as Jeanne Sere, Wairimu Wahome, Ntando Makwela, Phillip Mburu and Taskeen Hoosen, just to name a few, would be a significant stride not only for Nova Pioneer, but the African continent at large. Ensuring access for alumni to a pan-African network of alumni and resources to keep them running beyond the finish line per se of a Cambridge A Level certificate, is a path we ought to explore. This is because, as a pan-African network of schools, we ultimately have a decisive responsibility to develop lasting mechanisms to ensure that our alumni collaborate in creating ground-breaking African solutions for African problems.

Lastly, I wish to extend to you a recommendation to a new platform – The JM Podcast – where we have conversations that will narrate and shape the trajectory of Africa’s future. In the spirit of Greater Together, the podcast will be run by myself and Kagiso Ramaboea, a fellow living founder of Nova Pioneer Ormonde. Furthermore, I am pleased to announce that External Relations Associate Manager at Nova Pioneer Kenya, Robert Omondi, who has recently been offered a scholarship at Duke University, will feature in season one of the podcast alongside Vahin Naka, a student at our Ormonde campus. This podcast is an expression of our vision of a unified, connected and self-reliant Africa. Be sure to integrate an hour of the profound insights and ideas from The JM Podcast into your weekly routine.

My final words to you are – ‘keep going’. Never let up. Whether this be in our personal lives which are fraught with eternal struggle, or your academic or professional career which pushes you to your limits – any aspect of your life which requires your strength and endurance. Never let up. Class of 2021, don’t stop running; put in the extra hours that will guarantee you success. Keep going; you will do it. Nova Pioneer, let’s keep running for the betterment of our continent, of its future and of its people. Let us never lose sight of our crucial role in the unending pursuit of the pioneer dream.

JM
https://anchor.fm/the-jmpodcast

Considering the rapid rise and developments in technology and the introduction of the 4th industrial revolution, it is safe to say, the world will surely be a different place in the future. We will see a lot more automation of some systems, advancements in machine learning and integration of robotics in our daily lives. Which opens the question, what are we doing today as an educational institution to prepare our kids for that future? 

 

Robotics is the intersection of science, engineering and technology that produces machines (7STEM), called robots, that are either a substitute (or replication) for human actions. This could be anything from industrial robots, domestic or household machines or even robots/machines designed for social interactions such as automated food ordering machines, etc.

 

At Nova Pioneer we pride ourselves to be one of the few 21st-century schools that are incorporating Robotics in our day-to-day learning experience. As part of developing students who are future leaders and innovators, it is important that we move with the times and be future-focused by developing a learning experience that will allow our students to be solutions-driven.

 

Coding and robotics go hand-in-hand, and they’re becoming a more integral part of classrooms across the country  Aside from the excitement students muster when they see a robotics kit or a tiny programmable vehicle, coding and robotics offer a little bit more than a fun classroom experience.

 

When our students participate in coding and robotics activities, they’re learning fundamental skills such as teamwork and collaboration, problem-solving, the ability to fail forward, persistence and more. The world has evolved and if you don’t move with the times you may end up being redundant, irrelevant and insignificant in society.

 

Nova Pioneer is excited to announce we will welcome the first Grade 8 students at our new Midrand campus, with enrollment open now for the 2022 school year. Guided by our mission to develop young innovators and leaders who will shape the world, we are excited to extend our offering in Midrand from preschool through secondary school, and to be able to serve even more families in the Midrand community. This is the second secondary school to be opened in our South African network of schools and the sixth to be opened by Nova Pioneer Globally.

Phase 1 of an Extensive Secondary Campus is Complete

The secondary school campus will be multi-phased and is situated on a spacious site on 3rd Road, Carlswald (next to Protea Hotel Midrand), just a few hundred metres from the current primary school site in Matuka Close. The newly built campus will serve both the school’s upper primary and secondary students.

Phase 1 of the development includes a modern double-storey classroom block with 10 classrooms per floor, as well as central studio space. The new block also includes a modern science lab for students. External facilities provide for age-relevant recreational areas, as well as sporting facilities, including a 25m x 8m swimming pool, multipurpose hardcourt (for tennis, basketball and netball) and a full-size sports field that can be used for soccer, other sports and extra-murals.

 

Cambridge Accredited

Nova Pioneer is a private school network that offers quality education grounded in the Cambridge standards, an internationally accredited curriculum that is both locally and globally recognised. Our secondary campuses offer grades up to and including Grade 13, which is optional but a popular choice for many students based on their specific tertiary learning plans.

We recently celebrated the 2020 matriculating class  at our Ormonde Campus for their strong achievement, which was most exemplary considering how disruptive the 2020 year was.  The Cambridge AS and A-level examinations set a very high standard that is both globally and locally respected.  Our graduates outperformed international benchmarks on 70% of the subjects examined.  In addition, our graduates exemplified the character, dynamism and positive confidence of innovators and leaders.  We look forward to similar success for students in our new Midrand secondary school.

Our Midrand based secondary school will open its doors in January 2022, catering for Grade 8 students initially and subsequently adding grades. 

 

Post School Success Team

At Nova Pioneer, we place a high value on students’ post-secondary school success. We strongly believe many elements can impact a student’s ability to succeed after completing secondary school. 

Thus, we want to ensure that students perform well academically and ensure that they feel supported and prepared to succeed beyond Nova Pioneer.  We recognise that those paths will be as diverse as our students are, reflecting their passions and talents.  To that effect, we have a Post-School Success (PSS) programme to provide all students with personalised guidance on exploring post-school options. Our PSS programme is a unique offering available to our senior secondary students,” said Chijioke.

Since its introduction in both South Africa and Kenya, Nova Pioneer’s PSS programme has facilitated the admission of students into universities both locally and abroad.

 

Schools for Innovators and Leaders

It is our belief at Nova Pioneer that too many schools focus too narrowly on knowledge memorisation and content accumulation.  While Nova Pioneer considers academic mastery and skills to be critically important, we also places focus on a more holistic set of skills aligned with our vision of developing high-character leaders and innovators.

We focus on developing our students’ character, problem-solving capabilities and interpersonal connection.  We call these our ‘3Cs’.  We expect our students to excel in exams and attend great universities, but ultimately our success will be measured by our graduates’ lives.  By the innovations they develop, companies they launch and lead, art they create, and impact they have on their communities.

Ultimately, we want our students to become shapers of a world they envision, rather than takers of the world they inherit. We are very proud of all our students and wish them well as they transition into the next secondary learning stage of their lives. We look forward to having our students complete their entire schooling career (Grade 000 to Grade 13) at Nova Pioneer Midrand and openly welcome students from other schools too.

As an educator, I know that there are a few pivotal moments that students have to face as they navigate their way through High School. I believe that the IGCSE subject selection for Cambridge students may actually be the most defining moment. The subject choice usually takes place in the 9th Grade and it’s an intense scene that plays out at schools across the country every year. 

 

Not always an easy choice

While we, as educators, may see subject selection as a practical and quite technical process, parents usually feel an enormous amount of anxiety at this point in their child’s school career. Because, while some students may have a clearer sense of self and career path at 15 and have done their research around what decisions they need to take at this point, it is important to note that it’s also normal for most 15-year olds to get caught off guard.

 

Keeping the dream alive vs facing the reality

At Nova Pioneer, there is a selection of teachers who act as advisors assigned to help students with their choice. Getting the students to fill out the selection form is the easy part. The hard part is ensuring they help students make a choice that will best benefit them. 

During this time, advisors have to walk a tightrope as they are faced with having to negotiate an often fraught space that exists between what the child may want versus what their parents want for them versus what the reality of the situation may be. Many-a-times we also find that there may be a conflict in the dreams and desires of the students and what their parents see as a practical way forward for them. 

 

Take these things into consideration

Students approach me to discuss their subject selection quite often and sometimes during these times, I experience what feels like a wrestling match between my head and my heart. Imagine a scenario where a student reveals they want to study medicine post-secondary school however, their performance (historical and current) doesn’t or may not meet the requirements needed to enter this field? 

 

There is so much to take into consideration entering these conversations. My intention is to always ensure students don’t leave demotivated and discouraged. Thus, I always try and keep two thoughts in the back of my mind:

1. Basil, tread carefully for dreams are precious to the dreamer; and  
2. Try your best to encourage students to have more than one because dreams can be so fragile. 

 

Guidance sometimes looks like redirection

There may come a time when you have to encourage a student to look at another career path especially when they are sold on another? As an advisor and educator, you have to consider the subject choice package a student may choose and the kind of results they would have to enter their desired field. You also have to consider where their strengths and weaknesses may lie.

For example, while a student may want to study medicine, as their teacher you may know that their strengths lie in creative writing, content production and they embrace the free thought of the arts or humanities. You have to think about how you can subtly probe the depth of their passion for medicine and try to understand why they have chosen that particular field. It is your responsibility, however, to help redirect students without killing their passions so that they feel empowered to win and set up for success.

 

Help students understand their options

Even when we know a student may do better in another field, with another subject package, we cannot deny them their choice. We also understand that every child deserves to go after their dreams, no matter how ambitious they may seem to us. In the instance a student is determined to take a particular route, despite their performance, we then have the responsibility to advise them on (1) what it would take to win;  (2) what obstacles lie ahead and (3) what safety nets exist should things not work out. The beauty of the Cambridge system is that it has safety nets built into its curriculum – these nets can be triggered by the student, parents or the teacher should the need arise.

 

On your mark, ready, go!

Following the subject selection process, it is our responsibility to watch the student embark on their journey to a matric exemption. Every step of the way is monitored and interrogated, judgement calls made, advice asked for and given, detours and bridges built, and communications sent to the parents. There are occasions where we have had to burn the original map and start the journey anew. There’s no denying that the latter can be a challenge for both the teacher and the student. What a privilege it is to be involved in such a voyage. 

 

How does Cambridge enrich this experience?

In the 10th Grade, students partake in the IGCSE examinations set up by Cambridge. When the IGCSE results come out, we are so incredibly fortunate that most of our students clear this hurdle and can progress to the final stage of their schooling. 

For a few, we have to again embark on tough conversations to strategise and replot the path, and yes, sometimes we have to burn the original map and start all over again. This step, when required, is a vital demonstration of the growth mindset. Burning the map is not a failure. It is the discovery of a new pathway for growth; one where the student often comes to the realisation that their passions and talents lie in a direction completely different to the one they once believed was the only path for them.

 

Parents can help (or hinder) the process

The subject selection process does come with some tension, especially when the chosen path is the desired path of the parent and not the student? This can be a delicate space to navigate when parents and students sit with us and we have to advise on a path that may not be the most favourable to the parents. In those moments, all we can do is (1) lay out our concerns as their educator and advisor, (2) suggest alternatives, (3) try and provide a safe space for the child (normally in a hesitant, fearful whisper) to reveal her dreams and (4) hope that it plants the seed in the mind of the parents as well. These conversations can go either way and whatever the final decision, our role is to construct the timetable and give our students the assurances of academic, and social and emotional support from our team of caring teachers and counsellors.

 

Advising students to keep their options open

There are really hard moments that lie behind the completion of that subject-choice form. However, my advice is to encourage students to keep an open mind and to have more than one dream. This is my key piece of advice to students at subject-choice time is:

“Be nimble, stay aware, and yes… it is okay to change your mind. Don’t ever allow yourself to be trapped like a mouse in a maze. Pursue one dream at a time, but never stop interrogating it, and never stop reflecting on your own progress. Look at the data that you yourself produce every time you write a test or an exam. Look at the data when you peruse AP scores or tertiary course entry requirements. Again, look at the data when you chat with your teacher or a mentor about your progress. Maintain a sharpness in your peripheral vision so that you can pivot, sooner rather than later, if you know deep down that the light of one dream is fading, and the light of another starts to grow with unexpected brilliance.”

Nova Pioneer continues to live up to its promise by introducing additional grades throughout our campuses. As a group, we made a promise to our parents and students that each year, we will grow our schools with an additional grade, to grow with our Novaneers as they progress to their next academic level. This year, we have continued to deliver on that promise. Nova Pioneer Education Group is a Pan-African independent school network, that builds and operates world-class, affordable education, offering students grades from preschool through to secondary. 

 

Here is a list of new grade offerings at our campuses:

 

Midrand – Currently accepting enrollments from Grade 000 to Grade 7 for in-year and now introducing our first Secondary Grade 8 class for the year 2022. 

North Riding – Currently accepting enrollments for Grade 000 to Grade 6 for in-year and we have now introduced Grade 7 enrollments for the year 2022. 

Paulshof – Currently accepting enrollments for Tots to Grade 6 for in-year and we have now introduced Grade 7 enrollments for the year 2022. 

 

Ruimsig – Currently accepting enrollments for Grade 000 to Grade 3 for in-year and we have now introduced Grade 4 for the year 2022. 

Boksburg – Currently accepting enrollments for Babies (3 months) to Grade 5 for in-year and we have now introduced Grade 6 for the year 2022.  

 

As an education brand, we take pride in being a leader in innovation that disrupts the education landscape positively. We offer the internationally recognized Cambridge curriculum from pre-primary to secondary school through our Reggio Emilia Enquiry based Learning Model. Our offering includes a blended learning method that combines academic education, physical education, play learning, SEL (Social and Emotional Learning), coding and robotics to provide our students with a holistic education to prepare them for the future. Nova Pioneer is currently operational in both South Africa and Kenya.

Challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the closures of schools in most countries, pushed the education sector to start thinking differently about how to deliver education. There was a fear that not many were not prepared to survive and thrive through COVID.

 

A real opportunity for change

The struggles faced by many students across the world during this time became a catalyst for more discussions within the education sector about how to best equip students with the abilities and traits that will most serve them in a time where we see everything changing and developing quite rapidly. 

 

Staying ahead of the curve

While no one could’ve predicted the pandemic, we at Nova Pioneer have always been clear about our intention to empower young people with the kind of capabilities and mindsets that prepared them to lead through change. Our founding question at Nova Pioneer has been, ‘What capabilities will young people on this continent need to succeed in and shape the future that they will encounter, and what approaches to education will best develop those capabilities?’ 

It is our view that too many schools only see their job as developing “smart kids” and are focused narrowly on building a student’s knowledge base and academic skills. While that is critically important, Nova Pioneer feels it is important to offer a more holistic learning experience. This idea is what helped form the “Vision of a Novaneer” – a concept focused on developing our students’ character, capabilities and connection (our 3Cs). 

 

An opportunity to reflect

We do believe that the pandemic created an opportunity for us to both (1) test whether the skills students learn in the classroom can be applied to real life situations; and (2) teach students skills that they may have, in a normal circumstances, only learned later in their education career. 

We asked Nova Pioneer School Leads and Deans to talk us through the (1) learning experiences of students during the school closures; (2) lessons learned from these experiences; and also, (3) how our students were able to adapt their in-classroom learning to remote learning. Were students prepared well enough to thrive through COVID and the new normal?

 

Chantelle Ashley – Associate Dean North Riding Campus

When I think about the remote learning experience, I think about how our students, teachers and parents had to embrace being flexible, adaptable and self-reliant – all skills and attributes that the Nova Pioneer learning approach incorporates in the classroom from an early age. The inquiry-based learning approach encourages students to problem solve and to have a sense of ownership and accountability in their own learning. During school closures we saw students apply these skills by taking responsibility for communicating with teachers and following up on tasks independently. We also saw parents engage in assessment tasks, where they were able to explore the deeper value of the Cambridge sessions our school provided the previous year. 

 

Dr Robyn Thompson – Associate Dean of Instruction Boksburg Campus

Staying connected with our students and families was also imperative – it’s how we build community. The culture of checking in on each other is something we’ve always practiced, even before the pandemic. Our teachers use these check-ins to help students practice mindfulness and to teach them the value of support and empathy.  It’s all part of being able to build a sense of community. We were able to maintain these emotional check-ins with our students during check-ins and saw many of our students sharing confidently, with others giving feedback in a productive manner through our virtual meets. It was also through this intentionality around building our community that the awareness of vulnerable families and children was heightened as children shared during the sessions. It was like being invited into one another’s homes. 

 

Sameerah Mahomed – Dean of Students Ormonde Campus

Our Culture Principles came into play in many ways as students sought to thrive through COVID. Students demonstrated the Joy of Learning as they stayed curious as they discovered new ways of learning and connecting with each other. There were many moments that called for our students to adopt an Always Growing mindset as they constantly engaged their teachers and peers by asking clarifying questions during lessons. They also had to learn how to communicate with their teachers through email when parents were working. Despite the disruptions caused by school closures, students didn’t lower their standards, they still had High Expectations of themselves and produced high quality work. I saw students putting on their Solutions First and Greater Together thinking caps as they would also assist one another on Google Classroom when their teachers could not respond immediately – they would give their peers detailed instructions or next steps.

 

Tsholofelo Moyo – Associate Dean of Students Midrand Campus

Coming back into the classroom, we see how students have grown despite the challenges. One could even say they went from surviving to thriving. Through this pandemic, all of our learners have taken in quite a lot of lessons in addition to practicing good hygiene that will stay with them and prepare them for a successful future. 

We see students back in the classroom, having developed a high sense of autonomy and actively driving their own learning. They are in the driver’s seat and taking ownership and responsibility of their learning experience. Students have become even more confident to share resources and ask teachers questions on the platforms we are using in order to gain more clarity.

The constant use of the internet has also allowed for students to become more aware of the responsible use of the internet and we have been able to have meaningful conversations around cyber-bullying and ways to avoid being a victim of being hacked online. All to say, while we feel our students were well-prepared to thrive through COVID, they also took it a step further and brought their learnings back into the classroom.