#13
USIU-AFRICA
In 1970, Academic Services Limited (ASL) founded St. Austin’s Academy (SAA) as part of a programme to establish centres of academic excellence in Kenya.
SAA, as the school has come to be known, is situated in a serene, green compound in Lavington, Nairobi. It was originally established with the vision to break the then segregated educational system, and offer a genuinely integrated programme across the social strata. Since its inception, the vision has morphed into providing a values-based programme to prepare students for the uncertain and global world of work.
Offering education from pre-primary all the way to upper secondary, SAA remains consistent in providing the highest standards of intellectual growth, development of students’ social and moral values as well as preparing young learners for global education and future careers.
According to the SAA Principal, Simba Song’e, every child is a unique individual who has a special gift to bring to the world. SAA’s role is therefore to nurture every child to realise their full potential. In the rapidly changing global environment, students require life skills to cope with life challenges, and SAA provides precisely this.
With a first-class teaching faculty that offers a stimulating delivery of SAA’s British National Curriculum, the Academy is proud and pleased to report that in the Class of 2022, 50 percent of students scored between A* and B, and 100 percent transitioned to various universities across the globe to pursue different degree programmes.
Before sitting for their final exams, SAA students regularly go on field trips, organised by the school, to various universities around Kenya. This undoubtedly invigorates the students’ minds, helping generate ideas on the kind of higher learning institutions they would prefer to attend, whether local or international, as well as what careers they would want to pursue.
Co-curricular activities, a pioneer ingredient to every student’s development, are also offered at SAA. These activities include competitive swimming, music, a variety of games facilitated by the lush, green playing fields, basketball facilitated by a state-of-the-art recently revamped basketball court, and visual arts such as drawing and painting.
More than 30 nationalities are represented in SAA’s student body, a true ambassador of diversity and inclusion. This encourages students to learn in an atmosphere of both tolerance and awareness of different cultures.
have the opportunity to volunteer in community outreach projects.
Far from operating as an institution of academic distinction, SAA strives to instill a sense of sustainability to the students in terms of the environment and giving back to the community; deeming the institution a socially responsible citizen.
For instance, in 2021, SAA was chosen as the only school in Kenya to represent the 26th edition of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26). The Academy worked on a team project that was presented to other countries over the Zoom platform. The team was made up of students from Year 9 to 11. There were 12 different schools from various countries participating. The project focused on problems causing food insecurity in Kenya, such as the 2021 locust invasion; high carbon emissions and deforestation, which only further exacerbate climate-induced global warming. Enabling students to research and have international mind-stimulating conversations around climate change serves to grow them as environmentally-conscious future leaders.
SAA affords students the chance to participate in Model United Nations (MUN), an educational simulation and/or academic competition in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. It serves to teach participants speaking, debating, and writing skills, in addition to critical thinking, teamwork, and leadership abilities. The conference engages students, allowing them to develop a deeper understanding of current global issues.
SAA released its 2022 Sustainability and Sustainable Living Report covering its activities around Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The report indicates the Academy’s devotion to at least 7 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In partnership with the World Fair Trade Organisation (WTFO), both students and faculty members had a walk and tree-planting activity held in Karura Forest, chanting the words, “Buy Africa, Build Local.” With branded T-shirts coupled with the chant, the walk drew attention to other walkers, inspiring them to do better.
In June 2022, the school, led by the principal, Simba Song’e, took a team of students and a few teachers to do community service in a school in Kitui, by renovating classrooms. The activity not only led to a restored learning facility, but served to build empathy, thus emotional intelligence, a sense of community, and bridge the social class gap among students.
All of SAA’s food is locally sourced, therefore has a low carbon footprint. The institution is filled with posters on conserving energy, advising both students and staff to switch off lights when not in use. The school also encourages the use of glass containers and/or multi-use bisphenol-A (BPA) free plastics, to reduce single-use plastics.
SAA holds multiple student group discussions on environmental care, using social media as a tool to raise awareness to a larger audience. Additionally, climate change protests are occasionally held around the surrounding neighbourhood.
Recognising that growing up as a teenager is many-a-time mentally draining, with so much influence around, SAA has developed a mentorship school-held program. Students are allowed to talk in small intimate groups with teachers, peer mentors and each other. In fact, according to the students, SAA is a calm, safe and responsive institution. It has built a reputation in the Nairobi Community as the ‘Listening School’.
The mentorship program allows the students to ask questions, get advice, or speak their minds about whatever challenges they may be facing, whether in school or outside, in a safe, non-judgmental and confidential environment. In this way, the learners make more informed decisions on things currently going on in their lives, or receive comfort and support from peers and mentors. The program is beneficial to all parties: providing role models for students in a more intimate way, as well as serving as an opportunity for the personal development of peer mentors.
SAA is proudly a familial institution, promoting equality and building future service-first leaders. The school maintains a symbiotic triangle model of effective communication, with each pillar (parents, teachers and students) geared towards supporting each other. As the esteemed St. Austin’s Academy forges on along the journey of providing quality, all-rounded education, it promises to do so with sustainability in all matters at the forefront. SAA is guided in all this by its motto, ‘With A Passion For Excellence’.
