The term has started well and we are very happy to see that the students are all back at school and enjoying the new term. It has been quite a cold start with the snow and cold wind  staying with us but hopefully this weekend the sun will be back for the skiers and snowboarders in the school. The classes are very busy fitting in all the subjects into one of the shortest terms and the students are of course, working hard. With the upcoming St Valentine's disco, charity events and end of term ski race, the students will have lots to do!

With the Christmas holidays starting today, we wish all the students a happy holiday and that they have an amazing time with their families. It has been a long term and very busy. The students have worked well and now deserve to relax a little and enjoy their holidays.

The school reports will be made available this week and I hope that Father Christmas is happy with them and adds a few presents, we will see. We hope that all the students enjoy their Christmas holidays!

When educating students a lot of time is spent telling them how to do things, explaining why not to do them, helping them to understand what we are telling them and making sure that the information enters the space between both ears as we say! But the end product can be fascinating, especially when a student is able to learn by themselves, motivated to go further and to take the next steps by themselves.

This photo is of Rio, one of the students who can see the 'bigger picture' so to speak and has his own vision of design and the future of the automobile industry. In his free time, he built his model car, inside and out, from paper and worked on how to create the model he had in his mind. Today this may be a paper car, tomorrow the future of the automobile industry! There is also a similar story of a man and his apple...

The students will be competing in the annual Masterchef competion today, the 12th December. A popular competition, the students begin with a meeting concerning the rules, organisation and how the points are awarded. Once done, each team captain, a member of staff, will choose names from a bag, therefore, we never know who is in which group until we start! If your team is lucky, you may have students in the La Garenne cooking club who already have experience in cooking.

Each team has an envelope with CHF30.- in it to go shopping, buy ingredients and make a starter, main course and desert for one person. All the dishes will be judged at the allocated time with the students present. A trophy is awarded to each member of the winning team. We wish them the best of luck!

It is a very busy week at La Garenne within the boarding department. The students are sitting their exams, the staff are writing reports and the housekeeping staff are organizing the suitcases, transport and departure details. It is important that the families inform us now if they require something in particular to be packed for the holiday period. If you wish to do so, you may send an email to the main office, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or to the house parents This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. If we do not receive a particular demand, we will pack things for three days assuming that the students have additional clothes at home.

Thank you,

Barry & Paula.