Message from Ms Matillon, Director General
Dear Parents,
Every morning this week, my school leadership colleagues and I have stood outside our Secondary campus in Versoix to monitor the traffic arriving to school; today was my turn. I am pleased to report that the vast majority of drivers arriving to the Modulis building are cautious and alert to other cars and passers-by, however, I must stress the following points:
- 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. This morning, I counted over twenty cars not yet following the requested protocol, but I thank those amongst you who are 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. From what I have seen, the children in question are in our Senior School, and should not require daily reminding of this security measure by a traffic agent or member of GES staff.
Thank you for your attention to this matter and for keeping all of our children safe.
My thanks, too, to everyone for bearing with us through the absences due to injury of Alice Priestley and Amelia Bugeja, not to mention the illnesses of various teachers during this difficult flu season. Though our fantastic staff have stepped up to cover lessons, we have had to put some extra–curricular activities briefly on hold, and we appreciate your understanding whilst we do our best to provide a seamless service.
In our Secondary school, Wednesday was devoted to our fourth of five PSHE Enrichment Days of the year, this time dedicated to sex and relationship education. Our Head of Pastoral Care, Mariann Csoma, organised a rich and varied programme, with talks on such topics as managing healthy and unhealthy relationships, boundaries and consent, how to challenge harassment and unwanted attention online, and sexual health. We were fortunate to have expert speakers Geneviève Preti from the HUG Sexual Health Unit, Arianne Torné, Psychologist and Consultant in Health Promotion and Education from the Canton of Geneva, as well as our own Nurse Polly Pupulin address students and provide information on where they can access support if they ever need help or guidance.
World Book Day was celebrated in grand style across the school on Thursday with many students, and some brave teachers, coming to school in costumes inspired by literary characters – or, in the case of Madame Durey, an entire library! Reading is encouraged every day in school, but a whole day celebrating the gloriousness of a good book really drives the point home. In Primary, our wonderful Parent Representatives ran a bake sale where the creative and delicious contributions from our generous parents sold like literal (hot)cakes and, in Secondary, our Open Mic lunchtime event filled the Chaplin hall to bursting with students, staff and remarkable performances. Well done to all participants!
Two groups of students are set for a memorable weekend: our Year 2 and 3 footballers will surely shine on the pitch for GES at a tournament at LGB tomorrow, and our Year 9 and 10 classes left this morning on an overnight trip to Belalp in the Valais for their Duke of Edinburgh award, where they will hike and visit the thermal baths in Brig. We wish them and their teachers lots of good, healthy fun!
All the best,
Christina Matillon
World Book Day
Our school community dressed to impress on Thursday for World Book Day as a flurry of beloved book characters walked the halls of both Primary and Secondary.
In an inspiring celebration of reading and all things literary, our Primary students enjoyed hosting visiting illustrator Ewa O’Neill, who ran workshops based on the stories Wimfiddle Finds His Voice by Amber L. Jackson and Rowdy The Pirate Who Could Not Sleep by Darcy Pattison. In their French lessons, our learners took a deep dive into the story L’ours qui jouait du piano by David Litchfield, reflecting on the power of friendship and comparing the resilience needed to play an instrument with that required to learn a language. Drawing inspiration from the plot, they designed concert posters and wrote postcards. The day’s events culminated in a colourful parade around campus and a delicious bake sale organised by our wonderful Parents Association!
In Secondary, our English Department organised some exciting book-related activities, including an Open Mic reading event in various languages. The day was also marked by the relaunch of our Secondary Library, which now proudly boasts a wide selection of fiction and non-fiction titles.
Joining their students in the festive occasion, our staff pulled out some fabulous costumes and shared their own reviews of some of their favourite books.
This week in class
At GES, we are proud of how our students inspire each other across year groups and we firmly believe that older learners can still learn a great deal from their younger peers.
Our Year 2 were so inspired by Year 1 students’ fantastic Talk 4 Writing work last week that they decided to bring a text map of their model text to life, using actions and Kung Fu Punctuation to help them retell their model letter. Inspired by the research of education author Ros Wilson, Kung Fu Punctuation works by assigning a Kung Fu based sound and action for each punctuation symbol, making it more enjoyable to learn and more memorable for students.
Shout out also goes to Mrs Vavrecka, for her excellent modelling, and Mrs Ogden, for her magnificent artistry skills!
Jumping excitedly into their new Humanities topic with the overarching questions “What makes Geneva so special?”, Year 2 have been focusing on Geography. Starting with bilingual map work looking at Europe, Switzerland, Geneva and Genthod, they have been using globes, atlases and Google Earth, and “walked” the streets of Genthod using Street View on Google Maps.
Year 4 ended their Violin unit with a bang today and performed beautifully to the rest of Year 4, Year 5 and their teachers. It has been an exciting 11 weeks and students have made immense progress as individual musicians and part of an ensemble.
Years 5 and 6 had a lesson in observational drawing this week. Using mirrors and closely following their teacher’s modelling instructions for the proportions of the face, they created a first draft of their self-portraits. At the end of the lesson, they took on the roles of art critics to share and reflect on their creations.
In their P.E. lesson, Year 8 students brainstormed on what fitness is and, based on their experiences, discussed their perceptions of who is considered fitter. The majority agreed the media often portray the stereotype that boys are fitter than girls.
Students then tested their own fitness in balance, coordination, reliability, reaction time and power. Comparing their varying results, they realised that there was no evidence to suggest that there is a difference between boys and girls and that, depending on the sport or activity they chose to play, their fitness levels adapted accordingly. They also discussed how these results relate to their perception of fitness and their own gender stereotypes, arriving at the conclusion that because girls are pushed by society towards traditional girl sports, their fitness adapts to these activities, and the same goes for boys.
A very eye opening activity for them all!
Year 12 Chemists have been investigating how the rate of reaction changes with temperature. As part of this, they carried out the “disappearing cross” experiment using sodium thiosulfate and hydrochloric acid in different temperatures of water baths. This experiment enabled them to experience how chemical kinetics work and consider their application in other disciplines, such as chemical or environmental engineering.
Beyond the classroom
PSHE Enrichment Day
This week was marked by the fourth of our Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education days at Secondary! Focusing on Relationships and Sex Education (RSE), the day was structured around key learning objectives for each year group in Key Stages 3 and 4 through PSHE Association-endorsed, age-appropriate, curriculum resources.
While Year 7 learned about physical and emotional changes linked with puberty and their impact on mental and physical well-being, Year 8 and 9 looked at the importance of mutual respect, consent and trust in sexual relationships and discussed gender stereotypes in sports. In Years 10 and 11, students explored gender identity, expression and sexual orientation as well as the risks associated with misconceptions about sex, gender and relationships and the dangers of unhealthy, exploitative or abusive relationships.
As part of the day’s events, our Secondary School hosted two external experts, Ms Geneviève Preti from the Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève’s Sexual Health Unit, and Psychologist, Ms Arianne Torné, who led a workshop on sexual and gender identity, which included a close look at terminology associated with this topic and Swiss legislation on the matter. Commenting on her exchange with our students, Ms Torné was impressed by their openness on this topic and their honest, pertinent and respectful questions and reflections.
Year 8 Book Look
We were delighted to welcome parents into school this week for the Year 8 Book Look!
Presenting their work accomplished so far this term, our students were able to show the progress they have made in all their classes and explain to their families where their investigations will take them to next.
The morning was also a wonderful opportunity for an informal exchange between parents and teachers.
We look forward to the next Book Look happening next week for our Year 9!
Celebrating International Women's Day
Ahead of tomorrow’s International Women’s Day, our Key Stage 1 students received the visit of Emily Fitzgerald, Public Health Executive for the World Economic Forum’s Women’s Health team and mum of Santi and Sofia in Year 1.
Presenting to students about women and girls’ health, Ms Fitzgerald spoke about the importance of peace in providing the right conditions for everyone, and in particular women and girls, to thrive within their community and ensure a good quality of life for their children.
Our students listened attentively and voiced their own thoughts on the topics raised, concluding the session with the song “I can do anything”.
Extra-Curricular Activities
A Bubble of Fun for Science Club
In this week’s Science Club, our Year 6 made their own bath bombs ! Crafting their bath bombs using several ingredients such as baking soda, citric acid, cornstarch and various fragrances, our scientists learned that the distinctive fizz that these objects make is the product of an acid-base reaction between the ingredients that produces carbon dioxide when they come into contact with water. They also discovered that changing the amounts of the different ingredients affects the fizziness.
Reminder | Music Recital
Save the date for our much-awaited Music Recital!
Taking place on Wednesday 12th March, this event will feature our wonderful instrumental musicians and chorists from both Primary and Secondary.
Join us at 17:30 for what promises to be a magical musical experience!
Note to performers: please arrive at the latest by 16:45 for final warm-up and preparations.
Community News
Faces of GES
Today’s Faces of GES spotlight falls on one of our most recent joiners, Louise Merifield, our new School Office Administrator over at Primary. Having previously worked as an office manager for a software company in Geneva and for the European Central Bank, Louise has, for a long time, been wanting to follow her family’s tradition of working in a school and we are thrilled she chose GES to fulfil this dream. In the few short weeks she has been with us, Louise is already enchanted with what our school has to offer: extremely supportive staff, incredibly friendly parents, our Primary campus’ idyllic location and, most importantly, our amazing students.
A proud mum of two boys, one in Swiss public school and the other studying Physics at the prestigious EPFL, Louise is an enthusiastic mountaineer who has taken on numerous peaks in Europe, including in the Alps, Sardinia and Corsica.
We seize this opportunity to give Louise another warm welcome to the GES family and look forward to sharing with her all the exciting things that happen in our school.
Open Days for Prospective Families
Our school will be taking part in the Open Day Week organised by the Association Genevoise des Ecoles Privées in March! As part of this, we will be holding two open days for prospective families on each of our campuses.
Help us spread the word and share the news with your networks:
- Wednesday 19 March from 9:00 to 11:00 at our Primary campus
- Thursday 20 March from 9:00 to 11:00 at our Secondary campus
On Wednesday at Primary, visitors will learn from Head of Primary, Emma Brassington, about our English National Curriculum delivered to children aged 3 to 11, followed by a tour of the buildings and grounds of the Primary campus.
On Thursday at Secondary, Head of Senior School Daniel Crabtree will present our school’s programme, including the GCSE and A Level provision, as well as the many extra-curricular activities that students can take part in beyond the classroom. The presentation will be followed by a tour of the Secondary premises.
Interested participants are invited to register here.
