Issue: 15 | Friday 13th January 2023

Message from Mr Williams, Head

Dear Parents and Students,

Happy New Year and welcome back. I hope that you had a great Christmas holiday and managed to find some snow if you were skiing. We have had a great first week and have been delighted to welcome over 20 students to the GES family. If this is your first newsletter then a very warm welcome to you!

At the end of last term we treated the students to a surprise staff pantomime – some pictures from a very entertaining performance are included below.

GES continues to grow and go from strength to strength and we now have more children enrolled than ever before. On Wednesday (18th) next week, we have our first Virtual Open Days for this calendar year. I will be hosting Zoom sessions all about Primary, Early Years and the Secondary School and Mr Crabtree will host a focussed A Level session. You can find out more and register to join us by clicking here. Please do send the details on to your friends, neighbours and work colleagues who may be interested – we know that your recommendations are invaluable. We are especially keen on speaking to families who may want to start GCSE courses in August, as we aim to have a second Year 10 class next year to meet demand, or also those with little ones looking to join our Pre-School.

As you know, Wednesday afternoon language and sport sessions start next week, and also holiday camps are available to book for future school holidays. There is still time to sign up your children for the Wednesday Academy sessions (via My School Portal) and do take a look at our holiday camps here.

Finally, I am delighted to let you know that both Mrs Adwoa Ajuebor (Primary Office) and Mrs Cesmat (KS1 teacher) are pregnant and expecting their babies before the end of the academic year. Congratulations to them both!

Best wishes,

Matt Williams
Head

Primary Library monthly themes and reading challenges

The 12 Challenges of Christmas

We are delighted to hear about how much reading our Primary students have done over the holiday.

Well done to Jasper and Hanna in Year 3 for completing the 12 reading challenges of Christmas and improving your literacy skills.

We would love to see more pictures of our pupils completing these challenges, so please feel free to share them with us ([email protected]).

Now on to the next challenge!

January 'Winter Blues' Reading Challenge

How many books can you read from our ‘Winter Blues’ collection this January?

Write the title and author in each square of your bingo board to score points for your house and win a reading challenge certificate.

And if you’d like to go even further, can you write a ‘Winter Blues’ book recommendation for a friend?

From Secondary

Year 9 English

Whilst reading the play ‘The Empress’ by Tanika Gupta, Year 9 were challenged by their English teacher Ms Ledgerwood to work in teams and act out the scenes when two ayahs stepped ashore onto London’s Tilbury Docks after a long voyage from India in the 1880’s.

Students enjoyed bringing their story to life!

Year 8 Penguin shelters

Due to climate change on the ice floe, penguins now need to cool down in the water and must leave their eggs unprotected from the gulls overhead.

Mr Taylor asked Year 8 students in their Physics lessons to design penguin shelters to help keep the penguins and their eggs cool. Working in teams, they have been testing different materials and layers and learning about convection and thermal radiation.

From Secondary

Article en français: le camp de ski

Merci à Paloma et James pour leur contribution cette semaine.

Cette année, le voyage de ski était dans le magnifique village de montagne de Crans Montana.

Tous les jours, on est allés skier pour environ 6 heures. Heureusement, la neige était très bonne, surtout vers le glacier, et aussi il faisait très beau !

Après avoir skié, on a fait des activités comme la patinoire, le bowling et même une randonnée nocturne à raquettes sous les étoiles ! C’était très amusant.

Le personnel des Elfes était très sympa et gentil. En plus, les chambres et la nourriture étaient géniales ; on a super bien mangé et dormi après des journées très chargées.

En bref, le voyage scolaire était super.

Peter Pan Culture Vulture - Sunday 12 February

Here are the details of our next Culture Vulture trip, Peter Pan:

  • Sunday 12 February at 11:30
  • Simply Theatre’s Academy production
  • Casino Theatre, 42 Rue de Carouge, Geneva
  • Tickets CHF 40 Adults/ CHF 35 Students (payment via school invoice)
  • Open to Year 5 & 6 and Secondary students

If you are interested in joining us for this performance, please send an email to Mrs Ball (Head of Drama and Performing Arts) at [email protected], stating the number of tickets required and whether they are for adults or students.

The deadline for registration is next Friday 20 January and tickets are non-refundable.

Spring and Summer Holiday Camps

Our holiday camps for this academic year are viewable and bookable online via this section on our website.

There is surely something for you, whether it’s outdoor, sport, music, art and craft, cooking, performing arts, or STEAM.

Mr Aaron Bradley will be running the next camp during half-term (20-24 February), designed for all mountain lovers from 10 to 16 year olds. More details to follow.

School Photos reminder

If you missed the 1st deadline to order your school photos (taken onsite in September 2022), please note that you now have a 2nd chance to order them by this Sunday 15 January 2023.

Just click on the link(s) that were sent by email on 25 October 2022 to place your order. The products will be shipped for free to the school at the beginning of February.

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact Gillman & Soame directly at [email protected] or on 01869 328200.