The end-of term examinations will begin on Wednesday 6th December. In last Monday’s assembly, and in the Tutor Periods each morning this week, we have been helping the students to prepare effectively for their examinations. Revision is not simply reading through notes and the students have been given concrete advice and practice on how to revise effectively. They have been introduced to a range of techniques they can use to help them prepare for the upcoming examinations.

In recent years, research in the field of cognitive psychology has given us a greater understanding on how our brains work. This has brought genuine advances in our understanding of how we learn – and how we should revise. We have given the students tips on how they can improve their learning by using such techniques as spaced practice, retrieval practice, elaboration, interleaving, concrete examples and dual coding. Now to put all this learning to good use!

Should you wish to gain further insights into these techniques, the following links might be useful.

• How to Study Effectively for School or College
• The Learning Scientists
• 13 Study Tips

Well done to Kristina, Jack, Nana, Lisa and Ekaterina who were awarded Star of the Week last week.

For our Big Writing we used the story of Farmer Duck to inspire us to write lists. We enjoyed writing in the role of the duck making a list of jobs for the farmer. We shared our lists with a writing partner to check that we had met the objectives.

In science we have been learning about the food groups and how to eat a healthy, balanced diet. First we thought about how we could sort the foods and then we worked together to sort them into 5 groups, thinking about which foods we eat for growth, energy and health.

In IPC we have been learning about where we live. We loved investigating maps of Villars and identifying places we know.

Our Year 9 children and their parents are currently involved In the process of choosing their next school for when they leave La Garenne at the end of this academic year. Choosing a senior school can be a difficult decision given the wide variety of options available. It is important to take into consideration many factors including the size of the school, whether it is a boarding or day school and whether it is single sex or co-educational. The choice is very wide and the process can be very confusing, for both the students and their parents.

Help is at hand, as here at La Garenne we work closely with the parents to advise and guide them in the difficult task of choosing the right school for their child. We have many years of experience working with Swiss schools and also with a wide range of international schools throughout the world. We have an excellent record in placing our students in their first-choice school.

Our partnership arrangements with five leading Swiss schools have greatly facilitated the placement of La Garenne students in these prestigious establishments. Our partner schools are

• Brillantmont,
• Champittet,
• Collège Beau Soleil,
• Le Rosey and
• Leysin American School.

We organize visits and interviews at these schools and liaise closely with them with regard to their entry requirements. On the day of the interview, we accompany the students to the school to ensure that the application process runs as smoothly as possible.

While the partnership arrangements do not guarantee entry for our students, these schools have confidence in the quality of our school reports and other application documents. Therefore under normal circumstances, students are not required to take entrance tests.

This half term our IPC topic is ‘Bears’. We are learning about bear toys old and new, real bears and where they live in the world and exploring the traditional story of Goldilocks and The Three Bears.

For our Entry Point we hosted a Teddy Bear’s Picnic for our favourite furry friends! We were very busy the week before writing invitations and shopping lists. Look at our wonderful writing!

On Monday 6^th November the big day arrived! We all came to school with our bears. There were all different kinds of bears and some were small and some extremely big! Jean-Seb came to visit us and he brought Noutou, his special bear that he has had since he was a little boy. We loved listening to Noutou’s adventures, hearing how he had been lost and found and checking out his repairs from over the years.

We were very busy during the morning preparing for the picnic. Elysa helped us to make Teddy Bear Paw Biscuits and we learnt how chocolate melts when heat is applied. The biscuits were delicious!

We also practised our fine motor skills as we buttered the bread for our sandwiches. We chose our fillings and decided whether to cut the sandwiches into triangles, rectangles or squares. The sandwiches were delicious too!

After lunch we made some Teddy Bear decorations and then we settled down for our picnic. It was snowing outside so we had to have an indoor picnic but it was still lots of fun. We think our Teddy Bears enjoyed the day too!