Message from Ms Matillon, Director General
Dear Parents,
With only four weeks to go before the end of this academic year, the pace of learning and activities in school has accelerated and the days are flying by. Though this has been a short week, we managed to fit three major events – Secondary Sports Day, the Primary musical performance of A-la-la-la-la-la-laddin, and the International Fair – into only four days. This superhuman feat could not have been achieved without enormous effort, creativity and resourcefulness on the part of our staff and our parent community. Their commitment to making each event a huge and unforgettable success is heartwarming, and such a big part of what makes GES so special.
As was announced on Wednesday, today is my final day as Director General of our school, so this is the last newsletter introduction I will write. While the floor is mine, I would like to take a moment to reflect on my two years in this role – what has been, on many levels, the most challenging and rewarding job I have ever had. There have been many long and stressful days, but it has truly been an honour to lead GES. I will forever be proud and grateful to have had this privilege.
Absolutely none of what was achieved since I was named DG could have been done without the outstandingly capable and dedicated team I have had helping me. Our Heads of Schools – Daniel Crabtree, Victoria Newbury, Helena Grant, and Emma Brassington before her – are some of the most clever, creative and caring people I have ever worked with, and their willingness to go above and beyond for our children and young people has never let me down. I cannot thank them enough for all they have done and continue to do for GES and for me.
Many thanks, too, to my other close colleagues, Greg, Rachel, Alice, Sabine, Réjane, Gaël and Louise, who have been so fully in the thick of it with me that I feel like we have spent several years together for every one. Each of them is a multi-tasking wizard, and unfailingly generous with their time and ingenuity. I consider myself to be extraordinarily lucky to be surrounded and supported by this wonderful group of people, as well as by our talented teaching staff and amazing GES broader community, of course.
For this reason, and because I am nowhere near ready to say goodbye to all the children and parents, I am delighted to be staying at GES as Director of Admissions and Enrichment, a position that I will fully assume next academic year. Until then, I will continue to manage the integration of GES into Inspired, and exciting projects such as the delivery of enhancements to our facilities and playgrounds as announced last month.
I would like to echo the congratulations expressed by John Leitao to Daniel Crabtree for his appointment as Executive Head, to Victoria Newbury for her promotion to Head of Secondary – a natural and obvious extension of her outstanding work in Key Stage 3 – and to Sabine Hutcheson for being named University and Careers Counselor for our Secondary School, a role for which she is perfectly suited and equipped.
With that, I pass the baton – and the keyboard – to my successor, Dan, with whom I look forward to continuing to work closely, and who will, no doubt, raise GES to even greater heights of academic achievement and renown.
All the best,
Christina Matillon
Secondary Sports Day
Our entire Secondary community came together on Tuesday morning at the Centre sportif de Versoix for their much-awaited Sports Day!
The ultimate House tournament, this event had our students competing in their Houses and by age group in a number of different sports disciplines, including the 100m, 200m and 800m sprints, shot put, long jump and vortex throw. The morning culminated with a whole community relay race, including staff, which had everyone giving it their absolute all to pass on the baton as quickly as possible, to the cheers of numerous parents who came out to encourage all the athletes. Well done to all our athletes for their performances today, with House rankings in Sports Day coming in as follows:
First place: Dôle
Second place: Rhône
Third place: Jura
Fourth place: Léman
Beyond the classroom
Congratulations Rhône!
The Secondary House yearly results are in and all tallied up and we are happy to announce that the coveted 2026 GES Secondary House Cup goes to Rhône!
The fruit of many months of team work and collaboration under the dedicated leadership of the House Captains, the House Cup is awarded to the House which has accrued the most points throughout the academic year. Students in Rhône have given it their all to earn points for their House in the many events that have been organised since September, which include varied and wide-ranging activities such as quizzes, tug of war trials, cross-country and football tournaments, chess, maths and spelling competitions, regular House registration sessions, and of course, the Secondary Sports Day and the final House football competition, in which they competed by age group. In this final football extravaganza, House Rhône carried the day in the Key Stage 3 matches, and Jura came in first in the Key Stage 4 and 5 tournament!
As individual ambassadors for their House, students have also earned precious points by modelling GES’ values of Integrity, Community, Achievement, Resilience and Excellence every day.
Congratulations to all members of Rhône House and bravo to House Captains Marisa and Youri for steering their House to this great success!
A Farewell Assembly
It was a bittersweet moment for students in Year 11 and 13 this week as they took part in their very last lessons (of their entire school career for our Year 13 leavers!) before they go off on full study leave.
During an inspirational assembly led by Mr Crabtree, students looked back on the journey they have made so far and forward to what awaits them next. Mr Crabtree took them on a throwback tour to the Year 13 students’ birth year – 2008 – which, for some of us, feels like it was just last week!
For our Year 11 cohort, much excitement was in the air as they look forward to joining Sixth Form next year, while Year 12 students are giddy with anticipation to enter their very last year of school.
Extra-curricular Activities
Salsa All the Way to Mexico
Our globetrotters in our Primary Around the World Club travelled to Mexico this week!
They discovered and thoroughly enjoyed listening to Mexican tunes, tapping their feet and clapping their hands to the many melodies, and then turned to cooking to make some delicious fresh salsa with homemade tortillas. Yum!
Staying Fresh at After School Care
Our After School Care students had an amazing skateboarding demonstration this week from our very own skateboard prodigy, Mr Rademaker! They cheered and wowed at the impressive moves they saw, leaving some of them eager to try out this tricky sport.
They later celebrated the lovely weather we have been enjoying by chopping and arranging different fruit into summery designs, before tucking into these deliciously fresh treats.
The Genie and The Lamp
What an incredible show our Year 5 and 6 students put on yesterday at the Espace Culturel de Genthod with their excellent performance of Aladdin!
This action-packed adventure followed the story of poor Aladdin and his drive to make something of his life after catching sight of the beautiful Princess Zahra. The timely arrival of the mysterious sorcerer, Musharraf, seemed too good to be true, as he offered our innocent Aladdin riches beyond his dreams in exchange for fetching a dusty old lamp from a dark cave. The game seemed to be up when Aladdin became trapped in the cave, as was the case for Princess Zahra, trapped in a life controlled by her father. After giving the lamp a good rub, a wish-granting genie appeared from inside, and suddenly the impossible became possible. Even marrying a princess!
The performance was one of a kind: full of energy, featuring magic carpet rides and including clever special effects.
It was made all the more memorable thanks to the amazing scenery created with the help of parents, which included a rotating backdrop, and costumes reminiscent of Hollywood’s heyday!
Science Club Under Pressure
The weather this week was ideal for our extra-curricular Science Club goers to design and build their very own water rockets. Reflecting on the pressure mechanisms behind water squirters, they used simple materials to put together their aerodynamic rockets and watch them launch high into the sky!
A Cycling Trip to Remember
Our Secondary campus was buzzing with activity on Wednesday morning as students in Year 10 prepared to launch on their cycling trip around the lake.
Accompanied by Mr Pearce and Ms Magowan, our cyclists toured our beautiful Lac Léman over the next two days, for some as part of their Duke of Edinburgh International Award. They camped along the way in campsites near Vevey and Thonon, and taking advantage of the glorious weather, enjoyed a refreshing dip in the lake. The gorgeous sunsets over the lake had them musing about William Wordsworth’s poem “Prelude”, which they have been studying in their English lessons, and all the Romantic poetry tropes they have learned about recently: the moon, its reflection on the lake, the boats, the calm waters of the lake, the peaks overlooking the water…
Day 2 of cycling was an especially eventful ride: two riders went the wrong way, leaving the rest of the cyclists to ponder whether inadequate signage was to blame, and a minor, casualty-free crash a short while later in the peloton following the suspicious use of a shortcut gave the advantage to a small six-rider breakaway!
Ahead of the trip, our students took part in a number of practice bike rides around school and workshops on bike repair and safe group riding to ensure that their trip went as smoothly as possible. Well done to all our riders for applying all their careful preparations so diligently and for making the most of this great outdoor adventure!
Community News
June Reading Challenge
Summer is here and with it the final Reading Challenge of the year!
In June, why not read a summer-themed book that captures the essence of the season? Whether it’s tales of beachside adventures, camping escapades, magical summer holidays, or trips abroad, the time has come to get into the spirit of summer.
We invite our readers to imagine that they also have visited the destination in the their book and write a postcard from their summer trip there, telling us what they got up to.
The postcard can be handed in to the class teacher to receive precious stars and a certificate.
University Guidance at GES
Parents of our Year 12 students joined a presentation by Mr Crabtree on university guidance this week.
Mr Crabtree shared information on how GES works to give every student as many potential opportunities as possible when it comes to university selection and application in the UK, USA and in Europe. Covering in detail the UK admissions process through the UCAS system, direct application to institutions in the case of Switzerland, and other national platforms that exist for European universities, Mr Crabtree also went into the different requirements higher education institutions have for students studying A Levels, and the timelines to take into consideration between now and next year.
Mr Crabtree also presented to Year 12 students as a first step towards their university application process, inviting students to think about the subject area they would like to read and which countries/universities they are considering applying to.
As announced earlier this week, the university guidance programme will, from August, be led by Sabine Hutcheson.
St George's Summer Camps
Summer will never be the same again!
Discover the very best of a Swiss summer with our sister school’s, St George’s International School, camps in Montreux while learning, making friends, and having fun.
Open to children aged 4 to 16 and running from 28 June to 8 August, St George’s Summer Camps include:
· Water activities: Paddleboarding, wakeboarding, and sailing
· Land activities: Hiking, bouldering, caving, rock climbing, via ferrata, ziplining, mountain biking, and canyoning
· Morning activities: Languages, STEAM, and Public Speaking & Debating
Great Turnout at the International Fair
Our Primary campus was full of life this afternoon as our entire school community of students, parents, staff and families from across Primary and Secondary came together for the beloved International Fair!
Organised by our wonderful Parents’ Association, this event is a true celebration of what makes GES so special: a tight-knit and incredibly diverse community.
With football marches, mini-golf, croquet, arts and crafts workshops, delicious food stands and a beautiful student art exhibition to discover, there was really something for everyone!
