Lyceum Balance

Lyceum Balance – ein neues Programm für eine ausgewogene Bildung

Mit dem neuen Programm «Lyceum Balance» am Mittwochnachmittag erweitert die Schule ihre Sportangebote und gibt den Schülerinnen und Schülern zusätzliche Wahlmöglichkeiten im Hinblick auf eine ausgewogene Bildung und den Erwerb einer breiten Palette von Fertigkeiten.

Through the new «Lyceum Balance» programme on Wednesday afternoons, the school is expanding its sports activities and is giving students additional choices to ensure a balanced education and the acquisition of a wide range of skills.

Das Programm reicht von Cricket und Fives über Klettern, Boxen, Yoga und Reiten bis zu Film Acting, Entrepreneurship, Camp Craft und Schach. Es dauert jeweils vier Wochen, danach können die Schülerinnen und Schüler neu wählen. In jedem Durchgang kommen neue Angebote hinzu. Die erste Durchführung kam bei den Schülerinnen und Schülern sehr gut an und gibt uns die Gewissheit, eine spannende neue Tradition am Lyceum Alpinum geschaffen zu haben. Dr. Christoph Wittmer, Rektor

The program ranges from cricket and fives, climbing, boxing, yoga and horse riding to film acting, entrepreneurship, camp craft and chess. Each program lasts four weeks, after which the students can make new choices. Each session brings new activities. The first session was very well received by students, convincing us that we have started an exciting new tradition at the Lyceum Alpinum. Dr. Christoph Wittmer, Head of School

CRICKET

One of the oldest photographs in the «Hall of Fame» is titled «The First Cricket Match in Switzerland, Zuoz College v Mr Gannon's English XI, July 24, 1924.» A young Mr E.J. Gordon-Spencer is standing back row, far right, his usual place in many of the team photographs.

Nearly 100 years later I hope that he would be both delighted and proud to see 30 Lyceum students playing cricket by choice every Wednesday in the Indian Summer months of August and September.

Unfortunately the Covid-19 pandemic meant that only one formal cricket match was possible, the one against the Old Boys, but despite this the school players practised hard in the nets and in small-sided internal matches, much progress was made both technically and tactically. Roll on 2021 with cricket on ice, a full summer fixture list and who knows, maybe we are ready for a Cricket Tour! Mark Dobson, Games Master

MOUNTAIN BIKE

In the last beautiful and warm days in Engadin, I wanted to offer the students something special and extraordinary; and what’s better than the most practiced sport in the valley: mountain biking? During four Wednesday afternoons, I wanted to give all the students the opportunity to approach mountain biking step by step. There were already many students who had a good ride level and brought their own bikes; and others who had never sat on a bike before. For them, the Lyceum provided the bikes.

It was very important for me to have a good group atmosphere and also to give every student the joy of and new skills for mountain biking.

In the first lesson, we went to the forest between S-chanf and Zuoz. I wanted the students to get comfortable with the bike by starting to ride challenging passages and do exercises they may have never done before. The goal was to prepare the students in the best possible way to master the upcoming flow and downhill trails, quickly and safely.

Since biking requires a lot of work, not just with the legs but also with the upper body, the second lesson took place at the Pumptrack in Pontresina. In this lesson, the focus was on helping the students to improve their riding techniques.

The third time, we took the buses and a trailer up to the Albula Pass, where we enjoyed the beautiful downhill to La Punt. The students were enthusiastic and felt safe despite the relatively large group. Since it had rained the day before, the puddles and mud have definitely added a big fun factor.

For the fourth and last Wednesday, or let’s say «the grand finale», I had planned to go to the Corviglia-Flow-Trail in St. Moritz. It had snowed three days before so the trail was mostly covered with snow. However, the snow couldn't stop us. After the downhill, the whole trail has covered every student with mud, but this did not stop the fun! In fact, all the students arrived at the end of the trail with a huge smile on their faces. We had no choice but to ride it all over again.

Luca Fischer, PE teacher

KLEZMER MUSIC

The revival of Klezmer music all over the world in the last 30 years has been astonishing and has now reached the Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz. Over four weeks five students under the tutelage of two teachers were introduced to the delights of the music which was played, mainly at weddings, for over three hundred years by Jewish people, often joined by the Roma people, in Central and Eastern Europe.

As long as a band has at least one accompanying instrument and one melody instrument, other instruments can be added and parts arranged according to individual instrumental abilities. For the first four weeks our band consisted of clarinet, fiddle, piano, guitars and double bass.

With absolutely no prior knowledge of this kind of music, the students, who had never even heard this type of music before, we were able to play a typical «Freylekhs» together by the end of the first session. At the time of writing, after three sessions, our repertoire had tripled.

As well as learning to play Klezmer music, students also learnt about the history and culture of the «klezmorim», and why this music all but disappeared after the Holocaust. All of the students in the group only had a basic knowledge of German, but were able to understand some of the Yiddish titles of the pieces through their knowledge of German.

Hats off to the students, who with virtually no practice between the sessions(!), succeeded in playing Klezmer tunes which were instantly recognisable. And we have recordings to prove it!

BTEC AND YOUNG ENTERPRISE EXPERIENCES

Students start their own business during the Wednesday afternoon activities (Lyceum Balance) and try to make a profit. BTEC Business students plan business events for their classmates or IB and DIS students take part in an internal competition (Investors Challenge) where they trade shares and stocks as a team and build a portfolio. Our BTEC teacher Andrew White tries to teach business not only in theory, but to apply it directly in practice with the students.

Students set up Businesses as part of Young Enterprise a Lyceum Balance activity

Mr White as part of the Balance curriculum, has introduced Young Enterprise. This has given students the opportunity to form a business and develop a product to sell. The students then invest money into the business and buy shares.

They must market their products and bring their products to market. At the end of the 4 weeks students will share out the profit and pay themselves dividends. So far this year we have companies who are selling bespoke cups, T Shirts and Donuts.

BTEC Business Students to host Enterprise Event for DIS 4 students

As part of their BTEC assessment students following the BTEC Business Programme must plan a Business Event. This year the students will plan an Enterprise day for the whole of DIS 4 students over a course of 2 days. These will be held on Thursday 29th October and Friday 30th October.

The event will give DIS4 students an opportunity to be introduced to Business and Enterprise in which there will be many Business Challenges throughout the day. In addition, BTEC Business students will learn how to plan a Business Event which contributes towards their Unit 18 Planning a Business Event Assessment.

Mr White Teacher of BTEC Business wishes the BTEC Business students all the best of luck in planning and running the event.

IB and DIS 4 Business Management Students participate in Investors Challenge

DIS 4 Business Studies students and IB 1 Business Management students are participating in an internal competition where they have to trade stocks and shares as part of a team and build up a portfolio of shares from the FTSE public listed companies.

Each week the companies are analysed by Mr White as to see who are gaining and losing. The first week saw a turbulent market and saw worldwide stock markets fall and there was no winners in terms of stock prices increasing. However, the team Best Investors won for IB 1 Business Management group. For DIS4 the Great Investors team saw their shares fall the least and therefore winning in the first week.

Week 2 saw the markets jump up with the news that the UK passed a controversial bill to leave the EU. Stock prices went up and the FTSE passed the 6000 mark again. Students saw the Portfolio of shares increase. However the winners were for IB 1 were Investors House and for DIS 4 again The Great Investors.

The competition will run up to Christmas and gives students a real opportunity to learn about trading stocks and shares. Mr White will analyse the student’s team’s performance and will give weekly updates.

Andrew White, BTEC Teacher

FILM ACTING

«Action!» ist das letzte Wort des Assistant Directors, bevor die Schauspielerinnen und Schauspieler mit der Szene beginnen. Doch es steht erst ganz am Ende eines exakt durchgeplanten Ablaufs und wehe dem, der diesen unterbricht. «Zeit ist Geld und wenn wegen eines Fehlers eine Aufnahme verhindert wird, ist Zeit viel Geld.», so Gian Franco Tordi. Auf eindrückliche Art und Weise hat der erfolgreiche Schauspieler und Regisseur die Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer des Film Acting Kurses in die Welt des Filmemachens eingeführt. Vom ersten Vorsprechen, bis zum letzten «Cut» konnten die Schülerinnen und Schüler am eigenen Leib erfahren, was es bedeutet bei einer Filmproduktion dabei zu sein. Sie haben Kamerawinkel besprochen, das Licht selbst eingerichtet, sich den speziellen Schauspieltechniken für Film angenähert und sogar einige Kampftechniken gelernt. Es war eindrücklich zu sehen, wie am Schluss alles wie am Schnürchen lief, weil jeder und jede genau wusste, was zu tun war und wie alle mit voller Konzentration bei der Sache waren. Sehr professionell! Ivo Bärtsch, Theaterleiter

CAMP CRAFT

Living in the beautiful valley of the Engadin, the Camp Craft elective gives students another view on how to explore the nature we are surrounded by. The four sessions cover a variety of outdoor knowledge that is always useful to have in your back pocket. The four sessions will finish with a camping trip, where students will be given the opportunity to step out of their comfort zone and put their fresh knowledge to the test.

The first session covers cooking on a portable gas stove, an open flame and a couple of other camp cooking options. Nutrition and taste are not to be forgotten, learn what foods are the best to bring on trek or a camping trip.

Leaving the comfort of the Lyceum campus for the session to the waterfall on the other side of Zuoz, students will learn how to set up a campfire, a tent and test their cooking skills from the last session. They will also learn about different possible sleeping arrangements, such as hammocks and be informed about the importance of tarps. Navigation with a map and compass will

also be learnt during this session. The third and fourth session will prepare for an expedition, planning the food, the route, how to properly pack a bag, and what to wear.

This elective is a wonderful choice to get away from school on Wednesday afternoons and learn something that you cannot read in a classroom textbook. Roasted marshmallows guaranteed!

CHESS

Chess is one of the oldest and most popular board games played by two players. It is played on a square board, made of 64 smaller squares, with eight squares on each side. Each player starts with sixteen pieces: eight pawns, two knights, two bishops, two rooks, one queen and one king. The goal of the game is for each player to try and checkmate the king of the opponent.

There are many benefits from playing chess and below are just some examples:

• It increases your creativity - One four-year study had students from grades 7 to 9 play chess, use computers, or do other activities once a week for 32 weeks to see which activity fostered the most growth in creative thinking. The chess group scored higher in all measures of creativity, with originality being their biggest area of gain.

• It improves your memory - Being a good player means remembering how your opponent has operated in the past and recalling moves that have helped you win before. But there’s hard evidence also. In a two-year study in 1985, young students who were given regular opportunities to play chess improved their grades in all subjects, and their teachers noticed better memory and better organizational skills in the kids. A similar study of Pennsylvania sixth-graders found similar results. Students who had never before played chess improved their memories and verbal skills after playing.

• It improves concentration - Chess masters might come off like scattered nutty professors, but the truth is their antics during games are usually the result of intense concentration that the game demands and improves in its players. Looking away or thinking about something else for even a moment can result in the loss of a match, as an opponent is not required to tell you how he moved if you didn’t pay attention. Numerous studies of students in the U.S., Russia, China, and elsewhere have proven time and again that young people’s ability to focus is sharpened with chess.

The students enjoyed the competive side of the game and learnt a lot from each other. Below you can see an example of them in action on a Wednesday afternoon. Mark Ross, Maths Teacher