Daniela recently led a warm and uplifting activity with the junior girls in Grades 8 and 9, inviting them to create drawings or collage-style pieces representing their personal SAFE spaces🌄- places they can turn to when feeling nervous, anxious, or stressed. The girls fully embraced the task, expressing their emotions and comfort zones through colour, imagery, and creativity. The final pieces were beautiful and heartfelt, and the activity became a powerful moment of connection and reflection for the whole group. It was an amazing experience they shared together. 🫶

This past weekend, our boarding girls proudly represented CDL at the U19 Nord Anglia European Volleyball Tournament in Madrid – and what a weekend it was!🤍

Coach Irina and Mr. Andrews had the pleasure of accompanying the team, and both shared how impressed they were by the students’ behavior and spirit. The girls were respectful, mature, and an absolute joy to travel with.

And their performance? Outstanding. The team delivered an exceptional showing, bringing home not just one, but two victories!

We are incredibly proud of their dedication, teamwork, and sportsmanship. Congratulations to our amazing girls on a fantastic tournament!✌️

This weekend in Portena was exactly what we needed – a perfect balance of rest and just the right amount of adventure to recharge for the week ahead.😍

We spent our days moving, laughing, and trying new things. From tennis rallies to surprisingly competitive badminton matches, the girls kept the energy high. We also made room for some calm with stretching sessions.

But the unexpected star of the activity list? Wood crafting (see the proof below).

And of course, the highlight that truly stole the show was our visit to the Montreux Christmas Market. 🎄Sparkling lights, festive music, delicious treats and the magical lakeside atmosphere made it feel like we stepped straight into a Christmas movie. The girls wandered the market and soaked up the holiday spirit.

We’re heading into the new week refreshed, recharged, and smiling.🫶

This Friday night the boarding house was bursting with creative chaos as the girls transformed their pink house hoodies into fashion masterpieces. Patterns were flying, decisions were dramatic and ironing suddenly became fun.✨

With snacks, plenty of giggles and lots of “Does this look good here?”, the night was full of energy and colour. The girls loved showing off their unique designs and we loved seeing their personalities shine.

A simple, cosy, super-fun Friday night together! 💗

What a fantastic weekend it’s been for our boarding girls! The campus was full of laughter and activities as some of the girls spent their days cooking delicious treats, playing tennis or even testing their driving skills with a round of exciting karting. It was lovely to see everyone enjoying themselves, relaxing, and simply having fun together after a busy week at school.

Meanwhile, a group of our more adventurous girls headed off for an unforgettable weekend in Barcelona. After a breakfast at the hotel, they started their day exploring La Pedrera (Casa Milà) – Gaudí’s incredible masterpiece that left everyone amazed by its creativity and beauty. Later, they visited the world-famous Sagrada Familia. The evening was full of rhythm and colour with a Spanish Guitar and Flamenco Show, followed by a cozy dinner by the beach – the perfect end to a beautiful day. On Sunday, they visited Camp Nou, Barcelona’s legendary football stadium.

By the time they returned to school, the girls were tired but smiling, full of stories and memories from a truly special weekend. Whether they stayed on campus or travelled to Spain, it was wonderful to see them all so happy, connected and enjoying every  moment.✨❤️

This week, the girls and Madina spent some time reflecting together on the theme of excellence — what it means to each of us and how we can show it every day, both at school and beyond.

We’ll be doing another session soon with some of the other girls, as Talia and Meri were really disappointed not to be able to take part in this week’s video…

The Excellence Award this week goes to our dear Maia 🎉. At first, she didn’t want to take part in the video, but then she showed wonderful initiative — she went to her Spanish-speaking friend to have the questions translated, prepared her answer in English, and practiced with great determination.

I was so happy to see her take part that… I completely forgot to hit “record”! 😅

Well done, Maia! Your effort and perseverance are truly admirable — keep it up, it will surely pay off

Today we celebrated our dear Camila, who turns 14.
Happy birthday Camila, we wish you all the best! 🎉

Another weekend at Portena has flown by, the first one since we got back from our October break! All our activities are back in full swing: some of us baked delicious pumpkin pies in cooking class, others had a blast playing soccer and tennis, and a few more helped clean up our beautiful campus during community service.

And that’s not all… our amazing Grade 8 girls took a fun trip to Lausanne to visit the aquarium! 🐠✨

Feeling refreshed and ready for a brand-new week, we’re kicking back tonight and getting ready to take on tomorrow! 💪🌙