On 13 January, 2014, the Geneva English School will extend its provision for English-speaking primary school students by opening a new nursery school for children aged 3 years and above.
Open to a maximum of 25 children, the nursery will be housed in the historic main building of the school, which has inspirational views over Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc. Teaching methods will follow the same English National Curriculum as the rest of the primary school, but with a strong focus on the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which has a special emphasis placed upon the following areas: Communication and Language; Physical Development; Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Literacy; Mathematics; Understanding the World; and Expressive Arts and Design. Click here for more information on this stage, which is widely regarded as providing children with the necessary foundation for successful progress through school and life in general.
Parents are invited to bring their children to the GES nursery at least two mornings per week between 09h00 and 13h00, although provision can be made for those who need to be left earlier, from 08h30. The morning session will include lunch, vital to the social development of children this age. As soon as children are able to cope with a full day, they will be given the option to stay on in the afternoon, at no additional cost.
A French teacher living in Geneva has just published an innovative new book for helping both youngsters and adults overcome the challenges of learning a new language.
Called “This is NOT a normal FRENCH book”, the 56-page paperback has been written and illustrated by Muriel Lauvige, and is based on years of research and insight into language learning and education. Muriel has over 15 years experience of teaching French and working on education projects around the world with organizations such as Alliance Française and the United Nations.
With its own unique blend of text and comic visuals, this highly colorful publication does not fall into the usual category of books for learning French - indeed each page has been carefully designed to make French as easy and fun to learn as possible. It is filled with comic characters and ready-to-use sentences, and contains just 500 of what Muriel's research has led her to conclude are some of the most high frequency words in French.
Work has now started on a major expansion program at the International School of Lausanne, situated in the town of Le Mont-sur-Lausanne on the northern edge of Lausanne.
Scheduled for completion by September 2015, the program will enable the school to improve its existing facilities, by increasing both its academic and co-curricular offerings to the local and international community. An extra class at all year levels will also enable ISL to benefit from a much wider and more diverse student body, with the intake increasing from its current level of 620 pupils, aged between 3 and 18 years, up to 990 students in 2015.
Founded in 1962, the International School of Lausanne moved to its current purpose-built premises in 2005, and has earned itself a worldwide reputation as a high quality, not-for-profit English-language day school achieving excellent academic results. Not only has ISL spent the last 50 years building up a strong pastoral program, but it has also created a diverse schedule of after-school activities, to ensure that pupils can work in a safe, stimulating and happy environment at all times. Equally important are the staff, who appear to be very happy at the school too, with a turnover of less than 5%!
A new language centre will open on Monday, 7 October 2013, offering state of the art communication facilities for those living in Vaud, between Nyon and Lausanne.
Situated on the recently opened GEMS World Academy campus in Etoy, the World Language Learning Centre will provide a stimulating and innovative range of after-school and evening classes in Mandarin, French (DELF and DALF) and English-language communication for both business use and pleasure.
The center will be open not only to students enrolled at the school, but also children (from age 7 years) in the wider community, and adults. The English-language courses will lead to internationally-recognised qualifications awarded by the world-renowned London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).
Find out more at a special Open Day being held on 25 September, 2013
The International Cottage in Vevey is opening a second campus for its school in September 2014.
Located on the Quai de la Veveyse, alongside Lake Geneva, the new campus will enable the school to accept 145 children up to the age of 15 years old. In the future, the school plans to add the rest of the popular IB programme to their already existing Primary Years Programme, by including the Middle Years Programme and Diploma Programme, and expanding their classes to grade 13. In addition, the curriculum will have a strong Green focus, based on the Green School of Bali model of sustainability.
Principal, Ms. Christine DeLuca, told us, “The outdoor space at The International Cottage will be a unique feature in Vevey. It will be an integral part of our teaching environment, bringing learning to life in an engaging way. The addition of a yurt to our outdoor area will provide students with an inspiring setting in which they can experience community and learn environmental studies.”
