Christmas time: Look for love all around!
It’s hard to believe that the year 2022 is coming to an end. I say this every year, but somehow, I feel it this year! At IEGS, it has been a very busy and memorable Autumn Term. We started the year with a focus on democracy and voice - with our students participating in the Swedish elections in Sept, and ended the term with traditions of Lucia, and celebrating culture with our Art exhibitions and Theatre performances.
Students have had the opportunity to lead assemblies, school council meetings, participate in and support competitive IHC events; ranging from cross country, floor ball, debate, and one of my all time favorites… dance!. Our hallways have been decorated and continually changed to reflect the variety of themes and events that are going on in school and society. Our Student Care Team has promoted healthy lifestyle choices throughout the term and our Green Team has been in action reminding us to recycle and be responsible with our waste. With all of these events, not to mention our End of Year Show today, I am impressed with the talents that our students share, the learning they engage in, their display of teamwork, collaboration and support of each other. They are settling in more and more and really making the most of a positive highschool experience. Thank you to our students for your dedication and learning that matters.
Our IEGS teachers and non-teachers have been great this term too! A GIANT thank you to each of you for being supportive of our learners - giving them the opportunities to make mistakes, take risks and be part of the learning process. A special mention here, the hard work of our teachers was recognised by Skolverket with the European quality award for language teaching (Europeisk kvalitetsutmärkelse för språkundervisning 2022) at a digital gala in November. We were awarded for how we incorporate language, culture and creative writing to encourage deeper linguistic learning as an approach to teaching languages. Well done team!
The holiday break is a time to relax, rejuvenate, celebrate, and be with loved ones. It is also a time to reflect on the goals that you have set for yourself, and evaluate how you are going, and how you can continue to work towards those goals. The New Year and the Spring Term brings with it promise for change and new beginnings. At our End of Year Show today, I encouraged our students and staff to use the time over the break to reflect on their learning experiences so far this academic year, and think about what changes and goals they may set in the new year, when we return to school in January!
It has been a busy term, and a rest is certainly needed for all of us. One of the things that I love doing at this time of year is watching holiday movies. One of the holiday films that I am looking forward to re-watching is the Christmas-centric rom-com, Love Actually, by British writer-director Richard Curtis. It has been 20 years since it graced the big screen, and since then, has become a global sensation and holiday classic. Now, the past few years have been overwhelming in a multitude of ways. So, I am going to watch this with new eyes, thinking how the COVID-19 pandemic reinforced our need to connect with each other, our families and communities. These themes come through in this movie. The film reminds us that self love, love and acts of kindness, though not always dignified or newsworthy (paraphrased from the opening voiceover in the film), are very important and needed. And though, to the cynical, it may seem that the world has lost this focus once again, love is always there and if you look for it, “you’ll find that love is actually all around”.
Wishing you all a happy and peaceful holiday, a merry xmas, a god jul, followed by a New Year with great promise. I can't wait to see what will unfold in the New Year 2023!
/Dr H