This term our students will be learning through exciting new IPC units.

Reception will be learning about ‘Patterns’ and then ‘Animals’.

Year 1 and 2 will be ‘Seeing the Light’ with a Science based unit about light and shadow.

Year 3 and 4 will be comparing the lives of children in different countries in their unit called ‘Different Places, Similar Lives’.

Year 5 will become ‘Space Explorers’ and learn about the solar system.

Year 6 will be studying 3 ancient civilisations starting with the Maya in their new unit AD900.

For Year 7, the unit is based on Risk.    

‘Progress involves exposing ourselves to and considering the impact or forms of danger, harm, uncertainty or opportunity’.

As their Entry Point, the students took part in an exercise involving safety in the mountains when doing outdoor activities and winter sports.

For Year 8, Competition is the theme for their curriculum unit.

‘Trying to beat others has good and bad consequences’.

Their Entry Point took them to the European Curling Centre in Champéry. After an hour of instruction with qualified trainers, the group took part in a curling competition  - with a pizza meal as a reward for the winners.

For Year 9, The Big Idea is based on Interpretation.

‘Only a very few things are true for all people’.

Vevey is the headquarters of Nestlé and home to their food museum - the Alimentarium. Recently refurbished, this is highly interactive museum based on all aspects of food and nutrition. The focus was on the social aspects of food - particularly on our varying opinions on what is good food or not, relating to such elements as culture, religion, age and lifestyle.

The Entry Point for an IMYC Big Idea provides a springboard into the unit of study, focussing the students’ attention and stimulating interest in the subject-based topics that will follow.  

The dust has settled on the first term and everyone is now enjoying a well-earned winter break. The IMYC and IPC Exit Points marked the close of the term. The students’ work was showcased at the Academic Exhibition, which was greatly appreciated by the students and parents. We all then went our separate ways for the winter holidays. 

Just before the end of term, celebratory assemblies were held during which the students received their e-Praise awards for the term. The students in Years 7, 8 and 9 with the highest number of e-Praise points will be receiving a special award. They will be spending an afternoon and evening in Geneva in January. With sustainable living in mind, the group of 18 students and accompanying staff will travel to Geneva by train.  They will see an afternoon performance of the play ‘Pygmalion’by George Bernard Shaw. The Hollywood musical and film versions of the play are better known under the name of ‘My Fair Lady’. The play will be performed by the TNT Theatre group from the UK. This theatrical company is renowned for bringing the theatre alive for young people. The evening will end with a meal at a well-known Italian restaurant in Geneva. Well done to the top scorers on e-Praise!    

May I end by wishing you all a very happy family holiday!      

Here are some pictures of Year 3 and 4 making cartouches in the boarding house for their IPC unit Tombs and Treasures. Thank you Mylene for helping us to extend IPC learning across the school!

The weather has changed, we have had our first snow and the Christmas decorations are everywhere to be seen in Villars. The arrival of the festive season and the winter holiday marks the end of the second set of this year’s IMYC units for Years 7, 8 and 9. 

On Monday the students will begin their end-of-term assessments. These will be in the subject areas of English, Mathematics, French, History, Geography and Science. Art and the Music rely more on continuous assessments and long-term projects that the students have been working on over several weeks.

The assessments are not formal examinations testing only memorised information. They are designed to assess the acquired Knowledge, Skills and Understanding in each of the curriculum areas. The students will undertake tasks related to each of these domains, in which they will need to apply these key learning areas to the specific units they have studied during the term.     

The week ahead is structured in such a way that the students will not have more than two written assessments in one day. These will be interspersed with active revision sessions during which the students will work with their teachers and peers to consolidate their learning and prepare for the assessments. 

The teachers will then be busy writing the reports for the First Term. These will reflect each student’s effort and attainment since the mid-term, as well as their level of performance in the end-of-term assessments.

When all the work and studying is over, everyone will then be able to enjoy a well-earned break.  Happy holidays to all!