Tonight for our weekly International Dinner, we ate a delicious Chinese meal to celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year. The girls really enjoyed it!

After 2 consecutive ski weekends spent up in Leysin, it was back to the usual weekend routine on campus. The girls took part in their favourite activities like cooking and horse riding, and the trampoline park on Saturday. And on Sunday they went ice skating!

Meanwhile, Lisa, Liza and Mira ventured off to Rome with a great group of boarders and staff. While there they enjoyed the delicious food and sights Rome had to offer.

What a nice weekend the girls had!

Yesterday evening was the last week of Wellbeing Pillar 3, and we focused on identifying the warning signs within relationships.

During our house meeting, the girls did a Kahoot in which they were presented with different scenarios that could occur amongst friends, and they had to decide whether they were red, yellow or green flags. By having this discussion, the girls were able to reflect on their own friendships and gain insights into potentially harmful dynamics.

In week 3 of our 3rd wellbeing pillar, we discuss with the girls about international friendships and addressing microaggressions.

International friendships enrich our lives by exposing us to diverse perspectives, cultures and traditions. These connections foster mutual understanding, breaking down barriers and promoting global harmony.

Despite the positive intentions behind international friendships, they can inadvertently lead to unintended microaggressions due to cultural differences and misunderstandings.​

It’s crucial to approach these relationships with open-mindedness, cultural sensitivity, and a willingness to learn to avoid unintentional microaggressions and foster genuine understanding.​

Microaggressions are subtle insults or unintentional discrimination typically directed at marginalised groups.

At one point or another, we all have said the wrong thing unintentionally as we go about our daily lives. It’s important that you address and correct the harm that you have caused.

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We move on to the second week of our third wellbeing pillar, which is focused on cultivating positive friendships and relationships. Last week we focused on identifying characteristics of positive friendships, while this week we are looking inward and reflecting on the type of friend we are and how we can be a better friend.

For our house meeting today, we discussed this point with the girls, and each of them wrote down what made them a good friend, and what they can do better.

The start of the second semester means that we are back to the usual weekend activities! The girls are back to doing their old favourites, like cooking and horse riding, and an outing to Geneva on Saturday afternoon. And to top off the weekend, they enjoyed a game of laser tag on Sunday!

In this new school term, we launch Pillar 3 of our Wellbeing Program, which is focused on cultivating positive friendships and relationships.

One of the most important aspects of attending a boarding school are the friendships the girls make. The close-knit environment make for relationships that grow and develop, which in turn can lead to life-long friendships.

This important topic will be discussed during our weekly Wednesday meetings for the next several weeks. For this week, our takeaway point is identifying characteristics of positive friendships and a video was shared for the girls to watch.

Happy New Year to all!

Old Portena is now back open, and we are ready to welcome the girls back. We hope you had a great and restful break, and are looking forward to the new semester full of adventures and challenges!

We wish you all a happy and peaceful winter break! The house is now closed and will reopen on Saturday 6th of January 2024.

For now, relax, enjoy and spend time with your loved ones. We’ll see you next year!

Yesterday evening all our Old Portena girls along with some other boarders, visited Château de Coppet to learn about its history, and we also watched an illuminating lights show at night. It was the perfect outing to enjoy together before we break for the holidays!