Building Positive Relationships: What Type Of Friend Are You?

Positive friendships are an important part of the journey to adulthood. They help children and teenagers learn important social and emotional skills, like being sensitive to other people’s thoughts, feelings and wellbeing.

Have you ever taken a moment to reflect on the type of friend you are?

This week we continue our friendship journey by having an honest and open conversation with our friends about how we see each other and what are the things that makes us friends!

Special thanks to Andrew who helped with the presentation!

 

Our Wellbeing, Our Priority (Chapter 3.2: Building Positive Friendships)

We have explored the qualities of the friends we would like to have, and now let’s shift our focus to introspection.

This past week, we delved into understanding the kind of friends we are. The boys had the opportunity to hear some opinions from the friends of the ladies in Louis Yung 7, and now their challenge for this week is to seek feedback from their own friends.

 

About The First Weekend Of The Year

We kicked off 2024 at our Boarding Community, with a weekend filled with activities. Despite the remaining snow, we all managed to do something fun and retake our habits once again.

Bryan kept practicing tennis at a high level and Shaokun went for a second time to learn better how to play. Nikita kept going with Horse Riding. Finally, Adam and Kristian went to Laser tag, one of the most popular activities throughout the year and they enjoyed it very much.

Repas indien à la maison / Indian dish at the House

Sur un campus recouvert d’un épais manteau de neige  les élèves Concha et Concha Annexe ont tissé des liens chaleureux autour d’un banquet indien exquis. Les arômes envoûtants de currys aux épices riches ont embaumé l’air, dansant avec les naans dorés et les saveurs de chutney sucré. Un festin coloré, symphonie gustative de l’Inde, où chaque plat était une invitation à explorer l’authenticité d’une culture riche, fusionnant délices et amitiés dans une expérience sensorielle inoubliable.

On a campus blanketed in a thick coat of snow, students from Concha and Concha Annex wove warm bonds around an exquisite Indian banquet. The captivating aromas of spice-laden curries filled the air, dancing alongside golden naans and the flavors of sweet chutney. A colorful feast, a gustatory symphony of India, where each dish was an invitation to explore the authenticity of a rich culture, blending delights and friendships into an unforgettable sensory experience.

Coppet Castle visit

Last Wednesday, some of the students and all our boys went to visit the “Château de Coppet,” a wonderful architectural piece just 20 minutes away.

A little bit of history:

The Château of Coppet was founded around 1280 by Humbert IV of Thoire and Villars. Of the medieval fortress, only the south wing of the current classical building remains. The château was stormed and burned by the Bernese in 1536, during the conquest of the Pays de Vaud.

In 1657, the château was acquired by Frederick, Burgrave of Dohna. He and his son Alexander remodelled the château into a classic U-shaped structure. Except for a few later additions, we owe the château’s current appearance to the Genevan banker Jean-Jacques Hogguer. The park was, at the time, a garden in the French style.

Acquired in 1784 as a summer residence by Jacques Necker, a Genevan banker and former minister to Louis XVI, King of France, the château was subsequently completely restored by Necker, who spent the last years of his life there with his wife Suzanne, born Suzanne Curchod. They are buried together in the family mausoleum built in 1793-1794.

Later, major improvements were carried out by Necker’s grandson, Auguste de Staël, who transformed the French garden into an English-style park and created a remarkable Return from Egypt Empire-style library in 1819. His grand-niece, Mathilde d’Haussonville, built a Gothic Revival-style chapel within the château in 1880.

Since Necker, the château has remained in the same family. Necker’s daughter Germaine de Staël inherited it in 1804. She bequeathed the château to her son Auguste, who died prematurely in 1827. His widow, Adelaide de Staël, born Adeleide Vernet, lived there for nearly 50 years. She bequeathed the château to her niece Louise de Broglie, the Countess Haussonville, who was also the granddaughter of Madame de Staël.

Since then, the Haussonville family still owns and lives in the château, ensuring its conservation while keeping alive the memory of this special place for current and future generations.

 

All the groups were taken through the rooms of the castle, knowing a little bit of what happened there.