Wednesday, 18 November 2009

Earlybird English at St. George's


Cambridge University graduate Lysandra Sinclaire-Harding will be offering English from today to children aged 4-11. There will be lots of games and stories to help them develop their language and understanding. Please contact Mr. Jones if you know somebody who would like to join the group.

We look forward to welcoming the young students and the newest member of the St. George's team!

Monday, 9 November 2009

A showcase of spectacular students


On the 18th of December we will be hosting an eventful night full of creation and entertainment. The Juniors and Middle classes will be performing plays that they wrote themselves. Along with this fabulous performance the art works of the whole school will be on display, and also some musical talents. The Juniors will be performing 'The Sinking Island' and the Middles will be performing 'Strange Noises and their Effect on Dreams or When the Repairman Rings Thrice.' Tickets will be on sale from the 1st of December. To purchase tickets email pjones@st-georges.ch Mara and Annabel, from the Junior Class, will be in charge of ticket distribution.


Tuesday we are planning an exciting trip to St-Georges in Clarens to watch their pantomime which is Cinderella. Kirsty and I are getting very excited as we love excursions :)


We love the school and the food is especially great we can't get enough of it.
At break we have cereal bars with tea or hot chocolate and sometimes we have Nutella or Ham sandwiches. Sometimes we have nibbles too. At lunch we all sit together with the teachers. We always have a hot meal followed by a pudding.

WE LOVE ST GEORGES!!

Love from Carla and Kirsty Xx

Tuesday, 3 November 2009

House System

We decided to name the house teams after the three lakes of the area, and to use the colours of the flag of the city. So the house teams are as follows:

House points are awarded for achieving 5 merits in any of the following areas:
- Homework
- Contribution
- House competitions
- Service to community
- Exceeding expectations

Merits also count towards personal awards:
50 merits = bronze award
125 merits = silver award
250 merits = gold award
500 merits = platinum award

So, the challenge is set - who will be the first award winner???

House competition update:
Neuchâtel house won the unihoc tournament, Morat house won basketball and Bienne house won the football!!

Monday, 2 November 2009

Connecting learners in a global world

Hello, this is Mara, Anne-Gabrielle & Annabel! We are focusing on global education this week. Our school has been comparing different schools around the world and the way they teach. Our school is in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Anne-Gabrielle will now speak.

I always lived in Switzerland. I went to 3 different schools since primary school. In those 3 different schools I learned English, French, German & in year 7, a little bit of Latin. For 5 years of primary school, I was in a private school. For 1 year and 3 weeks, I was in a public school. Now, I am in St. George's school in Neuchâtel! I really like schools in Switzerland because I learn about a lot of stuff, but I would like to learn more about the South & North Poles and how they go to school and how they learn, what they do with their day.

Now, Mara will speak.

I've been to 2 different schools in Bucharest, Romania & in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. They are a bit different. There, I spoke in English & learned French. Romanian is my first language. At my other school we didn't do German, but here we do. I would like to find about schools in India because there are more poor people there and I want to know how they afford their necessities and materials for school.

Now, Annabel will speak.

I've been to 3 different schools in Sunnyvale, California and in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. In California, we didn't get to do many experiments or go on any excursions because schools didn't have enough money. In my first school in Neuchâtel, we used materials such as blocks and sticks. We learned square root with those materials. The problem was, in adulthood, would we have those materials? Overall, every school is extremely different. What I would like to find more about is how strict are teachers in other countries. What are their customs in class?

Students in our school took a survey made by a senior student in our school about how they see schools. She asked about the uniforms, what is a good teacher to us, why schooling is important for us & how our school can be improved.

In languages, we did an essay about our different schools we had been to and what languages were spoken there. What were the differences between our previous schools?

We are submitting our work to be published as part of an international student project. Hopefully our work will be accepted & we will be invited to take part in an online conference with students from all around the world!

Monday, 19 October 2009

Suchard

On Friday the 25th of September the whole school went to Suchard museum in the centre of Neuchâtel. It was really fun. First we went to the workshop to decorate our chocolate. We put some candies in it to make it look more colourful. When, when we finished, the guide showed us and introduced us to the museum. He showed us different flavours that you can put in the chocolate, he also showed us some posters that represent Suchard, some very interesting old machines and a very beautiful statue. It was really, really interesting. We all had so much fun. Then, when the tour finished we went back to the workshop and we took our chocolates that were ready. When we got back to school we were all very tired, but it didn't really matter because we all had so much fun.

The end, by Mara

Thursday, 1 October 2009

Un message du directeur, Monsieur Jones

Un mois de Septembre fabuleux ici à Neuchâtel, pour l’ouverture de St. George’s. Le soleil a brillé sur notre ‘rentrée’ à plus d’un titre!

Quelle transformation, dans un bâtiment, en l’espace de quelques semaines. Des espaces vides sont devenues des salles de cours vivantes, débordant d’activités, reflétant des personnalités et spécialités. Une balade dans l’école est maintenant un voyage autour des ‘domaines de la connaissance’

Nos visites à Neuchâtel ont laissé des impressions qui sortiront en vidéo prochainement; des modèles réduits de la ville et des poèmes inspirés par les vus du lac; des images et des photos ‘des Trois Lacs’ (qui seront immortalisés dans les noms de nos ‘houses’) ornent les couloirs; nos étudiants polyglottes friment en posant leurs origines et leurs langues, sur une carte du monde.

Nos trois 'Misses' (Mesdames Beubry, Thompson et Fish) ont fait des merveilles avec leurs classes respectives. Les plus jeunes élèves sont pleins d’enthousiasme et de vitalité; les moyens le sont autant, bien qu’avec une image plus ‘cool’; nos grands confrontés à leurs nouveaux univers de littérature, de science et des mathématiques, n’arrêtent pas de cogiter.

Au piano et aux claviers, avec Monsieur Laubacher, les préparations sont en cours pour une performance musicale à Noël.

Tandis que l’espace, en haut, sous le toit, a été transformé par Monsieur Uroz en une arène superbe pour ses élèves artistes pour travailler et exposer.

A l’extérieur, sous un soleil d’été, Mr. Clarke fait découvrir plusieurs activités sportives aux élèves.

Jetant un coup d’œil derrière les salles de cours après 16 heures, on y voit des élèves consulter leurs blogs, bavarder et danser.

Effectivement, en l’espace de quelques semaines, les professeurs et les étudiants, ont transformé; 50 rue Sainte Hélène, en un lieu de savoir, une école!

Bravo!

A message from Mr Jones

A stunning September for St George's opening, here in Neuchâtel. The Sun has shone on our 'rentrée' in more ways than one.

What a change, in a building, in a few weeks. Empty spaces have become vibrant classrooms, reflecting personalities and specialities. A trip around the school is now a voyage around 'areas of knowledge'.

Our visits to Neuchâtel have left impressions soon to be released on video. From scale models of the town to poems inspired by lake views. 'Les Trois Lacs' (to be the immortalised in the names of our 'houses') decorate the corridors; our polygot students show off their languages and origins on a map of the world.

Our three 'Misses' (Madames Beubry, Thompson and Fish) have worked wonders with their tutor groups. The juniors bristle with vitality and enthusiasm; the middle class are no less involved, albeit with a 'cooler' image to the fore; our seniors faced with their new worlds of literature, science and mathematics have not had time to take off their thinking hats.

On piano and keyboards, preparations are under way, with Mr Laubacher, for a Christmas performance. While the space, up under the roof, has been transformed by Mr Uroz into a stunning arena for his student artists to work and exhibit. Outside, under a summer Sun, Mr Clarke has had everybody playing, it seems at sometime or another, every sport. Peeping around, behind the doors after 4, there's blogging, babble and ballet.

In the space of a few weeks, teachers and students, have transformed rue Sainte Helène 50 into a place of learning; a school!

Bravo!