Message from Ms Matillon, Director General
Dear Parents,
Welcome back to the start of Term 3! I hope your children thoroughly enjoyed their spring break and that you, too, managed to get some time off.
The week at GES started for staff a day before students came back, with training sessions on Tuesday across our Primary and Secondary sections. We all benefited from a variety of talks and workshops that included planning for the term ahead.
On Wednesday, our GCSE students hit the ground running with assessments in P.E. and Art, and speaking exams starting in our Modern Foreign Languages department. Feedback from teachers has been very positive so far, with students’ hard work shining through their achievements. We wish all of our senior students the best of luck as they head into an intensive period of revision and examinations, with full confidence that they have been well prepared for the challenges ahead.
As I write this message, I see through the window of my office at Primary that the whole campus is abuzz with preparation for this afternoon’s disco. Children are practising their dance moves on the playground, many of them dressed specially for the occasion, and there’s a sense of excitement amongst parents and staff alike. I am looking forward to catching up with everyone here and to ending this week with such a bang. Once more, thank you to our parent representatives, especially Holly, Susie and Zita, for bringing this fabulous idea to life!
All the best,
Christina Matillon
Congratulations to our GES Mathematicians
No fewer than 14 of our talented mathematicians took part in the recent Swiss Maths Kangaroo competition. Answering a number of multiple choice questions, our competitors thoroughly enjoyed this challenge, the aim of which is to encourage students to take pleasure in mathematical analysis and calculations.
Today our students received their certificates and special mention goes to Aedan in Year 13 (80/1394 – top 6%), Katrina (85/10572 – top 1%) and Ben (36/10572 – top 0.5%) in Year 9 for their outstanding ranking in their age categories.
This week in class
Our Year 7 scientists have pursued their investigations into plants by looking at how fruits develop from flowers. By dissecting pears, peppers, lemons, kiwis, strawberries and apples, they were able to take note of how the different parts of a fruit correspond to parts of a flower.
The Year 8 Science lesson made for a curious spectacle this week as our students took an obliging can (previously used in an experiment on fizzy drinks) for a walk around the lab. By observing how static charge allows for the can to be moved and guided, our physicians have taken their first step into the dazzling world of electricity and electromagnetism.
Beyond the Classroom
Exams Underway
The summer 2025 exams series has kicked off with GCSE Art and P.E., and A Level German, Spanish & French examinations this week.
We wish all our GCSE and A Level students the best of luck in these final exams and are confident that they will produce fantastic results, which we look forward to celebrating.
With exams scheduled non-stop between now and the middle of June, we also take this opportunity to thank our Secondary School community for keeping noise levels to a minimum during school hours so that our examinees can undertake their examinations in the best possible conditions.
A Tasty Start to ASC
Our After School Care club restarted this week with a mouth-watering baking session ! Preparing some muffins, our little chefs each added their pinch of salt to these preparations, which produced some scrumptious treats to tuck into!
Celebrating Girls in ICT
To mark Girls in ICT day this week, we are proud to shine a spotlight on Celeste, Molly and Kitan, three of our students who are both determined to make their mark in this field and undeterred by the predominance of boys in this area.
Year 12 A Level Computer Science students Celeste and Molly were both initially attracted to engineering, specifically to the world of robotics for Celeste and that of design for Molly. With the rapid growth of AI, both students have confronted this technological whirlwind head on, making sure to stay informed of its evolution while remaining keenly aware of its potential dangers. While Molly seeks to develop her knowledge of AI as she considers it a key competence for the future, Celeste is keen to investigate the possibilities it could open up in the fashion design industry.
In Year 11, Kitan chose Computer Science as one of her GCSE subjects as she considers it relevant to every aspect of modern life and enjoys the problem-solving aspect of programming, a core competence for any career. Aspiring to become an economist, she knows how useful it will be to be able to create programmes and models for data analysis.
Conscious that the information and communication technologies industry continues to be male-dominated and is still considered to be more attractive for boys than girls, all three of our students remain steadfast in their interest for the field of ICT and their resolve to break down the stereotypes associated with it.
Community News
Coming Soon | International Day and International Carnival
Coming up on Friday 16 May are our annual International Day and International Carnival, which we are very much looking forward to celebrating with our school community.
To help us fully embrace the spirit of the day, we invite Primary children to come to school in clothes that they feel represent their culture, family or background.
In addition, we wish to extend a welcome to parents into school during the day to share their cultural experiences with students, should they wish to. This might include a music workshop, art activity or short class presentation. If you would like to take part, please email Sally Livesey at [email protected] and include a short summary of the activity you would like to offer, the specific year group this would be suitable for and your availability during the day of Friday 16 May.
We are also looking forward to seeing families at the International Carnival which will take place after school from 15:30 onwards and will be a wonderful celebration of our diverse international community through cuisine, music, games, prizes and more.
We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the carnival for a fantastic celebration of GES.
Alumni News
We were delighted and proud to hear of our class of 2024 alumnus, Harry Anderson-Endean‘s, recent win, with his team from the University of Cambridge, of the 2025 Hines Urban Land Institute Student Competition Europe.
Rewarded by the jury for their innovative approach to a real-world case study focused on reimagining retail around London’s Bond Street station, the Cambridge team’s proposal received accolades for its bold and comprehensive vision. Thanks to their efforts, Harry and his winning teammates will each receive a fast-track application to the prestigious Hines internship programme, an exclusive guided tour of a live development project, and a chance to participate in project meetings in Hines’ European Headquarters, complimentary access to tailored in-person opportunities within ULI programmes, and a complementary delegate pass to ULI Europe’s flagship Annual Conference in London.
Having spent 14 years as a student with us at GES, Harry graduated last year with excellent grades in all his A Levels (Economics, Geography, History and Maths). He has gone on to study Land Economy at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. A hard-working student academically, Harry was also committed to his school community all throughout his years at GES, including in his final year as Dôle House Captain.
Nurturing Healthy Limits for Children and Teens
Our own Mariann Csoma, Head of Pastoral Care and Designated Safeguarding Lead, explores the importance of setting boundaries from early childhood through to adolescence in her article for the latest edition of International School Parent Magazine.
Using the metaphor of a garden as a space we nurture and protect and a gate as a way to decide what we welcome in and keep out, Mariann looks at wellbeing and the boundaries – be they physical, emotional, social or digital – that must be set as children grow and reach different stages of development.
A Sunny Start for Kenny
Our Secondary School pet tarantula greeted the new term with enthusiasm, coming out of its grotto to bask in the sun today.
A big thank you goes to Emily and her family for looking after it over the holidays.
Faces of GES
Tune into our Faces of GES series this week as we showcase Lucy Colwill, Head of Secondary Music. Coming to us in January 2019 from a large school in the United Kingdom, Lucy joined GES when our Secondary School only had a Key Stage 3 section. Having previously worked in a school with close to 2500 students, she especially enjoys the small school environment of GES as the tight-knit community feel of our school allows for everyone to know each well.
In addition to teaching Secondary curricular Music, Lucy also teaches Music at Primary and leads some of our extracurricular clubs, like the GES Choir.
An accomplished musician herself, Lucy plays the oboe, the piano and the violin and has performed in orchestras, including the Orchestre de Genève. Beyond her passion for music, she loves the great outdoors, spending much of her free time hiking and cross-country walking. Always one to go the extra mile, Lucy has hiked the Swiss Via Alpina, a 3-week hike across the Alps from Vaduz, in Liechtenstein, all the way to Montreux!
