Message from Ms Matillon, Director General
Dear Parents,
Though some may have appreciated extending our half-term break by a day or two, I can think of no better conditions for our return to school than a full-blown celebration of Halloween at our Primary school. Monday morning, I found that our children and teachers had been replaced by ghosts, goblins, skeletons and witches – and many more wildly creative creatures of every imaginable description – and an outstanding group of dedicated mums had set up the most appetising bake sale full of ghoulishly delicious treats! Thank you to all parents who took the time to make Halloween so special at GES with fancy dress and donations. We had a truly wonderful day!
Two of our Primary classes went on exciting outings this week, with Year 2 taking a walking tour of Geneva and Year 3 visiting the Vallorbe Caves, but a highlight was certainly the morning spent by Year 6 at our Secondary campus in anticipation of their move up next year. Children took part in Middle School lessons in Maths, Science, Art and Spanish taught by our Secondary teachers. These senior Primary students were clearly thrilled to be at our Secondary school, particularly in one of our two Science labs and our bespoke Art room. My thanks go to the teachers and staff who organised each of these marvellous activities.
Also this week, we continued to hold Book Looks and Parent-Teacher meetings, this time, thankfully, without IT glitches in the latter. More of both types of parent events will take place through the month of November, so please remember to check GES Messages emailed to you, as well as the school calendar, and save the dates that pertain to your children.
Next week will be packed with sports fixtures, with indoor football tournaments for boys in Years 3-8 and girls in Years 3-4 and 7-8. Our Years 5-8 netballers, too, will participate in a tournament in a week’s time. Best of luck to all, and have fun!
A most important date in next week’s diary is the Key Stage 3 Disco and parents’ apéro taking place on Friday evening. If last year’s dance and social gathering are any indication, it will surely be a grand success for all, young and not-so-young.
In Primary, we will have the great pleasure of both Emma Brassington and Helena Grant – Heads of Primary, current and new – here for the week. These five days will afford Mrs Grant an excellent opportunity for a thorough handover with Mrs Brassington, as well as time to get to know our school and the people who make it so exceptional in advance of her taking up her post in January. Mrs Grant has told me that she is very excited to be in Geneva and to hit the ground running.
Fear not – Mrs Brassington will continue to work remotely as she has been doing since August, perhaps behind the scenes for you, but very much on top of things with us. She will also spend a week at GES in December to be on site for the Rising Stars concert, the celebration of Escalade in school and, of course, the Christmas Fair, and there will be ample time for goodbyes then.
Finally, I would like to express my slightly delayed, but heartfelt, congratulations to Primary Learning Assistant Moë Duits and her husband on the birth of their beautiful daughter, Fleur. Moë, we are delighted for you and your family and we wish you every happiness as you enjoy these weeks of getting to know your lovely little one. Your Upper Key Stage 2 students will appear so big to you when you come back to work after the winter break!
A terrific weekend to all, particularly our Year 11 Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award candidates who are spending it cycling in Alicante. The weather forecast is ideal for their trip – 20 degrees and sunny – and I am sure they will have a brilliant time developing friendships, strength, skills and confidence.
All the best,
Christina Matillon
Celebrating Halloween at Primary
It was a magical return to school this week for our Primary students as the week kicked off with a celebration of all things Halloween!
Dressed in some outstanding costumes, our campus was abuzz with witches and wizards, goblins and superheroes, ghosts, pumpkins and all kinds of fantastic characters and creatures.
The fun and discovery continued in all our classrooms. In Reception, our learners all got to choose a special (temporary) Halloween tattoo ahead of reading one of their favourite stories Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson. Inspired by the tale, they decided to create their own magic wands, choosing a stick which would be suitable to decorate and perform magic.
For our Year 1 students, the day was punctuated by a fun session of pumpkin carving, apple and pumpkin printing in Art lesson, and the telling of spooky Halloween stories in French!
In Year 3, Maths had a decidedly spooky twist as the solving of addition problems created a mosaic of a witch!
The day was made all the more special thanks to our one-of-a-kind Parents’ Association, who had prepared a terrific spread of Halloween-themed treats and goodies for our Primary community to tuck into during the morning’s Bake Sale.
In our After School Care club, our chefs had fun making a mess with the flour as they baked some delicious chocolate gummy bat biscuits!
This week in class
Year 1 artists have had an exciting start to their new art unit, Exploring Watercolour. They enjoyed experimenting with a range of techniques, including wash, wet-on-dry, wet-on-wet and mark-making, as they began discovering the magic of watercolour paint.
Our Year 3 and 4 athletes were excited to play netball during their P.E. lesson this week. Our regular netballers were amazing as they helped their peers who were new to netball develop skills and learn the rules of the game. Every single one of them achieved at least one community star!
When Year 4 arrived at school this week, they discovered a table full of mysterious jars labelled fly-away powder, thunder-grains, scorpion oil, spark-repellent, glimmer-juice and salts-of-shadow. After much debate, the class decided these strange ingredients must be for making fireworks. Each student imagined their own design, named their firework, wrote clear instructions on how to make it, and added descriptive writing to capture what it would look and sound like when lit. They then brought their ideas to life with bright chalk art on black paper. A great introduction to their next story, The Firework-Maker’s Daughter!
Year 5 took turns in the Writer’s Chair this week as they read their letters to Prince Ivan and Princess Helen, demonstrating all the creative writing skills they have been developing over the last half term.
Later in the week, the class was treated to an impromptu violin recital by Chloe and Ora. What a great musical interlude!
The return to school was a busy one for our Secondary scientists!
As a complement to their investigations into the pH scale and how to test for pH, our Year 7 successfully neutralised hydrochloric acid (an acid) and sodium hydroxide (an alkali).
For Year 9 researchers, Science class involved measuring the speed of sound using stopwatches and noise coming from various distances.
In Year 10, our students learned how resistance works in circuits. By first measuring the resistance of different lengths of constantan wire, they were able to connect light bulbs in series and use their measurements of current and potential difference to calculate the resistance of the circuit.
Beyond the Classroom
A Cryptic Tour of Geneva
Year 2 had a fantastic sunny morning out in Geneva this week, merging their skills as geographers and historians as they explored some of the city’s most important landmarks.
Following clues in French to discover each new location, our adventurers were fascinated by the model of the old city in Maison Tavel, learned about the work of Jean Calvin and Charles Pictet de Rochemont, and discovered why Geneva’s history still matters today. They also found out that the founding meeting of the Red Cross took place at the Hôtel de Ville and that Geneva remains the home of the International Committee of the Red Cross today. Our students were fantastically well-behaved and loved learning about our wonderful city and what makes it so special.
Discovering the Depths of the Vallorbe Caves
Our Year 3 students had an amazing field trip to Les Grottes de Vallorbe this week. They applied their geographical knowledge to identify stalactites, stalagmites, columns and draperies, and learned how to tell if a cave formation is active. They were especially fascinated by the powerful, underground River Orbe!
Ahead of their trip, they had carefully prepared for it by learning all about cave features, even practising their vocabulary in French to prepare for the tour. They were excited to discover that some features are spelt exactly the same in French and English, but pronounced differently!
A Taste of Secondary
We were delighted to welcome our Year 6 students to our Secondary campus for a transition morning. Ms Newbury, Head of Middle School, tells us how it went:
“It was a pleasure to spend the morning with Year 6 students at the Secondary Campus, observing them immerse themselves in a range of exciting lessons. We began the day together and I introduced the students to key aspects of student life in our Key Stage 3 community, highlighting how our iCare values at Secondary mirror those they have already embraced in Primary.
During Period 1, Ms Brewin delivered a Mathematics lesson, in which the students tackled Langford’s Problem with incredible focus and curiosity. It was wonderful to see them thinking deeply and working collaboratively to explore solutions, really stretching their minds. In Period 2, during Science with Mr Maclean, the students thought about the purpose of a skeleton and carried out a hands-on experiment to investigate how the length of bones affects the weight they can support. They approached the challenge with real scientific rigour, developing and testing hypotheses and applying their findings to consider how they might affect animals of different sizes.
Period 3 brought a burst of creativity in Art with Mrs Hopley, where the students designed and crafted clay tea-light holders and decorated them with intricate rangoli-influenced patterns. Their attention to detail and enthusiasm for the task revealed their many artistic talents. The morning concluded with Spanish in Period 4 with Mr Wootton, where the students confidently used cognates to interpret texts, refined their pronunciation of key sounds, and practised recalling important vocabulary with impressive fluency via a ‘quiz, quiz, trade’ game.
It is always a privilege to observe the students engaging so wholeheartedly across a wide variety of subjects. Their curiosity, determination, and creativity really shone through, and I look forward to welcoming them back to the Secondary campus for further events in our Y6 to 7 Transition Programme over the coming terms.”
Throughout the year and as part of our Transition Programme, our Secondary team will be in close contact with our students’ Primary teachers to discuss their academic progress and pastoral well-being, as well as with their parents, to ensure that their move to Secondary next year is a smooth, happy and successful one.
Extra-Curricular Activities
Topping the Football Podium
Our Year 7-9 Boys football team brought home the gold at the SGIS 7-a-side tournament in Montreux, going the entire competition without conceding a goal! They secured a 2-0 victory over Aiglon in the final, with James W named Player of the Tournament for his exceptional goalkeeping.
Well done to the team!
Year 13 Assessed Expedition to Santorini
Just before the half-term break, our Year 13 Duke of Edinburgh students took part in their Gold-assessed expedition to the sunny Greek island of Santorini.
After two days of acclimatisation and preparation in the seaside village of Kamari, our adventurers undertook a four-day hike around the island, visiting several beaches and experiencing local culture. Enjoying some spectacular views of the sea and of the volcanic rock formations that characterise the island, our students developed their independence by being self-sufficient, navigating from village to village and cooking their own meals.
As a reward for their successful expedition, they spent their final two days relaxing and celebrating in the world-renowned beauty spot that is the town of Oia, during which they took part in a boat trip to visit a nearby volcano.
A real achievement and a great adventure from which all our students have taken away some lifelong memories!
Community News
Final reminder | Course de l'Escalade
Registrations close very soon for the Course de l’Escalade! Don’t forget to register to run with Team GES!
Joining the GES Team:
When you register your child/ren – and we hope you will do so! – please sign them up as part of the GES group via this link (i.e. not as an individual runner).
· The cost for participating children is CHF 26, which will be invoiced to you by the school once sign-ups have closed.
· Please register early as there are limited places in each category (2024 races filled up quickly).
There are three categories of races that may be of interest:
· Children and Youth races: The children’s/youth races will take place on Sunday 7 December. Children/teenagers aged 6 or older (born between 2008-2019) can participate as part of the GES school team. Each runner will receive an official, individual placement in their own age group and their individual times will also be recorded as part of Team GES.
· Child-Parent races: Children born in 2020 or 2021 have the opportunity to run with one of their parents. The aim is to introduce 4 and 5 year olds to the Escalade races and prepare them to run alone in the future. Only one adult (minimum 16-years old) can accompany each child. We encourage you to sign up as part of Team GES team if you and your child are running in this category, too.
· Adult races: Adults are also welcome to register individually via this link, however, you will not be able to sign up as part of Team GES. We do invite you to get in touch with us should you wish to wear GES colours during your race.
We look forward to seeing many GES families participate in this wonderful community event!
Primary and Secondary Book Looks
Our Primary and Secondary campuses opened their doors to parents for Book Look sessions across our Primary classes and in Year 12.
Showcasing all their hard work and showing off the progress they have made so far this term, our Primary students took pride in explaining to their families where their learning will take them next and how they are building on the skills they have acquired to date.
For Year 12, the Book Look session was especially useful in providing an additional opportunity for parents to engage and discuss with their children’s subject teachers to understand the progress they are making in the first year of their A Level programme and how best to accompany students to ensure they attain maximum success.
Next week will be the Year 13’s turn to host their parents at their Book Look.
November Reading Challenge
Calling all bookworms to join our “Nice November” reading challenge!
Participants are invited to read a book about kindness or compassion in celebration of World Kindness Day coming up 13 November, and create a poster to encourage kindness.
Posters can be handed in to the class teacher to earn a certificate and 5 stars!
Save the Date | Elf the Musical
The Christmas countdown is on – it’s time to spread some cheer!
Get into the holiday spirit and book your tickets for GAOS’s magical Christmas extravaganza Elf the Musical. This enchanting show features three of our very own GES stars – Carys, Saiari and Thea – bringing seasonal sparkle to the stage. Ms Empson and Angharad Chapman have been helping with the choreography, and Mrs Humphreys will be seen jingling along in the band!
Elf the Musical follows the story of Buddy, a human raised by elves in the North Pole, who travels to New York City to find his real father and discover where he truly belongs. Along the way, he spreads joy, laughter, and plenty of holiday magic.
We know our GES players would enjoy having their friends there to support them, so we hope to see many of you in the audience!
Mission Accomplished for Spiderman!
Our Director of Operations and Data Systems, Greg Furter, scaled our main building at Primary yesterday to fix the roof!
A sight to see for our Primary community, who looked on excitedly as they realised their school has its very own Spiderman!
Faces of GES
Today’s Faces of GES spotlight falls on Blanca Cabrera-Kabana-Sartorius!
Blanca started at GES last year, running a German club after school for students in Years 4-5, and is now the German class teacher for our Year 5 and 6 cohort. Having grown up between Spain and Germany, she was educated in German and started her career in international relations and banking, working in New York, London, Berlin and Brazil. She later became a qualified Spanish and German teacher before moving to Geneva to teach in various schools.
Blanca fell in love with our school, and especially how friendly and welcoming everyone has been from the start and how enthusiastic, curious and well-behaved our students are. A dedicated teacher, Blanca makes sure that all her students enjoy their lessons by favouring a playful approach to learning.
The proud mum of two adult children, Blanca is a keen tennis player and skier, and enjoys going on long walks with her dog. In addition to her native Spanish and German, she is fluent in English, French and Portuguese.
