Message from Ms Brassington, Head of Primary
Dear Parents,
It is my pleasure to write this week’s newsletter introduction. Each Friday, I am filled with a sense of pride and amazement as I read about the incredible range of events and activities that have taken place across the school. I am always in awe of how our students embrace the many opportunities offered to them and of the support from our teachers, helping them achieve their goals, opening their eyes to new experiences, and encouraging them in their passions. This week is no exception!
The Music Recital is a very special evening in the GES calendar, as it is the only event where our Primary and Secondary students perform alongside each other. With students from Year 1 through to Year 12 performing piano, violin, guitar and showcasing their vocal talents, it was a truly memorable evening. Performing alongside their older peers gives our younger students the chance to feel inspired about what they can achieve with continued practice. Watching their faces light up in admiration as they enjoyed accomplished piano performances from our secondary students was a delight to see. For our older students, it is a chance to reflect on their own progress over their many years of practice. For the staff and parents in the audience, it was a chance for us to admire the children – their confidence, resilience and talents. We are grateful to our visiting music teachers for their work with the students and to Lucie Goater, our music administrator, for organising the recital.
Science Week at Primary culminated in a celebration assembly which showcased the science experiments the children completed at home throughout the week. With over 55 videos submitted, our students truly rose to the challenge! The “oohs” and “aahs” that echoed across the gym reflected their excitement and love for the wonders of science. It was a reaction worth observing! It was not only our students who put their scientific knowledge to the test, but our Primary parents too, who earned their children over 300 House Points by answering a science question of the day. Activities ranged from labeling the parts of a plant to sorting rocks into igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic categories. A huge thank you to Mr Bradley for organising such a fantastic week and to all our teachers for inspiring the scientists of the future.
Looking ahead to next week, we wish our Year 12 students good luck in their mock exams. If this week’s music recital reflects our students’ dedication to learning, improving and achieving their best, I have no doubt they will get the results they deserve.
Next week on Wednesday 19th at Primary and Thursday 20th at Secondary, we will welcome prospective families as part of the Association Genevoise des Ecoles Privées – AGEP’s Open Day Week. It is not too late to sign up for the events so if you know of any families who are looking for a high quality education for their children, do share the information about our Open Days and encourage them to contact our admissions team.
I wish you a wonderful weekend ahead.
Emma Brassington
Head of Primary
Science Week
This week was all about Science at Primary as students from across the year groups took part in the much-awaited Science Week.
In class, students started their mornings with thought-provoking discussions, such as ranking the most important scientific discoveries. The debates got lively over whether the Internet, penicillin or vaccinations should take the top spot! Throughout the school, experiments were happening in every year group:
Our Pre-schoolers looked at Biology and learned how to grow vegetables from cut offs. When preparing carrots, they kept the ends and placed them in water. In a few days, these will begin to sprout and students will be able to plant them in their planters and eventually have their own home grown carrots. Stay tuned for more news from our gardeners!
In Year 1, our learners looked at the theme of change and adaptation as part of their topic on seasonal changes. Students had fun setting up a weather stations to observe the changes in weather throughout the rest of the year. They also explored how day and night happens in different parts of the world. Making their own globes tilted on an axis, they marked an equator and used a torch to represent the sun to see how planetary rotation leads to day and night.
For Year 5 scientists, connectivity was the focus of the week as they explored this property in different materials. They also learned how to make a working battery using cells, wires and crocodile clips! Turning to Biology, our learners had a close encounter with Kenny, our Secondary pet tarantula, finding out all about its diet and how it regularly sheds its skin as it grows.
Our French department dove into Science Week through a cross-curricular project with Years 5 and 6. Students were tasked with preparing a presentation in French about a famous scientist. Among the scientists featured were Albert Einstein, Louis Pasteur and Rosalind Franklin. Some of them were so enthusiastic that they couldn’t wait for the deadline and presented ahead of time to their classmates. Their teachers were extremely impressed with their creativity, research and presentation skills, with one student designing a full Kahoot game for his peers and making a video based on his slides, while another designed a DNA model using sweets!
At home, the work our students put into their Science videos was spectacular. Watching them in assembly this morning gave us all plenty of moments to learn something new and laugh out loud.
A huge thank you goes to all the parents who took part in our daily Science Questions! Each morning, parents tackled questions straight from the children’s curriculum, starting with Year 1 on Monday and working up to Year 6 by Friday. We were very impressed, but not surprised, by the depth of scientific knowledge in our parent community and their dedication! Some parents were even answering questions from business trips in China and America, determined not to miss out on the challenge — or the chance to earn some House points. Your enthusiasm and participation made this week even more special – thank you!
This week in class
As part of Pre-school‘s Fairy Tale topic, our young learners discovered the beautiful story of Pinocchio through a Drama workshop. Learning about how the main character comes to life, they explored ways in which they could use their bodies to move around like puppets.
Tap, clap, stomp, click… this week’s Year 3 Music lessons have been all about body percussion! Exploring rhythms made up of quavers and crotchets, our percussionists came up with their own patterns and performed short rhythm sequences in groups. A fun and active session which had them grooving all throughout the day!
‘I chose life over death for myself and my friends….I believe it is in our nature to explore, to reach out into the unknown. The only true failure would be not to explore at all.’
Ernest Shackleton.
In line with their English work based on the book Shackleton’s Journey by William Grill, our Year 5 students planned and delivered an excellent debate about whether or not humans should risk their lives exploring the unknown. The debate became heated during the rebuttal, but in the end, 17 out of 19 children voted that exploration is essential for humans. As the ‘for’ group highlighted, ‘No exploration, no future!’
Music also rang out in the Year 6 classrooms this week as our musicians treated their teachers to a ukulele, glockenspiel and singing concert. They did a great job of switching instruments mid-song so they all had an opportunity to show off their new skills.
Well done, everybody!
Year 7 mathematicians launched into the crucial topic of equations this week by solving practical balance problems.
Ahead of St Patrick’s Day on Monday, Year 8 students enjoyed a session of Gaelic Football (or Peil Ghaelach) in P.E. today! A great opportunity to learn about this Irish team sport, one of the few remaining strictly amateur sports in the world.
Our Year 9 scientists have been experimenting with electrolysis this week in an experiment to extract copper metal from copper sulfate solution. A technique that uses direct electric current to drive a chemical reaction, electrolysis is an important process in the separation of elements from naturally occurring sources such as ores.
Year 11 Chemistry students put their knowledge of water testing into practice this week through an experiment involving the distillation of salty water. Among the tests they performed was the halide test, which measures whether or not halide ions are present in our water sample.
In Art A Level, the key focus is on instilling the creative process in our students: using the cycle of inspiration, investigation, iteration and evaluation.
Our Year 12 artists have just begun a 3D modelling project using nature and the architect Antoni Gaudi as their inspiration. While one would normally have to travel to Barcelona to see his amazing legacy of weird and wonderful buildings, we are lucky enough to have a quirky housing complex here in Geneva where you can see Gaudi’s clear influence. Just behind Cornavin station in the Quartier des Grottes, an apartment block, primary school, theatre and a couple of cafés are testament to how we draw inspiration from both nature and ideas from the past. Known as “Les Schtroumpfs” (“The Smurfs” in English!) these buildings are extraordinary in their attention to texture and detail. Built in the early 1980s, there are also references to both the Bauhaus and Memphis Design, but it is the shapes drawn from nature and cast in concrete that are so reminiscent of Gaudi’s ideas. Elaborate balconies make undulating patterns that ripple through and around the buildings.
Year 12 were able to explore these, noticing the unique details which make this architectural example so surprising. They will use this experience to feed their own design ideas for a 3D structure that will ‘house’ an object to create a bespoke piece of packaging. Watch out for their work on Instagram in a few weeks.
Beyond the Classroom
Celebrating Purim at Primary
Our Reception students had a very special morning today celebrating the Jewish festival of Purim.
Welcoming Aviv’s Mum and Dad to their classroom, they learned all about the festival and enjoyed finding out about the brave Queen Esther. They were also delighted to bake some special cookies called hamantashen, which looked and smelled absolutely delicious!
Year 4 joined in the celebrations with the visit of Ora’s Mum and Dad! They learned about the origins of the jam-filled hamantashen (also called Oznei Haman) and even made their own.
Happy Purim to everyone!
Workshops on Assertive Communication
Our Head of Pastoral Care, Mariann Csoma, visited Year 1-6 classes this week to deliver a lesson on assertive communication as part of the PSHE curriculum. Together with Ms Csoma, students explored different emotions and discussed how different moods can influence behaviour and communication with peers. Students learned to identify passive, aggressive and assertive communication styles, and they practised these through role play.
This was a great opportunity for children better to understand how to express themselves confidently and respectfully in different situations.
Watching Big Brother
Big Brother is watching you!
Ms De Bortoli organised an outing at the theatre for her Year 8 students to see a play based on the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, which they are currently reading in English. Tagging along with some of her GCSE Drama students, Ms Empson seized this opportunity to inspire her thespians on their own acting, directing and stage design projects.
The play was greatly appreciated by all those who had not yet read the end of the novel, and [spoiler alert!] the betrayal that takes place between the two main characters shocked our onlookers as did other aspects of the story’s interpretation, giving them a lot to debate about on the train journey home!
Celebrating Pi Day with a House Maths Competition
To mark Pi Day today, our Secondary Maths department organised a whole school House Maths competition. Year 7 to 13 students formed teams to compete in 3 rounds: age-appropriate questions taken from the UK Junior Mathematical Challenge, interactive questions from the Dr Frost platform and a quickfire round.
Congratulations to Léman, who won with 30 points, largely due to Year 13 Omar’s impressively fast answers in the final round. Omar’s recipe for success in Maths? Practice, practice and more practice!
A Foray into Climate Change in the Belalp International Award Trip
Our Year 9 and 10 Duke of Edinburgh International Award adventurers had a fantastic time on their overnight trip to Belalp in the canton of Valais.
Staying in the perched Hotel Aletschhorn, they enjoyed some breathtaking views of the surrounding Alps, as well as some exciting snow hiking sessions and an introduction to avalanche rescue.
The trip was also marked by an unexpected Physics and History lesson as our students learned about John Tyndall and his discovery of climate change. A 19th century Irish physicist, John Tyndall was one of the first to discover that carbon dioxide and water vapour absorb heat and that changing the concentration of these substances in the atmosphere could impact climate. In doing so, he laid the foundation for research into the greenhouse effect!
Extra-Curricular Activities
Another Successful Music Recital
GES Musicians from across Primary and Secondary captivated their audience of parents, peers and teachers at Wednesday’s Music Recital! Performing songs from across the classical and modern repertoire, this event included students from the GES Chamber Choir, soloist singers and instrumentalists playing the piano, violin and guitar.
A big thank you to Lucie Goater for organising another wonderful evening of song and music as well as to our fantastic Music teachers: Kristina Annamukhamedova (piano), Kirby Bivans (guitar), Lucy Colwill (Head of Secondary Music), Catherine Fournier (piano) and Ana Ferreira Goncalves (violin).
Speaking on behalf of the school, Ms Emma Brassington expressed how proud she was of the progress made by veteran performers who show tremendous resilience, year after year, to develop their art, and how impressed we are at the courage displayed by all first-time performers.
Bravo, everybody!
Second Place for GES Basketballers
Our Category D Boys enjoyed a hugely competitive SGIS basketball tournament this week.
Playing four teams in the group matches, our Boys did incredibly well! Beating three out of the four teams, their determination and resilience to get over the line was immense.
Qualifying for the final, they played Haut Lac, whom they beat by 1 point in the group stages. Leading at half-time 14-9, Haut Lac managed to pull it back to 14-14 with 1 minute left, unfortunately scoring the final basket with seconds to go.
The GES team came away with a very respectable 2nd place and should be very proud of their team effort. For some of them it was their first competitive basketball experience!
Best Brownies in Town
If you were wondering where in the area you could find the best, most delicious brownies, then we have THE address for you! It’s at our After-School Care Club!
Concocting some chocolate brownies with a scrumptious orange twist, our ASC participants permeated the Primary campus with the mouth-watering aroma of warm chocolate.
Weightless Rocket-making in Science Club
Year 6 Science Club turned to Physics this week with a look at the fascinating field of aerodynamics. Putting their theoretical knowledge into action, they built and tested their very own balloon rockets!
Community News
Faces of GES
A familiar face for GES families for more than 14 years, today the spotlight of our Faces of GES series falls on Teaching Assistant Dr Sandra Cryer. A qualified teacher, Sandra began her career as a Process Engineer for Unilever before moving into education in Secondary schools in her native UK, and then moving to Switzerland in 2006.
Sandra’s academic background includes a degree in Biochemical and Chemical Engineering, and a doctoral degree in Rheology (a branch of physics looking at the flow and deformation characteristics of solids and liquids), specifically focused on chocolate. When applying for her Swiss nationality, this expertise in Switzerland’s most famous export was no doubt an excellent qualification!
When she’s not helping GES students to explore and master new skills, and grow in confidence as learners, Sandra can usually be found keeping busy with her hands, enjoying a range of practical activities including knitting, sewing, plumbing and DIY, and applying her scientific expertise to brewing craft beer.
Having helped generations of GES students, Sandra is inspired by the friendly and inclusive atmosphere at the school, which enables all staff to contribute to improving the educational experience, and enjoys inspiring her students to develop inquisitive minds and make happy memories of their time at GES.
Sandra is also the very proud Mum of two adult children, who both completed their schooling in Switzerland and became trilingual in French, German and their home language of English, and both of whom have followed in her scientific footsteps! Sandra’s daughter – also a Physics PhD graduate – now works in the nuclear industry, and her son studied Microbiology and now works in medical manufacturing.
Open Days for Prospective Families
Our school will be taking part in the Open Day Week organised by the Association Genevoise des Ecoles Privées in March! As part of this, we will be holding two open days for prospective families on each of our campuses.
Help us spread the word and share the news with your networks:
- Wednesday 19 March from 9:00 to 11:00 at our Primary campus
- Thursday 20 March from 9:00 to 11:00 at our Secondary campus
On Wednesday at Primary, visitors will learn from Head of Primary, Emma Brassington, about our English National Curriculum delivered to children aged 3 to 11, followed by a tour of the buildings and grounds of the Primary campus.
On Thursday at Secondary, Head of Senior School Daniel Crabtree will present our school’s programme, including the GCSE and A Level provision, as well as the many extra-curricular activities that students can take part in beyond the classroom. The presentation will be followed by a tour of the Secondary premises.
Interested participants are invited to register here.
