For arriving students, a member of school staff is on duty at a Welcome Desk at Geneva airport on the main day of arrival and can be contacted on +41 79 732 77 19.
Once students arrive in Switzerland, it is expected they will travel directly to Aiglon. Having extra time in Geneva or stopping at Montreux, for example, is not permitted. The same applies when leaving School to go home for the holidays.
Unaccompanied Minors (UM) UM service must be reserved, confirmed and paid to the airline company by parents. It is very important that the Travel Secretary knows at least two weeks in advance of any UM bookings. Tickets and the UM form should be sent by email to travel@aiglon.ch.
Passports and Travel Documents Passports and other important travel documents are to be handed in to Houseparents on students’ arrival back at Aiglon. At the beginning of the school year, passports will be held in Forbes to check and request visas where necessary. At all other times, Houseparents will keep passports locked away in House. From a security and safeguarding point of view, it is not appropriate for students to keep passports in their possession during term time. This applies to all students in both the Junior and Senior School.
Leaving Early or Returning Late Permission for absence from school should be obtained from the Houseparents in the first instance with adequate notice for all to be consulted. Permission for absence, such as late return from vacation at the start of term or early departure before the end of a term, will only be considered under exceptional circumstances, reflecting the importance placed on full attendance and the inherent social and academic difficulties of a disrupted education.
In the case of an early departure before the end of term or an unusual or extended period of absence, permission from the Assistant Deputy Head (Student Life) is also required. Houseparents will guide parents as to whether this extra authorisation will be required. In such cases, teachers and other staff need to be contacted and we ask that no arrangements are made until confirmation about whether or not the absence is authorised, is received.
For Junior students, parents should contact the Head of the Junior School about permission to leave early, giving notice in advance.
Colleges, universities and others seeking references often require attendance data from us. We ask parents to respect term dates and make requests for absence only in exceptional circumstances. It is particularly important that absences are kept to a minimum to avoid disruption to academic and other programmes.
Mid-Term Breaks Mid-term breaks are designed to provide an opportunity for parents to spend a few days with their children away from school. Dates of mid-term breaks are noted in the school diary and also listed on the website.
Since weekends are usually busy in Villars, especially in the winter, parents should make hotel reservations well in advance. Parents are asked to arrange their own accommodation directly with hotels.
Local Exeats (in Switzerland) In addition to mid-term breaks, Senior students may request permission to spend the night out with parents, guardians or other responsible adults (for whom parents have given written permission) on up to two occasions during the winter and summer terms and on up to three occasions during the autumn term, as a guide. These exeats may take place at home or in a hotel and students may invite friends (again, with written permission from the host parents and the friend's parents). Students would not normally be granted permission to go on exeat on the first weekend of each term. Usually, at least one expedition needs to have been completed at the beginning of each term before an exeat is granted.
To be granted exeat permission, Senior students need to be making satisfactory academic and pastoral progress and have a planned programme to achieve the minimum number of expeditions. Written permission is needed from both host and parent. Junior students are unrestricted as to the number of weekend exeats, provided that they fulfil their expedition and other school commitments.
Exeat permission assumes parental, personal responsibility for the child during the weekend, and will only be granted when the parents have personally confirmed that they will be present to supervise on exeat.
Students Who Live in Switzerland In addition to the above exeats, students who live in Switzerland may go out on an additional exeat each term, but only to stay with their parents, guardians or family friends. They may not invite friends for this additional exeat. There must be written agreement of this arrangement between Houseparents and parents.
Visits from Parents Students may have dinner with their parents or family friends during the week at Houseparents’ discretion. A set time must be agreed upon for the return to school (normally the beginning of prep). Permission is likely to be conditional on a student being in good academic and disciplinary standing.
Aiglon believes that students’ general education and personal development are best served when they do not have access to large sums of money. Students are actively encouraged to be prudent, responsible and moderate in their spending. They are actively discouraged from making lavish or excessive purchases. Generosity may be appropriate in moderation when supporting charitable initiatives. The School promotes responsible, judicious management of personal funds and property by students.
Debit and Credit Cards Parents are encouraged to provide students in Year 9 and above access to an appropriate bank account for their pocket money, which they can use to cover small miscellaneous expenses. We recommend that parents choose an account which is compatible with any of the local banks with branches in Villars: Banque Cantonale Vaudoise (BCV); Crédit Suisse; or UBS.
To assist parents in this choice, representatives from the various local banks attend the School’s start-of-year uniform fair and are available to advise on the types of accounts offered that are suitable for young people.
The School allows students in Year 9 and above to have debit or credit cards attached to these accounts, which they can use to make purchases or obtain cash. We strongly discourage students from holding large amounts of cash at any time. If a student has over SFr100 then they should give this to the Houseparent who will keep it in a secure safe.
Cash Provided by the School Aiglon will provide students with cash in a real emergency situation (e.g. unplanned emergency travel). Cash will only be given in an emergency where the School has received written authorisation from the parent or guardian. Any cash given in this way will be recharged and a handling fee will apply.
In an emergency, if a student cannot access their own funds they can, through their Houseparent, request a cash advance of petty cash from the Finance Office. Houses hold a maximum cash float (SFr500), which may be used if the Finance Office is not open at the time of the unexpected emergency. Again, written permission from a parent or guardian is required.
Cash Provided by Parents In order to anticipate the need to provide students with emergency cash and pocket money, for Year 9 and above, the School recommends that parents pay funds directly into the student’s bank account.
Pocket Money The School recommends that parents or guardians provide their child with pocket money of the following maximum values:
Year 9: SFr 30 per week Year 10: SFr 40 per week Year 11: SFr 50 per week Years 12 to 13: SFr 100 per week
Junior School Pocket Money Parents of Junior students are encouraged to lodge a sum of cash for emergencies with the School, which can be given to their child as required. The recommended amount is SFr 300. The School will hold this in a secure place and it will be distributed by a member of staff. Unspent balances can be returned to the parent on request or when the student leaves Aiglon.
The weekly allowance given to the Junior boarding students is SFr 20. Parents pay for pocket money at the start of each academic term.
It should be emphasised that all parents should strictly observe the pocket money limits set by the School. The failure of a few to do so seriously compromises the success and integrity of the School’s policy.
Phone Cards and Credits The School can assist Junior boarding students with charging their mobile phone or provide pre-paid phone cards. The cost of mobile phone credits or pre-paid phone cards are charged to parents.
Bons The School operates a "bon system" with designated local taxi companies, that abide by the School’s values, and sports shops. Bons are intended to cover taxi travel and sports equipment and will normally be issued by Houseparents or DHPs on Wednesdays and Saturdays. This system enables a student access to credit for these specific services and the cost is charged to the parent. This system reduces the need for students to have access to cash and enables House staff to have oversight of expenditure incurred by students.
The required items must be listed on the bon in French, the sports shop or taxi company must be named, and the ceiling price must be marked on the bon.
Taxi Bons From August 2017, the only taxi companies that bons can be used with are: Taxi Zorro and Car Pro. The Finance Office has provided the Houseparents with stickers that have to be fixed on each bon.
From the 1st January 2017, if a student chooses to use another taxi company, they are responsible for paying for the service themselves. Any bons used / accepted with other taxi companies will not be paid by the School.
Shop Bons Bons must be signed by Houseparents only and parental permission must be required for bons above SFr 150.
Ski Rental Bons Bons must be signed by Houseparents only and parental permission must be obtained for bons above:
Junior School: SFr 500 Senior School: SFr 1,000
The amount or the article entered on the bon may not be altered without Houseparents’ permission. Any attempt by a student to alter or falsify a bon will attract appropriately serious disciplinary action.
The student may not receive from the shopkeeper the balance between the ceiling price and the purchase price, in cash or in goods. Students should hand in their bon copy to the Houseparents, or member of staff on duty in House on their return from shopping. Houseparents will carry out regular checks by requiring the students to show purchases and receipts. Unused bons will be cancelled by the Houseparents after a reasonable time has elapsed.
Day Students and Money The School does not provide cash, pocket money, phone cards or bons to day students. These services are only available to boarding students.
Credit It is strictly forbidden to buy goods or services on credit at any of the village shops, restaurants or the Campus Café.
School Bags All students are expected to have a bag for daily use. This could be the student’s existing expedition day rucksack, or one of the bags available in the School Shop. Bags brought from home or purchased elsewhere must be of a similar type to these. The requirement is that the bag or rucksack should be big enough to accommodate at least two lessons’ worth of materials (files, textbooks, laptop plus a pencil case and a school diary).
Naming Personal Items All clothes should be marked with the name and laundry number of the student. Name labels must be attached. Parents should mark all personal clothes before the student arrives at the School. For boarding students, all items bought in the School Shop on the day of arrival will be labelled by the School.
Additional labels (for naming personal clothes before arrival) can be ordered through the Admissions Office and normally take about 2 weeks to be made. All shoes should be marked with an indelible pen. Any unmarked, unclaimed clothes sent to the laundry will be given to charity at the end of term.
Any other equipment brought to school e.g. a tennis racquet, laptop, phone and so on should be marked appropriately.
Looking After Belongings Everyone is expected to be responsible about looking after their belongings and to respect the property of others. School bags and other personal possessions should be marked with the owner’s name. Books and school equipment may be left tidily and only temporarily on the shelves outside Parsons classrooms, Hall and the School Restaurant. Items should not be left on the floor.
School bags and other property found around campus will be removed and placed in the entrance to the Hall for collection by the owner. A fine may be charged out of pocket money and / or laps allocated.
Insurance Personal belongings to the value of SFr 5,000 are covered in the event of fire. For all other circumstances, we recommend parents have their own insurance for their child’s personal belongings. The School’s insurance does not cover students’ belongings for theft or damage (other than fire).
The School Shop, located in the Sports Centre, is open during morning break and on three afternoons each week for students to purchase a range of items. Staff are requested to place orders in advance via the Intranet.
Clothes for laundry are to be at the laundry no later than 08:00 on Monday. Late laundry (i.e. after 08:00) will not be accepted. All students must use only their own labelled box. No boxes may be shared. All items sent to the laundry must be clearly marked with the student’s name. Sticky labels do not work and should not be used. They can cause problems in the washing machines. All socks should be sent to the laundry in clearly marked sock bags. Loose socks will not be accepted. Students may visit the laundry (in the basement of Clairmont, entry by the door around the back of the building) on Wednesdays between 10:15 and 10:45 (morning break) or between 15:30 and 16:00 only.
Aiglon has an electronic key system. In case of loss, a replacement costs CHF 10.- to be paid in cash, or by credit card at the School Shop.
School rules governing behaviour and conduct apply in and around The Campus Café, including those relating to public displays of intimacy and the use of foul language. The following should also be noted: