Headmaster’s Blog Post 1 – Communication Hemingway There is a poster in the Chalet Orny staffroom which shows a Hemingway quote: “It takes two years to learn to speak and sixty to learn to keep quiet”. It’s good advice, but more for the teachers than the students. Teachers receive substantial...
Verbier is considered to be a top-notch option for the winter holidays, but did you know that it’s also a great place to spend your summers? Thousands of tourists from all corners of the globe come to Verbier every summer to enjoy its stunning nature, gorgeous landscapes, and fun events....
Years 10 and 11 Camping Excursion, Summer 2021 This 2021-22 school year has been unlike any other. While the world again witnessed the closing of schools and a shift back to remote learning, Verbier International School has remained open this entire school year. Indeed, primary and secondary schools in Switzerland...
Exploring the mountains can be beneficial for children. Apart from appreciating the environment and enhancing their fitness, mountaineering helps build self-confidence and independence skills. Caroline George, a professional alpinist, tells more about her experience spending time with students in the mountains. At Verbier International School, many students get to participate...
Modern Swiss boarding schools give learners a comprehensive experience. They come with flexible alternatives for parents and offer extensive study programs, multilingual education, community development, and after-school activities. In Switzerland, education is free but sending your child to a private boarding school comes with various benefits. Co-educational boarding schools in...
The ski season at VIS flew by this year, and we were happy to receive positive feedback from the vast majority of our students and parents. We place an emphasis on enjoyment in our ski programme, and It is thanks to our instructors that the children enjoyed themselves so much....
We started our Spring Term by welcoming all our new students, many of them only attending our school in the Winter but nevertheless very much part of our friendly community, since many of them attend in the Spring term year on year. We were fortunate that the ski slopes were...
Did you know that Verbier International School is a Cambridge English Preparation Centre? For the past 5 years, we have been preparing for and hosting Cambridge English exams here at VIS. Next Wednesday 24th March, VIS will be holding the Spring 2021 series of the Cambridge English Exams. Twenty-one VIS...
In our writing lessons, Class C have been learning about how to research for and write biographies. One team had to choose a person who has inspired them in some way. They did all the research themselves and wrote some excellent biographies. Once they were finished, we took a trip...
Most of the Verbier International School community has probably heard by now the great news that we have aligned ourselves with Cambridge University’s Exam Board, Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) for Years 10 and 11. Here is some more information for those who might be new to the Cambridge IGCSE...
Verbier International School to offer world-class Cambridge IGCSE curriculum The Secondary School of VIS is pleased to announce that we have been approved to become a Cambridge International School. This means that we will be offering IGCSE exams for Year 11s starting from the June 2021 series, as well as preparing...
The easy availability of mobile phones means that you can capture real-time photos and record videos with ease. Photos and videos are crucial not only for the memories they bring along but also in reminding you that life is beautiful. In a world that’s filled with so much negativity, photos...
The Secondary School Autumn Term Art Exhibition was curated by Classes F and G. They decided to group the work of E, F, and G by themes: Portraits, Sunsets, Landscapes, Fruit, Plants, Christmas, Animals, and Abstract forms. Their choice was to juxtapose the techniques studied throughout the term. These techniques...
Astronomy is the analysis of the universe and all the things in it like stars, planets, galaxies, black holes, space, and comets. This topic involves various activities that make it interesting for learners. It is also an opportunity to help kids discover things about the planet. Teaching kids about space...
Celebrating the Roald Dahl Day The Roald Dahl day happens every year to celebrate Roald, who wrote influential and popular children’s stories like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The Twits, The BFG, and James and the Giant Peach. The inaugural Roald Dahl day occurred in 2006. Was he alive...
Author Bio: Ryan Howard runs Smart Parent Advice, a site that provides parenting advice for moms and dads. Cristin writes about all of the different ups and downs of parenting, provides solutions to common challenges, and reviews products that parents need to purchase. It’s that time of year again. School supplies, lunchboxes,...
The Covid-19 pandemic has threatened the future of education across the world. Many schools are still closed to date with little hope of reopening anytime this year. As the school year comes to an end, the VIS community can look back on the past year with pride and gratification. Though...
VIS is a proud member of the Forest School initiative. With several trained practitioners among the staff, the opportunities for the children to get out into nature are limitless and incredibly enriching to their learning and self-belief. The program enables children to take ownership of their own learning and to...
Schools in various parts of the world are slowly returning to physical learning. Regardless of where you are, this is an exciting moment for teachers, students, and their parents. Getting a remote education has never been easier, and this time trying to study at home has made us all much...
After a prolonged period or remote learning, this week, we had the pleasure of welcoming our Foundation Year students back to the school. The students and teachers were so excited to be able to be with one another again and to socialize and interact in learning activities as a group....
As May makes its appearance, the students at VIS have continued their fantastic work this week. We have seen many incredible pieces of work from the students and would like to celebrate them here. In Maths, primary students have been working on: calendar challenges, looking at how numbers can relate...
During our fifth week of remote learning, the students of VIS had the pleasure of commemorating the 50th anniversary of World Earth Day. This day is an opportunity for reflection and revelation of the wonder that is our home planet. And what a wonderful home it is. One only has...
What a great first week to the summer term. Though our return to school was not as we had hoped it would be at the start of this isolation period, we are incredibly proud of how our community has succeeded in creating an enriching and purposeful learning opportunities for the...
The statistics given in this report get updated in real-time from the site Studying In Switzerland. Switzerland is among the countries in Europe where the number of cases with coronavirus is increasing rapidly. As of the 9th of April, the number of infected people has reached 23,532, with the number of fatalities...
For the last three weeks, VIS students have been continuing their learning remotely from the safety of their homes. Students whose families have decided to stay in our beautiful alpine village and those that have journeyed back to their home countries have tuned in to classes every day. We have...
Dear Parents, Thank you for your flexibility and understanding during this time as we made final arrangements for remote learning. For safety reasons and for the welfare of our community, our school is closed from Tuesday March 17 until April 30th. At this moment we are not legally allowed to...
Following the recent outbreak of COVID-19, which is short for coronavirus disease 2019, the government of Switzerland has been vigilant in monitoring the situation. Verbier International School (VIS) has immediately and carefully adhered to instructions issued by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). We value the well-being and...
Are you a ski racing enthusiast? Have you always wanted to participate in ski racing? If you have, it’s worth noting that options can be limited. Unlike the case with snowboarding and freeskiing, the International Ski Federation (FIS) regulates international tournaments in alpine skiing. To participate in ski racing competitions...
Benefits of sports in schools include overall health and well being. For students, integrating sporting activities into the school curriculum allows them to concentrate and perform better in the academic environment. It also sets them up for their future by making physical activity a regular part of their lives. Benefits of...
A science fair is a fun and educational event typically presented by schools across the world. Science fairs shouldn’t be mistaken for being simple presentations; pupils involved in a science fair are challenged to come up with comprehensive reports to explain their hypothesis and experimental findings while showcasing models or...
Challenges are not only fascinating, but they can also be interesting and inspiring. Are you seeking to create an innovation culture among students, establish problem-solving ideas, or effectively reach employees? If you do, then an innovation challenge can come in handy. Inspiring students to take climate action means equipping them...
One look into the eyes of Dario Schwoerer, you can tell he’s been to some places. Not just from the graying temples and rough hands, but his unusually calm demeanor; Like one who’s not worried about the problems the rest of us might face, running to the next event, being...
International Day provides a chance to make learning more fun and uniting all the nationalities in LVIS. The annual International Day was commemorated on Friday 11th October at the school. Greetings from various countries around the globe such as: “Hola! Hej! Bonjour! Privet! Hello! Halo! Ahoj!” filled the air. Celebrating...
Last Friday children and staff dressed up as Story characters, to celebrate the life and work of one of Britain’s most famous authors, Roald Dahl. His books have been enjoyed by generations of children and adults around the world. If you would like to know more then have a look...
This was the first ski training session for the LVIS Elite Ski race team and all of the children were excited. We arrived at the Youth Hostel at 9 am and quickly got ready for the slopes. With our instructor, Petr, we traveled to the top of the glacier where...
New students are preparing to join LVIS School for the upcoming year while existing students are preparing to go back to school on opening day. As a parent, preparing the back to school list can be an arduous task. Often, you will forget to include some essential things which...
Venturing in the coding industry may seem like an intimidating and difficult task. However, this shouldn’t be the case, especially today when you can easily learn to code from various resources. For students, learning to code on their own may not be as easy as would be the case for...
Skiing can be many things. It can be a recreational activity, a means of transport, or a competitive sport during winter. During skiing, participants glide on snow using skis. If you are passionate about skiing, you will be surprised to learn that competitive skiing activities are acknowledged by international bodies...
The IB (International Baccalaureate) gives young students an opportunity to continue with their international education. The program promotes both academic and personal development and enables them to shine in their personal developments and studies as well. LVIS Secondary School prepares students to enter into the IB programme should they wish,...
Climate change education Education is one of the most essential keys in the global response to climate change. Different institutions have allowed students to explore climate change through the use of interactive activities such as Eco-friendly transport options. Please view these two videos to see the progress we have been...
Class E and G enjoyed graffiti practice, yesterday! Here are some results… They made and cut their own stencils to help transfer an image to a cap, which they got to take home afterwards. This visit relates to what they’re doing in class this term, which is Urban and Rural...
It was race day last week. And boy did we have fun. It’s getting to be that time of year. The ski season is winding down, the sun is out, the snow is soft. It was a fantastic day to be out with your friends, your child, other parents, and...
Last week Verbier International Schools was fortunate enough to be visited by 6 students from Liverpool Hope University. Here’s what they had to say about their visit. We wish them luck in their studies, and hope they can come back again soon. We are six students from Liverpool Hope University....
We are extremely pleased to share the following new announcement from our board of directors. Should you have any questions about this communication, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. To parents of the students: Verbier, February 2019 Dear Parents, Verbier International School merged with the Lemania Group from...
We are pleased to announce that the new Art room at LVIS is now in full swing! Last week, students loved the varied activities in their new bright and spacious studio: Monday: Class F and G studying Pop Art. They carefully painted, using bright colours in a Andy Warhol style....
People are searching for the term, where are horseback riding lessons near me. Imagine if you could ride a horse in the beautiful snowy Alps? Whether you want your child to ride a horse, or you dream about sending your child to an International School in Switzerland, the view from...
After learning about Greta Thunberg, the youth environmental activist behind the growing School Strikes 4 Climate movement, Classes E and F walked through Verbier last Friday to spread awareness about this initiative, and to learn how to peacefully protest an important cause. Many townsfolk responded by giving us the ‘thumbs up’...
LVIS is proud to present a new Swiss Dream Starter package especially aimed at parents who would love their children to attend an affordable boarding school Europe option, but don’t want to commit for a full year. The French Host Family package will allow your child to stay in Switzerland,...
The LVIS staff and administration would like to wish you the most joyful holiday wish. From the very bottom of our hearts, we wish you the best. This is Christmas in Switzerland. As you can see, we were lucky enough to catch Saint Nicholas himself as he was passing through...
We were lucky to be able to welcome Santa on his sledge yesterday and it was a nice surprise for all students who received a little hamper for Christmas before setting off on their holidays. Thank you Santa!
Clash of the colours! On Monday the 12th of November all children from LVIS gathered together to compete against each other in the first annual House Afternoon! There were 6 fun stations where children had challenges to complete, some easy and some difficult! Children were challenged to work as a...
Last week, our pupils went on an overnight trip to Geneva. We visited many sights, including the Natural History Museum, the Museum of Ethnography and the Cathédrale Saint Pierre. More importantly, we got a chance to bond as a community and get to know each other better. LVIS was also...
The Secondary School pupils of LVIS participated in a coding workshop, which took place over 4 sessions. They created their own cloud storage similar to Google Drive and learned about values, variables and inputs. Then, they learned a new coding language called Python, and they were able to use this...
The first thing I was thinking during my conversation with Pam Gawith was – Wow, I wish they had the Forest School when I was growing up! But, before we get into that. What is the Forest School? To help understand the Forest School concept better, I organised an interview...
On Wednesday the October 10th and Wednesday November 7th, Classes E, F and G went to visit the Foundation Pierre Gianadda Museum, in Martigny. The gallery featured paintings by Pierre Soulages, a French artist who described his style as « Outrenoir » meaning beyond black. The students were to freely explore the...
We have welcomed visitors from Costa Rica, Brazil, Sweden, Australia, Greece, Morocco, Austria and Switzerland. We have learnt about all the dangerous creatures that live in the Costa Rican jungle, the Australian outback and made wonderful aboriginal paintings. We have tried Swedish herring and danced like Swedish frogs! We have...
The following was taken from Class A’s introduction to the Forest School or Forest Kindergarten. The nature of education is to offer an environment fit for a child to develop their skills based on their needs. It offers them a space where they can exercise their motor, social, cognitive, and...
“Uggg!” My eldest son Finn exclaims as we drive him down for his first day of International school in the French Swiss Alps. “Do we really have to go to this new school?” he mutters more to himself than to us. Because we already know. We’ve been apologising, profusely, for...
Class B trip to the Sion chateau de Valere today was great. They enjoyed discovering what it was like to be alive in medieval times and loved the little rooms, staircases and passageways. Inside the building is the museum of Valais history, it is worth a visit! It covers pre-historic to...
On September 15th was World Clean-Up-Day and we opened our doors to the public to raise awareness about recycling, up-cycling, reusing and sustainability. External experts came in to hold workshops and students prepared displays and presentations to talk about our planet and our oceans: To find out more about...
We were please to have the classrooms fill up again after the summer holiday and wish all our students a great 2018-10 school year! To kick start the year we went on a school hike to enjoy the beautiful mountain setting we are luck to call home.
Lemania-Verbier International School will be collaborating with the Académie de Musique des Combins this summer offering a week’s Music and French course for all levels, for children aged 8 to 15. We are thrilled to be supporting this summer camp in Verbier run by violinist Justin Lamy and LVIS French teachers. Students...
Class B students couldn’t hide their excitement about their first camping trip together, and the spot was nowhere else but in a tipi in the stunning Swiss Alps!
Classes C and D were invited to take part in a mini Olympics day with Les Elfes students in Verbier today, Each team had to create their own country and then participated in lots of fun activities despite the rain! The sun came out for the prize giving at the...
Torino is an interesting and beautiful city to visit, and only a few hours away from us. Year 7 and8 students had a great day out visiting the National Cinema Museum, while Year 3 to 6 ventured off to the Egyptian Museum. Not to mention the delicious Italian pizza and...
Students travelled down to Martigny today to once again participate in the UBS Kids Cup, a great sports day with local schools involving a 60m sprint, a 200g ball throw and a long jump. Goood effort!
Every Friday, boys and girls from Classes E and F join Coach Carter for a football practice. They work on dribbling, headers, chest bumps and agility training, ending with a friendly match. All this with our stunning mountain background.
Thanks everyone for making an effort to celebrate all kinds of books on World Book Day today! Students and teachers dressed up in their favourite character, and shared their fsvourite book with their classmates. It was great to have so many books shared in class and students had a great day...
Year 7 to 10 students gain awareness of how art, design and craft is all around us thanks to a visit from renowned artist in Verbier, Rosalind Monks, during their weekley Art class. The visit really opened their minds to the different job possibilities there are as an artist, and they...
Students explore Cailler’s chocolate world from Aztec cocoa ceremonies to today’s chocolate innovations…great day out at the Maison Cailler in Broc!
Congratulations to our LVIS Ski Team who participated in the Artemis Interschool Ski Challenge in Pila, Italy, and came 4th! This competition is a challenge to Schools in Britain and internationnaly based school to compete for the Artemis Champion School Cup. Juniors, Children and U12/U10 can take part, and the points...
Today Class B had a visit from Eloise Vestberg, who runs Aventerre, based in Volleges. She is an expert gardener and came to us today to discuss composting and how we can turn our kitchen waste into something useful for the garden. Even if you don’t have a garden you...
Students are now having their cooking lessons in the newly opened Mountain Thyme Cookery School just next door to our LVIS. Children are learning how to cook healthy food ranging from easy suppers, healthy snacks and the odd sweet treat. We are lucky to have such a great spot nearby!...
Class E & F have been preparing with Elaine France for our Mountain Day celebrations. In class they have been preparing a short survey to ask people. Yesterday afternoon they went out to practise asking the questions and test the survey on obliging shoppers at Migros Verbier.
On Saturday 9th December LVIS students will be celebrating International Mountain Day. Our message is PROTECT OUR MOUNTAINS. We all need to care for our mountains as the source of our water and biodiversity. At the current rate of melt, all glaciers in our local mountain community, will have disappeared in...
LVIS students have fun learning about the cheese making process in the Verbier laiterie. The cheeses will be ready in 3 weeks!
Classes C and D had a brilliant trip to Kerzers last Friday where they walked through Papilioramas Nature Reserve in Central America thanks to Jungle Trek, an exact copy of the 8’800 hectares of the protected area of Shipstern in Belize. They met lots of different animals amidst tropical dry forests, mangroves and orchid ponds. ...
Year 7 to 10 students spent the day at the UN as part of a Global Entrepreneurship Week event. Young entrepreneurs from around the world were invited to pitch business ideas contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and selected panel of impact investors and experts provided feedback to young start-ups...
We had a great trip today to the aquarium in Lausanne today, and saw a wide variety of freshwater and salt water fish, as well as some amazing reptiles and amphibians. It looks like we are looking at empty tanks in the photos! This was not the case! The children...
LVIS Ski Club will once again be taking place every Saturday from January 13th to March 30th, open both to LVIS and non-LVIS students aged 4 and up. This is an exclusive club for skiers of all levels, with only five children per class to one ski teacher. With only...
At LVIS, we connect academic learning to real-world challenges, empowering our students to know how to be problem-solvers in the 21st Century. As a school in the mountains, exploring sustainability as a community is a key theme for each class: to celebrate and protect our incredible environment. From this sustainability perspective,...
In English, Class D have been inventing futuristic modes of transport and writing instructions for them. They worked in groups to draw and design them and today they presented and explained their products to the “Verbier Dragons’ Den.” They were confident at speaking in front of an audience and received...
In September, Class E & F started their Agents of Change Programme with Flow In Action Founder, Elaine France. This programme is designed to connect each student to their strengths and creativity, embedding leadership and life-skills, as well as encouraging wellbeing. Students learn how to take action to make positive impact in...
Students are learning about the environment in Eco Club this year. First stop: the local recycling center!
Class F have been studying leaves and photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the chemical reaction that plants use to transform carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen. Sunlight energy 6CO2 + 6H2O ————> C6H12O6 + 6O2 Chlorophyll (the green pigment in plants)...
Class C drew and then coloured with water colour pastels in the style of Billy McCoo. Well done!
Our literary year is off to a great start! The pupils from Classes E and F have been reading two engaging science fiction novels: The Giver and Ender’s Game. The Giver by Lois Lowry portrays a futuristic, seemingly utopian society with no pain, suffering, or violence. Over the course of the book, however,...
Class C are starting to learn about computer programming by using Ozobot Robots, they are creating maps, with coding symbols to make the robots move in the correct direction.
Students dress up in their facourite book characters to celebrate Roald Dahl’s birthday today, September 13th, and have a lot of fun in the process!
“What a great first week at school. I’m very excited because it is a new year in a new building. I am happy to meet new friends and to learn new subjects like economics and music. I am especially happy to be one year closer to university. This week passed...
Today we enjoyed a great day out hiking in the Verbier surroundings. It was a beautiful sunny day and a nice way to kick start the school year!
We’re proud to present our new Secondary School premises for Year 7 to 10 students and wish them all the best for the 2017-18 school year!
Take a listen to Mountain Radio reporting at school with the students making their dragons.
For your listening pleasure, the students of LVIS in Class B recorded with Mountain Radio Verbier today.