House Competition trophies are here!

The trophies have arrived! And we are ready to get our hands on all of them.

Right now, in the hall of Leman, they are on display, shining and attracting the attention of all boarders, is the big cup of the House competition, and many more trophies: Charity, Activities, Community Services, Talent show, and many more!

We will keep you informed of our ranking in the House Competition.

P.S: Please note that there is a cup for the blog with the highest number of visits, so don’t forget to bookmark the blog and visit it often to keep up to date (and help us win the cup).

A Special House Meeting

This evening, I organised for Herman, Louis (former Concha students) and Nihad (Grade 12) to come to Concha to take our Wednesday House Meeting.
Herman and Louis discussed their experience in Concha, their ups and downs throughout Grade 8, the importance of being organised, keeping to the rules and the privileges the boys will earn later in the year. They also spoke about the transition from Middle School to High School and the responsibility they now have as Grade 9 students.
Nihad then went on to talk about his experiences at CDL, as a student who arrived in Grade 9, and who had not experienced a Middle School house and the structure and support that Concha and Old Portena offers for young students. He also talked about respect and trust, and how it has taken four years to get to a privileged position where he can live in an outside villa with friends, and have a great relationship with his House Parent who treats him like a young adult. He also spoke about the importance of communication, and that being a senior living off campus still comes with rules and structure. He then prepared a cup of tea from his country for each boy before bed. It was a really special evening and something they will remember for some time.

 Thank you to these special young men for taking the time to speak to the younger students in Concha.

Mr James

Wellbeing Pillar 2 – Diversity

Last week we reflected on how the sense of diversity is part of a global world, this week we will reflect with the students on the notion of diversity itself. It’s easy to label diversity as something uniquely linked to ethnicity, creed or sexuality…

However, there are many, many other forms of diversity. Simple things such as personal tastes or hobbies are a source of diversity, and these are at least as visible as the above-mentioned ones.

Therefore, why do we bear a judgement towards someone who doesn’t have the same religion or the same beliefs and not towards someone who doesn’t listen to the same music or supports another sports team?

We all want to be allies in this crusade and all our work in terms of charity and community service does pay a great service to bring us together, acknowledging the differences but strengthening our similarities. That should be the key and that is the way that as a school we’re paving.

Wellbeing Pillar 2 – Fighting Bullying and Promoting Diversity

Last week we started the 2nd Pillar of our Wellbeing Programme.

It is a very delicate topic but it’s good to be able to talk about it openly and objectively. As in pillar 1, we have two takeaway points. This week we discussed Takeaway Point 1.

Take away point 1 – Integration and diversity are part of the international agenda of the world’s most important institutions.

We talk about it at a lower level, at schools, work and public places. However, that topic is at the heart of the identity of all the major international organizations and that is something that sometimes we overlook to consider diversity something to think of at an individual level. Beyond the political message on the importance of diversity, institutions like the UN have a policy of promoting diversity in their workforce and enabling all types of people to access job positions within their ranks and therefore setting the example of integration and teamwork.   

Autumn in Concha

The autumn is giving us some wonderful landscapes and we wanted to enjoy going for a walk in Versoix, we were delighted to discover that in just a few minute’s walk from Concha we can be in the middle of a forest. The colors and smells along the way were truly marvelous, here are a few photos.

 

Charlie took this lovely photo