ĢƵ is very excited to be launching our new event focussing on developing girls’ leadership. Ellevate is a conference designed for both our own students and other girls from around Kathmandu which will run over a week at the end of June. Please see below for more information.
As you know, ĢƵ has a fabulous after school provision with almost a hundred different activities running each week across the school. Many of you correspond with us regularly regarding clubs and co-curricular activities and are very familiar with Aditi Sherchan. Ms Sherchan will move into a different role from next week and the clubs organisation will be arranged by our two new members of staff, Mr Samson Yalmo and Ms Krity Jha. To ensure they both have access to your correspondence, please communicate with them via clubs@tbs.edu.np rather than individual email addresses.
Thank you to everyone who participated in our Health Fair yesterday. With a wide range of participants from health care providers across Kathmandu, we were able to promote health and wellbeing approaches to both our own parents and the wider community.
Today, the school remembered the 10 year anniversary of the devastating series of earthquakes that struck Nepal in 2015. As you can see from the article below, students heard from our guest speakers and also took time to reflect.
Today we were delighted to welcome our alumnus, Meredith Jacobs, who came along with her family to visit ĢƵ. Meredith joined the school in reception and graduated as part of the class of 2008. She went to university in Washington DC where she has settled and now works in recruitment for the US federal government. The family enjoyed looking around the school and were very impressed by the many facilities developments that they noticed since their time here, remarking on how our leafy haven promotes focussed learning and playful discovery. Meredith was excited to connect with our alumni network and we are keen to spread the word to others too. Former ĢƵ students interested in finding out more about our alumni network can complete this form: .
Have a lovely weekend,
Caro Drumm
Principal
Upcoming Events
(NB these may be subject to change)
PRIMARY
SECONDARY
Week 2
(7-11 May)
•U11 FOBISIA Trip
Week 3
(12-16 April)
•Wednesday: Parent Information Session English
•Wednesday: Year 10 Geography Field Trip Parent Information Session
Week 4
(19-23 May)
•House Captains Spelling Bee competition
•Wednesday: Student Led PTCs
•Thursday: Toy Swap
•Monday: Year 10 iGCSE Geography Field Trip
Week 5
(26-30 May)
•Drama FOBISIA
•Community Concert
•Year 4 Family Assembly
•Drama FOBISIA trip
2015 Earthquake
This week, we held a special assembly to mark the 10th anniversary of the devastating 2015 Nepal earthquake. The assembly focused on remembrance and preparing for the future. We were honoured to hear from our site manager, Asheesh Pakhrin, who shared his powerful experience as part of the UN rescue efforts in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. Pujan Gurung, Crisis Coordinator at the British Embassy, also spoke movingly about his role and the embassy’s efforts to coordinate search and rescue operations and provide vital support to families and communities affected by the earthquake.
John Aitchison, an experienced fire fighter and member of International Search and Rescue, shared his experiences from his deployment in Nepal in 2015 and the work he has done since to build capacity for Fire Fighting, Search and Rescue here in Nepal. He has worked extensively with Fire Aid Nepal, delivering life-saving equipment and training to fire services across the country, and more recently has founded Everest Search and Rescue, where he has supported high-altitude rescue operations and safety training in the Himalayas. John’s work has taken him to numerous disaster zones worldwide, where he has contributed to both immediate response and long-term recovery efforts.
After the assembly, John led interactive safety sessions with our primary students, teaching them essential fire and earthquake preparedness skills in a practical and engaging way—empowering the next generation to stay safe and informed.
Introducing Ellevate
ĢƵ is proud to be hosting our first girls’ leadership conference in June 2025. Ellevate will bring together diverse teams of girls from across Kathmandu to learn entrepreneurial and leadership skills from expert advisors. We are very grateful for the support and advice already received from our parent body and from The British Embassy and British Council. In the next few weeks, we will be finalising corporate sponsorship and speakers; if you believe that you or your company may be able to offer support, please see the full event profile and contact mkunwar@tbs.edu.np for further information.
ĢƵ OWLS Picnic
Eco News
We will be holding the Eco Fair on Friday 16th May from 1pm to 3pm.
Our Eco Ambassadors have been working hard on the planning for the Eco Fair, there will be a range of stalls run by all year groups from Early Years to Year 6.
We are also inviting parents and other outside providers to host a stall for a small donation. If you are interested in hosting a stall please contact our Events and Marketing Coordinator, Ms. Nancy Khetan to express your interest.
Primary & Early Years News
We have had a wonderful start to the fourth & final term of this academic year! It has been wonderful to welcome a number of new friends to the Early Years and Primary section this term and they have settled in very well so far.
We have started a whole school unit of work based around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
To begin our work on the UN Sustainable Goals, the Early Years children read the book ‘Thank You, Earth’ by April Pulley Sayre, and after the children were asked what aspect of nature they would like to thank the Earth for. Here are some of their contributions:
“I would like to thank the Earth for whales and frogs” -Xenbi
“I would like to thank the Earth for sunsets” -Adrian
“I would like to thank the Earth for water” -Ibai
This week, Year 1 began exploring the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, focusing on SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 14 (Life Below Water), and SDG 15 (Life on Land). The children discussed why these goals are important for protecting our planet and its animals. Through stories like Bloom and Messy Magpie, they learned how even small actions can help care for the environment. Inspired by what they learned, the children chose an animal to draw and wrote thoughtful ideas on how to protect it and its habitat. This week, their learning continued through art with Mr. Sands and Ms. Daly, where they began creating jellyfish using various materials and paint, linking their creativity to the impact of climate change on ocean life.
This term, Year 2 have been learning about Sustainable Development Goal 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production. They explored key vocabulary around this goal and discussed how our choices impact the planet. In connection with SDG 15 – Life on Land, they began to consider the importance of protecting ecosystems and wildlife.
To bring these ideas to life, the children creatively reused bottle caps to build an imaginative city at the Forest School, highlighting how we can repurpose waste into something meaningful. Next, they’ll be diving into the powerful picture book “There’s an Orangutan in My Bedroom”, which explores the effects of deforestation and inspires discussion about caring for our shared home.
Year 3 have been learning about the topic Vanishing Rainforests, which is closely connected to Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action. The children have learnt that rainforests play a vital role in regulating the Earth’s climate by absorbing large amounts of carbon dioxide, one of the main greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. When rainforests are cut down or burned, not only is this natural carbon storage lost, but even more carbon is released into the atmosphere, speeding up climate change. Learning about vanishing rainforests has helped Year 3 to understand why it is so important to protect these ecosystems—not just for the animals and plants that live there, but also for the health of our planet. Taking action to protect rainforests supports SDG 13 by helping to fight climate change and protect the environment for future generations.
This term, Year 4 will be exploring Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 7: Affordable and Clean Energy and SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities building on their exciting topic, Bright Sparks. They’ve learned all about the importance of not wasting electricity. The children will continue to deepen their knowledge on renewable energy sources in the next few weeks.
This term, Year 5 students are kicking off an exciting journey into the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They’ll learn what these global goals are, and explore how they connect to our lives here in Nepal. By reflecting on their learning so far, students will match each goal to their own personal intentions and think about actions they can take. They will work together to find ways to help our community partner schools and make a positive impact on the local community. It’s all about understanding the world and taking steps to make it a better place!
Year 6: Becoming Change Makers
This year, our Year 6 students have been exploring the inspiring lives of people who changed the world. Now, it’s their turn to step up as change makers! This term, students will work in teams to take on exciting real-world projects. They’ve started by reflecting on what makes a great team player, setting the foundation for successful collaboration. Over the coming weeks, they will be busy preparing a PE workshop for students from Shree Tika School, creating products and games for our upcoming Eco Fair, and organizing fun-filled Community Football, Art, and Craft activities. We can’t wait to see their creativity, teamwork, and leadership in action!
Battle of the Books
In Year 6, we are very excited to take part in the Battle of the Books. This ongoing project
encourages children to engage in the sustained reading of a variety of authorial styles and provides
a platform for them to debate, discuss and compare books. As this is the first round, we are taking
three books and giving the Year 6 students until Friday 30th May to read them all. The chosen book
from each round will then be subject to a grand finale at the end of June, which is very exciting!
The books in this round are:
Happy reading!
Secondary News
Duke Of Edinburgh Bronze Expedition
After postponing this trip at the end of last term due to the AQI, the D of E bronze candidates have started their qualifying expedition in much better conditions. The expedition is fully self supported with teams carrying their own tents and all the food for the two day trip. After a 13 km trek today in Shivapura Park climbing to over 2000m, they will camp in Kakani Scout Camp before trekking down to their exit point at Tinpiple tomorrow afternoon.
Year 7 Geography Rivers Fieldwork
Pupils had an excellent time at the River Lele in Tikabhairav over the last few days. They got to use ranging poles, metre rulers, clinometers and stopwatches to measure the width, depth, gradient and velocity of the river at three different sites. They enjoyed getting very involved by climbing into the river and having a lot of fun while collecting their data! Students then went to Chobar Gorge where they learned about the formation of a gorge and saw geography in action! When they return to lessons, they will be writing up a project to see how the different sites compare to each other as their end of year assessment!
Class of 2025 University Update
Creative Arts and Science & Technology most popular university courses for ĢƵ Class of 2025
As Year 13 moves into their final term at school, Ms Sheldon and the KS5 team would like to give an update on where they all might be next year. The most popular destinations are again the UK, North America and Australia but this is a truly international class who will be spread much more widely than our traditional locations, reflecting the rise in profile, and ranking of many universities here in Asia.
One of the great advantages of a ĢƵ education is that full college counselling support is available to ĢƵ Class of 2025 until they are placed in universities. With one third of the year group planning to make formal applications after graduation, Ms Sheldon is going to have a busy autumn making sure that all our students continue their education in the right universities and courses.
There are 36 candidate students in the class of 2025:
Here are is a summary of the preferred or accepted university offers of the class of 2026:
Australia and New Zealand 33%: (applications after A level results, but Australia has a very clear admission system, if you get the required grade you are very likely to be offered a place): 12 students (including: Melbourne; Sydney; UNSW; Monash, Queensland)
UK: 22% (including: University College, London; Bristol 54; Glasgow 78; Newcastle 129; King’s London, University of the Arts, London (2 students) 138*, Manchester Metropolitan, Metropolitan, Chester
North America: 17% (including: University of British Columbia, New York University, University of Michigan, Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design)
European Union: 11% including ESMOD (Paris), LCI Barcelona, Netherlands & Germany
Asia: 8% students: Malaysia, Thailand, Japan
Middle East: 3% (Middlesex University, Dubai)
Nepal: 3%
Other: 3% (commercial pilot training)
In terms of courses, the most popular courses this year are in the field of creative arts reflecting ĢƵ’s excellent education in this area, although the science faculty may wish me to highlight that 34% of students have chosen a course in one of the three main science areas!
Creative arts: 29%
Life science and medicine: 17%
Social sciences & business: 17%
Engineering & Technology: 11%
Natural Sciences: 6%
Law 3%
Architecture: 3%
Maths 3%
Media 3%
We will update Yeti news readers on final destinations after A level results are published in August and when Australian university offers are confirmed next January.
End of Year Assessments for Y7-Y10
In week 4 and 5 of this term, all students in Year 7 to Year 10 will complete a more formal end of year assessment in most of their subjects. While these assessments will include content from across the year, students have been well prepared for assessments, so we do not expect to see a large increase in the amount of time they spend studying at home in the run up to these tests.
At ĢƵ, we design assessment so that the levels of challenge increase each year, as you can see represented in this graphic. We know that some students will feel more pressure to perform in these circumstances and we aim to support them to deal with this pressure so that it is manageable.
Why do we run more formal end of year assessments?
These assessments expose students to true ‘examination’ experiences in manageable chunks, which helps prepare them incrementally for future external examinations;
They helps us to evaluate student learning from across the year;
They support the development of effective study routines and habits, something teachers have also been reinforcing in lessons too;
They nurture academic resilience and ‘grit’, by pushing students just far enough out of their comfort zones;
They aid teachers’ in planning for students’ next steps, as with any form of assessment.
The timetables have already been shared with students and have been designed to spread out assessments as far as possible while also exposing students to the challenges of taking a few tests at once. The results of these assessments will inform the final grade on the last report of the year; however, as always, our reporting is holistic, taking into account all lesson work and verbal responses too. This guide, which was emailed to relevant parents yesterday, contains some specific guidance on what each assessment will look like and what students can do to prepare. We would especially appreciate parent support in reassuring their children that they have already done most of the necessary work throughout the year and should not unduly worry about these tests.
Exam Update
The exam season is well underway now with both GCSE and A level exams taking place this week. Many students feel that they are better off revising at home during the exam period, and this was my position when I was taking A level exam many years ago! However after coaching hundreds of students through their exams over the course of my teaching career, I am absolutely sure that the vast majority of students do better if they attend school regularly during exam period and am 100% confident that the best advice to maximise exam results in August is to maintain a high attendance at school throughout the exam period. I would like to take this opportunity to outline some of the reasons why ĢƵ believes that students will do better if they revise at school.
Students benefit from getting up at the normal time and maintain their usual routine.
Students are able to speak to their teachers on a daily basis and ask any pressing questions they may have.
Students are able to speak to their peer group on a daily basis, to work together on revision, to discuss learning and to interact socially with their friends.
Students balance their revision, and avoid lurching from “next exam to next exam” revision. They spread their learning across all their subjects – revision that is shown to be more effective.
The school timetable ensures that students are able to change their learning environment every hour and take regular breaks during the school day
Students are able to access school sports facilities during PE lessons and after school clubs. Physical activity is well documented as having a highly positive effect on learning and academic performance
Many students will be revising after school in the evening at this stage. This is much more effective if their home work space is fresh after a day at school and not somewhere they have already spent many hours that day revising.
