Dear Parents,

As we complete our first full week of school, I am pleased that our two Curriculum Information Evenings were well attended – a week ago today in Secondary, and yesterday in Primary – and that so much information could be shared concerning our programme, our approach, and the structures we have in place to support your children each day as they learn and grow. I would like to thank our leadership team for having organised these events, and our teachers for having prepared presentations on their roles and priorities for their classes. As always, please do not hesitate to contact the appropriate teacher(s) or Head of School (Primary, Middle or Senior School), should you ever have specific questions or concerns regarding your child.

For the smooth and efficient flow of traffic at both campuses at the beginning and of the school day, and, especially, to ensure the safety of all our students, below is a recap of drop-off and pick-up procedures in place. Thank you in advance for maintaining good habits that will benefit us all.

Primary School:

We are privileged to have wonderful learning spaces and generous play areas, but our car park can get quite congested at peak times of day. Accordingly, we must strictly and carefully manage the flow of traffic at drop-off and pick-up.

Parents of children in Primary school are asked to read through the email on this topic sent today, and carefully note the differences in guidelines according to the days of the week.

The detailed description of our car park entrance, usage and exit procedures by day, along with the colour-coded map, should, hopefully, be helpful to you. If you have questions, please contact Louise Merifield at [email protected].

Secondary School:

Parents are requested to use the prescribed drop-off route through the underground car park rather than the outdoor turning circle. As we have specifically asked children who come to school on foot from the Mies direction to use the first staircase in front of the building, it is in the interest of their safety not to have cars driving toward them directly outside our front door. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to drive through the garage.

If your children come to school by bicycle or scooter from the Mies direction, please remind them to dismount before crossing the school’s front driveway and walk carefully to the ramp on the Geneva side of the building.

We appreciate your attention to keeping our community safe.

Also on the topic of arrival to school, we have become aware that a major transportation project is underway: the construction of the Tram des Nations that will begin on Monday 15 September. Though the roadworks will not be in the immediate vicinity of either our Genthod or Versoix campuses, families coming to GES from Geneva or Ferney may be impacted by the resulting modifications to traffic patterns, of which details are provided below. If your children’s travels will be affected by this project, we thank you in advance for ensuring that they leave home with sufficient time to arrive at school promptly for the start of their lessons, as difficult as early mornings might be!

Finally, a reminder to everyone, and in particular those who are new to the region, that next Thursday and Friday, 11 and 12 September, school will be closed for the Jeûne genevois bank holiday. Given the very busy start to the academic year, I am sure we will all enjoy having a shorter week!

All the best,

Christina Matillon

This week, Year 9 had the exciting opportunity to step into the world of performance art through a workshop led by Nina Hopley, a recent graduate of the world-renowned Ecole Philippe Gaulier, a drama school based in Paris with the nickname ‘Clown School’.

Looking at the work of Yoko Ono and Marina Abramović, Nina introduced students to the artistic intentions of these endurance artists and how performance art can be used not only as a vessel for self-improvement, but also for social, political and environmental activism. Moving beyond entertainment, performance art can be a powerful tool for storytelling and social commentary.

After a lively warm-up, students were split into four groups, each tasked with creating their own piece of performance art based on a prompt. Armed with complete creative freedom and using just their imagination, they explored:

1. Soundscape – Capturing the hustle and bustle of urban life using only their bodies and voices.
2. Silent Storytelling – A silent movie-style tragedy of the most relatable kind. Buying ice-cream, then dropping it.
3. The Stillness of Change – Bringing to life the universal experience of stillness, expectation, and time passing through the simple act of waiting for someone to arrive.
4. Emotion Sculptures – Drawing inspiration from Picasso’s haunting Guernica, students were asked to use their bodies to represent ‘TERROR’ both physically and emotionally.

Each group rose to the challenge in their own way. The first performance was a clear hit – an immediate symphony of car horns, footsteps, and the hum of a busy street, all created by just four voices and bodies.

The second group explored the ice cream scenario, adding their own twist to the scene – having it stolen right outside the shop. One boy was shoved dramatically to the ground while the other three loomed over him in triumph. Their performance showed the rest of the class how posture, movement, and expression can communicate power dynamics and relationships just as strongly as spoken dialogue.

The third prompt was performed with slow, synchronised movements that gradually shifted into more expressive gestures. Their piece cleverly captured the physical and emotional tension of restlessness and anticipation in ‘waiting’.

By the final performance, the audience struggled to read the group’s ‘terror’; their body movements showed tension and pain, but their wide grins revealed they were having far too much fun on stage!

By the end of the workshop, Year 9 had experienced the thrill of improvisation, physical expression and collaborative exploration, discovering just how powerful – and enjoyable – art can be when given space to experiment.

When asked what they would do differently next time, the groups said they’d go even bigger and bolder – in true clown spirit.

Click here for photos.

Our Year 7 and 8 thespians also took part in workshops led by visiting speaker, Nina Hopley, focusing on comedy. Exploring body language and facial expressions, students also learned top tips for reading their audience and getting their timing just right to elicit laughter.

Commenting on their experience of the workshop, Vasco, Fiona and Joan in Year 7 reported:

In class, we practiced comedy, both improvising and acting without using our words. We had to act out scenarios like being a waiter in a restaurant. We also had to listen closely, because Nina would play music and tell us to dance randomly. The lesson helped me learn how to express myself without using words and how to make people laugh at my acting. Nina was very nice and fun, and she commanded attention with our class really well.
Vasco, Year 7

Nina was very fun and refreshing to be taught by. She felt like a teacher we’ve known forever but haven’t talked to in a while. Her exercises for improv’ were exciting and new, but they also made sense with content Ms Empson has taught us. She helped us feel less self-conscious when acting and that meant a lot to us!
Fiona and Joan, Year 7

View photos here.

Construction for the new Tram des Nations between Place des Nations and Ferney-Voltaire is due to start on Monday 15 September, with extensive works that may impact families commuting to our school from Geneva and nearby France.

With road traffic changes likely to impact motorists and cyclists, as well as public transport routes, in and around the Place des Nations, the Pommier/Morillons area and Grand-Saconnex’s Place de Carantec, we encourage all our families to anticipate and adapt their commute to school accordingly.

Information about road closures and changes to public transport routes are detailed in this document issued by local authorities.