The thing that separates the good schools from the great, is about how well they understand that what they teach, doesn’t just lie in the academic. For as high as our academic standards at C.D.L are and how hard our students work; what we pride ourselves on is an education that can prepare for when life truly begins.

And much like the academic, the basics is where it all comes together. Because maintaining a healthy body and mind doesn’t require much creativity. But it does require routine. Simple maintenance in the most obvious areas. Getting enough sleep. Eating well. Reducing time spend between them and electronics. And it’s easy to forget that. So at C.D.L, in our Wellness sessions we bring our boys at Olympus together to remind them about those healthy basics and getting them involved in revitalising their interest in them.

Featured below is a photograph of our C.D.L counsellor Jody supervising a mindfulness exercise.

The point of the exercise echoes what the point of the whole Wellness program is, to remind our boys of the most basic of things and take control of them.

The session Jody conducted was very similar to meditation. Our boys were asked to relax and to become as aware as they can of their bodies, guided through it by Jody. Eyes closed, they take a sensory journey from the top of their heads, all the way down their nerves, to the tips of their fingers and toes. To become aware of their breathing and their pulse.

The regular function of our bodies can so often become background noise to our busy daily activities, it’s valuable to revisit them. To be in control of our breathing and know how we’re actually feeling. And most of the time, it’s tired. And a lot of exhaustion can come from being stuck in ones head. But remembering to inhabit our bodies as a whole, can relax us and tell us the whole story about how we’re feeling.

Over this year, we will be revisiting many exercises in Wellness to teach our boys about the simple maintenance they can take care of to get better sleep and be more aware of what they need.

We hope that you all out there are taking the time to listen to your bodies as well and get the rest and relaxation that you need, as well.

Best wishes, from the Olympus Boarding Team.

Switzerland. What would Switzerland be without its mountains.

(above) James admires the Swiss Alps

Among all the ways people could class the ‘Swiss Boarding School’ experience, the tightly clustered valleys of the Swiss alps are a staple like no other and an appropriate metaphor for the experience schools like C.D.L offer. A microcosm of experience. Much like Boarding school seeks to reflect a modicum of what life after school will be like -filled with an independence that requires a lot of self reliance- Switzerland’s diversity of geography and culture at such a compact scale runs parallel to that. Self-reliance is the main subject we teach here, on a smaller, controlled scale. And our location in Switzerland compliments that to no end.

And to remind ourselves of that, there’s nothing we love more than taking our students up into the alpine cradle of this beautiful country for a host of exciting activities to create unforgettable experiences:

(above) On our first night in Leysin, the Grade 9 and 10 students were taken on the Night-Walk. Where we trekked a short way up into the hills at night to enjoy some time by the fire, under the stars. A moment of rest before the activity-laden Saturday, just a few hours away.

Activities were plentiful and varied. Above, our students embarked on a cross-country mountain-biking experience, riding the smooth green hills as well as the rocky crests that that hillside Leysin offers.

For more classically-minded riders, a completely different kind of bicycle was available.

Climbing activities varied from Indoor training, to a full-on trip to the Via Feratta to give students a proper taste of rock-face climbing. And Olympus is proud to say that our boys’ nerves held and all reached the summit.

While some activities offered a day of fun, others stretched further. Above we can see Nihad posing far higher up than any of our other boys reached over this weekend. Far up onto the Glacier 3000 formation, he and his group hiked for a full day and stayed overnight in the basecamp lodge. While lengthy, there’s no better way to get in contact with the raw beauty of the high icy peaks of the alps. The primordial frost, unthawed for thousands of years.

On Sunday, before lunch and our departure back to C.D.L, all students partook in group activities down by the Leysin leisure centre, from zorbing to Laser-tag.

Olympus is a boys dorm. And it’s of no surprise that boys play war. And they play it well.

With the easing of the COVID-19 restrictions and everyone at C.D.L working as hard as they can to put this pandemic into something close to the rear-view for our students, it’s been a huge and meaningful experience to curate this experience. And amazing for us to see them bring it all to life.

So despite our tired limbs making the climb onto the bus home easy, we all found energy that was trapped within us, eager to get out. And it carried us through an amazing weekend.

Wishing all of you the best from Olympus Boarding House!

Hello again from the Olympus Boarding House!

The first week is over! And with the first week, the first weekend graces us with clear skies and cool breezes! Perfect weather for dragging ourselves outside and getting the blood flowing with a host of wonderful activities.

On Saturday, a good number of our boys went on the Nature Walk activity to get more acquainted with the rural surroundings of C.D.L, in order to discover the raw nature that steeps even this far down the Swiss mountains and clusters near the foot of the lake.

And speaking of the lake:

Another group of our newer boarders dug themselves out of their comfortable beds and paddled out onto the fine waters of Lake Geneva for our Paddle-Boarding and Kayak activity. Despite a rough start with a lot of regrets about venturing to the cold shores of Geneva’s pride so early, everyone ended up being thrilled with the sweeping mountain breezes, the warm morning sun and the slow, laid-back surf.

For our more sporting boarders, a trip out to play the King’s Game was in order. And we couldn’t have asked for a better morning to Golf. With consistent wind and clear lines of sight, the quiet morning complimented our players focus and led to an exemplary display of driving, novice or not.

Paired with these activities was of course a great deal of relaxation. As the week swings around again tomorrow. But re-energised, everyone at Olympus is looking forwards to tackle the new week feeding into the first days of September.

Wishing everyone the best, from Olympus Boarding House!

Not a second too soon, the Academic year has begun once again! And with that, Olympus Boarding House has opened its doors to many new and exciting faces, as well as many familiar ones. It doesn’t need to be said that we’re elated to welcome the boys once again into our care for a tremendous school year filled with relief as so many things that weren’t possible before, have come into our grasp once again as we weather the pandemic. Options for adventure are cautiously opened once again for everyone at Olympus House as well as the Collège du Léman as a whole. And we at Olympus couldn’t be more excited!

To celebrate the homecoming to C.D.L we opened the doors of the dining hall to the students to reveal a truly Swiss welcome experience with Rosti aplenty. All draped in the colours of CDL’s host nation:

After a hearty meal of Swiss cuisine preceded by a welcome speech by C.D.L’s own Justin Usher, the homecoming could finally come home to Olympus. And all of us at Olympus closed out the day early to bed, to prepare for the amazing year ahead of all of us.

Welcome Home!