fbpx

La Garenne School Logo

PARENTS   |   STAFF  |   STUDENTS    ALUMNI

La Garenne Logo Mobile

La Garenne Blog

The La Garenne Blog

Shadow

Academic

Academic
05
December
2022

University Here We Come

Kings College, London

It's that time of year when students eagerly check their emails to find out which university has responded to their applications, hoping for positive news. At La Garenne, the offers are flooding in from top universities in the UK and further afield.

So far our hard-working students have bagged offers from Bayes Business School, Durham, Kings and many more. Clearly this is just the start of the journey to higher education and our students know that getting their heads down and studying hard will see these offers turn into concrete places.

University of Durham

Categories: Academic

05
December
2022

Academics and Boarders of the Week

It’s not all fun and games: our students have also taken part in university open days and visited colleges and universities in London. Back in Le Roc, they know the importance of hard work to achieve their goals and study time is increasingly important as the school year wears on.

Every week we choose two students who stand out for different reasons. Sometimes it is due to their positive attitude, while on others we acknowledge their contribution towards life in the boarding house, either by carrying out their duties to a high standard, or helping house parents or their peers:
Boarders of the week
8th September: Georgy and Issy
15th September: Anna and Evgeny
22th September: Ahmad and Dameli
27th September: Kristina and Daniil D
6th October: Eloy and Liza
13th October: Oleksandr and Myriam
3rd November: Sofia and Nikita
10th November: Taiki and Issy
17th November: Donya and Andrey S
24th November: LC and Rino
1st December: Daria and Roman

Thank you to each and every one of our wonderful boarding students for making this term so special. We hope you have a lovely time with your families over the holidays and come back rested and ready for more amazing experiences in 2023.
Alex, Diego, Laszlo, Mouna and Najima

Categories: Le Roc Boarding, Academic

18
October
2022

The Personal Project

 

We would like to congratulate all our students who have just received their certificates for completing their Personal Projects.

In the final year of the Middle Years Programme, students had to explore an area of personal interest over an extended period. The idea is to give them the opportunity to consolidate their learning and develop important skills they will need in both further education and life beyond the classroom. It also helps them develop confidence to become principled, lifelong learners.

La Garenne sudents needed to complete three elements to be awarded their final achievement grades:

  • Product or outcome: evidence of tangible or intangible results: what the student was aiming to achieve or create;
  • Process journal: ideas, criteria, developments, challenges, plans, research, possible solutions and progress reports;
  • Report: an account of the project and its impact, to a structure that follows the assessment criteria. The report includes a bibliography and evidence from the process journal that documents students’ development and achievements.

The projects were assessed by La Garenne's supervisors and externally moderated by the International Baccalaureate organisation to ensure they met globally consistent standards of excellence. Well done and continue this hard work now you are in DP1 and studying for your Diplomas!

Categories: Academic

23
August
2022

C'est La Rentrée!

Or in English, Back to School!

empty art room

We are barely 10 days away from the school being filled with bustle, laughter and noise as our students return for the start of the new school year. While they've been away, we have been busy sprucing up the campus and getting everything ready for our biggest cohort of students ever.

This is a big year for La Garenne, as we will see our first International Baccalaureate graduates take their leave of us after completing their final exams. It's also the year when we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of La Garenne.

It's barely imaginable that not long after the war, La Garenne opened its doors to young children who had been sent here by their families to experience the clean, fresh air of the Alps. Now, we are home to 150 full-time students aged from just 5 all the way up to young adults aged 18.

Keep an eye out for news of our celebrations throughout the coming school year!
school library

Categories: Academic

08
June
2022

Space - where IS the final frontier?

Spoiler: it's closer than you think ...

Planning a space project and bringing it to fruition is no mean feat for anyone, even Elon Musk. At La Garenne we have our own budding space exploration team, led by 14 year old Mathieu. The team recently built a Space Balloon on their own initiative and launched it into space, with fascinating results. We asked Mat how the project started:

“I've always been fascinated about Space. As a kid I always dreamt of sending something into space, or somehow getting myself into space. A few months ago I was speaking to a friend of mine when we came up with an idea to launch a weather balloon to space. I discussed it with Adam Jozef [Head of Secondary School] and he said he was in to help us.”

How did you go about putting the plan into action and what was your aim?

“We started by buying the balloon, and the parachute, along with the module that records data. I then built a mini computer which was then put in the craft which would use a LTE/4G antenna to stream back live video from the craft. We then streamed the footage back to my computer and onto Youtube for everyone to see. Our aim was simple. We wanted to learn as much about space as we could, and, of course, get some good footage of space!”

What sort of balloon is it and how do you track it?

“The balloon is able to go up to 36'000 metres, but we aimed for 35'000 metres, as it was too complicated otherwise. We bought a GPS Tracker that uses satellite communication to find its position to track the balloon, and I must say it worked very well. We got updates on the whereabouts of the balloon every 5 minutes, which allowed us to pinpoint its location for us to go retrieve it and get all the footage back.”

So what happened when you sent the balloon into space?

“Unfortunately, things didn't go according to plan. Our balloon slightly drifted off course and ended up in Italy, yet to be retrieved. The GPS has given us the coordinates of the box, now we need to find a time to retrieve it.”

What has the team learned from this incredible experiment?

“This is an experience not just for the team but for everyone to find out about our world and how it works. We are hoping that in the future when we retrieve the data, we are able to show it along with the footage for everyone to see. Our mission was focused on the data and the footage, so those are the two most important things that I wish to recover. The last thing now to do is drive to Italy and go get the box, hopefully that goes well.”

How do you feel about the project as a whole and what are your plans for the future?

“I must say I am very proud of the team that has worked to make this possible. We worked hard for 2 months to make sure everything went well, and although it landed in Italy, I am still very happy about the way things turned out. It was a lifelong dream for me to send something to space. I hope to inspire other people to do the same and to launch their own balloons to space.”

We’re all very proud of Mat and his team. This was a brilliantly well planned and well executed project and we are all on tenterhooks for the final outcome. Congratulations to everyone involved and never, never, never give up!

Categories: Academic

<<  1 [23 4 5 6  >>  

Back to top