Message from the Head
Dear Parents,
The Primary campus feels very quiet today as over 40 students are on their snow day in the mountains. Skiing, snow walking and a good time will definitely be had by all. The removal of the COVID requirements (and the beautiful weather) has given the whole school community a big lift this week and it is great that we can start getting out into the local environment again. I am sure the Secondary students are looking forward to their trip next week too.
As I outlined in my letter earlier in the week, we are very aware of the conflict in Ukraine and supporting all of our children and families as and when it is needed. Please do reach out to your child’s class teacher or form tutor if you have any questions or concerns and we will be in touch with you directly if we do. If you would like any advice or help and support the leadership team would be happy to have a conversation with you. I know that Ms Fortune, as safeguarding lead, is happy to arrange a Zoom call with any parents if needed.
We were also very busy with Virtual Open Day sessions this week, but please continue mentioning GES to friends and professional colleagues. While we are approaching waiting lists again in some Secondary classes, we are delighted to answer any questions and give prospective families tours from Nursery right through to A Levels.
Our friends from the incredibly innovative, Swiss company, ON:Running, are looking for a new group of young testers for their trainers. We have had a previous group of avid, active kids test their trainers and thus contribute to the latest Swiss R&D development. If you and your children would like to be part of this, you can find the details a bit further on in the newsletter.
Just finally, I wanted to plug the holiday camps that we are running at Easter and in the summer. These are available for GES students and their friends (who don’t have to attend GES). There are lots of camps and activities for all age ranges – including some revision sessions in art and languages for our eldest students. Booking is easy and completed directly through the website. Please explore camp details here and feel free to share the link.
Best wishes,
Matt Williams
Head
Primary Parent-Teacher meetings and Carousel showcases
Primary Carousel showcases
The second rotation of our STEAM and Creative carousels will soon come to an end and we are very excited to be able to invite parents on site to come and see our showcase event. This will provide you with an opportunity to view what the pupils have been learning.
The events will be held at Primary during the normal carousel lessons. The timings of the presentations and exhibitions vary depending on your child’s year group and what they have studied in this rotation. Please see times below:
- Thursday 10 March at 14:15 : Year 6 Robotics Exhibition (Robotics room)
- Thursday 10 March at 14:15 : Year 5 Art Exhibition (Art room)
- Thursday 10 March at 14:30 : Year 4, 5 & 6 Creative Presentation (Gym)
- Monday 14 March at 14:15 : Key Stage 1 Bears Robotics Exhibition (Robotics room)
- Monday 14 March at 14:30 : Reception, All Key Stage 1 and Year 3 Creative Presentation (Gym)
For parents unable to attend, we will be filming the presentations and the video links will be included in the following newsletters.
We look forward to welcoming you again and displaying the children’s fantastic work.
Primary Parent Teacher meetings
Sign up for the Primary Parent Teacher meetings is now closed. All Zoom links can be found on My School Portal, under the relevant section.
If you missed the deadline, you may want to email the teacher(s) directly to schedule a separate appointment.
A kind reminder that only external clubs will be running on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday; clubs run by GES Staff will not take place, except for Science club run by Mr Taylor at GES Secondary.
After School Care and Prep Club will continue as normal until 18:00 on all three days.
Secondary News
Secondary School Council
After last week’s launch of Languages Ambassadors, we are happy to present you our whole School Council:
- Year 7: Leon and Blaithin
- Year 8: Gavin and Ella S
- Year 9: Harvey and Youri
- Year 10: Omar and Finn
- Year 11: Louis, Will and Clara
- Year 12: Mimi and Cora, and Jacopo and Philippe (on rotation)
The students meet on a fortnightly basis and take it in turns to chair the meetings. Each session they bring any concerns, issues or initiatives from their year group with them to the meeting to discuss and take action on, which they also record in our council minutes.
Among other topics raised during their last meetings, the students expressed their interest for whole school hoodies, a vending machine or tuck shop, and a talent show.
We look forward to seeing how those initiatives are materialised in the near future!
Y7 Outdoor Club and ACKER Schweiz
We are very proud to announce that the Y7 Outdoor Club will be working closely together with ACKER Schweiz – a Swiss German organisation that promotes growing vegetables at schools so that students learn about vegetables, how to grow and harvest them in a sustainable way. GES has been selected a pilot school in the Suisse Romande to implement their programme called Gemüseackerdemie.
The planting will start in May but the regional coordinator Letizia Rizzi was already at GES Secondary on Monday this week to get to know the students and the school. Together, they looked at the potential gardening space, distributed soil, removed weeds, studied earth worms and planted garlic.
If you have any questions or would like to donate gardening tools, please contact Mrs Gesa Robinson: [email protected]
Pupil successes
ESF tests - The Fusée
The ski season is in full swing and we are delighted to receive photos and hear of our students’ successes on the slopes in their out-of-school pursuits.
Last week William Morgan (Year 8) participated in his favourite ski discipline, ESF Fusée (super Géant), in Les Gets and achieved his first gold medal level in this category. Huge congratulations to William on this fantastic achievement!
Valais FMV Race
Well done also to Bram Halestrap (Year 4) who came 4th in his Valais FMV Race last weekend!
Please email Mrs Pillot for any individual success updates – we are delighted to showcase any out-of-school achievements of our students in this section of the newsletter.
Admissions for next academic year (2022-2023)
If there are any Parents with younger siblings looking to start Nursery or Reception in September 2022, please get in touch with Alice Priestley in Admissions to register your interest.
Places are filling quickly.
A reminder that if your child will not be continuing to the next academic year at GES, you will need to give a term’s notice in writing to Mr Williams. In order to avoid any fees, notice needs to be received before the first day of the Summer term (by Sunday 24 April). Please email Alice Priestley directly.
The School’s Terms and Conditions can be found on the website.
GES Little Ducklings Playgroup
We are delighted to be able to resume our Little Ducklings Playgroup on site!
They will happen every second Friday from 9:00 to 10:00, starting on Friday 11 March.
Feel free to share with friends who have children between 0-4 years.
It is a wonderful opportunity to meet others and to take part in a wide range of activities (music-making, story telling, arts and crafts) in a stimulating French-English speaking environment.
Link to register here.
"ON:Running" small feet new testing quest
Our friends from ON:Running, the innovative Swiss shoe brand are looking again for “small feet” testers (or not so small) in the following shoe sizes:
- Children that wear kids size EU 31 (UK12.5K/ US13)
- Children/ Teens that wear adult size EU36 1/2 (UK4/ US4.5)
If your child loves sneakers and wears one of the above sizes, please contact Amra from their testing department directly by 20 March via [email protected].
Amra will happily tell you more about their small feet testing project. The fittings will conveniently take part at GES.
