Cogent reason why you must send your children to Nouveau schools this new academic season





As the name suggests, Nouveau Schools (New Schools inEnglish), represent the cutting-edge in children’s education in Nigeria, fromnursery all the way to primary school. According to its masthead, at Nouveau children are “learning to excel.”

Nouveau is a distinguished international school of thehighest standard relative to anywhere in the world. Nevertheless, it has a 100% Nigerianownership. It has two proprietors:

Dr. Femi Aribisala, a retired research fellow at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos who was educated at GovernmentCollege, Ibadan, Nigeria; St. Georges’ English School, Rome, Italy; InstitutInternational d’Etudes Francaises, Rambouillet, France; Warwick University,Coventry, England; School of Advanced International Studies, Johns HopkinsUniversity, Washington D.C., United States; and St. Catherine’s College, OxfordUniversity, Oxford, England.

Professor (Mrs.) Karen King Aribisala, Professor of English,University of Lagos, educated atInternational School, Ibadan, Nigeria;St. Winifred’s School for Girls, Llanfairfechan, Wales; School of St. Mary andSt Anne, Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire, England; St. George’s English School,Rome, Italy; University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Bridgetown, Barbados;University of Leeds, Leeds, England; and University of Sussex, Brighton,England.

Karen’scollection of stories, “Our Wife and Other Stories,” won the 1991 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Best FirstBook Africa. Her novel, “The Hangman'sGame,” wonthe 2008 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, Best Book Africa.

Nouveau has one of the oldest Nigerian/expatriate runplayschools in Lagos, with 32 years teaching experience. It has an international mix of babies andchildren from 3 months to 11 years old.











Nouveauhas a full complement of trained baby-minders; nanniesand graduate teachers with university education degrees, all with years of experience in early childhood, nursery and primary school education. There are extraordinary Nouveau crèches for babies (3-12 months); pre-nurseries for kiddies (12-24 months); nursery 1 for toddlers (24 -36 months); nursery 2 for children (36-48 months); reception classes for preschoolers (48-60 months); and primary schools for children from 5 to 11 years’ old.



At Nouveau Primary, courses in Basic Science, English,French, Geography, Hindi, History, ICT, Igbo, Mathematics, Music, Phonics,Social Studies, and Yoruba are offered. There is also a full compendium of specialists in Arts & Crafts;Ballet; Cookery; Creative Writing; Dance; Drama; Etiquette and Elocution;French; ICT; Martial Arts & Judo; Music; Puppet Theatre and Swimming. Two registered nurses are retained infull-time capacity.



The music academy is headed by Wande Awonuga, who has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Arts (Music Major) from the University of Lagos; and a Master of Arts degree in Music Education from the University of Lagos. He is also a certified holder of the Final Grades of the prestigious Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM)London in Piano and Practical Musicianship. Mr. Awonuga studied with distinguished pianists including Kehinde Okusanya,Banke Ademola, Edna Soyanwo, Ngozi Chinwah and the internationally acclaimedMaria Asseeva.



Nouveauchildren learn to play a wide range of musical instruments, including piano;guitar; violin; saxophone; trumpet; clarinet and recorder. They obtain the best distinctions forNigerian candidates in the London ABRSM exams in music (theory andpractical).



Under construction at Nouveau is a five-storey building including world-classchildren’s arts and crafts centre; children’s health and nutrition centre;children’s video and photography centre; children’s language lab; children’sICT and E-Learning centre; children’s indoor sports hall with regulationbasketball court size (also suitable for five-a-side indoor football); and children’s indoor playground with children’s swimming pool.










The Nouveau children’s outdoor playground is second to none in Lagos. Nevertheless, it is being upgraded from its Chinese equipment to more upscale American ones ordered fromGameTime.com, aPlaycore Company of Fort Payne, Alabama, U.S.A.



Now scheduled to arrive in November 2016, this includes the dynamic Sky Valley; aunit with slides and climbers that allows children to gain confidence in theircoordination and decision-making skills. It also includes GT Jams play stations where children can express theirmusical creativity; as well as Shadow Play Light Trees that add great colour tothe play system and allow children to discover new ways to play with sunlight.



Inaddition, the new Nouveau children’s playground will boast the Playlab See-Saw;Merry-Go-All merry-go-round; Volcano Climber; Spider Web Climber; G2 Spinning Twirl;10-Instrument Merry Musical Set; 4,000-ball Ball-pool; Animal Rides;Trampoline; Telescope; Free-Standing X-pods; 4-Way Crawl Tubes; and theDinosaur, Whale, Swampy; and Jumbo Flyer Spring Riders.