STEAM club helps pas-ta time on Sunday afternoon.

Bau loads his bridge with stones to measure its strength.

The strongest bridge wins! Carlos is up for the challenge to design and construct a bridge out of spaghettis. He’s the fastest glue gun slinger in town.

Leman 1 came to victory again in their 2nd tournament match this time against New Portena.

Another step closer to winning the Boarding Championship!

Admir, Amir & Iman brave the heights and clime high into the canopy at the local rope course.

Best friends Amir, Bau & Murat had a great day avoiding the rain outside at the Jumping Park.

This week the tournaments continued and Leman put forward a worthy team for the Basketball.

They competed against the Concha Attack team and were victorious.

This Weekend Mr Usher gave students the amazing opportunity to enjoy some time on the Lake. In the schools speed boat, they jetted to Geneva and back enjoying the warm water spray and views from the middle of the lake.

Another beautiful weekend here on campus with plenty of opportunities for the students to enjoy the many activities on offer. With the sun shining it was the ideal time for them to get out and enjoy the wonderful scenery we have so close.

On-campus we had- badminton, table tennis, horseriding, cooking, tennis, biking, running club, golf, chess, body shaping, stretching, speed boating and our sports complex Olympus.

We also had the option of a visit to Nyon to explore the city and see the Castle.

Please do talk to your son to see which of these options he took part in.

Leading on from our explanation of the Teenage Brain– The part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex is the last to fully develop and is responsible for critical thinking and behaviour control. From young, we learn there are consequences and learn how to make decisions. However, under the age of 13, children do not have abstract thinking skills. At that age, they are operational in their thinking. This means they understand only what is tangible and in their own environment- these are things they can see, smell, taste, hear touch etc. Conceptual thinking only starts in the teen years when they start to understand grey areas of decisions or theory. Understanding an action has consequences demands that the person understands all aspects of a decision before making that informed choice.

Therefore we as House Parents need to adjust our expectations to suit the age of development they are at. Consequences should never be given to punish a decision. We need to first help a student problem solve an alternative solution, instead of paying for their behaviour with a punishment.

Ultimately we know students will at times make the wrong decisions. However, we need them to understand these decisions, not just in relation to breaking a rule, but rather the harm they can cause to themselves, others, relationships, the community, their reputation etc.

We would much rather they take Active Responsibility for their actions.

Passive responsibility is when you do not break any rules for the fear of being held accountable by teachers or house parents, and consequently being punished.

Active responsibility is when you follow the rules because you understand that boundaries are a form of self-care and rules are there to protect you and to ensure a safe and healthy school (and house) environment for all of us!

The question for any parents is how do you get a teen to that stage. Can they learn this through education or through experiencing only the negative consequences of their actions?

During the week we started up our volleyball tournament again. Now that restrictions are starting to allow team sports the Leman House put the best together and competed against Olympus.

And we WON!