Dear All,

We hope you are well and that staying at home is not too difficult. We are happy to see  that you have all been able to follow your studies and that you are managing. The boarding team have set up Google groups for all the boarding students and we have spoken with some of you over the last week. Please feel free to contact us and speak with the boarding team if you have any questions or just want a chat! At the moment we are very lucky in Switzerland as the weather has been warm and sunny which makes staying at home a little easier when you can open the window and have a beautiful view of the Swiss mountains in front of you.

Take care, the Boarding Team

We had a fantastic week of exciting celebrations for World Book Day. Each class showed superb collaboration and communication in the door dressing competition. Most importantly, it was fun, creative and got us talking about books!

We also had a day of ‘drop everything and read’. You guessed it, when the tannoy announced ‘drop everything and read,’ that is exactly what we did. We loved having additional reading time and the excitement of never knowing when it could happen!

At the end of each unit of work, the MYP students are assessed using a model known as GRASPS. This form of assessment is based on the most current educational research. It brings together all their learning from the work they have done during their current MYP unit and the tasks can take a wide variety of forms which aim to ensure that students can solve real-life problems. 

The term GRASPS comes from the acronym described below: 

• 𝙂𝙊𝘼𝙇 - 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦?
• 𝙍𝙊𝙇𝙀 - 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵'𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬? 
• 𝘼𝙐𝘿𝙄𝙀𝙉𝘾𝙀 - 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦?
• 𝙎𝙄𝙏𝙐𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 - 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵, 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦?  
• 𝙋𝙀𝙍𝙁𝙊𝙍𝙈𝘼𝙉𝘾𝙀 - 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱? 
• 𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙉𝘿𝘼𝙍𝘿𝙎 - 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 ? 𝘖𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘥?

Grasp assessments are linked to the skills that are key elements of the MYP programme and aim to ensure that students are well prepared for Diploma Studies. 

Assessments can take a range of forms such as formal tests, research projects, presentations, artwork, podcasts, radio programmes or films. Over the year, the various GRASPS develop and assess a wide range of skills, which are linked to learning styles of each individual student and the Approaches to Learning (ATLs) that are an integral part of the MYP programme. 

Below is an example of an assessment using the GRASPS approach, from the Individuals and Societies course for MYP 3.

https://www.la-garenne.ch/PDF/example-of-an-assessment.pdf

Sunday March 8th was International Women's Day.  The theme for this year is #EachforEqual and the idea that 'an equal world is an enabled world' - a world which works for everyone.  

At La Garenne we decided to mark International Women’s day by focusing on celebrating the achievements of women who inspire us and on Monday 9th March a small group of MYP2, 3 and 4 students delivered an assembly that introduced the whole Senior School to women from Science, Sport, Politics, Medicine and The Arts.  

Each of the student and staff speakers (thank you to Greg, Eurgain and Denise for their contributions too) chose a woman from their home country to celebrate and we heard about women from Switzerland, Nigeria, Russia, Iran, China, Japan, England, Wales and the USA.

We were privileged to receive special messages for the La Garenne community from explorer, celebrity expedition leader and internationally renowned survival consultant, Megan Hine (@Megan_Hine) and the incredible Dr Camilla Pang (@millie_moonface) a scientist and author who describes her autism as a 'super-power' and whose book, 'Explaining Humans: What Science Can Teach Us About Life, Love and Relationships' is out in hardback on March 12th.  

The real ‘take-away’ message of the assembly and International Women’s Day for us is that everyone (girls and boys, women and men) should, ‘‘Be confident with what you love to do, what you want to achieve and what you want to be part of. You are a human, a curious hardworking one who has every right to make their mark.’ (Dr Camilla Pang, March 7th, 2020.)   

At the end of the assembly, we all made a commitment to work towards an equal and enabled world, making the official International Women’s Day ‘equals’ sign with our arms, or by holding up one of the IWD 2020 selfie cards.  

We are proud to say that La Garenne believes in equality.  The students of La Garenne inspire us every day. The boys and girls of La Garenne are the ones who are going to change the world!  #EachforEqual 

After being very patient Year 1 and 2 finally launched their rockets this week as part of their IPC topic, From A to B. Thanks to Paul and the Rocket Man they also enjoyed astronaut ice cream after the launch! They enjoyed making their wheeled vehicles in Technology. Well done Year 1 & 2.