When we think about education, we sometimes stop at the academics, what a child learns in the classroom. Within a boarding school, we place a lot of importance upon the wellbeing of a student, especially making sure they understand responsibility and how to be sociable well balanced human beings. In the school, as in the photo, we expect the older students to spend time with the younger ones, in order to be good examples for them as well as understand how to be more responsible young adults.In the Photo, Artem is giving a short football lesson.

International Mindedness is a key part of the underlying philosophy of the IMYC curriculum. At La Garenne we regard this as an important element in the development of Global Citizenship in our students. The learning goals for International Mindedness are shown below. They are not linked to any one particular subject, but are related to many of the ‘Big Ideas’ in the IMYC.

• Know about the key features related to the different lives of people in their home country and, where appropriate, their parents' home countries.

• Know about the key features related to the different lives of people in the countries they have studied.

• Know about ways in which the lives of people in the countries they have studied affect each other.

• Know about the similarities and the differences between the lives of people in different countries.

• Be able to explain how the lives of people in one country or group are affected by the activities of other countries or groups.

• Be able to identify ways in which people work together for mutual benefit.

• Be able to develop an increasingly mature response to the ‘other’.

• Be able to appreciate another country, culture, society while still valuing and taking pride in one's own.

• Be able to show consideration for others when making choices and decisions both in and outside of the school community.

• Be better able to recognize the nature of friendship, how to make and keep friends and display effective social relationships.

• Develop an understanding that there is value in knowing and understanding both the similarities and the differences between different countries.

• Develop an understanding of the impact of culture, law and economics on host countries when groups migrate.

We are currently looking at the threats posed to the continent of Antarctica by humanity. The students examined eighteen real and potential threats to Antarctica and then worked in pairs on a ‘diamond nine exercise’ (inspired by www.teachitgeography.co.uk) to discuss and visually display their ideas on what might constitute the most serious threats to the continent.

An example from a pair of students in Year 7 is shown below. The final stage will be a role-play exercise in which the students will work together to discuss how Antarctica might be protected, and to draw up a charter. They will take the roles of conservationist groups, petrol companies, scientists, tourist operators, and governments, for example, with potentially opposing views. This has links to several of the learning goals and should increase the students’ awareness of what will surely be a major issue in their lifetimes. To deal with these threats successfully will require Collaboration, Communication and Leadership; which are the three ‘Big Ideas’ the IMYC students have been exploring this term.

With the end of the year soon upon us, there are many meetings going on in the school. This morning, the students in the boarding committee met to discuss the Saturday charity cake sale. The students will be selling cakes in Migros in Aigle and all the money raised will go towards  our school charities.

With the end of the school year soon upon us, the school football teams are getting ready for their last matches which will be played over the next few weeks. The girls team have done very well this year and the boys team have managed to stay on top of things although there have been a few close calls so far! We hope they do well and enjoy the match!

In Science, our topic this term is 'Properties and Change of Materials'. We have been carrying out weekly investigations and experiments, and the two pictures show us separating different materials and also looking at which were soluble or insoluble, to make solutions. The children have also been learning the key vocabulary for this topic, as well as enjoying kahoot quizzes to check their understanding.

In Maths this week, we have been working on long division using the 'chunking method', which has been a new challenge for the children. They have shown resilience and risen to this challenge! We also revised Roman Numerals, converting numbers up to 3000!

In IPC, our topic of 'Moving People' has proved extremely interesting to the children, broadening their ideas about the world and developing empathy for others. Today we debated whether the UK (like many other countries) should except more refugees. 

In Literacy, the children have written empathetic poems, with rhyming sentences, to show their thoughts about their sense of culture and what it would feel like to lose it. We had lots of thoughtful, deep ideas and real empathy for those children that have lost their homes and left their countries due to a number of reasons, in extremely difficult circumstances. All our work this term has linked to our class reader 'Boy Overboard' by Morris Gleitzman.