Message from the Head
Dear Parents,
As the final week of term approaches, this newsletter is full of reminders – it has been a busy week and lots of great things are happening. Thank you if you have attended one of our Primary coffee mornings this past fortnight, it has been great to have you in school. To all our Secondary parents, please check the calendar as each year group has a morning to come into school, see work and meet each other.
Next Monday, our new Director of Sport, Mr Jonathan Sheppard-Burgess, will be holding a Sports Coffee morning (8:10 – 9:15) in the Grand Café at Secondary. All Secondary and Years 5&6 parents are welcome to join.
We will also be happy to show you around the new extension to the school.
For our Secondary parents, please remember to drop your children off at Primary on Wednesday morning for the house launch event and cross country run. We are so excited to be bringing the whole school together from Early Years through to Year 13. Please ensure that your child is dressed in appropriate house colours for this.
Year 6 parents, please remember the secondary transfer meeting at Secondary on Thursday evening from 17:45 onwards – you will have received a reminder email about this today.
Just a final call for our holiday camps. We still have places available on each of the camps running over half term. The French Activity camp (Immerse your child in Swiss culture & French language) will close on Tuesday so that museum tickets can be booked. If you would like to sign up for camps then please do so as soon as possible.
And over the next weeks, you will see several changes and improvements in our email communication with you with the objective to make your life easier and help us streamline a busy and growing school.
Have a great weekend,
Matt Williams
Head
From your teachers, Mr Rogers and Mrs Vavrecka
Secondary French article: Y12 Outdoor Club Hike
Merci à Harry, Karlis, Dylan et Tolani pour leur contribution cette semaine, suite à leur excursion du week-end dernier:
Ce week-end, le Outdoor Club de la classe 12 a fait une excursion passionnante jusqu’à l’auberge de Salanfe à 2000m. Malgré les mauvaises conditions météorologiques du premier jour, nous avons fait preuve de résilience et avons tenu bon toute la journée. Dimanche, sous le soleil d’automne, nous avons fait les 1000m de descente tranquillement tout en appréciant le paysage en bonne compagnie.
Nos moments préférés ont été : les vues imprenables, la chute d’une amie dans une substance malodorante et le mauvais choix de sandwichs d’un autre camarade de randonnée. Nous sommes reconnaissants de l’opportunité que GES nous a offerte et pour les merveilleux paysages de la Suisse.
Primary Library: Monthly theme and reading challenge
The Primary children were all delighted to be back in our new refurbished library this week and are looking forward to take books home.
On the first Friday of each month, we will be sharing here in the newsletter and on My School Portal, a monthly theme and a reading challenge that the teachers share with their classes on their first library session each month.
This month’s library theme is Halloween. How many spooky stories will you read by 31 October?
Save the dates and get your costumes ready!
Just One Tree day: Friday 14 October
As per the letter we sent yesterday, we invite all students (and staff) to wear something green next Friday 14 October to join the Just One Tree initiative.
Primary pupils are also invited to bring in 1 CHF to fund the planting of their tree. During the day the children will be taking part in activities in their House teams.
Secondary students will have a bake sale at break time and all proceeds will be donated to JUST ONE Tree.
Each student in KS3 (Y7-9) will plant either an acorn or a conker in a small pot which they will be able to bring home.
Halloween: Monday 31 October
On our 1st day back after half-term, we will be celebrating Halloween.
We invite the Primary children (and staff, again) to come to school dressed up in their favourite spooky costume, and to bring a few Swiss francs, should they like to buy a little treat or cake from the bake sale, organised by our Parent Reps.
A little bird also told us that Key Stage 3 students are organising a house costume contest on the day – another fun opportunity to score House points!
From the School Office and After-School Care
Term Dates 2023-2024
For holiday planning and booking purposes, we are happy to share our new
Term Dates for the next academic year 2023-2024.
They are published on our website here.
After-School Care weekly theme
“Fall is a second spring when every leaf is a flower” and one of our favorite seasons! Besides the weather cooling down, it’s a fun filled time of year that means apples and pumpkins are ready for harvesting and the trees around us are changing.
Next week in After-School Care, Early Years and Key Stage 1 will be creating scarecrows, constructing 3D Pumpkins, making leaf sun catcher, baking Apple Crisp and going on a nature scavenger hunt!
If you would like more information about After-School Care, please see the information on our website here or contact the Primary Office via [email protected].
Parents Contribution
Christmas Gift Box Appeal
“One more box, one more happy child”
GES will be taking part in the Christmas Gift Box appeal again this year.
Last year Tyrrian Livesley and her team managed to send over 3600 boxes full of love to children in Eastern Europe.
A Gift Box is easy to assemble and it brings hope and happiness to a sad child letting them know somebody cares about them. This year the mission will distribute the boxes in Ukraine and Moldova to as many children as possible.
Your boxes can be dropped off from 7 – 21 November at the Primary Gym and Secondary Reception.
Please click on the link here for more details on the project and read the instructions to wrap your gift box.
Many thanks for your support.
Study on Expat families living abroad
The Faculty of Psychology at the University of Basel has been studying the psychological well-being and socio-cultural adjustment of expat families living abroad.
They have asked us to share this anonymised online survey (about 15 minutes to complete) in case you are interested and have a moment to participate.
The study is looking for English-speaking families with:
- at least one child between the age of 7-17 years.
- an international relocation rhythm of 2-6 years due to the employment of one or both parents.
Details of the study can be found in the attached flyer and on their research website.
