Message from Mr Williams, Head
Dear Parents,
We are in key family recruitment season at the moment and I wanted to start by saying thank you to everyone who recommends GES to colleagues or friends. We have had multiple visits by prospective families this week and lots booked next week, and many of them are thanks to recommendations from you. With our adverts on the radio, on the programmes of pantomimes and across social media, many families are finding out more about GES and are loving what they see when they get here. We regularly receive feedback concerning how polite and welcoming our children are, which we already knew, but it’s always lovely to hear! Please continue to pass on our details, and if you would like a copy of our new brochure, you can find it at the Reception desks at Primary or Secondary. We would be happy for you to share with your networks.
Next week, Miss Parker, Ms Peart and I will meet with the Primary and Secondary class representatives. This is an opportunity for us to hear back from different year groups and also plan for community events moving forward. Our class reps do a great job and we are really grateful to them for all their hard work and time in the background. Remember that we use the Classlists system to allow you to communicate with each other and the link to the site is here.
Finally, a big congratulations to all our skiers who came back with three gold medals last week. It is great to see our GES students competing with, and sometimes beating, schools across Switzerland. There are many more competitions next week and I wish all our skiers the best of luck. Thank you to Mr Sheppard-Burgess, Miss Bugeja and Mr Perrenoud for taking the kids and giving them such a great experience.
Have a great weekend,
Mr Williams
From the Primary School
A Trip to the Land of the Mummies
Who were the Ancient Egyptians?
Our Year 3 students have been learning all about this fascinating civilisation! Taking a tour of the Ancient Egypt exhibition at the Musée d’art et d’histoire, they discovered all kinds of interesting facts about pharaohs, mummies and the importance of the Nile. This outing tied in perfectly with their recent History lessons, in which they have been exploring hieroglyphics and Egyptian religion and mythology.
A Lesson in Road Safety
Beep beep! Reception students learned about road safety last week. Working together to build a road and draw a zebra crossing in chalk, they learned about the special rules of how to cross the road, and took turns playing the roles of pedestrians and vehicles. Some drivers were really kind and stopped to let the pedestrians cross!
A special thank you goes to Ms. Noble for lending her high visibility jacket, which enabled the children to learn how to stay safe in the dark.
Stepping in Time
Year 1 musicians have been learning about marching bands! They created their very own band and performed whilst keeping the beat to the music. What a great way to learn all about different percussion instruments and how to play them.
February Reading Challenge
We are storytellers!
This month in the library, we are celebrating National Storytelling Day. We are challenging you to bring stories to life by telling them aloud to friends and family.
Choose your favourite or a well known short story or fairytale. Think about how you can bring the story to life. Can you act it out? Can you use voices and expression for different characters? Can you use gestures for emphasis? Have fun retelling stories to your friends, family or even pets!
Feel free to video your storytelling and send it to us at [email protected]
Please submit your videos by the end of the month.
The Year of the Dragon
Our After School Care students have been decorating the school for the Lunar New Year celebrations!
News from Secondary
What's on in Secondary P.E.?
It’s been an intense few weeks for our students in their P.E. classes. From parkour to basketball training, from gymnastics to football and ice skating, our athletes have been keeping fit and fine-tuning their skills in these various sports.
Upgraded Sports Areas
We have been working hand in hand with the Student Council and started improving the use of the sports areas at Secondary.
A new secure storage unit now allows students direct access to outdoor footballs, volleyballs, basketballs and table tennis equipment to use at break and lunchtime.
School news
The Ski Results Are In!
The results are in from the SGIS ski race in Verbier last week, in which our students competed in the categories C-F! With three first places and one second for the boys’ races, and a third place win for the girls’ team, our skiers produced absolutely terrific results in this giant slalom competition, which we are immensely proud of.
Congratulations to all participants for their wonderful team effort and inspiring enthusiasm, and a huge bravo to our champions!
We have also received exciting news from some of our top skiers! Well done to Danny (Year 3) and Bram (Year 6) for their recent results in the regional grand slalom Migros ski competition in Nendaz, where they arrived in the top 10 of their respective categories, with an entry into the national Swiss final in March for Danny! We wish them all the best for their upcoming competitions and look forward to sharing more news about their future exploits.
Online Safety Information Session for Parents
We will be holding an information session for parents about online safety on Tuesday 13 February at 19:00.
Delivered by an expert trainer from Childnet, this session will take place online and will explore:
- Conduct: What children may be doing online, including screen time, digital well-being, online reputation, privacy settings, and the sharing of personal information or compromising images
- Content: What children may see online, including games, adult and extreme content, and unreliable material
- Contact: Who children may be interacting with, including online friendships, grooming, and cyber bullying and harassment
Please note that this information session is relevant for and open to parents of children in both Primary and Secondary. The advice, resources and guidance delivered regarding online safety is applicable to children of all ages.
If you would like to attend this session, please let us know by completing this short form.
Faces of GES
The ball is in the school court this week for this edition of Faces of GES as we present none other than our Director of Sports, Jonathan Sheppard-Burgess! Coming to us from sunny Dubai, where he was an Assistant Head of Secondary and Director of Sports, Jonathan is passionate about teaching P.E. and holds a degree in Sports Science. For him, seeing the happy faces of students when they achieve a sporting challenge or when they learn and participate in sports at all levels is the highlight of his work at GES.
His advice to students? To do something that interests them rather than what interests others, and to find a passion that they can link to their future careers. This advice is what Jonathan holds himself to every day, standing as an example from which our students can draw inspiration, just as they inspire him in his day-to-day. After all, the children of GES are what Jonathan believes are the best thing about our school, and we couldn’t agree more!
A fan of football and especially of Brighton F.C., Jonathan has a passion for anything scientific and enjoys finding out about how human scientific understanding has evolved through history.
Drawing for the Planet
What does “sustainability” mean to you? What is essential to ensure that the Earth continues to remain habitable? What can we do together to keep the world safe for future generations?
Share your ideas through painting, drawing or by making a collage!
Join the 54th International Raiffeisen art competition for children and young people. Structured around the theme of sustainability (“Donner un avenir à la terre”), this is a wonderful opportunity for our artists in both Primary and Secondary to share their message for the preservation of the planet.
In addition to various travel and cash prizes, winners will have their work celebrated during the closing ceremony of the competition in June.
Please hand in Primary submissions to Ms Marceau, and Secondary submissions to Ms Hopley. Deadline for submissions is Monday 26th February.
Click here for full information on how to participate (in French)
