In our monthly Boarding Assembly, we had the privilege of Gabriel performing for us.
Gabriel has self-taught himself how to use a looping machine. With this device, Gabriel can create a sound with his voice, such as beatboxing, record it, and then have the machine play it over and over while he then records another sound or sings.
Everything you will hear in this video has been made by Gabriels voice recorded live on the evening.
On Tuesday we had our weekly international dinner evening. This time we got to enjoy the delights of Portugal. The best part of the evening, in my opinion, was the Pasteis Nata which are a delectable dessert. Thankfully we can also get these desserts at our local Epicerie Pont-Céard.
This weeks wellbeing tutorial was continuing on the third pillar of Building Positive Friendships
This week we focused on Role Models
For this week we first explored what our definition of a role model was. Although each of us has an understanding of what a role model is, the boys found it difficult to come up with a succinct description. It was easier to compile a list of words regarding what a role model should be. However, we landed to the simplicity of “someone you look up to”. This allowed us then to discuss that this could either be positive or negative and therefore concluding a role model must be a positive influence that we look up to.
We then shared a worksheet with the boys that asked a number of questions, here is a summary of some of the answers (repetitions have been omitted);
honest, helpful, successful, humorous, wise, smart, respectful, loving, interesting, ambitious, achiever, caring, happy, kind, doesn’t do bad things, nice, friendly, social, a leader, strong, fair, hard-working, peaceful, open-minded, loyal, brave, never gives up, encouraging, calm, inspiring, genius, ambitious, talented, iron-willed, great, polite, likeable, thoughtful, rich, handsome, healthy, good appearance, power, cool, chilled, funny.
Julias Caesar, My Dad, Bill Gates, My uncle, JoySad, Captain America, Henry, Parents, Lebron James, Warren Buffett, My grandfather- (the majority choose their parents)
he is honest; they are successful; they have the qualities above; because he is rich and successful; I look up to his achievements; they reached everything they could wish for because they worked hard; because he has the spirit to win and works hard which encourages me; if you watch the Marvel movies you would know; because he is perfect; because he is the best support for everything and always helps people and never gives up; he gives me good advice and helps me in and out of school; he earned alot from using a clever mind; they worked hard; because I want to make him proud; he was the greatest ruler of all time; he is funny.
Adam; Minghe; Tom; Henry; House Parents; Mishaal; Zihao; Mr Usher and Salva
No – 3 Yes- 11 Not Sure – 12
I am smart; to be honest; everything; nice, good, respectful, wise; caring, loving, pure-hearted; im kind, helpful and people look up to me; Friendship, cleverness, strongness; success and I’m clever; nice, smart, helpful; friendly; funny; kind; handsome and helpful; smart; helpful, a good friend and brave; calm; intelligent, shrewd, talented, wise; chill;
This was a great exercise to do with the boys as it not only taught them; what a positive role model should be, it also got them to appreciate those that they do have in their life and to reflect on whether they were presenting themselves as a role model to others.
This weekend we had another full offering of activities for the boys to choose from. These included tennis, cooking, swimming, horse riding, boxing, karting, body shaping, yoga and of course our Ski Day in Villars
On Saturday the students had another opportunity to go skiing or snowboarding. This is in addition to our two mountain weekends. We had 4 people from Leman 1 choose to take advantage of this and they had great conditions for a good day on the piste. They went to a new location in Switzerland called Villars. We will offer another two ski days in March.
On Tuesday we had our 3rd instalment of CDL Talks. This was with guest speaker Ismael Fernandez who came to talk about “How to turn your passion into your job”
Last weekend we had our first Winter Weekend up in Crans Montana. This is an annual opportunity for the students to get to experience the snowy mountainous area. They had the options to Ski, Snowboard or take part in a varied amount of other activities.
We will have a 2nd weekend in Crans Montana at the end of February.
This weeks wellbeing tutorial was continuing on the third pillar of Building Positive Friendships
This week we focused on Friendship Groups.
For this week we looked to the animal kingdom to help understand and compare the different types of roles there are in Friendship Groups.
Chickens form a tight group and it is very difficult for a new chicken to be added to the group. In most cases when this happens, the group will attack the new chicken and peck it to death. In addition, bigger stronger chickens will peck other chickens into submission to be the more dominant- hence the phrase ‘pecking order’
Dogs like to be in company, they like to be part of a pack. However, within a pack, there is always one who takes the lead. This is known as the ‘top dog’ and it is not necessarily the biggest or strongest. Relating this to humans, there is also normally a hierarchy, but this could be the eldest, smartest, most well-liked etc.
Chimps always want to be together. They do not survive well alone or being outcast from the group. Chimps are altruistic and are always helping each other out. They epitomize the phrase- ‘you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’
Geese stick together and stay in formation when flying. This is because they are better together as one. Flying on mass in formation helps with air resistance and also protection. They also take in turns taking the lead and ensure that the less strong flyers are kept between others. In essence, they ‘flock together’.
The Quokka is an unusual animal found in Australia. They love attention and when given it always appear to smile. They are positive and inquisitive animals that enjoy company. And their smile is infectious.
There are thousands of more animals we could study.
However, when we look at these animals and how they operate in their groups, we can see that there are similarities with our friendships groups. There is normally a top dog, and a pecking order, we like to flock together, we like to support each other, we also enjoy company. We asked the students to think about what role they play in their group and ultimately whether they are a positive influence in their group or not.
On Saturday I went to the lake with Diana the photography teacher. I spent two and a half hours taking photos and enjoying the nature. If you want to take good photos it takes time to work on it. I took over 400 photos but I am only happy with 10 of them. It is normal to take lots of photos and then to choose the best quality. To make a good photo you should have good attention to your surroundings and try to see more than the average person. You need to pay attention to the detail of everything that’s within the frame. Sometimes you don’t know you’re taking a good photo until you see the result. Sometimes it is just a feeling that you get when you are in the right place at the right time. Sometimes I feel like I am in a different world when I look through the camera.
By Admir Tashakori
Today I went hiking with huskies in the mountains. It was really nice because it was snowing so it gave the whole experience a ‘Games of Thrones’ vibe. The hike was around an hour and a half but it felt a lot shorter because it was really fun. The Huskies were fun but at the same time not too energetic so the experience also felt really balanced. The snow meant that you also had to look out for slipping. Overall it was a fun experience, especially if you are fond of dogs as much as I am.
By Adam Kallali
This week we advanced with our wellbeing tutorials onto the third pillar of Building Positive Friendships.
This pillar will include the topics of;
For our first session, it was important for us to share with the boys an introduction into this. We facilitated this by posing questions to the students and letting them decide within the group, which answers they thought fit best with the questions.
We explored- What are the qualities of a good friend? What are the qualities of a positive friendship? What is the purpose of friendships vs acquaintances? How do we know if our friendship group is positive?
This helped open up the student’s minds to reflect more upon what the purpose and benefits are. We all say we have friends, we all understand what we like in another person- but what is the purpose of friendship? We purposed that friendships are a mutual partnership with a like-minded group of people who support us, bring out the best in us and make us feel happy.
This weeks wellbeing tutorial was continuing on the second pillar of Protecting against Bullying and Respecting Diversity.
This week we reflected again on Respecting Diversity. Here is an essay written by Matei sharing his thoughts on this topic.
Another well done to Vansh who represented the school in Volleyball. He repeated the success from last week and again came away with a Bronze Medal.
This weekend we had the 4th School Trip of the year. The destination was Europa-Park in Germany and we had Luther from Leman 1 joining the group. They travelled by bus on Friday and returned on Sunday evening. They had a guide and members of the Boarding staff with them and were able to enjoy a day at Europa-Park followed the next day to a local Christmas Market. The weather was not spectacular but that did not dampen spirits and everyone enjoyed themselves.
We still have 6 more trips this year going to Rome, Barcelona, Vietnam Cambodia & Laos, Madrid, Copenhagen and Berlin- so please do keep this in mind.
This Saturday our CDL Rugby Team braved the weather to compete in a local tournament. Unfortunately, the result was not as would be desired, but the boys played brilliantly and should we proud of their efforts. Well done to Léman 1 boys, Minghe, Mikhail and Raphael
This week we had our Boarding Award Ceremony to celebrate some of the achievements made during 1st term. We acknowledged those in each House who showed outstanding enthusiasm, motivation, and involvement in the Boarding Activity program. We also had an award for Boarding Life, for those who exhibited all the qualities we would wish for in a global citizen and who are good role models through their actions within the boarding community.
From Leman 1, winning the Activity Awards were Mikhail and Junqi. These boys enthusiastically participate in the afternoon activity schedule along with enjoying the sports facilities on offer during social time in the evenings. They also eagerly participate in the weekend program, taking advantage of the trips on offer or the activities offered.
Winning the Boarding Life award were Henry and Gabriel. Both these boys are polite, respectful, and courteous to both their peers and staff. They are held in high regards within the House. They are happy and willing to assist the House Parents and often take on extra responsibilities within the house. They also willingly volunteer their time to help others and to participate in the Boarding House events.
This weeks wellbeing tutorial was continuing on the second pillar of Protecting against Bullying and Respecting Diversity.
This week we moved to the topic of Charity.
Firstly we started out by gaining a definition of what Charity was to us. The answers from the boys ranged from ‘giving money‘ to ‘helping someone in need‘ to ‘helping the poor be less poor‘
The definition that we will use is A charity is an organisation set up to provide help and/or raise money for those in need. Charities usually raise money through donations and have volunteers that help
We then wrote down on the whiteboard as many different charities that we knew. This was quite surprising by how few actual charities the students collectively knew. However, it also did highlight some charities that students were actively giving to or had a liking to.
The students were then shown a list of fictional charities;
They were asked to state which of these charities they would most likely give to. The top charity was ‘Hug a Dog‘. This then led to a discussion as to why they would choose to support animals instead of humans. The explanation from some was that humans can help themselves whereas we have a responsibility to look after the animals.
The second most popular choice was ‘Train the Teacher‘, students felt that educating the next generation is of vital importance. That if lower economic countries also had better education that their countries economy would benefit in the future. They also felt that having better-educated children in less developed countries would lead to an impact on all of the above-mentioned charities.
The third most popular was ‘Forest friends‘. These students felt this issue had global importance and would have an impact on more people. As with declining forests, this will have an impact on climate change which affects everyone.
We finished our tutorial by posing the question of whether we had a greater responsibility to be giving to charity as we have the ability and means to do so. This was summed up as a personal choice but also the point was made that charity is more than just giving money. We can give time to help someone. We can educate someone. We can donate clothing. We can reach out into the world and spread happiness.
Today celebrates Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving Day is an annual national holiday in the United States celebrating the harvest and other blessings of the past year. Thanksgiving occurs on the fourth Thursday in November.
Today Mr Usher and his wife hosted our American community for a wonderful meal in their home.
On Sunday this past weekend, our excursion was to Aquatis in Lausanne which is a spectacular Aquarium. Here you can travel around 5 continents of the world making your way through 12 different environments. Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America are represented with wildlife and specifically fish from those regions on display. Our students went on a guided tour around these zones and learnt about these elaborate and delicate ecosystems.
This weekend we had the 3rd School Trip of the year. The destination was Paris and we had Luther from Leman 1 joining the group. They travelled by train on Friday and returned on Sunday evening. They had a guide and members of the Boarding staff with them and were able to see all the sights of Paris. The weather was not spectacular but that did not dampen spirits and everyone enjoyed themselves.
We still have 7 more trips this year going to Europa Park, Rome, Barcelona, Vietnam Cambodia & Laos, Madrid, Copenhagen and Berlin- so please do keep this in mind.
On November 23rd, CDL borders visited the Patek Philip Museum in Geneva. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures inside the museum. But there were many valuable and expensive watches there. At the museum, the guide picked up some interesting watches and explained them one by one in an easy-to-understand manner. And not only did we see the watches on display, but we also saw a repairman repairing a watch in the workplace. Even though we were looking at the repairman, he was working on the repair of the watch. I saw it and thought that professional watch repairmen were much more focused than when we were studying.
It was a very interesting and important experience. I strongly recommend going there.
By Tomohisa
This weeks wellbeing tutorial was continuing on the second pillar of Protecting against Bullying and Respecting Diversity.
This week we continued on our topic of Community Service.
Following our discussions on this last week, it was time for the boys to put words into actions. Our time was limited and our opportunities were also slim, however, the boys were challenged with doing something for someone else for the next 40 mins. Some took to this task with pride and others reluctantly ventured into an area that was obviously uncomfortable for them. This in itself was a great insight into the fact that some students do not actively share our vision of living in a community and doing things only for the sake of helping others. This highlights to us the importance of the Wellbeing Tutorials in challenging some of the student’s internal dialogue.
Overall though, the boys put thought and energy into their efforts. Some helped others clean their room, others tidied the communal areas, some did litter picking up outside, some cleaned the kitchen, others taught someone else a skill..etc.
Our next exciting instalment of CDL Talks will be with Mr Reginald Bien-Aimé.
The title of the talk will be The Future of Work
We encourage all of our Grade 11 and 12 students to attend this talk as it will give them an informative insight into their future.
This weeks wellbeing tutorial was continuing on the second pillar of Protecting against Bullying and Respecting Diversity.
We focused this week on Community Service. One way of showing respect to others is helping and serving others regardless of their differences to you. We promote community service within the Boarding House and also in the wider boarding community. As part of the student’s academic REACH program, they must also obtain a certain amount of hours of Responsible Citizenship per year.
Therefore we focused the students on what different acts they could perform in order to obtain these community service hours. It opened up a debate for some students on what is goodwill for themselves and what is goodwill for others. Touching slightly on the aspect that just like charity it should be done selflessly without the need for reward. While this is true, in this instance the reward is achieving the necessary hours and therefore not quite selfless.
The students were also reminded that we have a Community Service group within Boarding. This is a Whatsapp group that the students could voluntarily join and as and when different initiatives arise they will be notified and can opt-in as they choose.
On Sunday we had our fourth House Competition.
This was the MasterChef competition in which Leman 1 was tasked with creating a dessert to impress the judges. We put our best creative minds together and thanks to their culinary skills managed to put forward a good creation.
Our dish was a Trio of Desserts based upon the weekly fruit delivery that we received. Each week we are fortunate to receive two deliveries of fresh fruit which consist of bananas, apples, pears, oranges, etc. As sometimes we have more fruit than we need, we get creative and make desserts. However, for the competition, we upped our game from our traditional cakes and crumbles.
We had Red Wine Poached Pear with Swiss Chocolate drizzle. We had cooked Apple stuffed with Apple Crisp Crumble with custard. And finally homemade banana Ice Cream!
Our boys dressed up well and adorned the judge’s table with place settings, napkins, candles and classical music.
We have now successfully installed our Committee Member board in our Leman 1 hallway which is now alongside our House Captain Board.
The Committees are an important part of the Boarding Community and allows the students to have a voice and for their opinions to be sought on issues of importance to the student population.
We have our House Representatives who act as ambassadors for the rest of the Leman 1 students. They meet twice a month with Boarding Management to discuss issues which affect the Boarding House and to seek their thoughts on important issues.
We also have our House Mentors who are trusted members of the Leman 1 House who we have been given roles of responsibility to act as mentors to new House Members and those who need extra help or support.
We have our Dining and IT Committee Members who represent the House in sharing their views towards IT and the Cusine
So far we have had three House Competitions this first marking period.
Our first competition was the Sports Day, in which we had to compete head-on against the other houses in a series of different sporting events.
The second competition was the Quiz. We had to put forward our best two quiz masters of the House in order to answer general knowledge and CDL related questions.
The third competition was the Pumpkin Carving competition. This showed off the creative side to our House and we went for the pure Halloween scare.
With a House of 28 teenage boys, it can be a challenge to motivate them in many aspects. As they navigate these developing years they have a mix of priorities which are always changing and a self-imposed pressure to confirm and impress others.
We are extremely proud that they are able to put this aside and bonded together and formed a House spirit in order to want to compete. When they have put their efforts into it they have done extremely well, placing 1st in the Sports Day, 1st in the Quiz and 2nd in the Pumpkin Carving.
This weeks wellbeing tutorial was continuing on the second pillar of Protecting against Bullying and Respecting Diversity.
We focused this week on Diversity. We have over 120 different countries represented in Collège du Léman. This gives us a fantastic opportunity to experience new cultures on our very doorstep.
In order to put this into perspective, we discussed as a group why we go on Holidays. Of course, the obvious answer is to relax and unwind, but if we think deeper about the choice of place we go to – it is usually to experience and try something new.
New food, new people, new scenery, new activities, new experiences- its all about exploring a new culture.
Being in an international school we are very fortunate to have the opportunity to learn about new cultures from each other.
We then did an exercise within our groups to really explore and gain information about each others countries.
We split into pairs and each pair had to answer the following questions about their partners country.
It was a very simple exercise but one that demonstrates how much we can learn from just taking the time to sit down with somebody different and to ask and listen. We encourage our students to mix with people from different nationalities and to take advantage of this international community.
