Message from Mr Williams, Head
Dear Families,
I hope you have had a good week. As I mentioned last week in the newsletter, we will be having an audit of our safeguarding processes from Monday to Thursday next week. Thank you in advance if you or your children take part in this exercise. Monday to Wednesday this week I attended the AoBSO conference (Association of British Schools Overseas). We are the only school in Switzerland with this membership (and UK government accreditation which allows us membership) and so it was great to start to build links with schools similar to ours across the world. In the conference, I signed GES up to the British International Schools Safeguarding Coalition (BISSC). This new group provides the opportunity to develop and uphold the highest standards in safeguarding in order to continue to protect all the children and young people that attend GES.
Last weekend, Mr Rogers and Mr Sheppard-Burgess took a group of students to Rome for an external football tour. Apart from almost missing the final train home due to a late connection, a great time was had by all. See below for a full report and a big thank you to our new kit sponsors, World Radio Switzerland (WRS)!
Next week at Secondary, mock exams begin for all of Year 10 and Year 11 students. For Year 11, they will be practising almost complete exam papers, preparing them for the summer exam series. For Year 10, it will be the first time they sit GCSE papers under full exam conditions. Good luck to the students in these key assessments.
As you know, we have the Christmas Fair and Christmas Quiz coming up in a couple of weeks’ time and the Escalade next weekend, too. Please come along to all of these GES traditional events – more information has been shared about the Escalade today but we hope that you pop by the GES tent at the end of the race for some warm refreshments and a GES photo.
Have a great weekend,
Matt Williams
Head
Sport & PE
WRS Sponsorship and KS3 Football Tournament in Rome
We are delighted to announce our new partnership with World Radio Switzerland. The WRS logo now appears on our new football and netball kits and our teams look fantastic!
We’re very excited about our relationship with WRS and you will certainly be hearing more about it going forward.
Katt Cullen, WRS Director and Breakfast Show Co-host shares our enthusiasm: “We’re thrilled that Geneva English School chose WRS to sponsor the sports kits this season for the football and netball teams. We hope the kits bring the teams lots of luck in the coming months! Go GES!!”
You can listen for mentions of GES on WRS radio or through their new app for Apple or Android, downloadable here:
Last weekend, GES took a group of twelve KS3 boys to the first ever International School Sports Council (ISSC) football tournament hosted by St George’s British International School in Rome.
Leaving early Friday morning from Geneva, they had a long train ride, via Milan, to Rome, where they settled into their hotel. Friday evening consisted of a walking tour of the sites, taking in the Colosseum, Forum and Trevi Fountain, followed by a traditional Italian dinner of pizza, pasta and fabulous desserts!
On Saturday, after another early start to take the train to the host school, Team GES was ready to get stuck into the football. Looking very smart in the new football kits, the boys were focused and determined to do well.
With six matches on the Saturday, they played extremely well, making games difficult for the opposition and creating good chances. There were some very close games where the results didn’t quite go our way, but with a good strong win against a school from Florence and a very well deserved draw against a school from Venice, our team was happy with their efforts.
Sunday morning brought two more matches, against the hosts and the unbeaten team from the UK (the eventual winners). These turned out to be our best performances, playing some fabulous football and defending with heart.
By the end of the tournament, the boys had won many supporters for both their competitive play (pushing teams very close in each match) and attitude on and off the pitch. The positive comments about GES from supporting parents, referees, coaches, as well as from opposing players, about their fairplay and conduct throughout the whole highly-charged tournament is a testament to them all.
GES eventually finished in 8th place and thoroughly enjoyed the competition. There were schools from Italy, UK, Switzerland, Monaco, Belgium and Hungary at this tournament, with the plan for this to grow to include even more countries next year.
We are delighted to be one of the first schools in this new ISSC organisation and hope to help pave the way for more future events for our students across Europe.
Ski Days 2024
Thank you to everyone who has signed up for our ski days in January/February next year.
A reminder that we have extended the deadline to this Sunday 26 November at 20:00 for all ski days, and to Monday 27 November at 11:00 for the Race Training Day (now also open to Year 3).
If you are struggling with the online payment, we encourage you to pay via bank transfer.
As of next Monday, when sign-ups will be closed, Mr Sheppard-Burgess will upload the lists of all skiers on the Sports website (password: GES2023!), so parents can check whether their child(ren) is/are correctly signed up to their relevant ski day(s).
Fingers crossed for a great snow season this year!
Escalade races - One more week to go!
We have 127 children racing on our team this year, which is a new record!
If your child is running next Sunday, you will have received this afternoon a letter with all final details, including:
- Race timings
- Distribution of dossards and optional t-shirts
- Procedure to purchase brand new winter hats and neck-warmers (the first 50 orders will get a GES supporter flag for free!)
- Meeting points (race zone, GES tent) and access
We hope you and your children will have an enjoyable day taking part, and we are looking forward to hearing many ‘Go GES’!
Christmas is in the air!
Primary Rising Stars: Monday 4 December 17:30 - 18:45
Join us at the Salle de Spectacle de Genthod for a jolly evening involving the following Primary pupils:
- All of Years 5 & 6
- Key Stage 1 & 2 Street Dancers
- Years 3 & 4 Performing Arts Club
- Ballet Dancers
- Orchestra and choirs
Our Class Reps will be serving drinks for parents prior to the performance.
Christmas Fair: Friday 8 December 15:30 - 18:00
With just two weeks until the GES Christmas market, get ready to come along on Friday 8 December and enjoy the Primary Choir singing at 15:30, followed by a sing-a-long rendition of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” to kick start the festive mood.
Santa and his elves will be waiting in his grotto, there are Christmas crafts to make and take home, stalls to browse, goodies to buy, pizza, cakes, mulled wine and most importantly, a chance to come together and share some festive cheer.
It’s still not too late to volunteer (for just 30 minutes) to help make this magical afternoon possible. Please do so by filling this spreadsheet.
Secondary Winter Showcase: Wednesday 13 December 18:00 - 19:30
Join us for our Secondary Winter Arts & Music Showcase and enjoy some Christmas music, followed by refreshments in the Grand Café.
The Arts & Music Showcase will take place in Chaplin and feature:
- Past GCSE and A Level artworks
- A Level music performances
- GCSE (Year 10 and 11) drama performances
- Addams Family show teaser
- Street Dance Club performance
From the Frenchies
Visite au Musée de la Croix Rouge
Merci aux étudiants de classe 12 et 13 pour leur contribution aujourd’hui:
Ce vendredi nous sommes allés au musée de la Croix Rouge. Cela était très intéressant parce qu’on avait appris comment la Croix Rouge aide les gens qui en ont besoin. Ils aident des personnes qui sont en guerre, les informent et les aident avec des besoins alimentaires et de santé. Nous avons aussi écouté des témoignages sur les expériences des aidés de la Croix Rouge ainsi que le développement de l’aide de santé de la Croix Rouge. Il y avait des images très informatives sur l’expérience des victimes de guerre. On a appris que Henry Dunant était le fondateur de la Croix Rouge et était un personnage principal dans le domaine de l’aide humanitaire.
Suite à la visite du musée, on a visité le marché de Noël à Genève, qui se trouve au bord du lac et ensuite on a découvert la vieille ville en suivant des sentiers humanitaires qui montrent les sites importants de la création de la Croix Rouge. C’était une expérience très enrichissante et inoubliable. Un grand merci à Mr Rogers qui a tout organisé.
Recettes et Bandes dessinées avec Mme Durey
Durant les leçons de français, les enfants de classe 3 et 5 lisent des bandes dessinées. Ils apprennent les codes d’écriture de ce support particulier, et re-créent leur propre page de BD.
Chaque semaine, Madame Durey leur demande de lire à la maison une recette sous forme de bande dessinée. Ils enrichissent leur vocabulaire avec des mots tels que “délicieux,” “appétissant,” “moelleux,” et “croustillant”, et s’ils le souhaitent, ils peuvent réaliser la recette chez eux.
Madame Durey et l’ensemble de la classe se régalent des gâteaux déjà apportés chaque lundi: cake marbré, cookies… Attention aux kilos avant les fêtes!
