Message from Ms Matillon, Director General
Dear Parents,
It seems unbelievable that this is the final edition of the GES newsletter for the 2024-2025 year, and yet I believe we are all ready for a summer break! This has been a truly memorable year, packed with exciting events and activities, and outstanding academic successes. I am extremely proud of the work done by our team in our Primary and Secondary schools, and of how our students of all ages have grown and thrived. I truly hope each of you can look back on this year with a sense of joy and fulfilment.
I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who contributes to making the GES community the truly special one that it is – our staff, our parents, and, most importantly, our children. I will miss you in July and August when the school will be eerily quiet. Today I must say a particular thank you to the very many Primary parents who contributed to yesterday’s Staff Appreciation Lunch. Once again, you have spoiled us, treating us to a wondrous range of delicious treats that fed us today as well!
As is the case each year, some of you will be leaving the fold, with your children joining schools down the road or on the other side of the world. I am delighted to report that the number of children moving on is smaller than in previous years, and that GES is in a strong and stable position despite the general uncertainty in Geneva caused by funding cuts in the international sector.
We will miss the students and families who are moving on, and we wish you the very best in your new adventures. Please keep in touch with emails and photos – or, better still, visits when you are in town – to let us know how you are doing and what you are up to. It is always a pleasure to hear from alumni!
Before I sign off, I would like to remind you of the following important points:
Lessons will end tomorrow at 12:00 in Secondary and 12:20 in Primary. We hope to see many of you on our Primary field straight after that for our annual whole-school picnic. Bring a blanket and your lunch, or else indulge in a freshly-made pizza from the pizza wagon organised by our extraordinary Parents’ Association.
If your children are missing any items that belong to them, please check our lost and found on the relevant campus. We have articles of clothing – some even with children’s names in them! – and a range of other items all waiting to be reclaimed.
For our Senior students, recall that exam results for A Levels and GCSE will be announced on Thursday 14th August and Thursday 21st August, respectively. Mr Crabtree and many Secondary staff members will be in school during those weeks to share information and answer any questions you may have.
The school will be open during the summer, but staff members will be taking holidays at various times. Thank you in advance for your patience if an email or telephone call is not answered right away.
We look forward to welcoming most of you back, and to getting to know our many new joiners across all year groups, on 27th August and, until then, I wish you a safe and glorious summer, wherever your travels may take you.
All the best,
Christina Matillon
Presenting GES Class of 2025!
Last Friday, families and staff gathered to celebrate Geneva English School’s class of 2025!
Our graduating students beamed with pride as they took to the stage to receive their certificates, to the applause of the school community gathered to celebrate them.
With speeches delivered by GES Director General, Christina Matillon, Head of Senior School, Dan Crabtree, Heads of Year 13, Diane de Bortoli and Paola Hopley, and student speakers, Jasmin, Hazel and Cosme, this event marked the penultimate day of school for our Year 13 cohort, who will be heading off to higher education destinations across the globe next year.
We wish them the very best of success for their future studies and look forward to seeing them again one last time on A Level results day in August.
This week in class
Over the past couple of weeks, Reception students have been enjoying the summer season and thinking of their upcoming long summer holiday.
They talked about our their own visits to the seaside and compared and contrasted holidays to the coast in the past and present. Our little historians looked at many photos of families from the Victorian period, and were amazed at their swimming clothes and could not believe that horses would take carriages into the sea for people to get changed in! They also thoroughly enjoyed looking at photos of old British piers and thought that the helter-skelter slides looked like so much fun! Students then considered the many things that are still the same today, such as eating ice-cream, paddling in the sea and building sandcastles together on the beach!
Inspired by all they learned, they took turns role-playing going on holiday and also wrote some super postcards to their friends and family, while also learning some lovely “under the sea” songs in French.
Year 1 students took part in fun activities in their final week of school. From biscuit decorating to potion making, from rock painting to frame making, our learners put to use all the many Maths, Art and Science skills which they have acquired during the year.
Last week, Year 2 showed off their knowledge from this term’s cross-curricular Geography and History topic, which has been all about “What makes Geneva special?”. Through an exciting, nail-biting quiz, our students demonstrated their knowledge of French, remembering key vocabulary they have learned as well as the key facts about the region that they have studied in class and on trips. Teams battled it out using buzzers to see who could explain the most about what makes Geneva really special!
To kick off their final week, our Year 2 escape artists enjoyed a Summer Escape Room Treasure Hunt challenge! Working in their House teams to solve problems using their Maths, English and French skills, our detectives solved riddles leading to the final clue, which brought them to Louise, who congratulated Year 2 with their special certificates and stickers.
Year 5 came up with their own idea to plan and deliver lessons to the rest of the year group — including setting written tasks and marking them themselves.
So far, five student teachers impressed the class with their teaching: Ella led a fantastic lesson on amphibian lifecycles, with a close focus on eggs; Hanna and Evie explored the science of taste in their exciting lesson “Taste is a Superpower”, Leonard brought history to life with a fascinating session on World War II, and Magnus led a P.E. lesson during which he guided his peers through a fun warm-up, a workshop on dribbling and a final great game of basketball!
Following on from their residential trip to Château-d’Œx, Year 5 historians undertook a bilingual homework project exploring the history of hot air ballooning. Their presentations covered a fascinating range of topics — from the pioneering Montgolfier brothers and the first successful round-the-world balloon flight to the innovations of the Zeppelin.
For the second part of the project, they designed and built their own flying machine, carefully considering how air resistance and gravity would affect their creations. The unit concluded with great fun as our inventors tested out their imaginative and varied designs!
The week was marked by a round of Year 6 presentations about flight and, as usual, our students have blown us away with their creativeness, courage and collaborative skills. Their slide presentations, models and scientific explanations were outstanding, and their teachers were particularly impressed by the fact that all of them had an element of French in their presentations, including those who have only been introduced to the language this year!
The final week of term has been one of exciting (and fun!) experimentation over in our Secondary labs.
In Year 7, the task was a sticky one as our chemists learned the principles of polymer chemistry by making their own slime. Combining ingredients in different quantities, they understood that different consistencies of slime can be created depending on the ratios of the ingredients.
For Year 8 physicists, the week was spent designing and building rockets. Thinking about such things as aerodynamics, pressure and air resistance, they put their designs to the test, cheering as each rocket launched ever higher into the air.
In Year 10, our scientists concluded the year with a final practical experiment involving the making of salts through the reaction of acids with bases, considering the difference between soluble and insoluble salts in the process.
Beyond the Classroom
Splash Day
To celebrate all their hard work and achievements this year, Pre-school and Reception children had an amazing afternoon together playing water games.
Having brought their swim suits to school, our youngest learners had a fabulous time running in and out of the water sprinklers, splashing in the pool and water tubs, racing around on the space hoppers, and tucking into a refreshing ice-cream.
They loved every minute of it!
A Morning at the Park for Year 2
Our Year 2 students had a wonderful morning in the park this week to mark the end of term.
Dashing up the climbing frames, enjoying the slides, digging around in the sandpit and taking turns seeing who could rise highest on the swings, our learners returned to school still buzzing with excitement from their expedition to Genthod park.
A fun way to spend all that morning energy while enjoying the sunny skies!
GES's Got Talent
The wide-ranging and impressive talents of our Year 1 and 2 students were on display today, in our Key Stage 1 Talent Show. With performances ranging from football skills to comedy, gymnastics, singing, art, Lego creations, amazing animal facts, piano recitals and more, students and staff were entertained, surprised and inspired by the many hidden talents on display. We are so proud of all our students for sharing their skills and interests with their peers, and very grateful to MC Leo for hosting the show!
Special mention goes to the incredible recorder performers from Year 2, who left their Year 1 counterparts impatient and excited to start learning the recorder next school year. Thank you to Performing Arts teacher Karen Empson for providing such expert instruction to our budding young musicians.
Year 3 and 4 Residential Trip to Torgon
Our Year 3 and 4 students were off to Torgon last week for their much-awaited residential trip with Camp Suisse!
Taking part in a number of outdoor activities, our young adventurers in Year 3 had a wonderful time learning all kinds of important skills, including shelter building and fire lighting (with a tasty reward of toasted marshmallows!), archery and orienteering, all the while developing their communication, teamwork and collaboration skills.
For their older peers in Year 4, the trip also included mountain biking, receiving expert guidance and instruction from none other than one of our school’s alumni, Oliver Steele!
Beyond the outdoor and sports activities, this trip was the perfect opportunity to reinforce friendships, make new ones and create lasting memories and tales that all our explorers will be able to share around a campfire, which they now know how to build themselves!
Congratulations Year 6!
There was celebration in the air yesterday as our twenty-eight Year 6 students marked the end of their primary education with their graduation ceremony. Surrounded by their families, teachers and support staff, the students all received graduation certificates, with several students also receiving literary prizes for outstanding performance in different academic disciplines:
- English: Madieke and Amaia
- Maths: David and Tripp
- Sports: Ellis and Lea
- Visual Art: Enrique
- Performing Arts: Sathiya
- French: Ayaan and Johanna
- Science: Tom and John
- Citizenship: Kaede
The ceremony was also the occasion to wish all our students and their families a wonderful summer and the best of luck with the continuation of their studies in secondary, many of them at GES!
Transitioning to Next Year
At GES, we know that moving up a class is both an exciting and possibly daunting moment for children, and especially the major transition from Primary to Secondary.
This is why every year we organise a Transition Day so that our students can feel happy and confident going into the summer break and excited about the start of the autumn term by knowing what to expect in the next academic year.
This week, students from across Primary took part in their Transition Day, experiencing what a regular day might feel like when they restart school in September.
For Year 6 learners, the day was especially exciting as they got their first taste of Secondary School. Starting with Geography, Science, Maths and Art lessons in the morning, they were then treated to a performance of Wonka Junior, witnessing the culmination of their peers’ hard work in their Performing Arts course.
An action-packed day that left our growing students enthusiastic about what lies ahead in September!
Key Stage 3 Residential Trip to Berlin
Our Key Stage 3 students enjoyed a hugely successful residential trip to Berlin last week.
For our students of German, the week’s events combined a mix of historical, cultural, geographical and culinary experiences. Starting with a boat tour of the city on the river Spree, their travels took them to the Fernsehturm (or Television Tower), which today serves both as a functional broadcasting facility and as a historical reminder of Communist rule in East Germany when the tower was built. Their journey back to the Cold War continued the next day with visits to Checkpoint Charlie and the DDR Museum, followed by a more light-hearted trip to the Berlin Zoo, Germany’s oldest!
Wednesday was one of illusions and abstraction as they discovered the holograms and vortices of the Illuseum and the Computer Games Museum, coming back down to reality with a tour of the public park, the Gärten der Welt. History was back on everyone’s lips the next day as our sightseers visited the Berlin Natural History Museum, Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust Memorial and the German Spy Museum. Before travelling home on Friday, our students had the opportunity to take part in German language workshops, and visit Berlin’s central Alexanderplatz and neighbouring parks.
Bravo to all our students for their faultless behaviour during the trip, and thank you to our accompanying staff, Ms McKee, Ms Noble, Mr Dupont-Panon and Mr Shreeve.
Key Stage 3 Residential Trip to Barcelona
While their peers headed off to Berlin for the week, our students of Spanish in Key Stage 3 took part in a residential trip to Barcelona.
Enjoying hot weather conditions throughout their trip, our travellers started off with a visit to neighbouring Tarragona to explore the UNESCO World Heritage Roman sites and a trail through the town.
Basing themselves in Barcelona itself for the next two days, they toured the Barcelona Cathedral, the city’s market “La Boquería”, the famous Ramblas, the Port Vell and the Picasso Museum on Tuesday, followed by visits to the open-air architectural museum of Poble Espanyol, the Olympic Stadium and nearby Mirador and the world-renowned, still unfinished Sagrada Familia. The day’s events were punctuated with a delicious tapas workshop and a flamenco show.
After two busy days of sightseeing, our students were able to relax for the day at the PortAventura theme and leisure park, which features amusement rides of all shapes and sizes.
Their final day involved a short visit to the mountain monastery and sanctuary of Montserrat and its breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside.
Back at school, they were tasked with writing about their travels in Spanish, and we are delighted to share an example of their work, produced by Year 9 students Mia and Blanka:
Day. 1 – El primer día, viajamos en avión a Barcelona. Luego comimos en el aeropuerto . ¡Fue asqueroso! También visitamos Tarragona y los sitios romanos antiguos. Fue muy interesante. Comimos helado y por la tarde caminamos por la playa.
Day 2 – El segundo día viajamos en autocar al centro de Barcelona a la parte gótica. Fuimos a la boqueria donde compramos comidas y bebidas. Fue rica. Después caminamos en la calle que se llama la ramblas y vimos mucha gente. Fuimos al centro comercial muy grande pero no compramos mucho. Finalmente, visitamos el museo de Picasso y vimos muchas pinturas muy preciosas e interesantes. Cenamos a las ocho y media y teníamos mucha hambre.
Day 3- El tercer día, fuimos a “Poble espanyol”, donde hicimos un taller de tapas. ¡Fue increíble porque las tapas fueron muy ricas! Vimos un video de “La Fiesta”. Que interesante. Después, fuimos al centro comercial que se llama “Las Arenas”.Este centro comercial fue donde los toros hicieron corridos .¡Qué chulo! Finalmente, visitamos La Sagrada Familia y la guía nos explicó información sobre la basílica y Antoni Gaudí.
Day 4- Jueves, fuimos a Port Aventura esperamos en la cola por 3 horas para ir en la montaña rusa más grande en este parque. Que fenomenal. Por la tarde, vimos el espectáculo de flamenco y al fin, bailamos la Macarena. Fue divertido.
Day 5- El último día, visitamos Montserrat, un sitio católico muy sagrado. Después, bajamos en el teleférico, las vistas eran impresionantes.
We are very proud of how well-behaved and inquisitive our students were all throughout the trip, and take this opportunity to thank accompanying staff, Mr Wootton, Ms Ogilvie and Ms Berron.
Extra-Curricular Activities
Willy Wonka Jr.
Our Secondary performers lit up the stage of the Espace Culturel de Genthod this week with a scrumdiddlyumptious production of the musical, Willy Wonka Jr.
After months of rehearsals and preparations, our thespians and musicians took their audience on a mouth-watering tour of the Wonka factory, following enigmatic and eccentric candy manufacturer, Willy Wonka. Joining lead character, Charlie Bucket, and the obnoxious group of golden ticket-holders on the grand tour, spectators delighted in (re)discovering this beloved stage classic and singing along all throughout the performance.
Well done to all our wonderful performers, backstage crews, and organisers!
A Tour of the Lake for Year 10
As part of their preparation for their Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, our Year 10 students took on the classic Geneva bike ride: the Tour du Lac. While circumnavigating the lake using pedal power alone is already an impressive personal achievement, the trip was much more on working together as a team.
On day one, the group’s focus was on learning to ride together, communicate while on a bike and collaborate as a group. This was particularly in evidence from day two, when we observed the students starting to move beyond their own individual mindset and beginning to help each other by sharing out the physical and mental duties and riding together in cohesive units. Special plaudits go to Sebastian for taking the lead on planning the route and navigating for his group, Blaithin a.k.a. “Pancake” – Queen of camp breakfasts – and Vincent, who worked incredibly hard to take a heavy city bike on its second lap of the lake!
Three days of cycling and two nights of camping left the students exhausted but very satisfied that they had all managed to ride the entire distance around the lake that forms such an iconic landmark of Geneva, and which our students are lucky enough to be able to see every day from both the Primary and Secondary campuses. Following this successful exercise, they are now all ready for their assessed expedition in Alicante in November!
Photos available here.
Community News
Gymnastic Success
Our very own Year 2 student, Alexandra, shone brightly this week at her gymnastics competition at the Bois-des-Frères gymnasium in Geneva. Coming in at 4th place, Alexandra is on her third competition this year and has grown in confidence and skill at each new event.
We are proud of her perseverance and efforts in her improving in her sport and look forward to receiving further news of her progress.
Bravo, Alexandra!
Two GES Champions at the Graines de foot Tournament
Congratulations to our two footballers, Oscar in Year 5 and Katrina in Year 9, for coming first with their respective teams in their category at the recent Graines de foot tournament final at Saint-Légier!
With his USTS Under-12 football team, Oscar performed consistently, demonstrating strong teamwork, discipline, and determination, reaching the final without conceding a single defeat. In a tightly contested final, USTS faced Vevey Sport, scoring a decisive goal that won them first place.
Captaining the USTS Under-15 Girls football team, Katrina and her teammates were crowned champions in their category, coming ahead of 35 other teams from across the canton of Vaud. Demonstrating speed, determination and teamwork, the Girls won both the semi-final in a penalty shootout and the final in extra time.
Well done to both of them!
Primary Staff Appreciation Lunch
A sumptuous feast awaited our Primary team this week thanks to the incredible generosity of all our Primary parents.
We are extremely grateful for the delicious treats, savoury and sweet, that parents prepared for our staff, who were dazzled by the variety and amount of food on offer.
A big thank you to our wonderful Parent Association for organising the Primary Staff Appreciation Lunch and to all our parents for all their many contributions.
