2023 October Newsletter

• IB Global Conference October 5th-8th:   I attended and have summarized the most compelling points for our community to read here, if they wish.  Note that at the very end of the page, I have reflections and "calls to action" and some students may even wish to respond to me about those. 

• Scholarships/Grants:  A deadline is comning up Oct 15 for students to apply if they are a full time student here, living hear, and are away from their parents. It is called Albertska Elevbostadsfonden.  Contact Fahim with questions.  The link is found https://goteborg.se/wps/portal/enhetssida/hvitfeldtska-gymnasiet/stipendier/nuvarande-gymnasieelever 

• CAS CLUBS call to action: We are having Year 1 and 3 development and subject talks November 23 in South Aula. We would love that clubs provide fika or if they just want to set up their club station to promote it or raise awareness.  If you are interested, talk to Cecelia as there is a protocol for setting up these tables at school.  

  • Speaking of CAS Clubs, if you go to "Discussions" in Managebac, Cecilia posted a list of Clubs there. If yours is missing, you probably haven't filled out the form and given it to Cecilia yet, so please do!   They current clubs are:

CREATIVITY

* Craft and Upcycling Club

WHERE: S501   WHEN: Thursdays 13-14 (-15:00)

* Math and Science Help Club

WHERE: S407  WHEN: Wednesdays 16:30-17:30

ACTIVITY

* Dance for Health

Do you feel stressed or anxious? Welcome to discover the joy ofmovement, without demands on performance. Everyone canparticipate! The focus is on togetherness and being yourself. The group is led by an instructor trained in the “Dance for Healthmethod”. 5 sessions.

WHERE: Verket, Lilla Stampgatan 1  WHEN: Tuesdays at 16.30-17.45 (3, 10, 17, 24 and 31 October, 2023

Registration and free of charge!  REGISTRATION: halsolots@socialcentrum.goteborg.se

SERVICE

* We have many students new to Gothenburg and some who are living here on their own without parents/guardians. Therefore, we would like to suggest that a great CAS experience could be the forming of a support group for such students with a regular time to meet and support one another. 

WHERE:  ?      WHEN:  ?

* EYP

 WHERE: S205  WHEN: Wednesdays 16:00

* Kenya Club

WHERE: N111   WHEN: Tuesdays 17:00

• Parents and students in Year 1 or Year 3.  See your specific section for info about development/subject talks coming up. 

• New IB Student Ambassadors from IB23:  Welcome Pietro Zamboni, Maria Muniz, and Simisoluwa (Simi) Dahunsi as new IB Student Ambassdors! As you take on your new role, I hope you will go out of your way to ensure all students feel they belong in the IB Program here at Hvitfeldtska: both those who are here now and those who are interested.  

• Week 44 Remember week 44 is "höstlov".  

• Nov 6  is a resource day for teachers and you will notice you do not have lessons schedule. HOWEVER, you might still be required to come in. This is what's happening:

If a teacher finds they are lacking important work from you, they will ask you to come in from 0830-1330 (N Aula). If a teacher has asked you to come in, it's mandatory to come in and we'll take attendance and have it noted which assignments you are meant to work with.

You may wish to come voluntarily regardless if a teacher asked you in.  Welcome!  

• Enjoying the newsletter (or not)?  Please let me know if you are reading the newsletter by quickly clicking a button in this survey. It helps me to know if I should continue to write them.   (teachers, parents, students can answer!)

• Development talks  are coming up November 23 from 0800-1200. You as a student will be asked to prepare and your mentor will inform you how to do that.  More details about how they will be scheduled to come soon, but for now, please be sure to pencil in the date and time.

• Again, welcome to the new IB Student Ambassadors, we look forward to working with you.

• Stress Survey.  Do you remember that Lina Groth said she'd be working with you around this topic?  Well now it's time to take the survey which you can access here.   Note: you must be in your School Google Account or it will not open. It will be open until Friday, November 10th.  Lina and our school Psychologist Cecilia will then visit you in "homeroom" in weeks 46-47 (in half groups) to discuss not only the results of the survey but also how to handle stress!  

• Soon I want to evaluate the subject selection process, but, first I want that you read the "Reflections, and calls to action" portion of my summary from the IB Global Conference, it's at the very bottom. I'd like you to reflect on the same :-)

• Denmark trip: remember that you must have the travelling papers you need to be able to cross the border to Denmark. If you do not, let your teacher know. It means you are not able to go on the field trip, unfortunately.

• Homeroom The SYV is schedule to meet you all on Tuesday week 42, in S403 a and b.  

The CAS coordinator comes in week 43.

• Subject talks are coming up on November 23rd from 1245-1630 in our South Aula and it's going to be a kind of "happening" with a bit more flourish than normal.  Each subject teacher will be handling how they sign up works. Generally speaking, it works like this:

  • The subject teacher initiates that he or she wants to have a talk with you and your parents (if you are under 18).  The teacher will inform you of the time you are booked.

  • You or your parent may initiate that you want to talk to a subject teacher, then you contact that teacher directly. Then the teacher will communicate with you how to proceed. 

When you come to the subject talks, all Year 3 teachers will be in the South Aula, so even if you are not signed up to talk to all of the teachers, you can still have a quick "Hello" or question to another teacher if they happen to not already be talking to someone else.  Our Student Health Team, DP Coordinator, and myself will also be available if you want to chat.

Note subject talks are short, quick, to the point and focused on advice for the students' improvement and not like a "development talk" with a teacher mentor you may be used to from a previous school year.  Thus we aren't sharing personal or sensitive information during these times. If you have something to discuss that is more like that in nature, contact your child's mentor or a member of the student health team.

Additionally, we are hoping our CAS Clubs will provide Fika and perhaps set up some of their club information for you as parents to see (or you as students to know about).  

• INSTAGRAM reps needed. I need 1-2 students who can take photos and write the accompanying "blurbs" to send to our Instragram-responsible team to upload so students can get a sense of what it's like "a day in the life of an IB student".   If you are interested, just VIM me or email me asap and I will just make a choice as soon as I can.  The job takes place in Week 45.

• Denmark trip: (only vis arts students) remember that you must have the travelling papers you need to be able to cross the border to Denmark. If you do not, let your teacher know. It means you are not able to go on the field trip, unfortunately.

• EE and Exam Registration Week 45 in homeroom/mentor time.  The actual final copy of the Extended Essay is due 8 pm November 5th.  If you haven't met the deadline, we will not register you for any of the IB exams at that time. If you have met the deadline, we will be issuing you your exam registration form that you must sign to show you have received it and that it is accurate.

As you are an IB 3 student, it's particularly crucial that you are familiar with the Assessment Policy and one of the first steps to being in alignment with the policy is that if you have an issue with a deadline, you talk to your teacher before the deadline. And when we say "talk to your teacher", we don't mean that you are informing them that you aren't going to make the deadline, we mean that you must approach them with respect and humility and a request for an extension and why you need an extension.  That is the first step to academic integrity. 

• Discrimination/Offensive treatment follow up. OK, this newsletter has alot of surveys, I get it. So maybe I'll post this link again next time too. We're following up with the survey you did last year regarding offensive treatment/discrimination. Could you take a moment to tell us more and how things are now? If so, here is the link.