Message from the Head
Dear Parents,
It was lovely to see so many of you at the ‘Back to School Bash’ last Friday evening and to spend time together celebrating the start of a new school year at GES. A massive thank you to those of you that volunteered to run a stall, help set things up or were just around at the end helping tidy things away. Bringing the community together and back in school is a priority this year and being around to listen and help is key for the staff and I.
Please remember that Emily Persse, Chair of Governors and I are available each week to meet parents if you want to speak to us. I am also available each week to show parents (prospective or current) around the Primary or Secondary campus. Please email Alice to book a time via [email protected].
Last Friday morning, we had a great meeting with the parent reps and have agreed to a couple of changes and to review some start of term processes. Firstly, we will make sure that the start of term Zoom meetings are face to face next year and have timings that mean you can visit two or three different classes if you need to and we will make sure that the curriculum overviews are up to date and given to you in advance so you know what is being taught when. From the week beginning Monday 3 October you will be able to park and collect your child again from Primary campus on Tuesday and Thursday evenings only – please watch out for a letter next week outlining how this will work.
Last Saturday we sent a large contingent of students to the SGIS Cross Country event in Berne. As was the case in pre Covid times, our students excelled – we won a number of group and individual trophies as well as loudly cheering and supporting our competitors. We may be a small school but we made the most noise supporting each other!
Just a diary reminder: school photos take place on Monday at Secondary and Tuesday at Primary – please make sure that your children look great. We are using a different company this year after the disappointing quality of the printed products over the last couple of years. We have samples of what you can buy at both Primary and Secondary reception if you want to pop in and have a look.
Finally, please remember to sign up for our holiday camps that are running over each of the holidays. More information can be found here.
Have a great weekend,
Matt Williams
Head
Pupil voice and new Houses across the school
Primary School Council and House captains
Congratulations for the following Primary students who have been elected to represent their peers.
The Primary School Council for 2022/2023 is made of:
- Josephine, Gabriel and Carys in Key Stage 1
- Hanna and Noah in Year 3
- Tom and Emma in Year 4
- Michelle and Isabelle in Year 5
- Isla, Freya, Disa and Noah W. in Year 6
Our Primary House captains for 2022/2023 are:
- Daniel and Valentin for Jura
- Miatta and Florence for Rhône
- Lara and Timothée for Dôle
- Lily and Evelyn for Léman
We are very much excited to host our first ever whole school House Cross-Country event on Wednesday 12 October!
Secondary Student Council and House captains
As advertised last Friday, here is the first French article about the new Houses. Thanks Mimi!
Cette année Madame Brewin organise le lancement des ‘maisons’ à GES pour renforcer le sentiment d’équipe entre les élèves et donner l’opportunité aux plus jeunes d’interagir avec les plus grands. Les maisons s’appellent Jura, Rhône, Léman et Dôle; des sites naturels que nous pouvons voir de l’école. Vendredi passé, a eu lieu une lutte à la corde pour débuter cette nouvelle structure à GES. On a senti un grand enthousiasme dans la cour durant l’activité où chaque maison a eu l’opportunité de jouer les unes contre les autres. Dôle et Jura sont sorties gagnantes et s’affrontent en finale aujourd’hui! Pour chaque événement organisé, encouragez vos enfants à venir dans la couleur de leur maison pour montrer leur fidélité.
Our Year 13 House Captains for 2022/2023 are:
- Mimi and Marco for Jura
- Axel, Amity and Vimbai for Rhône
- Jacopo and Maya for Dôle
- Romain and Cora for Léman
Students from Years 7 to 12 have sent their applications for Student Council and the voting is open until next Monday. We have seen applications from students showing kindness and great listening skills, determined to make changes for a better school, and committed to our core values. Let’s see who will be the most persuasive.
From the Sport & PE department
Ski Camp 2023 - Last chance to book a space
We have a few spaces left for our GES Ski trip in Crans Montana, Switzerland, from 2 to 7 January 2023 (the last week of the Christmas holiday).
The trip is open to Year 6 & GES Secondary students of all abilities with the choice of skiing, snowboarding or ski touring.
The price for the ski camp is CHF 975.
Registration and payment deposit of CHF 250 (non-refundable) via My School Portal under Sport & Extra-curricular, GES Ski Camp for Year 6 & Secondary (January 2023) by Friday 30 September.
Sports Open morning postponed to Saturday 1 October
Due to the weather forecast tomorrow we have decided to postpone our sport open morning to next Saturday 1 October.
Taking place at GES Primary campus, the format will be exactly the same:
- Session 1 (8:30 – 9:45): Year 4-6 Netball with Ms Shibil or Year 4-6 Football with Mr Sheppard-Burgess
- Session 2 (10:00 – 11:15): Year 6-13 Netball with Ms Shibil or Year 7-9 Football with Mr Sheppard-Burgess
Please sign your child(ren) up via this link.
Fingers crossed for good weather and we thank you for your ongoing support to school sport at GES.
Individual and Team success
MTB Piano exam
Congratulations to David (4B) who passed his Grade 2 Piano exam with Merits !
As usual if you would like to share your child’s individual success with us, either in music or sport, please email Stephanie Pillot via [email protected], and we will happily feature them in this dedicated space in the newsletter.
SGIS Cross-Country event
Congratulations to all our GES children who participated in the SGIS Cross-Country event last Saturday, against 5 other international schools such as IS Basel and IS Bern.
They were fantastic and came away with an array of individual and team awards: 10 individual medals and 7 team trophies! All team trophies are combined results for all runners in that category.
Category F Boys: Romain, Ellis and Noah
Category F Girls: Aleyna and Lea
Category E Boys: Daniel and Callum
Category D Boys: Nathan
Category C Boys: Raphael
Category B Boys: Nikko
