Message from Ms Matillon, Director General
Dear Parents,
This week is Children’s Mental Health Week – a mental health awareness week launched by the UK-based charity, Place2Be. To mark the occasion, we have shone an even brighter light than usual on this issue which is so important to us all, starting with assemblies led by our Head of Pastoral Care, Ms Csoma, and by Nurse Polly. Throughout the week, our students have participated in activities designed to raise awareness of mental health issues, and been exposed to this year’s theme, “Know Yourself, Grow Yourself!”, through posters and other materials distributed around both campuses. This morning, in Secondary, I had the pleasure of taking part in an exercise organised by Ms Csoma for students and teachers: “conversation starter cards” had been left on tables in the Grand Café, along with big bowls of apples – healthy snacks are an important contributor to good mental health! – and we shared our answers to questions such as:
- If you could have any super power, what would you pick?
- What’s your favourite family tradition?
- Do you follow your heart or your head?
- What would you do if you had no electricity for a week?
- What’s your most treasured possession?
- What’s your favourite thing to do to relax?
- What’s the best part of being a kid?
As you can imagine, some of the answers were fascinating and hilarious! Students also helped themselves to little notebooks with positive messages like “Believe in yourself”, “The best is yet to come” and “You’ve got this”, which I hope will help keep the spirit of mental health awareness top of mind for weeks and months to come.
In other news, GES Primary and Secondary have been their usual hives of activity! In Primary, a delicious highlight was our celebration of Chandeleur, or Pancake Day, yesterday. A very big thank you to Carys in Year 4VH who, very thoughtfully, brought me a pancake with my favourite topping, honey, to enjoy for my mid-morning snack.
Those of you who came inside the main Primary building either Wednesday or today will have seen an unfamiliar face at Reception; our new Administrator, Louise Merifield, who will officially start working with us on 3rd March, has begun a gradual handover from Adwoa. Please do introduce yourself to Louise when you get the chance.
Our Secondary school calendar this week has featured a Year 9 Parents’ Evening, a Year 10 Book Look, a visit to CERN for our Physicists as organised by Dr Chalmers, and a fabulous day on the slopes of Les Crosets, Portes du Soleil for our skiers and snowboarders. The ski trip was given a 5* rating by one of our families, which will certainly make Mr Sheppard-Burgess all the more anxious to bundle up and get back out there the first chance he gets! We have also just seen Years 7 and 8 students and their brave teachers head off on an outdoor adventure to Cabane Rochefort in St Cergue, and we wish them happy, snowy trails!
Mr Crabtree has been busy meeting with Year 11 students and their parents to review choices for A Level subjects for next year. With 17 on offer at GES, and no required A Level subjects or mandatory subject combinations, this is a stage in a young person’s education where they can explore passions and ambitions, and focus on the areas that are most meaningful to them and their future studies. Each student has their own unique strengths and goals, and I know Mr Crabtree takes very seriously this process of planning everyone’s timetable to best suit them.
Please note, we have been notified at Secondary that cars are sometimes seen in spaces belonging to other tenants of the Modulis building. Of course, I am not aware that these cars belong to members of the GES community. Should that have been the case, though, I ask, for the sake of maintaining good relations with our neighbours, that you park only in spots marked Geneva English School, or else those that are not assigned to anyone. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
My thanks go, too, to the five intrepid leaders of our Parents’ Association with whom Mrs Brassington and I met a few days ago to agree on the nature and timing of Primary and Secondary events for the balance of this academic year. I know representatives of our school and of the PA will be in touch as each of these events approaches with full information and, when necessary, to ask for help or other contributions from parents. As I have written before, the many varied community-based events that take place in school celebrating our children, our cultures and our successes are as great as can be thanks to the energy and commitment of everyone involved, and I look forward to sharing them with you.
As I often do, I have saved the best news for last… Ms Peart has had her little baby boy, who is beautiful and perfect, and has made his big brother seem, suddenly, very grown up. Our most heartfelt best wishes go to Ms Peart and her family, and we look forward to seeing them whenever they would like to come for a visit.
All the best,
Christina Matillon
Outdoor Trip to Engelberg
We marked Children’s Mental Health Week at both Primary and Secondary this week!
Through age-appropriate activities, assemblies and wellbeing corners set up at each of our campuses, our school community has come together to raise awareness about wellbeing and mental health by focusing on the theme “Grow yourself, know yourself”. Led by our Head of Pastoral Care, Mariann Csoma, and our school nurse, Polly Pupulin, the week’s events enabled students to understand the importance of talking about emotions and taking care of their mental health by seeking help when they need it, talking to a person they trust and learning strategies to cope with challenging and stressful situations.
Students also received stickers and leaflets with information and contact details for mental health support structures, all the while enjoying healthy snacks to boost energy and wellbeing levels!
Over at Primary, Nurse Polly distributed fortune tellers that prompted the children to think about their own wellbeing and that of others, such as brainstorming acts of kindness that they could do this year.
This week in class
As part of their Lunar New Year topic, Pre-school children explored oriental dance using scarves and music. They also and practised saying ‘Happy New Year’ in different languages.
We are composers! In Year 5, our musicians have been learning all about crotchets, minims and musical rests, transferring this knowledge to create their own compositions based on country music. Children were challenged to include all of the musical elements learnt in previous lessons, which they did very successfully!
Year 6 enjoyed a new spelling lesson by competing in a game to find who came up with the most words ending in -sure and -ture. They scored 1 point for a correctly spelt word and another for a word that the other team didn’t think of. Later in the week, Class 6M challenged Class 6B to an anagram spelling duel, securing a win by a very narrow margin.
Excellent work Year 6!
The Chandeleur (or Pancake Day) was in the air this week at Primary! Learning all about this traditional celebration, which may have its roots as far back as Ancient Rome, our students enjoyed a series of fun spoken and written activities in their French lessons, including a delicious crêpe making session. As part of this, they took on the roles of crêpe-makers and clients, ordering their crêpe toppings in French and receiving a tasty treat in exchange.
Our Year 7 scientists have been learning about the scientific method and how theories are made. Using a few pieces of equipment made available to them for this task, they had to deduce what was inside six mystery boxes by coming up with various experiments to posit a theory. Later in the week, they explored the different states of matter (solid, liquid and gas). Through a series of experiments with ice cubes, they looked at how one state changes to another.
In Year 8, students carried out flame tests to observe the flame colours that different metals produce. This phenomenon is prevalent in daily happenings such as sodium lamps that light up in the evening, as well as in fireworks.
For Year 12 chemists, this week’s practical experiment was all about testing for anions. Looking closely at whether the mixing of compounds produced effervescence or a change of colour, they were able to put to the test their knowledge and understanding of negatively charged non-metal ions.
Our senior scientists in Year 13 applied their knowledge of electrolysis to build an electrochemical cell, a device that generated electrical energy from chemical reactions. This enabled them to test and measure the resulting electromotive force.
In their English lessons, Year 7 took part in a ‘hot-seating’ exercise as part of their spotlight assessment on the novel Holes by Louis Sachar.
For our English Literature students, this week’s lessons focused on exploring Othello’s mindset by analysing structural features and his speech patterns. Every time there was a change in punctuation they had to turn 180 degrees. While the readers of Act 1.3 felt fine after the exercise, those who read act 4.1 were really quite dizzy. This was a fun and practical way to demonstrate how the character evolves throughout the play, as after this final speech, Othello falls into a trance.
Year 13 students debated Margaret Atwood’s stylistic choices and were inspired to strike the pose shown in this photo to embody the erasure of individuality in the novel The Handmaid’s Tale.
Our Year 8 students brought samba grooves to the grey Geneva winter. By assigning words to each of the beats they performed on percussion instruments, they came up with their personalised memory aids to help them remember the rhythms and play them in time with the other performers. They have also composed their own samba breaks, which they will perform next week as part of their spotlight task.
Beyond the classroom
Key Stage 5 Experiment at CERN
Our Year 12 and 13 physicists had the incredible opportunity to carry out a practical, hands-on experiment at CERN!
Using thorium rocks, they learned about the inverse-square law by investigating how radiation intensity varies with distance using hi-tech pixel detectors and Geiger-Muller tubes, specialist equipment made available to them by the CERN laboratory.
This trip was truly a wonderful occasion for our A Level students to get a glimpse into what a career at CERN might look like!
A Day on the Slopes for Secondary
This week was marked by another fantastic ski outing, this time for Secondary students! 33 of our skiers enjoyed a fun day of skiing in Les Crosets, Portes du Soleil.
With each group working on technique and speed, some even had the opportunity to develop their race skills through training gates specifically set up for our school!
They also got instructed ‘free ski’ time to explore other slopes and enjoy the experience with their friends, under the expert supervision on the excellent SnowPros Ski School team.
Bronze Medal for our Netballers
Our Year 7 and 8 netballers made us incredibly proud at the ADISR Junior Netball Tournament last weekend. Displaying inspiring sportsmanship and team spirit both on and off the court, our girls impressed families and friends who had gathered to watch the action. Coming in third position, the day’s events were truly emotional. As the final whistle blew and they realised their victory, our team erupted in cheers, running across the court and hugging each other, including players on the bench.
Throughout the morning, the girls took collective responsibility in choosing positions and combinations, demonstrating teamwork beyond just netball. They were developing valuable skills, collaborating to achieve the best results and learning from their mistakes. Captain Miatta and Vice-Captain Mohau led the team brilliantly, whilst Anna grew in confidence with each match to the delight of the whole team who were constantly praising her. The Primary girls integrated seamlessly, complementing the older girls beautifully. It really was a special day which left everyone with a feeling of having truly witnessed teamwork, kindness and mutual support.
Congratulations to all our players and to their wonderful coaches!
Community News
Reminder | Winter Clothes Collection to support Ukraine and Moldova
Should you have any winter clothes which your family no longer wears or has grown out of, please drop these off at the Primary campus on the ground floor of the Jura building only on Monday 10 February 2025.
Donations can include the following items:
- Winter clothing for all ages; from babies to adults
- Unworn underwear
- Bedding: pillow covers or duvet covers only
- Towels
- Shoes or boots – in a separate bag (ski boots cannot be accepted)
All items must be clean, in good condition and wearable/usable. Please place your donations inside a black rubbish bag (max 60L) to keep them protected whilst they are being transported. All donations will be distributed where they are most needed.
Thank you for your help and we look forward to a very successful collection.
Final Call | Book Drive at Secondary
Help us expand our Secondary library!
Our Parents’ Association is putting the finishing touches on to the extra bookshelves they have built in our Secondary library and will soon start sorting and placing donated books on the shelves.
Please share any books in new or near-new condition that are appropriate for 11 to 17-year old readers by dropping them off at the Secondary school front entrance.
We look forward to receiving all your donations. Thank you from the Parents’ Association!
Year 10 Book Look
It was great to see so many parents involved in our Year 10 Book Look this week! A GES tradition in Secondary whereby parents visit school to see their children’s work, exercise books and notes, Book Looks are also an opportunity for them to exchange with teachers, who are available to guide discussions and answer questions. A true example of the GES family coming together to focus on two of our values: community and achievement.
Faces of GES
This week’s Face of GES is Head of Geography, Jake Shreeve. A graduate of Keele University, the University of Brighton, and University College London, Jake joined the GES family in August 2024 after working at schools in the London area since 2016 in roles including Geography Teacher, Head of Year, Head of Geography and Deputy Safeguarding Lead.
Since arriving at GES, Jake has been struck by the family feel at the school, and appreciates the fact that the small class sizes enable him to get to know each of his students well, which enables him more easily to identify how they are feeling and when they need help, a skill that his colleagues have identified as a “sixth sense”. Jake also loves the fact that the intentionally small school ethos means that each student’s unique accomplishments are more easily recognised and can be celebrated by the community.
At his happiest when he’s in the classroom, introducing students to a broad range of examples of how the world works, and encouraging critical thinking, Jake is no stranger to the great outdoors, having run several ultra-marathons including the Dents du Midi 60k and the Gower Marathon 80k. He is currently in training for his biggest race to date, the 140k Trail Verbier St Bernard, Switzerland’s oldest ultra trail.
Jake’s hope for his students is that they will each leave his classes as critical thinkers, with heightened awareness that lives occur in different circumstances and with the inspiration to bring positive action to the world.
