September Newsletter+Progam Council Notes

What everyone should know:

• It has come to my knowledge that a group of students in the IB are not cleaning up after themselves after they eat lunch. Please be reminded you take your dishes to the cleaning station and clean up after yourselves after eating. Thank you.

• By week 40, all students should have been shown information about "beredskapsveckan" or preparedness week.  The idea is to make sure you are ready in case there is a war or crisis and don't have access to your usual creature comforts.  

• November 4th: Take Note:  Some students might end up with only one lesson on this day. Please note we will not take questions about whether students must come or not.   Lunch is provided, you have a travel card, we have spaces available to study, and yes, if you have a lesson you must come.  

  • Further Explanation: On this morning, no students will have lessons. It is a set time for Year 1 teachers to prepare for development talks by putting in evaluative comments into Vklass.   In the afternoon, some students will have lessons and some will not due to how we are organizing ourselves in the program.  

• If you want to join the Digital Economy Conference digitally, the link is here.  The conference starts 0800 Oct 19th.  To know more about the conference, check the Info screens at school. Parents are welcome too.     

• How we treat one another is a focus area we are taking on this term.  We are looking for tips from students about actions we can take so that we can succeed in improving student behavior in this regard.  Suggestions are being collected here:   https://padlet.com/kristabaker2/bulletin-board-how-we-treat-one-another-x8ftg8lz8s9b4pw9    and are anonymous.   some teacher ideas are already there. Goal: How can we keep offensive comments and behavior at bay? Not just in school (that's not usually where it's happening), but outside of school and online too?

  • Explanations: Results from the Year 2 survey last year show that this topic in particular could be better.  We are also aware of social media chat groups where students are saying offensive things to one another.  Students involved tend to think it's funny but others who are observing think the jokes cross the line.  

• Are you eligible to apply for assistance for your rent?  Adlerbertska elevbostadsstiftelsen applications are due Oct 15

  • • You are eligible if you are a student at Hvitfeldtska gymnasium with own accommodation. The application must be made on a special application form - incomplete applications will not be processed.   Find the application on this page.    Email all documents to stipendierhvg@educ.goteborg.se   if you are eligible.

• Notes from Program Council can be accessed in the next section.

• Pictures below!

• CAS Clubs Pictured Below. Info originally posted in Managebac under Discussions

We made essential agreements for our meetings.

We elected a "påverksansråd" representative, Tilde Hamrin.  Mattias Simpson is the reserve.

A "skyddsombud" will be decided by Krista after consultation with the teachers. 

In IB22 we heard from students:

• The representatives get the impression students don't care about class council and being a part of program council and think nothing happens or comes of it.  The representatives would like to see a general change or shift in the program where everyone sees these things are important and that it's good to be involved.

  • • Response:  Thank you for the feedback.The question is: Do students actually have influence? How would you/we know if they did?  During the course of the meeting, Krista identified several aspects of the program that have either been improved, refined, or adjusted directly as a result of student feedback or requests (and teacher feedback).

    Along with this, it's important for students to understand the scope of where they do actually have influence. It is true that there are some things that students can have an opinion about, feedback, etc., but also that more likely then not, cannot be changed. Some examples of areas that are fairly rigid:

The schedule once it's done. Feedback is always considered before the making of a schedule and part of the process.  Always the scheduler has the students' best interest in mind.  So much that the schedule will go through millions of iterations before it becomes the "final". This means that once it's done, there's a reason it looks the way it does. It means that some other "ideal" or "wish" wasn't able to be met. It's always ok to ask about why the schedule is the way it is, though, just so you can understand, but it will be very unlikely to change.

More about the schedule/lunch lines/etc. When there is a schedule issue that is less then ideal, it's not because the scheduler/the Principals/the school hasn't thought of the fact that classes could have a staggered start time (for example). Schedulers have all have all the best ideals and wishes when they start on the schedule.  The schedule ends up being the way it is due to many, many, many factors that also need to be accounted for.   But when you bring it up at Påverksansråd, you can hear more from the larger school perspective.

Subject choices once they are made.  It's not impossible to switch like last year. This is one refinement made by student (and teacher) feedback.  But subject choices are part and parcel of the schedule too, so switching becomes not only a matter of concurrency of learning, but also a practical question of whether it actually works. Once group sizes and schedules are set, subject switch is less possible.  Plus subject switches = lost learning so there are very many reasons why subject switch requests (or group switch requests) are ultimately not granted. 

The school premises.  Questions in the nature of "getting space" to do something or have are unlikely to be able to be granted. Not because we don't think it's important or a good idea.  The school has over 2 000 students and we have too few classrooms. We're already too crowded. Lunch lines are the way they are, for example, due to this issue. This is a big issue for which there is no easy fix. Building a new building, getting more space, it is a process that takes years and is also very expensive.  Where will the money come? Where is the building allowed to sit?  Etc.  

• Are we focused on the "right" things in TOK and CSP in particular?  Where can we find a better balance between an exam focus vs a learning for life focus?   CSP suggestion is to not have it so soon at the start of the year because the learning in DP sciences hasn't fully started yet. Hard to include content/disciplinary knowledge when it's so early.

  • • Response: we will investigate further

• Study hall times were a concern. Also must it be mandatory? 

  • • Response:  goal is always to have the study hall in students' "gap hours" during school and not so late in the day.  This first time simply wasn't possible to find the position. The time will be different each time as it's unique to the teachers and students schedules.  In the future, more then one session is offered but students will be assigned to only one based on the one their schedule allows them to attend.   

    • Also, while we can later consider the "mandatory" part, we wish to run it at least for some time as mandatory and then evaluate.  

    • The goal is preventative and proactive, giving students time before (or the week of) an IA deadline so they can successfully submit their work on time.  If they are actually done with the IA, the time should be used for something else (school-related work.)

    • Note this was another aspect where we got very positive student feedback to have this kind of measure in place. =student influence

• Mentor time concern for 80 min length

  • • Response: it won't always be 80 min but will be when it's needed to have a longer session.  =student influence works

• IA deadlines in Managebac, they are not all there

  • • Response: Inform James who can help coordinate it so that the deadlines are correctly put into Manaagebac. =student influence works

• Important/urgent info not getting to all students and parents. Suggestion for Vklass messages to be sent with a preview of the contents and bullet points in the newsletter.

  • • Response: ok, will try   =student influence works

• Tension in interaction between some teachers and students.

  • • Response: this was understood to be NOT happening across the board. Encouraged to follow our complaints routine as/with individuals first.

• IB22 raises the issue of how to even better prepare PreDP students for DP.  We discussed ideas for better and more information about subjects in DP, as well as shadowing or "try it out" day.  

  • • Response: will continue to investigate and plan

• IB22 subject switch or TOK switch and desire for autonomy there.

  • • Response was linked to better preparation of subjects in PreDP or the "try it out day" .  Also we have listened to feedback from last year to allow students to request a switch asap and that it will at least be considered.  Note: the later the request, the more likely it's impossible.

    • Response re: TOK switches or switches where students think it should be easy to just adjust:  you have to trust that schedule changes after School Day 1 are complicated and not always possible. Although it may look OK for you as the student, there are other factors for Krista to consider regarding work environment both from a Pedagogic Leadership perspective and Manager perspective.

IB23:

Redundancies taken out

• Swedish graduation for our class

  • • Response: A student or two need to take responsibility to coordinate this with their class. The school doesn't get involved in the details of graduation outside of the school premises. 

•  We have double lessons of 160 min in some of our subjects (Swedish and English). Is there a policy about breaks? And if so what are they

  • • Response:  start with asking the teacher if you need a break

• Main issue: Scheduling--large gaps

  • • Response:  in January we can see if anything can be adjusted but regarding schedule changes, students can mostly count on them not being able to happen since each schedule change has a very extensive domino effect

    • Other response:  tips are to come prepared on those days for finding a nice cozy place to sit and study. Bring snacks. Go for a walk in the area, etc.  IB 22 student had some good ideas!

• Scheduling: 10 min between each subject not enough?

  • • Response: Krista looked into it. 10 min is the standard minimum across the entire school. If we increased it, we would not be able to fit in all of the lesson hours that are required, both affecting Swedish National and IB programs.  In other words, there will not be a chance on this aspect.

IB24

• More prep for subjects in DP

  • • Response:  It's coming this fall as per the IB Program Calendar.  Plus we are investigating how to make it even more extensive.

• What CAS activities are there to take part in?

  • • CAS coordinator will be informing soon.

• IB Ambassador applications. We will be choosing three from PreDP

  • • Mr. Du Priest will send info today (Sept 17)

• LANGUAGES  certain students not having their chosen language in their schedule

  • • Response: Please inform Krista

• Too few klassens dag and first one is way too early. 

  • • Response: thank you for the feedback. It's too late to make changes this school year but we can plan for next year's PreDP group. 

• Testing, academic integrity, the need to check there are no headphones, earbuds, bluetooth equipment, etc. Those who wear a hijab, we would like to have a known-procedure that feels comfortable for everyone.

Whole School issues that will go to Påverkansråd:

• Bamba line being too long, not having time to get lunch

• 10 minute breaks in between some classes being too little

• Too many potatoes in the food menu

• No salt cafeteria

• There is not enough table seats outside the classroms

• Chewing gums stuck on several places, very short lunch breaks, more meat for lunch, clearer highlighting of the ingredients used in foods, long breaks between classes

• An english version of the informational pamphlet for clubs and other student union information

Info about clubs, next year, ib ambassador and SVE

• Response already from IB: could someone consider it for CAS service?

• Orienteering day is Sept 26. 

• The rest of the "news" is under Program Council notes

• Student Ambassador  information is here   To apply, the DP Coord sent you info and a deadline

• IB23 TOK is going on a fieldtrip to the World Heritage Radio Station Grimeton outside Varberg on Thursday, 26 September. We meet at 8:30 by the Wall surrounding the North Building’s school yard. Dress for an excursion in the countryside. More detailed information coming soon via Vklass message.

 https://grimeton.org/en/

• On Tuesday, September 10th, the IB2 Visual Arts class took their first bus trip of the year, this time to Skärhamn's Nordic Watercolor Museum, to see the Belgian artist, Hans Op de Beeck's exhibition, "Vanishing Point". They explored his fantasy world, a range of watercolor paintings and life-sized realistic sculptures. They inquired into the question, "To what extent are the 2-dimensional artworks from this exhibition related to the sculptures/ installations?", but overall, everyone was very impressed with the works, and we look forward to our trip to Louisiana in Denmark in a few months!  See the pictures in this newsletter too!

• See pictures below from the Collaborative Science Project  as well.

• Study hall:  We are trying to schedule them much farther in advance. The next one is week 40 and should be seen in your schedule already.  We will try to get positions in students' gap hours and not late in the day. That's our first priority, but when it's impossible, the worse-case scenario is that it's a Wednsesday at 16.10.  It will be mandatory but it's meant to be preventative and proactice so students are definitely able to meet their IA deadlines to at least a minimal degree. If they are done with the IA, they should use the study hall for other school studies or work.  We will evaluate this later to determine if it should be kept mandatory all year.

• EE writing day number 1 is Wednesday the 18th and second day Sept 27.  Prior info was sent about this externally marked assessment and our routines in the last newsletter.  Students can see what room they are assigned to in their own schedule.

• Chem students have IA day on Sept 26 and 27.

• Oct 1: The DP Coordinator is talking to you about exam registrations.  I was hoping to pop in too and see how you all are :-)

• Int'l University applications: submit this google form if and when you know you are applying abroad: https://sites.google.com/educ.goteborg.se/internal-ib-at-hvitfeldtska/university-resources  

• There are three pictures below taken while Y3 students were at Chalmers. 

  • • Kartikey “investigating superconducting properties in nanodevices” for his extended essay.

    • Physics students visiting the nanotechnology cleanroom at Chalmers University of Technology.