Nova Pioneer Northriding held a prestigious ceremony to honour their Grade 7 learners who excelled in their Cambridge Checkpoint examinations on February 2.
The director of schools and interim school leader, Nneamaka Eziukwu, expressed her delight at the achievements of the learners. “It is actually the first time we are doing it [the ceremony] on this campus; we typically don’t have an award ceremony for the checkpoint but we realised that it definitely motivates when you acknowledge the efforts and achievements of the learners; it motivates them to do better.”
The Cambridge Checkpoint examinations, which assess the learners’ knowledge and skills across science, mathematics and English serve as a crucial milestone in their academic journey. Learnerss who perform exceptionally well in these examinations often pave the way for further academic success in their future endeavours. Eziukwu said, “The Cambridge exam also helps them to benchmark against all other Cambridge schools across the globe. And it helps us gauge where we are compared to the global Cambridge community.”
She explained that the learners were recognised for their excellence, effort and resilience. “We had four categories of recognition. We have a certificate of excellence that recognises the top three learners in each subject. And then we had the Deans’ Always Growing Award that we give to the learner who put in a lot of effort to ensure they get fair results.”
The third category was an honourable mention for the learners who got high and outstanding results. The last category was the school’s most prestigious award – the Tabono Award. “Tabono is a West African word for ‘oar’ and it symbolises strength and resilience. It symbolises excellence across the board and we gave the award to three learners who got outstanding results in all three subjects.”
Eziukwu emphasised how pleased the school was with the checkpoint results and hoped that from this event, the learners were able to learn that they have the power to succeed. “I want them to understand that within them lies the power they need to achieve – the power they need to stand strong in the face of challenges and negative pressure from social media and peers.
“It is important for them to know that the power is activated by them knowing that it is there.”
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