Geneva English School

Pastoral Care and Wellbeing

Pastoral care and individual attention is a key part of what makes GES unique. As the school has grown, we have retained a small school approach to ensuring that our pupils are not only supported and cared for at every stage of their school life, but also well-prepared for the world beyond.

The social, moral, spiritual and cultural development of our pupils is at the heart of everything we do: it is embedded within our formal curriculum, as well as in our core values and pastoral systems. It can be seen in every area of school life: from the classroom to the playground and beyond, for example when our pupils are out and about on trips, visits and tours.

Pastoral Support
Houses
Pupil Voice

Pastoral Support

At GES, all class teachers and teaching assistants monitor the wellbeing and development of children carefully. As a staff team, we communicate regularly in order to help each and every pupil to flourish.

Pupils are encouraged to share any concerns or worries they may have with any trusted adult within the school community. For parents, the first point of contact will in most cases be their child’s class teacher, while other members of the senior leadership team are available at any time to support further.

In addition to this, pupils are also able to turn to peer mentors in Year 6 for advice or before approaching an adult. Pupils from across the school volunteer as play leaders, and are on hand in the playground to encourage inclusive play. We also regularly make use of buddies, both within and across classes, especially to support the new pupils when they first join us.

Houses

Since September 2022, Rhône, Léman, Dôle and Jura have been our new house names, representing the Swiss based natural environment around the school. As they now run through the whole school, from Pre-School to Year 13, they provide opportunities for leadership, personal challenge, teamwork, responsibility and a lot of fun.

Co-operation within houses is celebrated in many areas of school life, from the weekly award of the star cup for the house that has earned the most stars, to the wide range of inter-house competitions (art, karaoke, poetry or maths) throughout the year.

House Captains are elected annually in Year 6 for GES Primary, and in Year 13 for GES Secondary, to act as role models and leaders for their house for the whole academic year. Ms Brewin is our newly appointed House Leader and oversees all house events.

The first-of-its-kind whole school Cross-Country event in GES history happened in October 2022, and was a fantastic way to launch our new houses.

Pupil Voice

At the beginning of every school year, various pupils are elected by their peers to gather and represent their voice to make a positive contribution to the life of the school.

School/Student Councils : meet fortnightly to discuss any concerns, issues or initiatives from their year group.
Food Committee: review the weekly menus according to the tastes of the majority.

Eco-Schools Committee: encourage the whole school community to improve our environmental footprint.
Subject Ambassadors: spread their passion and enthusiasm for their subject (Maths, Science, Humanities, English, French and Modern Foreign Languages).
House Captains: demonstrate leadership and autonomy by running house events and supporting their younger peers.

We are very proud of the contribution of all our students’ committees.

If you would like to know more about our Pupil Voice, please read our blog post here.

Gallery

Cette année Madame Brewin organise le lancement des ‘maisons’ à GES pour renforcer le sentiment d'équipe entre les élèves et donner l'opportunité aux plus jeunes d'interagir avec les plus grands. Les maisons s’appellent Jura, Rhône, Léman et Dôle: des sites naturels que nous pouvons voir depuis l’école.

Mimi, étudiante en Classe 13

Je suis membre du conseil d'élèves ici à GES depuis que je suis au campus primaire (...) et nous avons réalisé de nombreuses choses - l'une de mes préférées étant la suppression du distributeur d'eau non durable au campus secondaire. Cette année, nous allons faire preuve de leadership, développer notre communauté très unie et créer des liens avec les autres élèves. Nous avons discuté d'initiatives visant à améliorer l'organisation de notre école et de la possibilité d'offrir des collations saines et nutritives pendant les pauses.

Cora, étudiante en Classe 13 et membre du Conseil d'élèves