NEWSLETTER, TERM 1

RIVIERA
NEWS
An official newsletter for Riviera High School - kigali
Vol. 02:017
Principal’s
message
Riviera
News bites
10 years of
Riviera
Heroes day
highlights

Welcome
Hello,
It is our pleasure to welcome you into the Riviera Community.
We thank you for entrusting us with the lives of your
children. Riviera High School is home away from home
and we give each and every student a healthy environment
to grow spiritually, academically and socially.
Welcome to the first issue of Riviera News.
This is our regular bulletin to update you on state of Riviera
High School. You may not be a resident in here but basing
on the fact that you have entrusted us with your child, you
deserve to know what is happening.
FROM THE
COMMUNICATIONS
DEPARTMENT
As usual everything that happens in school has happened,
stuff like class time, food, library, sports, but in this
update we highlight a few key issues. Read on to see what
is heroes day in Riviera High School, the untimely death of
our former student, the jubilation mood that was left upon
us by the performance of our S.3 students – class of 2016
as well as many more.
Feel free to get in touch with us anytime you want to know
anything through our email address at info@rivierahighschool.org.
You can also contact the relevant office
directly by using the contact card right on this page, and
we will be glad to get back to you.
Regards.
1

Principal
FROM THE
PRINCIPAL’S
OFFICE
...I see each
teacher’s endeavour to
put in practice the tenets
discussed during
the one-week Teachers’
seminar at the beginning
of the term. The
same goes for my esteemed
SMT to whom I
rely on a lot...
Dear parents,
The school is on a good roll, currently going through
the midterm examinations. I have seen a new Riviera
in the New Year (2017). The learners are not only
proactive but are also enthusiastic to get involved in
the school’s daily routine. We have had a new Student
Cabinet voted in place and going by the faces the future
looks very bright. The student leaders campaigned
in a way that showed maturity and decency. To empower
them further we intend to conduct leadership
workshops, facilitated by professionals, in order to give
our student leaders a competitive edge. Away from the
students I must hasten to give the teachers a deserved
recognition for their continued commitment and dedication
to duty. I see each teachers endeavour to put
in practice the tenets discussed during the one-week
Teachers’ seminar at the beginning of the term. The
same goes for my esteemed SMT to whom I rely on a
lot for the operations of my office.
The ideal school is one in which the learner is given
enough room to explore and maximize on the available
opportunities and resources. Riviera is increasingly
becoming that school. I have read somewhere recently
(Daily Nation of 18th Feb, pg 24) about the kind of
education children want. The author (Tom Odhiambo)
navigates the subject very well and tickles me with
a character called David. This is a boy who wants to
know why, what, how and for what should he study! The
text is simply conveying the message that we must involve
the learner in the development and execution of
the curriculum. I strongly believe that the future is bright
for those schools that have woken up to the reality of
learner’s view of education. Riviera is positioning for this
reality. It calls for thorough understanding of the learner
by the teacher. We have pooled the necessary resources
to ensure effective transaction in and out of class.
Our field of operation with the learner is wide; ambient
classrooms, laboratories, utility hall, play-fields (tennis,
soccer, volleyball, basketball) and a swimming pool
attest to the reality positioning.
We hope to share more as time goes but we look at
every new day as an opportunity to improve on the
way we do things.
2
Regards
Mr. Boniface Onyango

NEWS
UPDATES...

Highligts
IN MEMORY OF
NINEZA KESSY
With deep sorrow we regret the
sudden death of one of our old
students Nineza Kessy who died
after having an accident in
Burundi. It’s a pity.
In memory of his life, over 100
Riviera High School old students
gathered for a memorial service
held at school under their
own leadership. The service was
held on 21st January, 2015. For
about three hours RHS old students
mourned a beloved soul.
A few of them were granted opportunity
to express themselves
in words.
A week later RHS old students
association published a condolences
video via social
media where again his friends
expressed their grievances in
word. Emotional! The tearful
and sad tones of each speaker
revealed that Nineza was such
a dear one to many.
As a school we grieve together
with the grieved family and
friends and we say, may God fill
the vacuum he left behind. May
his soul rest in eternal peace.
4

Highligts
HONOURING
OUR HEROES
For every Rwandan, 1st February
is always marked red. It is a
day of remembering those who
lost their lives for the benefit of
Rwanda. Their blood was not
lost in vain.
As the rest of Rwanda was
celebrating Heroes day, the
national spirit was also so alive
in the perimeters of Riviera High
School. After a week or two of
preparation, the entire student
community gathered in the
school main hall with a clearly
drawn agenda of the celebration.
The event kick-started with
the raising of the national flag,
everyone went to the main hall
after where speeches were
held, a short documentary
about Rwanda was shown and
interact club of RHS entertained
the audience with excellent
music, dance and drama.
In attendance were the principal
of RHS along with the staff.
The ceremony was graced with
the presence of the Assistant
Commissioner of Police Mr.
Theos Badege who patriotically
inspired students to love their
country.
Later in the day basketball
game was exclusively organised
in honour of the day.
5

Highligts
CONGRATULATIONS TO
OUR S.3 STUDENTS
If Riviera High School was a dad, he would
probably be a proud one at the moment
because of the performance of his sons
and daughters. That is how we feel as a
school. We are proud because our students
have made us be. Congratulations to our
S.3 students for the exemplary performance
in the O-Level REB exams 2016. To all our
candidates, we say that you worked hard to
make us proud and we honour you in your
success.
We would also like to commend
the excellent work that was done
by all teachers, administration
and the Advisory Council at Riviera
High School. To our parents,
the continued support you gave
us translated to this success that
we all joyfully share in.
As a school; staff and administration
we cannot get any better
fruit than an excellent performance
of our dear ones. You
have given us the inspiration to
work even harder.
Here is the performance in brief;
Division 1 – 23 students
Division 2 – 8 students
Division 3 – 2 students
Division 4 – 4 students
6

Highligts
ONE WEEK STAFF
SEMINAR
A week before the start of this term, the
office of the Deputy Principal in charge of
academics organised a one week seminar
to prepare teachers in line with the 5
year strategic plan for the school. It was an
intensive whole day seminar.
Most of this was based on the five-year
strategic plan that is inclusive of things
like student and staff welfare, academics,
general progress of the school, to mention
but a few. On each day a particular item
was exhaustively handled and discussed.
It was a beneficial seminar especially for
the people who are running Riviera as a
school.
The seminar was concluded on a
Friday with a staff barbeque that was
held in the evening at school. The
gathering was unselective; both the
formal and casual staff were brought
together. They shared a meal and
thereafter had fun.
The principal of Riviera high school
was present. He expressed his sincere
appreciation of a job well-done and
welcomed General Bagabo John,
one of the Board of Directors who also
expressed his gratitude as a parent
first and as a board of directors.
7

Highligts
RIVIERA
CELEBRATES
10 YEARS
Our story dates way back in 2007 when we
opened as a school. It was a season God
graced us to be a blessing to this nation.
Under no perfect conditions we started,
trusting perfection to find us along the way.
We enrolled staff and a few students. For the
next years we devoted to that which we were
established to do; education. We witnessed
progress each and every new day, each and
every new term, each and every New Year.
We counted years, and this year we are 10
years exactly. What a blessing!
In humility, we have decided as
a school, this shall not go unnoticed.
This is our 10th year of
existence. Many organisations
start and close, but we started
and blossomed. It’s worth it.
Watch the space as Riviera High
School prepares to celebrate in a
special way. Details of this celebration
will be communicated in
the upcoming communications.
8

Highligts
ONLINE SCHOOL FEES
PAYMENTS SIMPLIFIED
9
We recently introduced Direct Pay
Online as a new plat form for paying
school fees. The system gives
parents and sponsors the freedom
to pay online in the currency
and payment method that suits
them. The system support all cards
– Visa, MasterCard and American
Express.
However, we have received complaints
that many of you have
found the platform challenging
to use. Therefore to deal with this
challenge read on below to see
how the system works.
How It Works
The way it works is simple. If you
wish to settle your school fee account,
purchase school uniform or
sportswear, trips or other school-related
events:
• You will receive an email from
our accounting department containing
a secure payment link.
• Once you click on the link, you
will be redirected to a secure payment
page.
• Fill in your personal details.
• Select the credit card icon to
pay by debit or credit card
o Fill in the card details
o Click on pay
• Select the mobile phone icon to
pay via mobile money wallet
o Select your country of origin
o Select your preferred mobile
network operator
o Fill in your phone number
o Click on Pay via Mobile
o Follow the instructions provided
to pay
• Your payment is processed and
instantly allocated to your child’s
account at real time.
ALL CURRENCIES
The Direct Pay Online system
accepts payments in any currency.
The currency of your card
or mobile money payment will
be automatically be converted
to pay the exact invoice amount
invoiced in USD.
EMAIL CONFIRMATION
Once you have paid, both YOU
and the Riviera High School
Accounts Office, will receive a
payment confirmation email at
real-time.
SAFE & SECURE
The system is safe and secure,
compliant with the highest global
security rating (PCI-DSS1). Direct
Pay Online’s cloud-based servers
are located in the USA and
Germany, guaranteeing a
safe payment environment
that meets the stringent
standards set by international
card schemes.
TO FIND OUT MORE
To find out more about the
online payment service and
to explore the freedom to
pay online, please visit the
Direct Pay Online website
www.directpay.online/ or
contact Direct Pay Online’s
24/7 Customer Support
team: support@directpay.
online
Or speak to Direct Pay Online
Country Manager, David
Muchwe,
• Email: david@directpay.
online
• Mob: +250 781 447 361 /
+250 737 828 963
If you prefer to pay by other
methods, you are welcome
to continue paying Riviera
directly in your usual way.

WWW.RIVIERAHIGHSCHOOL.ORG