It's been a busy but exhilarating time for La Garenne students who have been in Costa Rica, Tanzania, France and Portugal on our annual school trips.

From building chicken sheds and installing solar lights in a remote African village, braving the chilly Atlantic surf in the Azores, enjoying close up views of wildlife (not all of it friendly), to having fun at the Puy du Fou theme park, all ages have made the absolute most of their experiences. Even the unexpected weekend in Amsterdam (thanks to issues at Schiphol Airport) didn't phase us. In fact it became a fabulous opportunity for exploring such a beautiful city.

Sadly the school trips are now coming towards their end and we expect some of our students back in school in the next 24 hours, no doubt exhausted but full of reflection about what they have seen and learnt.

They will spend the next few weeks writing up their journals and putting together presentations for their IB exams and assessments. We can't wait to see them.

Thank you to all the staff who led the trips for their encouragement, care and support of La Garenne's students.

There's been a palpable sense of excitement across La Garenne for the last week, as students and staff prepare for the best event of 2022: the School Trip. Our buildings and boarding houses have been ringing to the cries of "where's my passport?", "I can't find my flipflops" and, most importantly, "will I be able to sleep on safari?"

This year we are going to Tanzania, Costa Rica, Portugal (actually the Azores) and France. Even our youngest children from age 5 have days of activities planned including trips to Aquatis, a chocolate factory and the beautiful floral sculptures down by Lac Léman (Lake Geneva).

Like every school trip, there is always a reason behind choosing the destination. Our students will learn about biodiversity, ecology, conservation, and in Tanzania, they'll be helping on humanitarian projects such as installing solar panels and renovating a school. Privilege comes with responsibility.

The reason for so much excitement - after all, school trips at La Garenne are compulsory - is because we haven't been able to go to faraway places for almost two years. Finally though, with restrictions lifted, bags are packed, plane tickets are bought and yes, those flip flops have been found.

You can follow the progress of our students across La Garenne's social media, particularly Instagram and Facebook, where we will be posting regular updates and highlights.

During the last week of this half term, Year 5 embarked on a new challenge - bringing ‘live’ news to the school community via what we liked to refer to as the ‘LG Radio Show’ aka the academic tannoy equipment!  The students in Year 5 took on this challenge as part of their IPC topic ‘Making the News’, which has involved researching and exploring the developments of news and communication methods over time. Each morning at 8am, three children broadcast the news, live, including lunch menus, announcements, weather and also world news updates. Everyone enjoyed listening to the news - stay tuned, we may decide to broadcast ‘live’ again in the near future!

On Sunday 10th February 2019 our Choir Club travelled to Manchester along with Samantha, Jean-Seb and Kirsty. 

Arriving in the early morning, the students went on a fascinating walking tour around the historical city of Valletta in Malta. We visited the old town with its fortresses, ancient churches, government buildings and narrow streets, all built around the natural harbour.

We then had a whole day at sea on our way to Barcelona, during which the students were able to make the most of the fantastic facilities on the MSC Meraviglia.