Expat schools in Nairobi
If you are a parent moving to Nairobi, then where you live is largely dictated by where your kids are going to go to school. Traffic make it unfeasible to live in one area and drive your kids to school in another. Through hours of googling and a little local help, we highlighted 4 schools for our kids and visited them all on our recce trip here. Our decision was easy, the school we chose seemed to fit like a glove and we are vert happy with our decision.
For information on what to do on your recce trip to Nairobi then check out my blog here.
Below are my purely subjective thoughts on schools within the Karen area. I would strongly advise you visit them all.
Brookhouse school
Literally Hogwarts grandeur in appearance with facilities of NASA/LAMDA/Disneyland. I cant 
calculate how much money was spent on the building and upkeep of this school. I’ve never seen a school like it. The result is very impressive however, we felt that the person who showed us round was more keen to talk about the facilities and less interested in our kids, which was a red light.
STATS
Independent British curriculum co-educational day and boarding school offering Early Years, preparatory and secondary schooling.
The campus occupies a 14-acre (5.7 ha) site, in Langata, Nairobi.
The school year runs from September to July and IGCSE/’O’ and ‘A’ level exams are set and marked by CIE (Cambridge International Examinations), AQA and Edexcel.
Hillcrest International School
The very lovely head of the junior school who showed us round presented us with an image of a warm, loving school. They appear to have great teachers, good facilities and lots of very happy children, Hillcrest was our top choice until we visited Banda. Particularly in Hillcrests’ favor is the fact that it has an Upper School, no worrying about where the kids will go past year 8.
STATS
Independent British curriculum co-educational day school Early Years, preparatory and secondary schooling as well as a boarding school.
Located in Langata, Nairobi It is situated on a 35-acre
The school year runs from September to July and IGCSE/’O’ and ‘A’ level exams are set and marked by CIE (Cambridge International Examinations), AQA and Edexcel.
The school, of about 440 students, has its largest groups coming from Kenya and Britain. The staff are recruited from Britain and Kenya.
Braeburn school
I’ll be honest I was really sick for this show round. It was a lovely warm feeling school, with a very welcoming staff. For us it felt very urban being north of Lavington and we preferred the country feel of the Karen based schools.
Braeburn school is a co-educational international school in Lavington, Nairobi, teaching children from age 2 to 18The group of schools was established in April 1979 – they are now 41 years old.
The original campus was in Lavington, with a Secondary School opening at Garden Estate in 1982.
They now have 9 campuses across East Africa and are the most accredited group of schools in the area.
Both Lavington and Garden Estate have over 80 nationalities
When the high school moved to the Braeburn School’s Lavington campus in September 2003, the Garden Estate campus became a boarding Sixth form college.
The school year runs from September to July teaching the British Curriculum in IGCSE/’O’ and ‘A’ levels
The Banda School
We were so immediately impressed with Banda. Upon our initial show around of the school we met
many teachers all of whom who knew our situation and names of our children. The head of lower school and her staff spent hours with us talking about our expectations and needs. The school has a warm, sporty, friendly vibe, with lots of love enveloping a steely ‘traditional British prep school’ backbone. It’s no surprise that we chose this school for our children The kids love it and we love the way the children have progressed far in terms of academic ability and the range of sports to which they have been introduced.
STATS
Independent British curriculum co-educational day school offering Early Years and preparatory schooling for children from 3 – 13 years. Recently awarded Outstanding in
Occupying a 32 acre site in Langata, adjacent to Nairobi National Park
Staff are employed primarily from the UK and Kenya.
The school year runs from September to July and IGCSE/’O’ and ‘A’ level exams are set and marked by CIE (Cambridge International Examinations), AQA and Edexcel.
Other international schools:
We were aware of but didn’t visit:
International School Kenya (ISK) which we disregarded because it had a US curriculum. It is both very well considered and very expensive!
Peponi: well regarded school in Lavington but there were no spaces
You may also want to check out the newly opened Brookhouse Runda campus.
Hej Nadine
Do you know about any international schools in the Westland area?
I am very happy, that I found you blog, thank you for all the things that you are sharing.
We are checking out and debating about moving to Nairobi, because of work, and bringing 2 kinds age 2-4.
I found you on instagram and did send you a message, with some questions. I have many more.
You are also very welcome to write me an email – linehegaard@godmail.dk
Thank you for the blog, and for given me lots of reflections and questions to be answered.
Have a great day.
Line :)
Hey! Sorry Im super rubbish on instagram. People send me messages and I seem to lose them. Im not that up to speed with schoools in Westlands, the two i know that are nearish are Peponi (north of westlands) ISK, american not english and possibly braeburn in lavington. There is a list here https://mumsvillage.com/lifestyle_post/8-4-4-primary-schools-in-westlands-parklands/ which may help. Do you have to be in westlands? Its quite busy and bustling to bring up small kids IMO. Maybe do what most people do and pick a school you like and move near there and commute to work. Traffic in town is HORRIBLe though. SEnd questions over anytime xx
I didn’t see the Waldorf Schools mentioned. I believe there is one in Nairobi? I think in, or near Karen.
YOu are right and I will add it in. Its a great school and definitely needs including
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Good day,
Lovely to read your blog!
Just a couple of corrections to the Braeburn write up.
The group of schools was established in April 1979 – they are now 41years old.
The original campus was in Lavington, with a Secondary School opening at Garden Estate in 1982.
They now have 9 campuses across East Africa and are the most accredited group of schools in the area.
Both Lavington and Garden Estate have over 80 nationalities – a truly International school, and teach from age 2-18.
Many thanks and keep well,
Thanks for that. Ill update
Hello,
Are your kids still going to Banda school?
We are relocating soon to Kenya and feel overwhelmed with so many choices in terms of school.
They will be 8 and 11 yo. We are coming from Dubai so we really want an international school with many nationalities (but we don’t consider ISK which is too expensive)…
Thank you for your blog, it’s very informative!
Banda is an excellent school. Highly recommended. Please also consider Hillcrest, Peponi, Braeburn, Kenton. All very good schools. Wehre ou send your kids should be close to where you are living as traffic is bad in NBO. Also consider that if your eldest is 11 – there will be only a few years in a school like banda before they will need to leave and go to a secondary school. Some schools like Hillcrest and Peponi also have a secondary. Best thing to do is come and visit them all and get a feel for them
Would like to mention Pembroke House School if people are open to boarding. A very special primary school. There was so much time and there were so many possibilities to play and sport. My child even wants to go back for his gap year after secondary school. We were living in Nairobi. http://www.pembrokehouse.sc.ke