Some of the Year 1 & 2 children created their own School Fair this morning in class, they participated in a range of games and activities. The children were building vocabulary and developing their understanding of story setting; the children will be reading the book Dogger, by Shirley Hughes next week. They enjoyed measuring ingredients to make cakes and finding the correct coins to pay for the games. What an exciting morning!

As part of our non-fiction unit in Literacy, year 3/4 have studied “Persuasive Writing” techniques. As we are all very passionate about animals, we chose to discuss the topic of zoos. The class started by thinking about all the positive things about zoos before turning to look at the negative points. We used drama to hot seat and take on the role of an animal in the zoo so we could consider another P.O.V - Point of view. After finding out more facts and considering all the research we had to choose to be either “For” or “Against” zoos. We then had a class debate and were allowed to change our opinion if we had been persuaded by the other team. Finally, we wrote persuasive arguments to convince our audience that zoos were either good or bad.

Today saw the first term of 2017-2018 come to an end. The exams are over, the end-of-term reports have been sent and all the members of the La Garenne community are looking forward to a well-earned holiday.

This morning we held the Academic Exhibition. The parents were invited to the Academia building and each class was able to showcase the work that they have been doing throughout the term. The accompanying pictures show some of the presentations and demonstrations that were available for the visitors to see.

The morning was concluded with the Christmas Show, performed with great enthusiasm by the younger students. Our sincere thanks go to all of the teachers and students who were involved in this production, which was very much appreciated by the parents.

During the afternoon, Parent/Teacher meetings were held in Academia during which the parents were able to meet with the teachers of their children. Direct discussions of this type are extremely valuable in developing the productive partnerships that exist between the school and the parents. The meetings allow for detailed discussions on matters arising from the reports. They also enable the teachers and school leaders to put in place strategies that guarantee the effective development and progress of each individual student, in unison with the parents.

After the meetings, the students and their parents left snowy Villars for the winter holidays – being sure not to forget their holiday homework and reading list, of course!

May I take this opportunity to wish the whole community of La Garenne a very happy Festive Season!  

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!