Message from Mr Crabtree, Executive Head
Dear Families,
As we wrap up the first full week of school, there’s a wonderful shared energy and ambition amongst the students at both Primary and Secondary as they return to learning. I hope you get a flavour of this as your children return home this evening, likely ready for some deserved rest this weekend.
The likely highlight of the week ahead will be the royal visit to our Primary campus by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh on Wednesday to celebrate our school’s delivery of the Duke of Edinburgh International Award and to discuss with our teachers and young people the value of learning outside the classroom . This is a wonderful opportunity for us to showcase the programme and also celebrate the activities of our students as part of the Award, including our latest Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award recipient, Elen, before she progresses to university this autumn.
The next group of students to follow in Elen’s footsteps are currently on their Gold Award Expedition, a four day cycling tour in the Italian lake district; the photo gallery looks wonderful and we look forward to welcoming them back to Versoix on Saturday! Closer to home, this first week has seen the election of new House Leaders and House Captains at Primary and Secondary. I want to thank every candidate for the seriousness and effort they put into their speeches and presentations. Every student standing for election embodied our school values of Integrity, Community and Excellence!
I wish every member of our school community a wonderful weekend ahead of the shortened, Jeûne genevois week to come.
Mr Crabtree
Presenting the 2026-2027 Secondary House Captains
This week was marked by the first House registration of the year, a key date in our school’s House calendar as students and teachers voted for this year’s House Captains.
After hearing each candidate’s pitches, students cast their votes to elect their House leaders for the year.
We are proud to present the House Captains for 2026-2027:
· Rhône: Nia and Jewel
· Dôle: Ella and Emily W.
· Jura: William and Hugo
· Léman: Blaithin and Olivier
Congratulations to each of them for their election and thank you to everyone who presented themselves as candidates!
This week in class
Our Year 1 learners have been busy mathematicians this week! They have been developing their number recognition and counting skills, as well as sorting objects in lots, including by colour, shape and type of object. Our students have shown some fantastic mathematical thinking and are already demonstrating great skills and enthusiasm for the subject. It’s going to be a wonderful year of learning together!
What a fantastic start to the new academic year for students in class 2B! Our little learners thoroughly enjoyed reading There’s Only One You and celebrating all the wonderful differences that make each of us unique. They also created a Class Kindness Bucket and are looking forward to filling each other’s buckets with kind words and actions as the year progresses. To finish off a brilliant week, the children really enjoyed their first PSHE lesson with Mr Connor.
Stay tuned for more exciting learning!
There was much enthusiasm from our Year 3 and 4 students in their P.E. lessons this week as they tried out the brand new air track! It was fantastic to see all of them building their confidence, developing new skills and, most importantly, having lots of fun while staying active.
Our Year 4 students have started some fascinating units in class this week!
In English, their topic on newspapers had them hooked from the start as they watched an intriguing video from Mr. Rademaker warning staff about strange happenings reported in the forest on 25th August. Armed with clipboards and determination, they set off into the woods to track down the source. Following a systematic search, Ana discovered a mysterious iron hand, which raised even more puzzling questions. Their next step is to interview local Genthod residents — in French! — to see if they can solve the mystery.
In their Science lessons, students began their work on circuits. Working in groups, they used various electrical components to examine eight circuit diagrams and predict whether the bulbs would illuminate. They then constructed each setup to test their hypotheses. Through hands-on verification, our students discovered that electric current can only flow when there is a continuous, closed path connecting the power source, wires, and bulb without any gaps.
Year 5 mathematicians have been developing their understanding of place value to a million. This week, they explored representing five digit numbers in different ways – on a place value grid, in words, through bar models and in part-whole models. They even stretched Ms Marceau’s knowledge, asking how they might represent 10,877 in Roman numerals!
Our Year 10 students launched into their P.E. lessons in earnest this week, engaging in some energetic football and netball matches. A great way to get their hearts pumping while comparing the similarities and differences between these two sports.
Our Secondary labs have been a hive of activity this week as students took part in various experiments.
In their very first experiment of the year, Year 9 investigated the solubility of potassium nitrate by seeing how much can dissolve in water at varying temperatures.
For Year 13 Chemistry students, the day was all about calculating the rate of reaction between magnesium and different dilutions of hydrochloric acid. By gaining a better understanding of reaction rates, students were able to consider how these impact industrial efficiency, biological processes and safety.
Last Friday afternoon, our Year 13 students took to the stage to put their public speaking skills to the test. They explored a range of very interesting (and occasionally very random) topics, complete with persuasive arguments and more than a few dramatic gestures!
A tough exercise that involved stepping outside their comfort zone to convince, compel and transport their audience.
Beyond the Classroom
Primary House Leaders Elections Underway
It’s election time over at Primary!
We’ve been treated to some inspiring and enthusiastic pitches this morning by candidates vying for the coveted positions of House Leaders.
Grouped in their Houses, candidates in Léman, Rhône, Jura and Dôle enjoyed the opportunity to meet of some of their younger peers and put forward persuasive reasons as to how and why they could successfully lead their House throughout the year.
Well done to all of them! We look forward to sharing the results of these important elections soon!
Extra-Curricular Activities
Musical Awards Galore
We’re proud to share the results of our musicians in their Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) exams which they took last term.
Huge congratulations go to Cosmo, Alexander, Danny, Daniel and Sophie for their excellent results in their piano exams, and to Oscar and Leo for their impressive results in their singing examinations.
Special mention goes to Leo, the youngest ever singer to get a Distinction in a Grade 1 exam!
Well done, everyone!
A Morning Jog
Our Friday Morning Run Club were out in force this morning at 7h50! They had beautiful weather for the start of their training with Kerrie Baker who, after some warm-ups and exercises to improve running technique, had them complete a 10-minute run to test their starting distance.
In a few weeks time they will test again to see what progress they have made. Fantastic energy from everyone and a great example set from these early risers!
Still Life Drawing at Art Club
Our extra-curricular Year 5 and 6 Art Club is off to a flying start, with a close look at still life drawing. This week, our artists began with continuous line drawing to help them place objects within a given space and consider their relationship to one another. Students worked on paper cut to the same size as their final canvas in order to practise filling the space.
We look forward to seeing their final artwork!
A Sizzling Science Club
Science Club has kicked off again for our enthusiastic scientists in Year 6!
For their very first session, students learned about health and safety in the lab, including how to use a Bunsen burner. They put their skills to the test by flame testing different metals, observing excitedly how some of them glow while others burn.
Sprint Start for Athletics Club
Our students had a fantastic start to their Secondary Athletics Club last night!
Using the top-class athletics track available to them in the Centre sportif de Versoix, our athletes worked on sprint starts and physical development for the track events. A few of them also worked on their distance running, completing between 2km and 4km runs on the track!
A Cycling Tour of the Italian Lakes
Our Year 13 adventurers launched on their four-day cycling tour of the Italian lakes this week!
They are enjoying some glorious weather over in Ticino on this trip which has them cycling some 60km every day, camping and cooking their own meals – a great way to develop resilience and independence while discovering one of the most beautiful areas of Switzerland.
We look forward to sharing anecdotes and more photos of their adventure in next week’s newsletter!
Community News
A Silver Medal in Baseball
Our Year 7 student Elliot and his teammates in the Geneva Dragons D1 baseball team ended a fantastic 2026 season by qualifying for the Swiss National League Championship Finals in Bern.
The Dragons triumphed in Game 1 to reach the Grand Final, where they faced the home team Cardinals in a thrilling contest. The Cardinals ultimately took the title, with the Dragons finishing as national silver medallists.
Bravo, Elliot and team!
September Reading Challenge
A new school year brings with it a new set of exciting monthly reading challenges!
September is all about new beginnings. To earn 5 stars for their House and a certificate, our Primary bookworms are invited to read a book about a character who tries something new or faces a new challenge, and write about their own hopes and dreams for this school year, including how they might approach any challenges coming their way.
These written reports can then be handed in to their class teacher.
Happy reading!
Secondary Welcome Evening
We had a full house at our Secondary campus last Friday as we welcomed parents for the start-of-year Welcome Evening.
In addition to hearing a presentation by our Head of Secondary, Ms Newbury, on the curriculum and our pedagogical approach for each Key Stage, parents also had presentations from form tutors and useful exchanges with teachers.
A big thank you goes to our wonderful Parents’ Association for organising a convivial welcome drink for everyone.
