A year later, teammates of Nova Academies and Pioneer Academies came together to form one team, with one DNA, one culture and one shared mission. Greater Together we have been ever since then!

 

Birthdays are an opportunity to pause and reflect on the journey that has been, before looking forward with optimism and energy to the journey ahead. In the past eight years we have achieved a lot! Some highlights:

• We have built and grown 14 wonderful schools (soon to be 16!), filled with awesome students and teammates, bonded together by a common commitment to our mission, culture, and practice. Sharing a common DNA, “siblings within countries, cousins across them” is how the Nova Pioneer family of schools may be described.
• We have alumni! We have graduated 3 years of students (the classes of 2019-2021), with hundreds of alumni now in various post-school pursuits, including tertiary study, jobs, gap years, and more. This year we held our first Alumni Reunion and it was wonderful.
• We have grown to be a team of over 800 Novaneers. We have witnessed teammates grow in mastery and responsibility. We have some teammates who have been at Nova Pioneer now for over 8 years in fact (some joining even before the date we recognise as our birthday!). We have also experienced teammates leave Nova (still remaining Novaneers of course :), and some ‘return home’ to Nova in that time. We have witnessed so many examples of teammates pouring heart and soul into our work, particularly to support our students, our schools, our parents and each other. Almost everyday we witness quiet acts of (s)heroism by our teammates.
• We have weathered hard times and — I believe — come out stronger because of them. None more so than the challenges of 2020 and Covid, but also many more less-prominent but also very trying challenges. We have learned that tough times and some falls are inevitable during this journey because we are attempting something hard. But we have also learned that it’s in the getting up that we prove ourselves, in our persevering and in our learning. Our resolve has been strong because we know that if it wasn’t challenging, it probably wouldn’t be worth doing. And we have learned that Greater Together and Always Growing can take us so very far.
• This year we were recognised as an African Champion, attesting to the growing ‘signal strength’ of Nova Pioneer as a beacon.

And so much more!  We truly have a lot to be proud of.

 

2.5 years ago, at the start of 2020, we spoke of “Getting Better while Growing Bigger”.  Then last January we doubled down on “Getting Better” by challenging ourselves to be Beacons of Excellence and Value as schools and support teams.  We have gotten better — we do shine brightly — and we remain committed to continuously get better and brighter.  We have also continued to grow, both in each of our first 13 schools, and with the addition of Midrand Secondary this year.  In January we will welcome Nova Pioneer West Secondary to the South African-side of the family, and will welcome Junior Secondary phases to all our Kenyan schools.  In the years ahead, expansion with new schools will likely accelerate once again.  Throughout it all we must firstly and most importantly remain steadfast in our commitment to be Beacons of Excellence and Value, which includes for educational excellence and fiscal responsibility.   

 

This year we have made decisions (and are doing work) guided by our commitment to Excellence and Value.  In Kenya we have committed ourselves to be leaders in 844 & CBC education, pausing further consideration of international curriculum options for the next 2-3 years so that we can focus on national curriculum leadership.  In both Kenya and South Africa our school leadership teams and central teams have worked (and continue to work) hard on a range of programme developments to raise the bar on the excellence and value that we offer our students and families.  Most importantly, in classrooms and offices (including ‘home offices’, over 800 Novaneers strive everyday to be great for our students, families and each other… and to get better.  

 

Consider this math comparison:  1.00^365 = 1.00, but 1.01^365=38!  By getting just 1% better everyday, we can be great!  By steadily and slowly putting one foot in front of the other, never stopping for too long, we can get to the mountain top of our aspirations.

 

So, this year we are being comparatively quiet in our celebration of our birthday. Perhaps next year we can be a bit ‘louder’, and in two years — when we are 10 — let’s plan a proper party! However quiet or ‘loud’ we choose to be about the celebration of Nova Pioneer’s birthday, let us not miss the opportunity to take stock, with both gratitude and pride about all we have accomplished together.