Keeping Pillar 2 in mind, one way of promoting diversity and protecting others is to think of those less fortunate and who we can help. We, therefore, felt that for Christmas we could do gift boxes for those in other countries who are desperately in need of even the basic essentials, plus a little treat for the festive season.
The Boarding Community came together financially but more importantly with their time, energy and love to create these boxes.
This weekend the school had their first internal volleyball tournament. This was well represented by Leman 1 in which we had 7 students participating. As our students were mixed in different teams which means some more success than others, however, we still had Leman 1 players in the winning team!
This weekend we continued our weekly Community Service by tidying up our campus and the local area. We feel we have a duty to care for where we live and the land we borrow from nature. It is important for students to be able to give their time and energy and take this moment to reflect. Everything that they pick up, has been dropped by another person. If only we all took responsibility for our own trash and recycled it, we would all be living in a better place.
Following on from Pillar 1. We have embarked on our second Pillar.
Bullying happens in different social settings – deals with the fact that bullying is not just related to racism and physical violence. It can be found in a lot of different social contexts and takes place for various reasons. It links with discrimination, and it is one way of expressing it.
Diversity: how can we work together? – As an opposite to discrimination we have diversity and all the options we have available to tighten our bonds and learn more about each other, again in a whole lot of different settings. Community Service and Charity allow us to perceive the world and people from a different perspective and encourage us to fight our stereotypes while at the same time granting us the possibility of working together for common causes.
Thanks to all the students who have helped tidy the campus this afternoon by removing any rubbish they came across.
Gabriel got on stage and spoke in front of the whole Boarding community this week to talk about the incredible work he did over the summer for wildlife preservation. We are incredibly proud of Gabriel’s passion for taking care of the environment and the work he did was amazing and very important.
What a match! A very close tie between the Léman and Concha Boarding Houses tonight. The game had skill, goals and fantastic sportsmanship. Well done boys.
Léman 5 – 2 Concha
The latest match of this year’s Basketball tournament saw the Léman boys take on Concha Boarding House. We did well to win the match but that was not the greatest moment of the evening. We were proud of how supportive our boys were towards the younger students and it was amazing to see the little ones look up to the senior boys as role models. It is important to our values that our students are kind and take care of each other.
Tonight we enjoyed the festivities of Halloween Night. The dining room was decorated, students and staff dressed up, pumpkins were carved and the party commenced at New Portena. It was a great effort by all and a huge amount of fun.
Today we had our second House Competition. As it was also Halloween night the challenge was pumpkin carving. Much to the tradition of House Competitions, some houses were very inventful with their interpretation of the expectations.
Tuesday evening saw a fantastic musical and drama performance performed by our students. Some of the Léman 1 boys got on stage and displayed incredible performances. Well done boys.
This weekend, a group of Boarding students travelled to Disneyland Paris. They all had a lot of fun and it is fantastic to see our fantastic trips programme back in action.
Congratulations to Amir, Admir, Amirhossein, Raphael and Iman for volunteering to go down the Lake on Saturday morning to clear the rubbish from our lovely beaches. It is important to look after our environment and we are very proud of these boys.
The Léman 1 boys enjoyed yet another weekend jam packed with fantastic activities. It is so important to get outside and be active when we can. This way we can clear our heads, work our bodies, and make sure we are in the best possible condition for school, and life. The activities this weekend included running, volleyball, cooking, music, golf and laser tag!
We are now entering the fifth week of the Wellbeing Pillar 1. This week the topic to be covered in the Boarding Houses will be based around positive activities. I would like the students to ask themselves ‘how do they spend their free time?’ This is linked to the second takeaway point of this pillar which is: ‘How can we use our hobbies to de-stress?’ Therefore, I would like the students to first identify their hobbies (perhaps relating sport, art, reading or music etc), then encourage them all to use these extremely beneficial activities as positive form of relaxation or destressing.
Spending time on an activity that you enjoy can improve your mental health and wellbeing. Research shows that people with hobbies are less likely to suffer from stress, low mood, and depression. Activities that get you out and about can make you feel happier and more relaxed. Group activities like team sports can improve your communication skills and relationships with others.
Your interests may be creative, athletic, academic, or something distinctly personal. You may choose a hobby that you can do alone or as part of a group. Whatever your interests are, there is sure to be a hobby out there for you. What matters is that it is something you find meaningful and enjoyable.
Every year, College du Léman organise several sports events for the Nord Anglia Global Sports Competition against all Nord Anglia schools worldwide. Friday afternoon, after school, we took some Boarding students along for the latest event, which was a 2km run around the local running track. They all did fantastically and we are very proud of the amazing effort they put in. It was a perfect way to end a tiring week at school, and a greater way to start a weekend. These students have shown a great example to the rest of our community, demonstrating the importance of a healthy body and mind – our first pillar of wellbeing. Well done to Leman 1’s Ablai, Iman, Mishaal and Amirhossein – great work boys.
Congratulations to Léman’s very own Ablai who performed very well in the opening round of this year’s Boarding Chess Tournament.
Léman 24 – 25 Concha.
Well done boys. Great performances and fantastic sportsmanship from the Léman boys towards the younger students. Sport really is the best when it is competitive, but also when there are lots of smiles.
The second takeaway point from this pillar is ‘How can we use our hobbies to de-stress?’. Every single one of us is faced with a certain level of stress in our lives at some point. We appreciate that our students with have pressures and stress to deal with from many different aspects of their lives, therefore it is crucial that we talk about how we can help identify these stressors and how we can help manage those stress levels. This is another big step in identifying how we can maintain a healthy mind in order to benefit our wellbeing.
During our Boarding House assemblies this week, we will be specifically talking to the students about ‘How can we identify personal stressors’. The idea behind this topic is that it’s important to learn how to identify what it is exactly that is putting under stress, before we then find appropriate activities and strategies to help alleviate that stress. Please find a video below that we will be showing to our students this week, to provide them with more knowledge surrounding stress management.
The second match of this year’s Boarding Football Tournament saw two very evenly matched teams from the Léman and Olympus Boarding Houses. A valuable point was earnt for the championship and the Léman boys now have to wait 2 weeks for their next match, against the Concha lads. Well done boys, and good luck for the next one!
Community Service is something that at CDL we feel very passionate about and try to instil in all the students of the school. Within the school, they work on the REACH programme which promotes the students to address the areas of Health and Activity, Responsible Citizenship and Creativity. They must complete thirty hours per year during their school career.
Within the Boarding House, we accomplish many of these by providing activities and opportunities to take part in events and projects.
Today the students of Leman took it upon themselves to do some litter picking in the forest path running alongside the campus. This is a path used frequently by students and also the public of Versoix and it was therefore nice to show the responsibility we feel we have towards our local community and keeping it clean.
One of the wonderful benefits of being so close to the lake is the option to do water activities. These have ranged from sailing, paddleboarding, kayaking, wakeboarding and banana boating. This weekend we had the option of Water Skiing. Two of the Leman students who were experienced wakeboarders, but had never water skied, took the opportunity to learn a new skill. Both got up and did very well, while also enjoying the beautiful lake.
This afternoon we had a pleasure of welcoming some of our teachers into Léman 1 so they could visit their students in their Boarding House. We welcomed them onto our terrace where we indulged in some treats and many discussions regarding the boys and the House. It was a great opportunity for the teachers to gain more of an idea of what the life of a boarder is all about and get know the boys on a more personal level.
We are now entering the third week of the first Pillar of our wellbeing programme – Nurturing Healthy Bodies and Minds.
One of the takeaway points from this pillar is “How important is sleep?”. We find it a crucial topic for the students to explore when discovering how to take care of themselves and how they can maintain a healthy body and mind.
During our Boarding House assemblies this week, we will be talking to the students about ‘The effects of screen time before sleeping’.
Using phones, or any screens for that matter, before you go to sleep has an effect on your health and subsequently your wellbeing. Scrolling through your phone or watching something on your laptop at bedtime can keep your mind psychologically engaged, preventing your brain from switching off effectively at the end of the day. The blue light that comes off the screens reduces the melatonin levels in your body. Melatonin is the hormone within the body that controls your sleep cycles. It is also possible that scrolling and watching can trigger emotions within your brain that will delay your sleep and can lead to you lying awake reflecting on those emotions. We would like to outline the importance of sleep to our students so that they are fully prepared and they give themselves the best opportunity possible to achieve their full potential – in all aspects of their lives. Allowing the brain the sufficient amount of time to rest and recover means we give ourselves the best chance to having a healthy mind, and a healthy body.
This week, we had the first match of our annual Boarding Football Tournament. Congratulations to all boys from the Léman and Concha Boarding Houses who played fantastically. Every single student on the pitch showed determination, sportsmanship and quality. It was a great start to a great competition. These types of activities that we can do as a group outline the importance of the messages given to the boys through Pillar 1 of our Wellbeing Programme – Nurturing Healthy Bodies and Minds.