Plan against discrimination and offensive treatment

Introduction

This plan describes Hvitfeldtska Upper Secondary School's work against discrimination and offensive treatment.

The overall goal of the school's work against discrimination and offensive treatment is that all students should be able to feel safe regardless of gender, transgender identity or expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion or other belief, functional variations and age.

Harassment, sexual harassment and abusive treatment are not accepted at the school. If this does happen, it should be possible to quickly get help and support so that the violations stop.

The plan must be known to staff, students and guardians. Pupils and staff must be familiar with the legislation relating to pupils' rights and staff obligations, which aims to ensure a safe school and workplace for all.

The work concerning the rights of pupils and the obligations of the staff shall permeate the entire operation and be reflected in approaches, teaching, rules and procedures. Together we create a school for everyone.

This action plan is for you as a student at Hvitfeldtska Upper Secondary School, so that you feel safe and feel good when you are at school. Both students and staff have a shared responsibility to create a school where we respect each other and no one is treated badly.

If you notice that someone is being victimized or if you are being victimized yourself, you need to talk to an adult at the school. There are many people to turn to, such as mentors, counsellors, school nurses or principals. All adults at the school have a duty to listen to and act on what you say. Look under the heading Who should I turn to? to find the name, phone number or email address of the student health staff. 

We in the IB Program are additionally guided by our Mission Statement and our embrace of the IB Learner Profile Attributes.

In order for our young people at Hvitfeldtska Upper Secondary School to feel safe and thrive, students, school and parents need to take joint responsibility. Your task will be to talk to your young person about how to treat other people, but also push them to dare to tell an adult at school if they see or otherwise perceive something that feels wrong.

If you suspect that your young person or any other student at the school is being exposed to something, we expect you to contact the school, primarily with a mentor, counsellor or principal.

Note: Pupils' right to equal treatment and the school's obligation to work actively to prevent discrimination and offensive treatment are described in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Discrimination Act, Chapter 1. 3 

Key Concepts

Discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment and abusive treatment are central concepts in the Discrimination Act, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and in the Education Act, but what do they mean?

Discrimination

Discrimination means that a person has been disadvantaged or violated and that there is a connection with a ground for discrimination.

The law contains seven grounds for discrimination: gender, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion or belief, disability, sexual orientation and age.

Harassment

Harassment is an act that violates someone's dignity and that is related to one or more of the seven grounds for discrimination. It can be comments, derogatory jokes, gestures or ostracism.

Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment is a behavior of a sexual nature that violates someone's dignity. In addition to comments and words, it can be that someone, for example, grops or throws intrusive glances. It can also be about unwelcome compliments, invitations and allusions.

Offensive treatment

Offensive treatment is an action that violates another person's dignity but is not related to any ground for discrimination.

Offensive treatment can be:

●        Physical, as in e.g. pushing, kicking, punching, restraint.

●        Verbal, as in e.g. insults, nicknames, gender words, profanity, threats.

●        Psychosocial, as in e.g. faces, gestures, sighs, looks, rumours, ostracism.

●        In text or image form, such as in e.g. SMS, MMS, email, social media, notes, letters, graffiti.

Violations that are carried out repeatedly over a long period of time are called bullying.

 Everyday disputes

Conflicts are part of everyday life and are part of life. Sometimes conflicts can lead to positive changes or be a driving force forward, while in other cases it can affect the people negatively and create difficult situations that are difficult to get out of. Students can often resolve conflicts on their own but sometimes need guidance from adults.

Important to know!

Staff at Example Upper Secondary School who become aware of abusive treatment, harassment or sexual harassment have an obligation to act and report this to school leaders. The principal is responsible for reporting and investigating the matter and for taking action when necessary.  

Division of responsibilities and contacts

The principal is responsible for ensuring that the plan against discrimination and offensive treatment is known to everyone at the school and that the routines in the plan are followed. The principal has the overall responsibility for ensuring that an investigation is carried out if the school becomes aware that harassment, sexual harassment or offensive treatment has occurred.

The mentors are responsible for informing and explaining the plan to their mentor students. The mentors can also be involved in handling cases of abusive treatment.

The student health service consists of several different professional groups with different areas of responsibility. The school nurses and school counsellors are responsible for acting as a support when they become aware of harassment or offensive treatment. The school nurses are responsible for compiling answers to questions from the health conversations regarding values and offensive treatment. The student health service together with the principal is responsible for investigating cases of harassment, sexual harassment and abusive treatment.

Staff All staff at the school are obliged to draw attention to and intervene against, and report harassment, sexual harassment and offensive treatment to the responsible principal. All staff must also reflect on the norms and values that they convey and strive for equal treatment. The staff shall be given the opportunity to submit views and suggestions before the school management makes a decision on the current Plan against Discrimination and Offensive Treatment.

The students at Hvitfeldtska Upper Secondary School should, if possible, try to prevent violations, either by telling any staff at the school about the incident or by speaking up. The students are involved in the work partly by participating in evaluations of safety at the school and partly through representation in the student council where they come up with proposals for promotion and preventive measures. 

Who should I turn to if I have experienced violations?
If you are unsure who to turn to if you have seen or experienced harassment, sexual harassment or abusive treatment, you can turn to your mentor. You can also turn to the student health service at the school, see contact information below.

Student Health Team at the IB Pre and Diploma Programme 

All can be contacted via messaging through Vklass to which all students have access.

Krista Baker, Principal

Kristina Weiler, Counselor

Helena Lönn Ljungqvist, Nurse

Marie Hamlin, Special Educator

Routine for abusive treatment, harassment or sexual harassment

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DISCOVER DISCRIMINATION/OFFENSIVE TREATMENT?

• Investigation and documentation: As soon as any staff becomes aware of harassment or abusive treatment, an investigation is conducted.

• Police report: If someone breaks the law within the school area, a police report is made.

• Investigation conversation: In the first instance, the mentor conducts an initial investigation conversation with the student who feels violated.

ACTION PLAN (school management, teachers and other staff)

• Take the situation seriously.

• Investigate quickly.

• Talk to the person who feels offended.

• Document the course of events and conversations.

• Provide support to the victim.

• Follow up to ensure that the violations have stopped.

ADVICE FOR VICTIMS OF ABUSIVE TREATMENT

• Speak up!

• Make a note of what happened.

• Contact staff at the school that you feel safe with.

• Seek support from the student health service.

• Tell us what has happened.

• Accept an offer of support and help!

The principal is responsible for ensuring that the incident is investigated. The investigation is carried out in collaboration with the relavant stakeholders and likely the EHT.  If the principal delegates the investigation, he or she must stay informed of the matter. 

The principal sends the investigation to the principal when it is completed, but no later than one month after it was started. 

Monitoring and evaluation of measures

The measures taken to bring the violations to an end must be followed up, evaluated and documented. The reason is that the business must be able to ensure that the events do not repeat themselves.

Appendix 1:Rules for study peace, security and well-being at Hvitfeldtska Upper Secondary School  

The Hvitfeldtska IB community embraces the IB Learner Profile and we support one another to strive to demonstrate a balance of all 10 of the attributes. By embracing and demonstrating the LP attributes, we work proactively towards a respectful community that values learning together.

However, there are some actions we must outline which are not to be tolerated by any member of our IB school community or those actions which must simply be followed. By their nature, these actions work against the Learner Profile Attributes and the mission for learning we have in the program.

 Responsibility, consideration and consideration must characterize the interaction and work in our school. Everyone in the school must be active in creating a good work environment.

·         No student or staff member is allowed to be discriminated against on the basis of gender, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, disability, religion or other belief, sexual orientation or age.

·         The school does not accept that students or staff are exposed to violence, threats of violence, oppression, bullying or other offensive actions.

This applies to the school's premises

·         We help each other to keep our school nice by not littering, taking care of furniture and premises and setting up the chairs after lessons.

·         We cherish each other's time and arrive on time for lessons.

·         Only the school's students and staff have the right to stay on the school grounds. Students must bring their student card to be able to identify themselves and have access to entry, school lunch and loan of books. Staff wear a visible name tag.

·         Smoking bans (also for e-cigarettes) apply on school premises, in the schoolyards and at the entrance to the canteen. Snus bans apply in assembly halls and teaching facilities.

·         It is forbidden to use or possess alcohol, drugs or to be under the influence of these during school hours.

·         Any gambling for money or the value of money is prohibited.

·         Permission from the school's office is required for posters and other forms of advertising on the school's premises.

·         The school management has the right to open student lockers and seize objects if there is suspicion of storage of drugs, alcohol, weapons, stolen goods or other things that violate Swedish law.

This applies during class time

·         Mobile phones may not be used during class time without the teacher's permission and must be handed in or stored according to the teacher's instructions. See the document Procedure for handling mobile phones.

·         Consumption of food and drink (in addition to water) during class time may only take place by special agreement with the teacher.

·         Cheating is not allowed. See the document Policy Cheating/Plagiarism

In the event of a violation of any of the points above, the Vice-Chancellor may decide on measures regulated in the Education Act and Swedish law.

The school management and advocacy council at Hvitfeldtska Upper Secondary School 2026-10-09

Appendix 2: ACTIONS

PreDP students who violates current rules or otherwise sabotages the working climate will be subject to measures in accordance with the provisions of the Education Act, Chapter 5, Section 6. 

For PreDP & DP students, the actions taken are in accordance with the Swedish Discimination Act (Diskrimineringslag 2008:567 2 kap. 7 & 15 §§) and in accordance with the IB program Inclusion policy. This "Plan against discrimination and offensive behavior" is specifically a part of the school's IB Inclusion Policy. 

"The staff may take the immediate and temporary measures that are justified to ensure the students' safety and peace of mind"

• Investigation and take reasonable measures required to stop behavior and prevent future harassment   IB Inclusion Policy, Discrimination Act

• Reprimand, detention, expulsion  Education Act 5 kap 7-8 §§ or IB Inclusion Policy

• Taking objects into custody  Education Act  5 cap, 22-23 or IB Inclusion Policy

• Written Warning  Education Act  5 kap 11§, or IB Inclusion Policy

• Suspension from part of or the entire educational program Education Act  5 kap 17-21 §§, or IB Inclusion Policy

Though there is legal basis for the following, they are often not possible or appropriate due to the organisation of the IB.

• Temporary transfer within the same school unit or school  Education Act 5 kap 12§ or Discimination Act

• Temporary transfer outside of the school unit  Education Act 5 kap 13§ or Discimination Act

POLICE REPORT

Suspicion of a violation of Swedish law must be reported to the police. Burglaries in personal premises and theft of personal items are reported by the person who has been the victim of the crime.

CRIME PREVENTION EFFORTS

As part of the work for drug-free schools, narcotics dogs may be used for preventive purposes, without suspicion of crime, to search the school's premises. This takes place outside regular schedule hours.

Appendix 3:  Program Specific Sections (HVG 5)

Follow-up and evaluation of targeted initiatives during the academic year 25-26 (HVG 5)

Results from school survey in DP1 and from the nurse’s survey in PreDP
Results from the school survey in DP1 showed that students are content with how they are treated by teachers (8.1/10). The same survey also stated that students in the IB-program feel less safe at school than other programs (7.8 – school average is above 8). The students also stated low on “prevent violence” (only 5.3). There is an increase of students who report that they fear teachers sometimes (12 compared to 5 in 2025).

The outcome of the nurse’s health study in PreDP showed that 10% of students do not have an adult to turn to. No students reported to have been exposed to offensive or discriminating treatment. 98% of students reported that they always or often feel safe at school. 

Reports of offensive and discriminating behavior
There were two unique errands of offensive treatment during school year 25/26. These matters were addressed and resolved. There are already preventative measures in place and we will continue working with these during the school year 26/27.

Last year targeted initiatives
Stronger modelling of the IB Learner profile by staff: Staff saw that students didn’t always feel their teachers modelled the IB Learner Profile Attributes. This led the team to agree that a stronger focus on the IB LP attributes and what they mean in the context of our school and program is important. Teachers agreed to bring up LP attributes more and discuss them with students more, and have students reflect upon them in the context of their studies.

Mentor Check Ins: This was and will continue to be a place for students and teachers to meet to build a relationship and to make room for discussing matters such as attendance patterns, study habits and overall well-being.

School wide and in between programs

To ensure equivalency between programs at Hvitfeldtska regarding handling students’ absences, a group was formed to work on guidelines and more efficient methods on dealing with this matter and CSN. The guidelines and enhanced work methods will be launched during this school year. 

Targeted initiatives for academic year 26/27 (HVG 5)

• Mentor Check Ins: Will continue to increase the possibility for students to have an adult to turn to at school.

• Teachers continue to model and discuss the IB Learner Profile during lessons and mentor time.

•  Student Health Team hosts workshops with students in PreDP and DP1 about the plan against discrimination and offensive treatment, communication, well-being, human relations which also aligns with strengthening the IB Learner Profile

•  A “new in Sweden”-group will be led by the school nurse and the school counselor where some of the goals are to make sure that students who are new in Sweden build a relationship with an adult they can turn to and that they get to know their rights in Sweden and also get more information about discrimination, offensive treatment etc.

•  Any registration of offensive treatment will continue to be followed up by the principal and Student Health Team will continue to offer support.

•   If needed, Student Health Team supports the staff in handling issues related to offensive treatment

Risks of disrimination and degrading treatment 26/27 (HVG 5)

The risks of discrimination and degrading treatment continue to be online within social media. This is why one of our regular workshops with the counselor and other student health team members bring this into focus. Another risk is in between lessons, in the hallways, IB students sometimes hear deragatory comments from students in other programs, spoken in Swedish. 

Structure for Promotion and Prevention Activities

The school's promotion work is ongoing all the time with the goal of creating and strengthening positive conditions for equal treatment in school. Everyone in the school, both students and staff, must be involved in the promotion work. The promotional and preventive activities generally aim to create a sense of community, a sense of community and basic security in the school.

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At the start of the school year, this Plan is mentioned in various startup meetings. It is especially focused upon when the Counselor meets new students in year 1 for a workshop focusing on case studies-these are typical scenarios we have seen happen. Students can discuss the scenarios, think about how they would respond, and also get to know the laws regarding some of the issues as well.  This workshop raises awareness of The Plan and its importance. 

Prior to the start of a new school year, or just at the start, the school nurse summarizes anonymous data from the health talks in PreDP. The school counselor together with the school psychologist does a wellbeing survey with DP1.  This allows us to home in on aspects we should pay special attention to in the school year.**

Each year in November or in Spring, year 2 students will take part of a survey about the school study environment. This is then analyzed within the team to determine which areas we should either try to get more information about, or, plan measures to make needed improvements. The results are also shown and discussed as part of the Class and Program Council activities. **

As-needed reactive measures from complaints or observations can also become part of the promotion and prevention activities because the Principal can shed light on what kinds of things students are experiencing as offensive, what actions are taken and we thus tend to plan preventatively from that in the future.**

Mentor Check Ins and Development Talks: a one on one check in with mentor teacher and student will build relationships and will have a regular question about topics connected to this plan.**

The IB curriculum has built-in requirement that all teachers are working on Approaches to Learning skills which include collaboration and communication within and among students. The same is true for the IB Learner Profile attributes.  

Other school-wide routines support promotion and prevention of offensive treatment:

Pedagogical lunch opportunity for teachers and "getting to know you" activities at the start of the school year, and, later in the school year when it's an Outdoor day. 

Structure for Mapping out How Students Thrive and Experience the School Environment

In order to find out how students thrive and experience the school environment, these areas need to be continuously mapped and investigated in the activities. Mapping is an important part of designing the school's ongoing equality work.

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During the year, the mapping activities that will take place are marked above with an asterisks (**).