🍂Happy October Break🍂

Following an excellent start to the academic year that has flown by, the October Break has begun! It has been a pleasure working with the boys over the past seven weeks and we wish all the boys and their families a restful and relaxing holiday. We look forward to welcoming the boys back in the Léman boarding house at the end of October to continue what has been a very good term so far!

The boarding house will be closed from 09:00 on Sunday 13 October to 09:00 on Saturday 26th, so please plan return travel accordingly. In the meantime, you can stay connected with the school through the CDL News app that can be downloaded here!

NHS Induction Ceremony

This evening we had our annual National Honor Society Induction Ceremony for the ones that are now officially members of such a historical society. We are proud to say that 7 of our boys get the honor to join and make the pledge today. So, congratulations to Asiimwe, Aijuka, Adi, Apollo, Enrico, Antoni and Liusen. Well done and well deserve it!

NHS Pillars

Service

Leadership

Scholarship

Character

I pledge myself to uphold the high

purposes of the National honor Society

to which I have been selected;

I will be true to the principle for which

it stands; I will be loyal to my school;

and will maintain and encourage

high standards of scholarship, service,

leadership and character.

The First Weekend Of October!!

As we approach the October break, students remind themselves that they still have one more weekend of fun before they go home and see their families.

Our amazing activities run by our team, with the purpose of providing entertaining activities for them.

An excellent Colour Run!

On Friday, some of the Léman boys enjoyed the Colour Run – A (slightly messy) colour-filled run through the Concha gardens. Not only was it an opportunity for students of different houses to spend time together and have fun, but it was also a reminder of the importance of exercise within the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle. Thanks must go to Mr Joe and Ms Perrine for organizing this great event!

Sunday 5 Kilometre run

Congratulations to Oscar, Cheickna, Samuel, Apollo, Jason, Ignacy, Antoni and Liusen for completing this year’s 0-5K challenge! Despite some rain this weekend, the sun shone this afternoon as our boys ran the 5 kilometre course taking them around the area. Special thanks must go to Mr Joe for organising this event and providing students with a good opportunity to get active!

A busy Weekend of activities

Despite the chillier temperatures, the Léman boys partook in numerous exciting activities to relax after last week. Our boys enjoyed Climbing, Tennis, Golf and Badminton, taking the opportunity to move around and enjoy the facilities available. Some also took part in Cooking, making gnocchi from scratch.

 

Geneva Lake Clean Up by Liusen

On the windy Saturday, we went to a special activity in Geneva Town– Nettoyage annuel de lac, which is a event open to the public and you can help to clean the garbage near or in the lake. The area we were in charge of was part of the beach next to Jet d’eau. At first no rubbish was seen on the surface and we thought the whole activity is easy until many rubbish were found under the rocks and tangled plants. Plastics bottle, aluminum cans, plastic packages were picked out by us, and there have started to have more and more rubbish in the bin bag. After we finished, I felt accomplished but also concerned by the amount of rubbish we found just in a small area. From this activity, I realized how much we should keep improving in recycling in order to protect our own planet.

An Activity-filled Windy Weekend

This weekend, the Léman boys took advantage of facilities both within the school campus and further afield, partaking in golf, tennis and climbing among other activities. Despite the chilly breeze this weekend, the boys’ enthusiasm was unaffected and great fun was had!

 

 

The Mountain Weekend in Leysin and Verbier

This weekend, we went on our annual autumn term mountain trip, which was planned by our fantastic Camps Team.

Our grade 10 students packed their bags and travelled to the magnificent resort of Leysin, where they explored new surroundings and developed new survival skills. Our grade 11-12 students visited the magnificent resort of Verbier, where they mountain biked around the 4 Vallées, went rock climbing, and took photos of the scenic surroundings.

Most significantly, all of our students had a fantastic time and created unforgettable memories.

September’s Boarding Assembly

Tonight was our first boarding assembly, and we discussed a variety of things. We had an incredible presentation by Aydan and Antoni, who spoke about their experiences during the Triathlon, and of course, our one and only Joe, who delivered a sharp speech about the annual Escalade run!

UTMB by Ignacy

UTMB: Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc

It is a trail race of 176 km of running through mountains with a total elevation of 10,000 metres. The race road is a circle surrounding the highest mountain of Europe, Mont-Blanc, and is passing through three countries (🇫🇷, 🇮🇹 and🇨🇭). This circle is completed on average in 38 hours however the top racers had completed it within 20 hours. This means that the winner had an average of 9km per hour, most of people in the world wouldn’t able to hold this speed for 5 kilometres.

Each year around 10,000 runners are allowed to run. The polish runner that we supported was holding the position near to 300 till the 17th out of 20 stop points due to experiencing of a painful injury. Later after receiving help with the wound he had an instant improvement as till the end he overtook additional 80 runners and ended the race qualifying in the top 250th places

An excellent weekend of activities!

This weekend, the Leman boys participated in a variety of exciting activities, taking advantage of the beautiful weather. Off-campus activities included golf, horse-riding and being towed around Lake Geneva on a banana boat.

There were also numerous on-site activities for the boys to take advantage of, such as climbing and tennis. They all showed great enthusiasm and relished the chance to relax after a busy first full week.

 

The Dynamic Duo!!

Antoni and Aydan participated in the Lausanne Triathlon. We are all incredibly proud of what they accomplished. Both of our Léman Boys completed their Triathlon with considerable mental and physical effort.

A Weekend Full Of Activities

The weekend activities have returned!

Our students have participated in a variety of events this weekend. Several fresh and old experiences!

Paddle boarding, wake boarding, and being pulled by a banana boat on Lake Léman were among the off-campus activities we offered, but we also provided some on-campus activities. There is a lot to do at Collège du Léman!

 

 

Happy Summer Holidays!!

Léman will soon be closing for the summer break. We have had a great year, and we hope everyone enjoys a fantastic summer break with their loved ones. We look forward to seeing all the students arrive back on campus in August! Take care everyone!

Last weekend before the summer break!!

Between packing and goodbyes, we have had activities as well. Officially we can say that we are in summer and it is already visible that next week the holidays start. This last weekend we had paddleboarding, banana boating, climbing, running club and chess club. What a way to say goodbye to this school year and the lake.

 

Domiciano – A writer and dreamer ✍️📖

Domiciano is a passionate writer and today we decided to talk to him about his published book as well as his creative process. We had an informal interview/chat which was fantastic and gave us a little more insight into what it takes to write a book. Below are some highlights of our talk:

 

When did you first realise you had a passion for writing? 

“I guess that this started with school assignments and having to write and prepare assignments for literature subjects. I then realised that writing was a great way of expressing myself better and constructively sharing my thoughts.”

Was there a particular moment or experience that led you to start writing?

“Not really, I must admit that my parents encouraged me to do so and this was a supportive push for me to write my stories.”

Are there any Authors, Books or people that inspire and influence your writing style?   

“I would say that my Dad and Sister also write and this encouraged me to do so as well. One of the Authors I get inspiration from is Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, a Portuguese writer who in many of her works describes Childhood memories and nostalgic moments”

Has reading influenced your writing or even the other way around? 

“Reading makes me more aware of other genres and great ways to send my message across to an audience. It provides style ideas and structures that I can then use within my own ideas”

What inspired the idea for your book – The Curls of Kavuto? 

“I would say mainly my sister but most importantly a little reflection on Angolan Society in general.”

Many authors and artists have different creative processes. What is yours? 

“What works for me is during the day, for example, I get ideas and make a note of them on my phone. As some time I start puzzling these ideas together to find a great theme or paragraph. I also start finding ways to connect what I have been reading and experiencing around me every day and write with this in mind.”

What did you do when you hit a creative dry spell?

“When this happened I normally did some research about my topic and this helped connect me back with my own storyline.”

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced while writing and publishing your book? 

“I would say working with the Editor was very challenging as we needed to meet several times and discuss our differences in opinion but ultimately produce a great book together. Also at the book launch in Luanda, speaking in public was not easy as people had many questions and I needed to find different ways to convey my answers clearly and effectively.”

What is the most surprising thing you learned about publishing a book? 

“The most surprising thing for me was the amount of people involved and necessary to publish one book is incredible from the Editor to the  Illustrator, Paging, Translator, and many others that need to work together with one common goal.”

What advice would you give your friends here at CDL who also love to write but haven’t had the courage to share their work yet?

“I would say that finding someone you fully trust and sending them your work is very important. You can ask their opinion and discuss your work without it becoming public or with any judgment. After that, you might then feel more incentive to approach another writer or editor and ask for their opinion. Also, you can always use a Pseudonym if you are not comfortable with your name being used in publications. The important is writing and seeing how your words are read by different people.”

Do you have future publication plans? 

“Yes, I really want to write a Novel for an older audience and possibly make that into a screenplay or theatrical play. In the works still … “

 

 

Thank you so much Domiciano for sharing all of this with us. We loved your book and look forward to reading your next Novel!