Message from the Head
Dear Parents,
I am sure that by the time you read this you will be enjoying our back to school bash catching up with old friends and meeting new ones as we celebrate the start of term. Thank you to Marybeth, Zita and the parent reps for all their work organising the event this evening.
In school we have been thinking about Queen Elizabeth II, her life and the example that she set as a leader across the world. Yesterday, a group of Secondary students and I travelled to Berne to sign the official book of condolence. Each student had thought carefully about what to write and I was proud of the tributes they wrote on behalf of us all. There were consistent themes of thanks and recognition of the service that Queen Elizabeth II upheld throughout her reign. We also saw the beautiful drawings from our Pre-School and KS1 students which had been laminated and displayed across the embassy gates. You can find more details about how we will mark The Queen’s funeral in school on Monday via my letter sent earlier in the week. Should you wish to sign it, a book of condolence is also available today and Monday from 9:00 to 18:00 at the UK Mission in Geneva.
At Secondary, we launched houses for the first time this week. After lots of discussion and feedback over the lack of diversity represented by our previous house names, and following staff and student discussions last year, we settled on the new names being natural landscapes and features around us in Switzerland: Jura, Rhône, Dôle and Léman.
All family members now belong to the same house across the school, and in a couple of weeks time we will hold a launch event at Primary where the whole school will come together in their new houses for the first time. Our Year 13 house captains will be leading the houses and we look forward to our first, whole school, inter-house cross-country event.
Just finally, if you haven’t signed up for a holiday camp, please take a look – there are loads of great activities including a primary French camp where students travel the local area and improve their French outside of the classroom. More information can be found here.
I hope you and your family have a good weekend,
Matt Williams
Head
From the School Office
Save the date: School Photos
Our annual school photographs are scheduled to be taken on the following days:
– Monday 26 September at GES Secondary
– Tuesday 27 September at GES Primary
The photographers from Gillman & Soame will take individual, group and sibling pictures.
Parents are invited to bring their children (or the whole family) to have sibling and family photos taken at the end of the school day, on the respective campuses.
More details will be sent out by email shortly.
Primary Coffee Mornings
We will be hosting our first series of coffee mornings for this academic year, during which you will be able to visit your child’s classroom where they will show you their work before enjoying a coffee together with the leadership team and other parents.
The coffee mornings will be held on the following dates starting in the classroom, followed by coffee, except for Early Years which will begin with coffee in the Main entrance hall, followed by time in the classroom, to allow the children to settle into their school day.
– Key Stage 1: Thursday 29 September 8:10-9:15
– Years 3 and 4: Friday 30 September 8:10-9:15
– Years 5 and 6: Tuesday 4 October 8:10-9:15
– Early Years: Thursday 6 October 8:30-9:30
Parking
On the day of your coffee morning, please could Key Stage 1 – Year 6 parents use the slanted parking spaces in the main car park so that the courts remain free for Pre-School and Reception drop off. Remember to take care crossing the car park as other parents will continue using the drop off lane as normal.
From your Secondary teachers
GCSE Drama workshops, from Mrs Ball (Head of Drama and Performing Arts)
Students from Y10 and Y11 GCSE Drama were introduced to the world of a theatre lighting designer on Wednesday afternoon last week.
Designer Adam Matheison was invited into school to speak to students about the different types of stage lighting and how they can be used to enhance performance.
The students were given the opportunity to operate a lighting board and practically explored how lighting can have a direct influence on costume design. Adam also invited the students to explore some lighting design software which Year 10 will put to good use in their devising exam next year. Some great questions were asked and Adam was very impressed by how interested and engaged the students were.
French articles by Secondary students
Mr Rogers, our Lead Teacher of Secondary French, has been encouraging all Secondary students to write short articles in French outside of the classroom.
We expect the students to write about their daily life and specific events happening at school, and we will be happy to share them from time to time in this dedicated space in the newsletter.
From the Sport & PE Department
New order procedure for Sport & PE kits
We are happy to launch a new online PE kit order system.
We ask that our current families complete the online form to order any extra items or new PE kits after their child has grown up, and new families order the compulsory kit prior to their child’s first PE lesson.
The form is located in My School Portal, under Sport & Extra-curricular, ‘GES Sport & PE Kit: New Order procedure’.
You will be able to see all compulsory/optional items and sizes we have available in stock.
Within 7 days, once your order is ready for collection, you will receive a confirmation email. Once your child has tried the clothes at home, if you realise the size does not fit, you have the possibility to ask for a change of size through the same form.
Each order made through the form will automatically be invoiced to you via our finance department.
We hope you will find this new order system easy to use.
Escalade races - Registration coming soon!
Registrations are now open for the popular Course de l’Escalade in the old town of Geneva. The youth and children (born between 2005 and 2016) races will take place on Sunday 4 December 2022.
We are finalising all the details for you to register your child to be part of the GES team – Therefore please can we ask you to wait for our instructions which will be sent out by email next week, and that you do not sign up your child as an individual runner.
Thank you.
Spread the word among families and friends
Little Ducklings resuming next Friday 23 September
We are delighted to resume our Little Ducklings bilingual sessions next Friday 23 September, from 8:40 to 9:45.
Coordinated by our Acting Assistant Headteacher of Early Years, Mrs Livesey, the sessions are designed for families with children between 0-4 years willing to meet others and take part in a wide range of activities (music-making, story telling, arts and crafts) in a stimulating French-English speaking environment.
Our playgroup sessions take place every second Friday at GES Primary, in the Early Years outdoor area when the weather permits, or in the Dance Hall when it’s raining.
If you know any families who would be interested to join us in the future, please direct them to this registration form, and we will be happy to meet them.
Autumn Holiday Camps: Registration now open
As per Mr Williams’s note, we are delighted to officially launch the new season of Holiday camps for this year, starting with October camps.
Registration is now open through this page, and you have the choice between 4 different camps during the first week of the half-term holiday, from Monday 17 to Friday 21 October:
– Swiss Culture and Nature Camp, for 7-11 year-olds
– Netball Camp, for 10-16 year-olds
– Swiss Culture and French Language, for 7-11 year-olds
– Crossfit and Games, for 9-15 year-olds
We very much look forward to seeing your children or teenagers at one of our camps!
