We were thrilled to recently visit Surval, an all girls boarding school above Montreux. The school offers comfort and luxury but with a cosy and friendly family atmosphere. Stunning lake views are had from every room. On the occasion of Surval's 60th anniversary, we met with the new Principal, Nicola Dudley, who was happy to give us more information about who she is and the advantages of an all-girls education.
Ms Dudley, please tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
Proud to call Scotland my home, I also enjoy the fascination and adventure of working and living internationally. After spending the early part of my teaching career as a French and German teacher and senior leader in schools in Scotland, I moved into wider leadership roles in education, and most recently I have been based in Hong Kong. How have I come to be in Surval from Hong Kong, you may ask. The school in Hong Kong could not be more different in context, scale and setting to Surval Montreux. I was both intrigued and excited by Surval, a place where I find all the elements which are important to me coming together in one unique school - the individual attention to each student, the emphasis on enrichment for personal development, the blend of culture, languages, travel and global perspectives, and all in this beautiful corner of Switzerland where I also get to revive my French! As an outdoor pursuits enthusiast, I am looking forward to exploiting the authentic opportunities for personal development provided by the beautiful outdoors environment on our doorstep.
Who has been an inspiration to you personally?
I think back to the first Headmaster I worked for and recognise the impact he had on the development of my educational philosophy. He instilled in me a deep belief in the importance of a holistic approach in schools where each member of staff has a role to play in the academic, social, emotional and wider development of the students, and the belief that every student can succeed in the right environment with the right support.
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Speak with admissions directors of leading international institutions from Switzerland, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and more. Participating universities are:
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- Copenhagen Business School
- IESE Business School
- University of St. Gallen MBA-HSG
- Imperial College Business School
- Strathclyde University – Switzerland
- HEC Montreal
- WU Executive Academy
- HEC Paris
- HEC Executive - HEC Paris EMBA
- MIP - Politecnico di Milano
- ESCP Europe Berlin
- University of Geneva
- IE Business School
- HULT International Business School
- ESCP Europe Berlin – MBA
- University of Zurich
- Manchester Business School
- Duke University - The Fuqua School of Business
- Esade Business School - Fundacio Esade
- IESE Executive MBA Munich
- IESE Global Executive MBA
When we were contacted by one of Izumi Takase's participants from her workshops, we were happy to find out more about iPositiveLINC. We asked Izumi to explain what she does and how positive discipline can benefit parents as well as their children.
Why did you start? What has been the inspiration?
I first came across Positive Discipline (PD) in 2013 with the book by Jane Nelsen, when my son was 11. To set the background, I am Japanese, naturalized Swiss, married twice to different nationalities. Within this multi-lingual, cultural and blended family environment, I have a son (a single child from my first marriage) who is living with us and spending half of his holidays with his father (and his new family abroad). I was also a single mom when my son was a toddler. When my son reached his pre-teen – and grew 20cm in one summer, I found myself looking up at a tall (and I’m short) grumpy/sulking boy with whom I lost my means of communication (and authority…) amongst other challenges. Our relationship was getting challenging and I was lost with this ‘stranger’ who is my son. I searched for various parenting books and came across Positive Discipline – which changed everything, much beyond my expectations.
It was back in 2014 when knowitall.ch wrote an article about TrulyBalance at this link. We caught up with Annette Ebbinghaus when we found she had rebranded and is now offering a whole new series of online courses under the names beChill, beBalanced, and beElite.
Annette wrote to us, "I did a rebranding in 2020 as I had just successfully completed a nine year stint in the Swiss court system seeking justice for a mishap while building our family and my business a home. With this saga behind me I could focus on my passion, teaching people how live the life they really desire. I have three areas of focus and I developed an individual brand for each."
beChill for is for everything to do with education. Her main focus here is with adolescents, teaching them how to transform anxious energy into calm confidence. She has been working with teens in this capacity since 2008 and this year she begin to train other Sophrologists to deliver her program in both Australia and the United States.
She goes on to say, "What makes this course so interesting for students is that they learn about the special attributes of the adolescent brain while learning techniques to help them manage rumination, fear, loneliness, feelings of inadequacy and physical manifestations of stress. On the flip side, the high achievers that perhaps are perfectionist or elite athletes, these students learn how to give their mind a much needed break and how to reset the nervous system so they do not burn themselves out in their pursuits."
We recently heard about a great website that has printable scavenger hunt sheets that will certainly come in handy with some schools still on holiday this week. The weather is amazing (like Spring) and if you haven't organized every last minute, then please throw a few of these ideas in the mix!
We caught up with the inventor of these ideas: Ariana Starkman, "Explorrior has a link to lots of printable scavenger hunts for children that other Geneva/Vaud parents might like. I no longer live in the Geneva area but my connection is that I attended the International School of Geneva at La Chat for Year 10 in 2012-2013. I volunteered in the library, participated in the Duke of Edinburgh Award and won the Highest Attainment Award. I miss it all dearly."
Why did you start? What has been the inspiration?
I've always been an organizer, adventurer, and journaler. During the pandemic lockdown, I began thinking of ways to help people through the pandemic — ways to keep kids engaged, how to structure your day, how to write creatively, etc. I'm inspired by so many things — the people around me, nature, my dreams, closing my eyes. Inspiration is sometimes a choice you can make: choose to be inspired every day!
Have you been working on this idea forever, or was it something that came to you recently?
I came up with the name Explorrior just before I studied acting abroad in 2019 in Italy and Russia. Explorrior combines Explore + Warrior and is the name of my blog. I keep coming back to the word and it means a lot to me. For the past two years I have been thinking about different ways Explorrior can come to life, and the Etsy shop was one of them. The idea of opening up my Etsy store came to me early in the pandemic, and I just rolled with it! It's been really beautiful to see and hear how the printables are affecting people's lives.
