Message from Ms Matillon, Director General
Dear Parents,
Wasting no time in getting to know our very special school, two senior members of Inspired Education Group spent two days with us this week. John Leitao, Regional CEO, and Mike Lambert, Global Head of Education, were thorough in completing in-depth visits of both campuses, observing teaching and learning, exchanging with staff, and meeting with the school’s leadership. Mike also held forums with groups of children from Primary, Middle and Senior School to hear their views on school life with us. As much as we are confident in the quality of what we provide at GES, it was greatly reassuring to hear the feedback of these experts in the field who reported being “impressed and encouraged” by the “excellent practice” they saw.
Many thanks to those of you who attended our Town Hall meeting on Tuesday evening and who engaged with Mike and John on such a broad range of topics concerning GES and our future. I know you will have remarked Inspired’s commitment to investing in our school’s infrastructure, in particular towards improving our sports facilities. As John said, such changes take time, but I have no doubt the results will be game-changing!
On a more personal note, I would like to thank the parents who spoke out on behalf of GES staff. I was deeply touched by your appreciation of our team and your concern for how the change in the school’s ownership will affect us. I am pleased to reiterate that our staff are excited about the opportunities our membership in such a prestigious group affords, not only for our students but also for teachers. Your support and generosity on this occasion will remain a highlight of my career.
More visits from Inspired’s key functional areas will continue in coming weeks as we begin our integration and alignment, and you will read in future newsletters about campus enhancements and programme enrichment as these happen. For now, before you make your holiday plans, I encourage you to explore the extraordinary summer camp offers featured below. What a brilliant way for children to travel the world and gain fascinating experiences and friendships!
All the best,
Christina Matillon
Bridging the Arts for Global Advocacy
One of the particularities about the Year 9 curriculum is that all students take part in a collaborative project by working in teams on a particular topic. This year, our Year 9 artists decided to make it a cross-curricular collaboration between Art and Drama.
Given the task of engaging with global issues that resonate with them, students used their creativity and learning from their activism-inspired graphic design unit in Art to come up with a dramatic piece. The themes they explored reflected real-world concerns that are both complex and urgent. Students were asked not only to express ideas, but to do so thoughtfully and responsibly. Through the use of graphic design principles, they developed posters that communicate a clear message, before translating those ideas into a performance art piece using dramatic techniques to reinforce their call to action. This process required research, reflection, critical thinking, and an awareness of how messages can be interpreted by different audiences; an often challenging process requiring subtle awareness of complex factors. Researching such figures as Marina Abramovic, Enio Marchetto and David Szauder, students also designed costumes and posters to support the message they were representing on stage.
Engaging with such issues is an important part of education, encouraging young people to look beyond themselves and consider the wider world they are part of and can positively influence as global citizens. Connecting with world issues in this considered way helps students develop valuable skills: the ability to analyse information, communicate visually and verbally, justify creative decisions, and reflect on the impact of their work. While not everyone may agree with exactly how every viewpoint is presented, the intention was not only to provoke reflection, but also to demonstrate how art and design can be used to explore ideas, ask questions, and encourage dialogue.
This week in class
Year 3 have been investigating the discovery of Tutankhamun from different historical perspectives. Using some carefully crafted sources to convey the message in child-friendly terms, our investigators learned that while the British felt pride and a sense of triumph when Howard Carter discovered the tomb, the French were focused on the learning opportunities and sharing of information that came with the discovery, and from the Egyptian perspective, people were proud of their culture and heritage but may not have been very pleased that their treasure was being removed to other countries.
Our students’ careful investigations prompted a fascinating, serious discussion about the ethics behind this incredible historical discovery. Everyone agreed that there is a lesson to be learned from past events. In their debates on the difference between borrowing and stealing, students considered the possibility of putting in place a library-like borrowing system for ancient artefacts, and learned that in 2018, Switzerland returned 26 treasures to Egypt and now strives to showcase only loaned items in museums.
In their new Science topic on “Forces and Magnets,” Year 3 began their investigations on whether friction can create heat by rubbing their hands together and noticing how they warmed up. Students then repeated the experiment while wearing rubber gloves and found that their hands became warm even more quickly, which made them realise that because rubber creates more friction than bare skin does, more energy is released as heat when the surfaces rub together.
In their English lessons, Year 4 students have been learning about personification is and how to use it to impact the reader in their writing. They loved trying to beat the teacher’s sentence as they personified classroom objects to match a chosen atmosphere. Angus impressed everyone with his sentence combining contrast and personification: the walls, old and silent, loomed over the children, young and loud. Working in groups, our students drew a physical place and brought it to life using personification.
“Trees stood tall and proud, like soldiers guarding the forest’s secrets” and “Bushes quivered in fear as danger crept closer” were among the favourite lines they came up with. Well done, everybody!
Our Year 4 scientists carried out an egg-cellent egg-speriment this week!
Ahead of their experiment, students learned that tooth enamel is made from minerals containing calcium and phosphorus, while eggshells are mainly made of calcium. Because both are rich in calcium, eggshells are a useful substitute for teeth to experiment with.
Armed with this knowledge, our scientists predicted and justified how different liquids might affect an eggshell and, by extension, teeth. They designed and carried out a second investigation to see which toothpaste offers the most protection by covering eggs in different toothpaste brands and submerging them in vinegar overnight to observe which one protected the shell for longer before cracking. This morning, they raced egg-citedly into their classroom to check for any changes, noting that some eggs were already showing cracks. Once they’d donned their lab coats, they tuned into full scientist mode, discussing how they could keep the test fair and confidently identifying the independent and dependent variables in play.
Over the next few days, they will gather data and present their findings. They are especially looking forward to discussing their research with next week’s guest speaker, Dr Charlène Kasaven, the dentist who visited Year 7 students this week (see below).
As a final task for their unit on “Ratio and Proportion”, Year 6 were challenged to create a fruit juice cocktail. They had to follow specific ratios for each ingredient and accurately calculate the corresponding measurements in millilitres. One small miscalculation could have thrown off the flavour entirely!
Needless to say, our students demonstrated excellent mathematical precision and were rewarded with a delicious drink to enjoy. A fun, healthy and tasty activity for all! Santé!
Our Year 13 A Level P.E. class worked hard on a collaboration project to determine the positive and negative impacts of the commercialisation and media of different aspects of sport.
Using this research, they worked to answer and evaluate exam-style questions.
Beyond the Classroom
Year 7 Dental Hygiene Workshop
Our Year 7 students welcomed Dr Charlène Kasaven this week for a workshop on dental health and hygiene as part of their PSHE programme.
Through a true or false activity, including such prompts as “cavities are not always painful” or “if you break a tooth, store it in milk”, students learned to distinguish fact from fiction when it comes to teeth.
Dr Kasaven also shared with students some top tips for effective tooth brushing, showing them the proper way to go about it to ensure a thorough clean.
The workshop ended with a free dental check-up for those students who had signed up!
Marking Holocaust Memorial Day
Our Secondary students marked Holocaust Memorial Day this week with a solemn assembly on the importance of remembrance as a bridge that transcends generations.
Examining the writings of Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, students understood the role that everyone plays in keeping the memory alive of those affected by discrimination, injustice and persecution, and that indifference, silence and inaction are the surest way of enabling harm to continue and hate to thrive.
Students also explored the measures that exist to hold people accountable for crimes against humanity, such as the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal or the International Criminal Court, noting that these instances charged with dealing with major war crimes often fail to punish fully all those responsible.
Physics in Action at the University of Geneva
Our Year 12 and 13 physicists had the incredible opportunity to carry out experiments in the laboratories of the University of Geneva this week!
Taking part in an experiment to understand how particle intensity is reduced by distance and the absorption capacity of different materials, they were able to investigate the inverse-square law. They were shown some interesting set ups in the university’s Physics lab, such as an experiment to measure the magnetic moment of the muon.
An inspiring moment to witness their textbook theory come to life and learn under the precious guidance of a university professor!
Extra-Curricular Activities
A Great Tournament for the GES Football Team
Our Year 3 footballers had a fantastic indoor football tournament at the ADISR Benjamines Development Competition. With 10 teams playing, Team GES finished a strong 4th place!
Unbeaten in the four group games against teams from CDL, LGB, Nations and La Châtaigneraie, our athletes topped the group with 10 points!
In the quarter finals they played well and progressed after a 2-0 win against the opposing team.
The semi-finals (versus CDL) and third place playoffs (versus La Châtaigneraie) did not lead to the results we wanted, but were only lost by 1 goal each time.
Every single GES player fought hard all day and played with passion and grit in front of strong support from the parents!
Well done to everyone for a great weekend of football!
Zoology Club Goes Into the Wild
Our adventurers have launched an exciting new project in Zoology Club, exploring the wildlife of our local area using a motion-sensing wildlife camera. Emma led our very first expedition, bravely heading into a nearby forest to choose the perfect spot and set up the camera.
The adventure was not without its challenges. Emma returned covered in mud, having even lost a shoe along the way! At one point, she and her mum were worried they might not find their way back, with the phone battery dropping to just 2%. Despite being soaked, muddy and momentarily lost, Emma’s enthusiasm never faded!
The effort was worth it — the camera has already captured some incredible footage of deer, wild boar, and even a weasel moving through the forest.
Community News
Inspired Global Summer Camps
Inspired Global Summer Camps are coming soon!
Families have until the end of the day today, Friday 30 January, to enjoy an additional 5% early‑bird discount, on their registration for these exciting camps.
The Inspired Global Summer Camps include take place over nine different locations, including Portugal, UK, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and the Bahamas, and families from Inspired schools benefit from a 10% discount on all camps.
Click here for a video about the upcoming 2026 summer camps.
February Reading Challenge
Calling all our Primary bookworms for our Famous February Reading Challenge!
This month, our readers are invited to read up on as many facts as they can about their favourite actor, athlete, musician, historical figure, scientists, innovator, author or artist.
Facts should be noted down on a “Famous Fact” sheet, to be handed in to the class teacher to earn a precious 5 stars.
Thank you GES!
Another huge thank you to all our GES families who donated items for our winter clothes collection in support of underprivileged families in Moldova and Ukraine.
Thanks to your support and in a joint effort with families from two other schools in the region and the International Women’s Club of Nyon, we were able to fill two entire vans and one trailer (see opposite for just a few of the bags donated). These generous donations will be sent over to help those in need during the cold months ahead.
Special shout out goes to Zita from our Parents’ Association for organising this collection at GES!
Calling our stargazers!
Secondary students are invited to borrow the school telescope for the weekend to observe the moon, planets and stars from Mr Ken Maclean.
Please get in touch with Mr Maclean if you are interested, either in person or by email to [email protected].
