Geneva English School

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 final Secondary Sports Day. As individual ambassadors for their House, they 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!

They're off! Our Secondary campus was buzzing with activity this 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 will be touring our beautiful Lac Léman over the next few days, for some as part of their Duke of Edinburgh International Award. They will be camping along the way in campsites near Vevey and Thonon, and given the glorious weather, enjoying a refreshing dip in the lake.

Ahead of the trip, our students have taken part in a number of practice bike rides around school and workshops on bike repair and safe group riding.

Stay tuned for more news of their exciting grand tour!

Our entire Secondary community came together this 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

The day's sporting energy didn't end there though, as students came together during lunch break again for the final House football competition to compete by age group. Congratulations to House Rhône for carrying the day in the Key Stage 3 matches, and to Jura for coming in first in the Key Stage 4 and 5 tournament!

Our Year 7 and 8 campers had a wonderful time on their Outdoor Education expedition to the shores of Lake Annecy!

Students were able to explore the beautiful area around the Camping L'Idéal campsite and observe the ecosystems that live in the shallow waters of the lake and along the shore. Dipping their feet in the cool waters of the lake while enjoying the warm sun was certainly a highlight of the trip, prompting some of our Year 7 students to share their experiences of the trip during their French lessons back at school: “J’ai bien aimé quand on est allé au lac et qu’on a mis les pieds dans l’eau!”

Our campers also enjoyed spending all their extra energy at the campsite’s water park, which featured a swimming pool and slides: “J’ai adoré la piscine et les toboggans – c’était trop cool!” They also had fun exchanging with fellow campers through sports: “C’était mémorable car nous avons joué au foot avec les autres campeurs.“

Well done to all our students for their impeccable behaviour throughout the trip and their curiosity to explore the fascinating natural world at their feet, and thank you to our accompanying staff, Mr Pearce, Mr Feeney, Ms Lanfranco and Mr Dupont-Panon.

Year 5 and 6 students had an amazing residential trip this week, which was full of discovery, adventure and unforgettable experiences.

Their journey began at the Tropiquarium and Zoo de Servion, where they observed the animals being fed and enjoyed a presentation by one of the zookeepers. They then travelled to the beautiful region of Château-d’Oex, where everyone enjoyed walks through some stunning Swiss landscapes.

During the trip, Year 6 adventurers took part in a wonderful farm experience, while Year 5 museum-goers enjoyed visiting the dizzying world of hot air ballooning at Ballons Château-d'Oex. Our students also visited Electrobroc, where they learned about electricity in an engaging and interactive way, gaining important insights into global challenges linked with energy and individual actions that can be taken to conserve it. These are just a few examples of the many activities and experiences students enjoyed during their residential trip.

Throughout the week, they stayed in a beautiful local chalet, run by a welcoming local family, which made the experience even more special. It was a fantastic opportunity for our learners to enjoy full immersion in the Swiss environment, build independence, strengthen existing friendships, make new ones and create lasting memories.

Year 5 students were treated to a fascinating presentation on CERN by scientist and father to Noam, Andrea Giammanco.

Our budding scientists learned about particles and marvelled at how these are racing around a 27 kilometre circuit, at unbelievable speed, beneath our feet in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), to investigate what happens when they collide. Students were interested to learn that scientists don’t have all the answers (yet!) as scientists at CERN are trying to understand dark matter and antimatter.

No fewer than 37 of our students participated in the recent UK Mathematics Trust Junior Mathematical Challenge, a 60-minute multiple choice challenge designed to put students’ mathematical reasoning, precision of thought and fluency to the test.

Results came in last week and we are proud to announce that 18 mathematicians received awards for their excellent performances:

Gold: Sebastian, Jaylen and Aleyna
Silver: Maisie, Arthur, Romain and Fiona
Bronze: Vasco, Qisya, Arun, Niamh, Rosalie, Gabriel, John, Emma, Eva, Chloe and Miri

Congratulations to all of them and well done to everyone who participated.

Our Year 6 Science Club goers had a fun session learning about the mechanisms of electrostatic forces in causing objects to attract or repel each other. By rubbing a balloon on their hair, they were able to observe how, as the negatively charged electrons in the balloon interacted with the positively charged hair, the charge imbalance made their hair (and other objects such as feathers) stand on end.

They then took their investigations further with a hilarious, hair-raising demonstration using the lab’s electrostatic generator!

Summer will never be the same again. ☀️⁣
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Discover the very best of a Portuguese summer in Cascais while learning, making friends, and having fun.⁣
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👉 Ages⁣
6–16⁣
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📅 Dates⁣
28 June–25 July⁣
1 and 2-week sessions⁣
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🌊 Water activities⁣
Surf and yacht sailing⁣
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🏓 Land activities⁣
Horseback riding, football and tennis⁣
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🎭 Musical Theatre with Adderley + Pre-Engineering⁣
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Discover more via the link: https://www.cascais.kingscollegeschool.pt/summer-camp?utm_source=linktree&utm_medium=social-media 💙⁣
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Our Language Ambassadors have continued their efforts towards the promotion and celebration of our school’s languages with a new storytime session in the Library.

Thank you to Mariia, who spent time telling a story in Ukrainian about a small plant that wondered what it would become. Our students learned a few words in Ukrainian and now know how to say “a Haribo tree”!

Today is the International Day of Families, a day when the world celebrates the crucial role that families play in education, social cohesion, and well-being.

Even though we are not in school, today is a reminder to appreciate the family feel that makes our school so special. We are not just a collection of classrooms; we are a community that cares for one another, across year groups and even across campuses. We sometimes take this quality for granted, but it is an aspect of our school that is quite unique and to be treasured.

Whether you are spending this short break together at home or heading off on an adventure, we wish you all a joyful and restful long weekend with your loved ones.