Graduation from Internationella Engelska Skolan Sundsvall got picked up in the local press last week with Dagbladet writing about how “American” the ceremony was.

Sundsvall Tidning included a video clip of the ceremony with the 9th graders in their traditional Internationella Engelska Skolan gowns.

Congratulations to everyone who graduated 9th grade from Internationella Engelska Skolan last week.

Please make sure you’re aware of the new lunch rules that will come into practice from Autumn 2010.

Some kommun will now be paying for lunch for gymnasistudents. However, not all kommun (like Täby!) will not be doing so.

More information…

The Internationella Engelska Gymnasiet Yearbook is scheduled to be published very soon.

Ms Stecca writes that “the book costs 100kr this year and will be 60 pages with a shiny cover.”

See the poster for more details.

On sale soon!

Internationella Engelska Gymnasiet (IEGS) in Stockholm, Sweden, turned to Harry Potter for inspiration two years ago as it sort to maintain its small-school feel as it grew from 200 students to 700.

Jakob and Anna from Pavlov House

“Just as Harry, Ron and Hermione got a wonderful sense of community belonging to Griffindor House in the famous children’s stories by J K Rowling, we wanted to create a stronger sense of community in our school as we grew,” explains Dr Margret Benedikz, principal of IEGS.

“We were transitioning from premises in Enskede to Teaterhögskolan’s old building on Allhelgonagatan and increasing our intake. I decided to introduce four Houses because with a bigger school it’s important to get a sense of belonging,” says Dr Benedikz.

The four Houses are called: King, Pavlov, Currie and Russell after the four Nobel Prize Winners Martin Luther King, Bertand Russell, Ivan Pavlov and Marie Currie.

“We wanted names that had a strong Swedish connection but were also outstanding international academics,” explains Dr Benedikz.

Each student and member of staff belongs to a House.

“Throughout the school year we have inter-House competitions,” says Dr Benedikz. “The inter-House competition was amazingly successful. We’ve also had inter-House chess, ping-pong, debate, battle-of-the-bands, cross-country running and football competitions.”

“The students are extremely proud of their House,” says Mr Arlo Knox, Pavlov’s Housemaster. “This week we had an official House photograph and all the House came to school in the House tie. It was brilliant.”

Mr Knox attended a British public school he knows all about the House-system. “This is completely new for Swedish students,” he says. “They’ve only heard of Houses through Harry Potter but from the way they’ve embraced their school tie and House competitions I can see they love it. ”

With the 10th Anniversary Celebrations on Friday, May 7, each House is pulling together to make sure the day goes with a bang.

“We’ve got bands performing, a drama performances, photo exhibition, art auction and disco,” says Phil Spires, IEGS vice-principal. “It’s so exciting to see a big school pulling together to make the day a success.”

Photography Competition

Entry Form – Photo Competition

Thursday saw Curie beat Russell in the final of the girls Inter House football tournament, and Pavlov boys beat Curie boys.

It was a thrilling afternoon’s football with all the teams playing with commitment and skill.

Curie Girls vs Russell Girls

After Curie went 1-0 up in the first half, Russell threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Curie goal for the remainder of the match but just couldn’t find a way through.

Even when they had a glorious opportunity to level the match with a penalty 2 minutes from time, they squandered their chance. It was rough justice for a team that passed and moved with some guile.

Curie, nevertheless, were worthy champions for their committed defending, furious midfield play, and determination to ride their luck.

Pavlov celebrate an infamous victory

Pavlov Boys vs Curie Boys

After the drama of the girls’ final, the boys teams played out a thrilling match with Pavlov emerging victorious 3-0.

The score somewhat flattered Pavlov because Curie, in spite of their failure to hit the net, played some excellent football. They threatened to score throughout the match and if it wasn’t for some sublime defending from Pavlov the scores could have been much closer.

Cold, but not broken!

It was wonderful to see so many supporters, both teachers and students, at the matches despite the weather. The spectators merrily cheered their teams on and seemed to have as much fun as the players on the pitch.

A big thank you to Mr Knox for organising the tournament and Alex Benedikz for refereeing.

IEGS News has already covered the Helping Hands project running at IEG, but Mr Maier came back today with more news about how the project is developing.

Helping Hands make a difference

As you might remember, Helping Hands is a new initiative undertaken with the support of Mr Maier that involves students helping other students.

It all came about when Victor Bernard, a 3rd year social science student, made a comment to Mr. Maier at the end of his 2nd year that stayed with Mr. Maier.

“Our own students don’t get involved enough in helping each other as they can,” Victor told him

Mr. Maier challenged Victor to do something about it and he sure did. He began a student lead group, which has the primary purpose of helping fellow students with any and all problems to work towards solutions by reaching out to other students.

How Helping Hands Will Work

All Helping Hands group members will receive training from Mr. Maier in a problem solving model to use when helping other students as well as guidelines to follow to effectively help.

Mr. Maier will then be involved in a supervisory and support role to the group to ensure the wellbeing of both Helping Hands members and all students involved.

During Induction Week for all new first years in August, Helping Hands members will be present to welcome students to school, assist in their orientation process for the first day, and a minimum of two group members will become a buddy to one 1st year class in order to maintain contact with them in their beginning transition into the school.

Helping Hands students will be available via e-mail for questions or any support they need.

“By doing this they hope to create trust from the student body and earn respect as a helpful and useful group to turn to for assistance,” Mr Maier explains.

Key Roles

Two coordinators within the Helping Hands group, one for academic help and another for social and personal problem solving help will have important roles:

The Academic Coordinator will be responsible for making contact with different departments within the school to discuss the Helping Hands group and what they are there for.

The academic coordinator will connect students who want assistance in any academic subject with an appointed Helping Hands tutor. The tutor will arrange times to meet with the student to receive help in the subject area. They will keep track of how much each Helping Hands member is contributing and communicate on a regular basis with Mr. Maier to supervise the group’s progress. The Academic Coordinator will also find available rooms to book for small groups when needed who want to book a classroom for a more verbal (loud) study session. The coordinator will take a more active role in the regular supervision meetings Mr. Maier will hold to maintain the accountability and good standards of the group

The Social / Personal Challenges Coordinator will work with the buddy system to support the group maintaining contact with their class and encouraging students to be ok with reaching out to help each other. This coordinator will be offering Helping Hands groups to all of the student body. What these groups will offer is an open door to a small group lead by two Helping Hands members, which will have a solution focused approach to any social, personal, or academic problem. It will be a fun and engaging environment where you can come, not be judged, be listened to, and receive support in solving your problem.

Mr. Maier’s office will be the place for these groups and he is very excited to get kicked out of his office for what he says “the best medicine ever!!”.

Mr. Maier also stresses that: “students helping each other is the most powerful changing force available within this school, and we have some real amazing students wanting to help”. This coordinator will post the schedule for when the groups are open during the week and anyone can choose to come to one or all of these groups to help each other to solve their own problems. The group facilitators will meet with both the coordinator and Mr. Maier to receive supervision and support.

The Launch of a New Website

The other exciting and fun initiative the group will be taking is creating a interactive website which will serve as an outlet to discuss issues and solve problems, give students great resources and information on relevant issues to their wellbeing, and a place to show case the excellent talent out students have within the school in art, music, and writing. This feature is in development at this very moment and will be operational by the beginning of the new school year.

“Any student can join Helping Hands,” says Mr Maier. “We’re looking for people to get involved.”

Image: FlickrCC

IEGS has been closed for the Easter Vacation this week, but rest assured we’ll be back in business again on Monday following the normal time-table.

If you’re hungry for education news, why not check out this story that appeared in the British press this week. Apparently, students are being asked to monitor teachers.

On this site we’ll be posting an interview tomorrow with Internationella Engelska Skolan’s CEO Mr Peter Fyles!

Yesterday Dr Jon Buscall spoke to a group of students, teachers and parents about surviving social media.

As he is going to give the talk again just after Easter he’s not making his slides available; however, there is one thing you need to be careful of immediately: Location-Based Services.

Foursquare

If you haven’t heard of Foursquare yet, you soon will have as it fast approaches a million users. Like its competitor Gowalla, it’s a location-based social networking game that is played on mobile devices.

Users “check-in” at venues using text messaging or a device specific application. They are then awarded points and “badges.”

The great thing about Foursquare is that when you check-in to specific locations, businesses are starting to target users with special offers. It can also be a great way of hooking up with friends and family. You can also learn more about locations such as stores, restaurants, cafés, etc, by reading the tips or comments left by people who have already checked-in.

The trouble with the likes of Foursquare and Gowalla is that if you are not careful you can reveal your specific location to anyone. For example, on the iPhone Foursquare encourages you to tell your friends on Twitter (i.e. the world!) exactly where you are.

By revealing your location online you may be putting your home or personal safety at risk. This issue was raised by Please Rob Me.com

Please be aware of privacy settings on location-based games and services so you can control the reach your messages have. If you allow your messages to travel between different social networks –say, from Foursquare to Twitter– the information could be misused by others.

As a rule of thumb, don’t share your location with anyone except “genuine” friends and don’t take risks.

What: Surviving Social Media – A talk by Dr Jon Buscall

When: Tuesday, March 30 at 1830 -1930

Where: Aula at IEGS

Why: Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and blogs are fantastic communication channels. But you want them to work for you, not against you. Looking at specific examples, this talk will show you how to get the most out of social media and build your career and network. It will also show you how to avoid the very real pitfalls that can damage your reputation with future employers, university admissions officers, etc.

Students, staff and parents are welcome!