Dear Students, Staff, Parents and Friends of IES Gävle,

I feel privileged to write this end of school year letter to you as principal for IES Gävle. I feel proud to share with you the celebration of another successful school year. It has been another school year filled with opportunities, filled with experiences, filled with highlights. We will remember this school year as the first special year when we started up our Junior School and when our Senior School moved to our wonderful building at Brynäs. The success of our school did just not happen overnight. It’s a result of the collective hard work put in by our teachers, school administration, students and parents. Our students have been given wonderful opportunities to learn, to grow and develop in IES Gävle. Thank You!

IES Gävle Junior School graduation day is on Wednesday, June the 9th.  Our students will not be served lunch the 9th.

Year 6 will start the day at 08.10 and finish the day at 11.10.
Year 5 starts at 8.20 and finish 11.20.
Year 4 starts at 08.30 and finish the day at 11.30.

Before our last day of the school year I ask all our students and parents to go through our “lost and found” clothes. We have placed our lost and found near the entrance. Please, there is a lot of clothes and we appreciate if you pick up the things belonging to you or your child. After graduation we will send all the “lost and found” items to charity. 

Our GD/Gif was terrific and our students had a wonderful weekend.  Thank you to all staff for your support and our warmest “Thank You” to all our parents, we appreciate you lot. The amount of support we got from our PTA was beyond expected. Thank You to our fantastic PTA for all the things you do for our school and our students!

I look forward to seeing you at the beginning of the next school year on Tuesday August 17. Students will finish after lunch on this day.

Year 4 starts at 08.30 (finish at 11.30)
Year 5 starts at 09.00 (finish at 12.00)
Year 6 starts at 09.30 (finish at 12.30)

On the first day of school students will receive their schedule, handbook and materials and spend time with their mentor.

Finally, I know the summer break can be busy with people to see, and places to be. But remember to take time for yourself and take care of yourself.  I am sure our next school year will be another fabulous year filled with new beginnings, new journeys and definitely new challenges to explore.

Kindest regards,

Ms Anna Ek

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Dear students and parents,

Staff and students have been very busy with the assessments and reporting associated with our midterm development talks. These meetings are an essential part of our school's striving for academic excellence. Students are encouraged to do all they can to reach the maximum of their potential whatever that may be. It was a pleasure meeting parents in our corridors. Parents feedback is invaluable for us in our resolve to strive for excellence.

In the end of this school year IESG will participate in the sports event GD/GIF at Gunder Hägg Stadion 29-30 May 2010. This is a great opportunity for our junior students to be involved in a fun and exciting community event. We hope that our parents will support our classes and our school by getting involved in this event. Parents, please sign up your child. Sign-up deadline is week 17. There will be prizes for class participation and special events for our IES students!

I am delighted to report outstanding success for our class 4A who won the reading competition “Bokslukaren 2009-10”. This is a fantastic achievement for the students and for Ms Wallmark. The class has read a total of 148 891 pages, that’s 5727 pages for each student!

The spring arrived and the weather forecasters predict a fantastic May and June. Either way I am sure that we will have a fantastic end to our first school year at IESG Junior.

Best regards

Anna Ek

Principal

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Dear Students and Parents at IESG,

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to another school term. I hope you all had a relaxing and restful holiday.

We have a few events in our near future:
January 16th – Open House Senior School, year 7-9. Södra Sjötullsgatan, Brynäs. Time: 11.00 - 14.00.
January 29th – Staff In Service day. No school for our students!
February 6th – Open House Junior School, year 4-6. Södra Kungsgatan 59. Time: 10.00-12.00.
February 10th – Junior School Sportday. Students and parents will get information from class mentors.

As successful as we have been, we are not blind to the need for continued achievement. We can do better. Our young, talented and energetic students have enormous potential for success. We recognize that parents are the first and most important teachers for their children and we need your cooperation and involvement to provide them with the best education possible. Take time to talk with your children about their school experiences. Your interest and concern with their school progress will motivate them to do their best. Maintain contact with your children's teachers and with me. Ask questions and communicate concerns so we can build a partnership which will ensure student success.

I look forward to working with you toward a successful and rewarding spring term.

Sincerely,

Ms Anna Ek
Principal

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Welcome to the last Principal Update of the year 2009. 

We have reached the end of yet another challenging but productive term at IESG. I would like to thank all the staff who has worked extremely hard this year. It is because of their diligent efforts that we are successful.

We want to ensure that our students achieve the best grade they can. We believe it is important that parents are informed about their son/daughters progress and have the opportunity to discuss this with their mentors. We value the support of parents and guardians in the work we do and recognize that our achievements are a result of a three way partnership between the school, Students and Parents/Guardians.

Last week, I was observing the traffic situation around our school buildings in the morning. I was very surprised to see that some parents reverse their cars near our front entrances. I ask parents to be kind and circle the block next to our school buildings instead, to make our traffic situation near school more safe.

For 2010 we welcome Mr Johan Pallin to our Junior School. Mr Pallin will teach Woodwork next term in year 4 and 6. He will also be a mentor in 6B together with Mr MacIntyre.

Ms Melinda Alm will be returning next term after an enjoyable parental leave. Ms Alm will step in as a mentor in 6F together with Mr Comesse and she will also teach 6F in math.

The contracts for Mr Mattsson and Mr Mattila end now in December and we wish both of them well and thank them for their support of students and staff. We are still in the recruitment process regarding our special education position.

I wish all a restful and relaxing holiday,

Ms Ek
Principal

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December 2009

To all staff, students and parents of IESG,

Things have gone well for us in recent months, I would say very well. Everyone in our school has much to be proud of, and we are well prepared for the challenges of the future. To mention some of our achievements:

The Internationella Engelska Skolan i Gävle has won the DN Nutidsorientering Bästa Skola award for Gävleborgs län this year! This is a national SO/current events competition sponsored by Dagens Nyheter AB each year. Congratulations to our SO department!

Some of our year 9 students held a press conference at the town library to announce the WCPR winner of this decennium. They announced this award that Barnkonventionen turns 20 years. Our students did great. Thank You SO department for organising.

On Thursday November 5 our entire Year 5 participated in the "Vi i Femman" national education quiz as shown on SVT Barnkanalen. Ms. Carslsson (Head of Year 5) did the planning and organizing for this exciting event. The students had a great time watching the video and answering the questions about Kings, Presidents, the English language and other topics.

The school Halloween Party in the end of October was a tremendous success in both of our buildings. Our students had a great time. Staff and students had some fantastic costumes. Our Junior Students will remember the Staff Thriller Show for the rest of their lives.

We celebrated the opening of our new Junior school yard November 13th . Our school yard has been a mass of trucks, tractors and piles of dirt for most of this term as the fine people from PEAB Sverige AB and DIÖS (our landlords) have been building a new and inspiring place for our students. It has been exciting to watch each day as the new basketball court, football pitch and play area take shape. I hope all of you read the articles in our local media this Saturday. 

All of this is cause for celebration. It’s also a special pleasure to congratulate the Founder of Internationella Engelska Skolan, Ms Barbara Bergström, whose success has been recognised by the nation. Ms Bergström has been appointed ”Årets Företagare i Sverige 2009”. The award was presented to IES and its founder at a Gala evening in Stockholm, arranged by the organization “Företagarna”.

For first time we have been invited to “Skolans dag” at Läkerol arena the 30th of January 11.00-15.00. This is a day when we will meet and greet the citizens of Gävle and our future parents. The student union in our Junior school will organise a talent show for the end of term assembly. The winners will perform on the stage at Läkerol arena at Skolans dag.

It is a true pleasure to visit classes and experience the positive atmosphere. Walking around in both buildings and greeting our students is a joyful experience. We are always striving towards perfection. The achievements of this last month have been remarkable and the whole IESG has every reason to feel proud. I thank you for all we have accomplished.

Best Regards

Ms Ek, Principal

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25 September 2009

We were all very excited to start up our new Junior School. I find myself counting my blessings as I reflect back on our school start this academic year…it’s been fantastic!

This year promises to be a great year for your child. The students will have lots of fun as they grow to reach their educational goals. Our teachers and the administration work hard with our students in helping them to achieve and be the best students and young people that they can be. We look to our parents as partners in this process of helping all our students reach their full potential.

The Swedish Schools Inspectorate, Skolinspektionen, will come to our school the 6th and 7th of October. Skolinspektionen ensures that those who are responsible for schools, i.e. primarily local authorities and those in charge of running independent schools, follow the laws and regulations that apply to schools. When they visit us in October they will take a closer look at how we work regarding equal treatment. The visit is a part of a quality review project that will involve 50 schools in Sweden. We are proud of our school and we always welcome support and ides about how to reach an even higher level of success. We warmly welcome Skolinspektionen to our school. (You can find information from Skolinspektionen here.)

In mid October, 16/10, we will have visitors from Statistiska Centralbyrån (SCB). Our government has asked SCB to map the health and well-being of our Swedish children. All students in year 6 and 9 will be asked to answer a survey about their health during lesson time. (You can find information from SCB here.)

I would like to thank staff and parents for your endless contributions to our school’s success. IESG is lucky to have you as part of our team, and we appreciate all you do for our students – your children. I hope all of you in our IESG team feel that you can come forward with ideas for new initiatives of high ambition whether it is to your child’s mentor, your Head of Year, our coordinators or to me. I can’t promise we will always be able to say yes, but I can guarantee that we will want to listen.

Sincerely

Ms Ek, Principal

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26 August 2009

International English School in Gävle welcomes you to our Junior School. IESG Junior School is a school where we all share the same vision of Academic Excellence in a calm and safe school setting. This first year the junior school has 17 classes in grades 4 to 6. IESG is now one of the largest friskolor in Sweden with a total number of 33 classes! Our ambitious and creative teachers who come from all over the world, warmly welcome all our new students. Students, parents and staff... we are IESG.

At IESG we are not afraid to tell you what is accepted and what is not. Our rules exist with the sole purpose of creating a secure working climate in our school where students can thrive and concentrate on doing there best. We want our students to succeed! Our students are an ambitious, brave and eager group of young people. They will be praised and celebrated and parents will be told about there children success as this is what we all thrive on – success stories! 

I would like to remind all our parents that the parent meetings are coming up soon. We will meet for a short presentation in the Sports hall. After the presentation parents will meet class mentors in each home classroom.

These are the dates for our parent meetings:

Year 4         Tuesday the 1^st of august at 18.00.

Year 5         Wednesday the 2^nd of august at 18.00

Year 6         Thursday the 3^rd of august at 18.00.

 

Best Regards

Anna Ek, Principal

 

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14 June 2009

The new Junior School will welcome 488 new students in years 4, 5 and 6 in August.

This is a new beginning for the International English School here in Gävle. The Junior School will be located at the original IES location on Södrakungsgatan while years 7 to 9 will move to the new Senior School in Brynäs under the direction of Principal  Toste. Mr. Toste is an experienced IES admistrator and served as the first Assistant Pricipal here at IES Gävle five years ago.

We are excited about this opportunity to serve the families of our community.

Children who are admitted to the IESG Junior School are able to continue into our Senior School section for years 7 to 9. We look forward to welcoming our new pupils into newly renovated classrooms, facilities and school yard.

Both schools have the same educational ethos of:

· Bilingualism (we use both English and Swedish)

· Focus on learning

· Character development in a calm environment

· No child left behind

If you want to work hard in an international atmosphere and be fluent in both English and Swedish, this is the school for you!

You are welcome with your application. Students are admitted strictly after a queue system. Siblings take precedence.

Med vänlig hälsning

Ms Anna Ek
Rektor

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Bästa elever och föräldrar,

Det storartade intresset för Internationella Engelska Skolans start av Junior School är mycket glädjande. Vecka 14 bjöds alla elever i nästkommande års 4-6 in till skolan för Workshops. Det var fantastiskt att möta alla entusiastiska, positiva och förväntansfulla elever och deras föräldrar. Skolan kommer att skicka ut inbjudan till en ytterligare workshop för de elever som inte kunde delta v.14.

488 elever i årskurserna 4-6 kommer att starta i vår Junior School i augusti i byggnaden på Södra Kungsgatan. Skolgården kommer att expanderas och byggas om med lekställningar, fotbollsplan, basketplan, pingis mm.

När det gäller inomhusmiljön på skolan kommer den att anpassas till de yngre åldergrupperna. Alla elever i vår Junior School kommer att studera i hemklassrum i vilka de får undervisning i de teoretiska ämnena. Undervisning i idrott, träslöjd, syslöjd, musik, bild och hemkunskap sker i ämnesklassrum. Nytt möblemang för klassrum och gemensamhetsutrymmen kommer att införskaffas under sommaren och lek-/ spelrum kommer att utformas på skolan för att aktivera och stimulera eleverna under raster.

Skolan erbjuder elever i årskurs 4-5 att delta i ”Junior Club”. Junior Club är en eftermiddagsklubb som är öppen alla skoldagar fram till kl.17.00. Eleverna i Junior Club kommer att, tillsammans med personal, kunna ägna sig åt en rad aktiviteter då de har oändliga möjligheter på skolan. De kan t.ex. idrotta i idrottshallen, baka i hemkunskapen, pyssla i slöjdsalarna, få stöd av personal med läxläsning och aktivera sig på skolgården. Kostnaden för Junior Club beräknas bli ca 2500 kr/termin. Mellanmål ingår.

Inför skolstart kommer vi att bjuda in alla blivande elever till Junior School för att ge dem möjlighet att träffa sina nya klasskamrater och lärare. Detta kommer att ske i maj/juni-09.

Med vänlig hälsning

Ms Anna Ek
Rektor