This is where we write small articles to answer the most common questions that we receive by email, phone and at our open houses events. These articles will soon be translated to Swedish. We also have a general 'FAQ'/Vanliga Frågor in English and Swedish for all IES schools. To read that click here.

For specific questions about IES Jönköping you can read each of the most common individual questions below. Please note that this page is still under development - I am adding questions here on a regular basis. If you don't find the answer you are looking for, please check back in a couple of days or send your question to me in an email.

The link between the school and home is vital to building a successful school. We believe in engaging our parents in the school. This can mean almost anything from relaxing evening events, mini-courses and parent-driven projects that help to promote education and broaden our students' experiences.

To help make the above vision a reality we have something called the PTA - Parent Teacher Association. Two representatives from each class in the school are members of the PTA. The PTA meet several times a year to discuss the school's progress, suggest projects to the school's leadership and to coordinate certain school events.

More information about the PTA will be presented in August and September when we have our first parent meetings. Until then, you can see how IES Linköping organises its PTA:

IES Linköping PTA

What is the final date for student applications? Is it too late to apply?

There is no real 'final date' for student applciations and our new schools even receive new applications during the summer holidays. While we always accept new applications regardless of when they come in, however we will not be able to guarantee that all students will get a place in the school. We work on a first come first served basis (först till kvarn); the sooner you apply, the better your position in the queue. The easiest way to apply, is by calling the school secretary Minna Ryan-Ericsson on 0736 25 72 48.

At present, we have a few places left in year 6, a few in year 7 and in year 8 we have just opened a new class up due to make space for the extra applications we received there. Update, May 4th: we have now decided to open another class in year 9 to allow all those who have applied to start in August 2009.

Many students will want to be in the same class as their friends. Naturally, this is something we do our best to organise. All parents and students creceive a password to use when filling in the new studetn questionnaire that is available on this webpage. Families can make their requests there which almost always are fulfilled.

The teaching and academics is only half of any good school: student care, behaviour and character development is the other half. We have a dedicated student care team including a qualified full-time nurse, counsellor and a group of teachers with responsibilities for special educational needs.

In addition to this, we teach life skills in every year group, have work experience (PRAO) in year 8 and 9 and of course careers and study advisors (SYV) to help our students understand their options and make good choices.

This is a very common question - and we know from experience across the country that the first couple of months can be challenging. However, we have over 5000 students currently in our schools and several thousands more who have graduated and left our year 9 classes who have quickly adapted to being in an English environment (and had great successes). If our concept didn't work, our schools wouldn't be 100% full with long queues waiting for year 6.

We have developed many systems and procedures for making sure that students settle into the school and feel comfortable learning in English. As Principal of the school, I have personal experience from 2003 - 2005 where I taught Science in English at our school in Gävle. There are many simple tools and tricks that our teachers use to make our new students feel comfortable and to ensure they have a smooth start to their new school.

Many questions come into us about how the applications for students works. Here are some quick answers:

1) you can apply online via the link in the left menu ( or here ) or by sending in a paper version of the form to our head office address.

2) We accept applications at any point during the school year including the summer months - but cannot always guarantee places. Currently we are full in year 9, have a few places left in year 6 and 7 and are now opening a new class in year 8 due to the large demand there.

3) After we receive your application we check to see if there are available places in your year group. If there are, we send out a confirmation request which both parents have to sign and return. We confirm by email that you have a place in the school and we regularly send out emails to the whole queue to keep you updated on student events and school information.

4) We have now placed our new student questionnaire on our webpage to double check questions such as food allergies, language choice and if you want to be in the same class as a friend. Your password is in the information pack that has been sent home to every family in the queue.

5) Once you are accepted to the school, you need to tell your current school that you are leaving and fill out a form which you give to them directly.

6) The first day of school is August 19th - we will be keeping our school calendar page regularly updated so check back soon.

Many of you asked for it, and so we listened: we will be offering German as a third language option and I have employed a German teacher for this position. At present, this is only planned for year 8 and 9, but if demand is great enough we will also offer this in year 7 as well for those students who have already started studying the language. As always we use our common sense when making these decisions and aim to do what is best for the school and students as a whole.

Yes, we really do pay approximately twice (x2) the national average for school meals. Choose any metaphor you want but the facts remain the same: the food you put inside your body has a huge impact on how you feel and how you perform. We place a high priority on giving your child a quality, nutritious lunch every day and it is of course free.

Those families that choose to wait until year 7, 2010 to join the school will not lose their place in the queue completely - however they will unfortunately not be guaranteed a place in 2010 (even if they are currently guaranteed one for year 6 2009).

The reason for this is that the year 6 classes starting in 2009 will automatically become the year 7 classes in 2010. Only if a student chooses to leave the school will there be new open places in year 7, 2010.

However, if there is enough demand for year 7 in 2010 we will investigate opening a whole new class. There are no guarantees, and starting a whole extra class in a year group can be very problematic. Those students will most likely be behind the rest of the year 7 classes in terms of English, the subject-specific content and to some extent socially - this will require extra work and support if it is to be successful.

There is so much to say here this it is difficult to know where to begin (and stop!). There will be new link in the left hand menu soon containing pictures and many details about the building developments. For now, we can say the following: There are basically two halves to the new school:

• the building that already exists ('ABB-Huset', near SYSteam) which is being completely renovated as we speak, and
• the new building which is going to include various classrooms, an extra computer room, a textile and woodwork room, and of course, our full size gym hall.

The two buildings will be connected by a large and bright corridor and the lunch room.

The school is being designed by a team of qualified and experienced architects who have worked with schools before, together with our own in-house experts who have worked on our 11 other schools in Sweden. Every possible detail is being considered to make this an outstanding school - everything from how the colours affect the moods in different subjects, making sure that we fulfill every safety requirement to ensuring a natural flow of people in the various corridors. You are welcome to view our building plans for yourself at any of the events we have organised.