Nova Pioneer is excited to welcome students back across all of its seven campuses. On the morning of June 8, all campuses were abuzz with students ready to get back to learning. 

Staggered start to Term 2

A couple of weeks ago, the Minister of Basic Education announced the planned staggered reopening of schools in South Africa.

Nova Pioneer has taken the decision to be reopen schools using a grade phased approach where the higher grades return first, followed by the staggered return weekly of the remaining grades until Grade R. We await further direction from the Minister on when our youngest Novaneers (pre primary grades and below) can safely return.

Preparations to open safely

Nova Pioneer has worked hard to ensure that all the necessary health and safety measures are in place for the preparation of school reopening at all our campuses. The measures are guided by the strict regulations issued by the Education Department and, most importantly, by our commitment to ensuring health and safety of students and staff at all of our campuses.

Continued Availability of Remote Learning

Since schools were closed in March, we have offered an extensive remote learning programme for our Novaneer students. These have been warmly received and appreciated. 

Nova Pioneer recognises that the decision to send your child back to school during these uncertain times is a difficult one. As such, Nova Pioneer will continue to provide remote learning to all of our students for the rest of Term 2. Students who physically attend school from 8 June 2020 will work through the same material as the students who are learning from home.

Past learning packs are made available widely on the website for students outside the Nova Pioneer community to also benefit from.

Health and Safety

The health and safety of staff, students, parents and people visiting our schools remains the utmost priority for Nova Pioneer.

Nova Pioneer schools will provide all students and staff with face masks and hand sanitisers. The school will also ensure mandatory temperature screening with a digital thermometer of all authorised students and teachers arriving at campuses, daily.

Our campus spaces have been reconfigured and our operations and facilities extended in order to:

• Deliver on the arrival-testing standards; 
• Ensure classrooms have been set up to meet social distancing requirements; 
• Ensure every campus has an isolation space set-up as needed for symptomatic students or teachers;
• Provide extended certified cleaning services to ensure regular and strict cleaning and disinfecting of all surfaces including desks, furniture, door handles and all other shared facilities.

Every campus has a Covid-19 representative to monitor, evaluate and report to the School Leader on the adherence to regulations and measures put in place.

Training & Education for Covid-19

Teachers have received extensive training so as to fulfill their role in ensuring the safety of students in their care.

Continuous Covid-19 related training will be facilitated in class, by teachers and the school leadership, for all students to ensure they understand and can adequately practice student safety protocols and that they remain informed with age-relevant  information. 

Social Distancing

Nova Pioneer will ensure social distancing of 1.5m between students and staff at all times. Classrooms will be set up accordingly and teaching routines amended to ensure this is adhered to for student and teacher safety.

The campuses  have social distancing markings around the campus to manage daily class, toilet and break-time routines.

Nova Pioneer is ready to welcome students back

Nova Pioneer is excited to reopen our schools and welcome our students back to campus – we have missed our students terribly over this time. We remain committed to supporting students through this transition back to campus and continuing to support continued learning, whether at campus or remotely, while ensuring all necessary precautions for the health and safety of our learners and staff are prioritised.