Global Issues and projects

Ideas for Projects

This weekend the school hosted a conference that focused on global issues. I met some interesting people from other schools and some ideas that would make great CAS projects.

Habitat for Humanity

This is a group that gets groups of volunteers to help renovate or build housing for people who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford it. The group is active in many European countries such as Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. In order to participate, you need a group of around 12 - 15 people (though it is possible to join as an individual).  You need to raise around 6,000 kr per person to participate and pay for your own costs (travel, accommodation, insurance etc.).  The organisation is non-profit and the people who move into the homes participate in the project as well.  For more information see http://www.habitat.org/emea

Global Issues Network

This is a group of schools from all around the world that looks at how students work towards raising awareness or finding solutions to global issues.  They have conferences every year where students are invited to show what they have done to inspire and be inspired by others.  A teacher from Norway was hoping to organise a Scandinavian conference which I hope some students from SIS would be able to attend.  More information about this organisation can be found at: globalissuesnetwork.org

Get fit and do something for the environment

I heard about a great idea that some students had come up with in another school.  They had turned bicycles into  chargers.  Students could cycle  (stationary, indoors) and charge the school's computers are the same time.  Who is up for the challenge here?  

Volunteer Opportunities

A non-violence project is looking for someone to translate from English to Swedish material that is used in the School for Peace Project:  More details: Schools for Peace

Interviews Continue

I will be interviewing more of you over the next few weeks.  Please make sure you know when your time is.  I have not been going through the CAS portfolios as much as other weeks as I am meeting everyone individually so if you have any changes or questions that you are unsure of, please drop in and see me or send me a message.  

Running season has started!

Do you like running but feel you need a goal?  There are lots of organised runs you can join.  Who knows signing up might give you that little extra inspiration to train a bit harder.  Why not get a group of you together and run in the school name?  Here is a selection of some of the running events you can join in Stockholm. There is a fee for each of the events. You will receive a certificate of participation which you can put in your CAS portfolio.


7th May - 10 km run around Kungsholmen Kungsholmenrunt

4th June - 4.2 km - Junior Marathon

15th June -  10 km around the city STHLM10 

3rd September - 10 km run on Djurgården for women only Tjejmilen

23, 24 25th September - various runs on Lindingö from 10 - 30 km Lidingoloppet

1st and 2nd October - a mud race!  Tjurruset 

9th October - 10 km in Hässelby  Hasselbyloppet

There are other events that you can find details about in English at  :http://www.runwithmestockholm.com/running-events/

Well done ELEM!

Elem had their concert on Friday evening and quite a crowd turned up.  The group managed to raise  1,562 kr which will be donated to the Nepal Project.  Great work, great music!  I hope that we will see more of these talented individuals in the future.  

Nepal Global Walk

It was good to see that so many of you got involved with the Nepal project by participating in the walk as well as volunteering to help out.  

Volunteer Opportunities

The Red Cross is looking for people to help out in their shop over the summer click here for details

If you speak Swedish and like cooking, you can participate in Bjud en ny svensk för middag.

Both the Red Cross and IM are still looking for people to help in their shops at the moment - see last week's blog for more details.

Interviews Start this Week

Over the next month or so I will do doing individual interviews with students to go through their CAS portfolios and check they are on track.  This means that I will not necessarily checking everyone's portfolio each week but please keep adding evidence, reflections and new experiences as you will need to show what you are doing in your interview. It is important that you have established good routines around your CAS at this point in time.  Next term the tempo of the IB will increase and there will not be as much time to spend on CAS.  Getting a good start in the first year, ensures that you have a completed portfolio that meets the requirements for the IB Diploma.

Volunteer Opportunities

It's not too late to join the Nepal Project's global walk this weekend as either a volunteer or a participant. Nepal Walk

The Red Cross is looking for volunteers to help in its shop at Hornstull on Saturdays.  The ad is in Swedish but I think they will take English speaking volunteers.  See me if you need help reading or applying.
Red Cross Volunteer



Another group that needs help in its shop is IM (Individual People Help).  The shop is on Södermalm.  The ad is in Swedish but I can help if you wish to apply.  The shop is a Fair Trade shop which raises money to help people out of poverty. IM

FK Studenterna is a athletics club that holds the annual Kungsholmen round run on May 7th.  It is looking for volunteers to give out liquids to the runners. No experience required.  See me if you need help with the application: Kungsholmen run
Or if you prefer running, why not join the race!

Concert on Friday

Don't forget to support your classmates at the concert for Nepal Project this Friday at 17.00 in the auditorium.  ELEM will be playing.  

Support the Nepal Project

Volunteer for Nepal Project

This week you have received a lot of information about the Nepal fund raising project.  It is a great opportunity for you to get some service experience as well as participate in a fund day out with  your school mates.  There is a lot of information so please read it carefully.


You can sign up as a volunteer at:http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0a45a4a622abfe3-sisstudent
Or you can register to walk at: https://billetto.se/en/family-walk-towards-global-citizenship-354031

Interviews for the end of term 2

I will start holding individual interviews with all grade 11 students at the beginning of next week.  I have tried to choose times when you do not have class so please check the times and make sure they are Ok.  When you have checked the document and see that the time works for you, please write confirmed in the yellow column.  If you cannot make the time, please write NA see me to book another. This is your responsibility.  All times should be confirmed or rebooked by Friday 8th of April (this week).  Below is the link to the booking document.

https://docs.google.com/a/intsch.se/spreadsheets/d/1BxD61He2yAKq9QGRgNZJZuH0O5FvtEBFPcQ3Ec9Y6Go/edit?usp=sharing

• Make sure you get your CAS portfolios up-to-date before your interview.  
• Look over all the comments I have written and make sure that you have done what I have asked you to do.  
• Make sure you have a plan of how you will cover all 3 strands and the 7 learning outcomes. 
• Remember that next year you will be even busier with your studies so try to plan your CAS accordingly.

Volunteer Opportunities

For those of you who speak Swedish, Läkare Utan Granser needs volunteers over the summer.  See Läkare Utan Granser for details

In Rågsved, a church group is looking for people to play football with refugees and other immigrants. For details see: svenska kyrkan 

There are many other volunteer opportunities on https://www.volontarbyran.org/

Rhino Group

Thank you to all the people who viewed the rhino group's film that was mentioned in the last post.  At the time of writing they have 252 views. If you haven't seen it yet, click here: rhino film

Nepal Concert

Some students in grade 11 are putting on a concert to raise money for the Nepal Project.  Please support them by attending.  It is on Friday the 15th of April at 17.00.  

Amnesty Group

Just before the spring break, the Amnesty Group sent off a big pile of petitions to be forwarded to the Tunisian government and hopefully give it a strong message that it needs to improve women's rights.  

Evidence or Refelction

What is the difference between evidence and reflection?  

Evidence could be attendance records at the gym but reflection would be where you write or speak about how it feels and what you are achieving.

Many people have lots of evidence but little reflection.  You do not have to reflect on a regular basis but if you have a long term experience that you have been participating in since last term and you haven't got any reflection it is time you did something about it!!!

Between spring break and the end of term, I will meet with everyone to talk about CAS.  This is the time to put in that bit extra and check your portfolio.  I check them every week and often write notes.  The notes I write can help you to stay on track.  This kind of note is the one that I hate to see!

Make sure you don't get one, by reading and responding to the notes.  

Volunteer Opportunities

If you speak Swedish there are a few different opportunities on https://www.volontarbyran.org/.  The Red Cross is looking for volunteers to be part of a friendship group with newly arrived young refugees.  This kind of volunteer work is both rewarding for you and the recipient.  

Remember to update your portfolio ready for an interview after break.

Projects

Many of you are involved in some exciting projects.  Over the last couple of weeks I have seen some wonderful CAS experiences.  Here are a few examples:

Rhino Preservation Group

A couple of weeks ago this group received a thank you certificate for the money they raised in 2015.  Altogether they raised €252 which they donated to Project Rhino KZN - a group of 18 organisations in Africa that are working to protect the rhinos.

This year the group has been focusing on using social media to spread its message.  The have a Rhino Blog, an Instagram account: sisrhinogroup, and have a great video on youtube. You can show your support by following them and watching the video - SIS Rhino Video  Look our for more episodes about the life of Wakwabubi.

You can also have your picture taken with their 'Save the Rhino' banner and uploaded on Instagram.  

Amnesty International

The Amnesty International Group was featured in the Dispatch this week for its 'My Body, My Rights' campaign.  They will be collecting signatures this week to send to the Tunisian Government. They hope to get the Tunisian law changed to give women more rights - rights that we often take for granted here in Sweden.  If you sign the letter, you might receive a cool tattoo like the ones in the picture here. You can also follow them on Instragram: sisamnesty

Film Club and Film Competitions

Leandro and Shashank seem to be very successful with their film club - they have encouraged and helped several people to make films for the Stockholm Junior short film festival.  Entries are due in on the 27th March - I am sure we are looking forward to seeing their great films.  Good luck to all of them!  If anyone is still looking for an opportunity to show their short or documentary films there is another festival coming up - STOCKmotion Film Festival.  It is open to people of all ages - there are many different categories and prizes. Films should be between 5 and 30 minutes depending on the category.  The deadline is 25th May.  See details here: http://www.stockmotion.se/

MYP Arts Showcase

Despite the name quite a few of the Diploma Students made appearances at the recent MYP arts evening.  It seems that the grade 11s are quite talented.  You can see a short video of their performance: Grade 11 Band

Don't forget to check your portfolio - make sure you have a project before the end of term. Interviews will take place after the Spring break so try to have everything in order.

Interview season approaching

Most of you have your CAS portfolios under control and have enough experiences to cover all the learning outcomes and strands of CAS.  Remember that you cannot finish CAS early - you must have at least one experience that continues right up until your final exams in May next year.

I will be interviewing everyone before the end of the term in weeks 14 and 15 (straight after the Spring Break).

Before the interview you should all check the following:

1. Have you got an experience for each one of the outcomes? 
You can find something similar to this on the right hand side of your portfolio.  If you have a yellow bar - that means that you have planned the outcome but not reflected on it.  Green means planned and reflected. Blank - no experiences planned with that outcome in mind.  You must cover each outcome at least once in order to be eligible for your diploma.

2. Have you covered each of the strands in a balanced way?  The strands are Creativity, Activity and Service.  You should have about the same amount for each (around 50 hours). You can find this image under the outcomes.  Hours are not shown as complete until an experience is finished so you just should look that the approved and completed added together.  But remember if you plan hours and then don't actually do them - they will not count.  I can only see what you have planned and say that you are on track - if you then fail to do what you plan, you could find yourself ineligible for the Diploma.

3. Do you have a project with evidence that you have followed the CAS stages?

A project must be done with others and you must make sure you follow the 5 stages and document them.  They are: Investigation, Preparation, Action, Reflection and Demonstration.  

4. Do you have evidence and reflections for your experiences?

Evidence should show that you really did participate in the experience - photos, schedules, film, audio, etc.

Reflection - should describe your feelings and questions that arose as a consequence of your participation in this experience. It should not be simply - I did a great job!  It should show that you have learnt something and that you can use that in the future.  It MUST relate the the learning outcomes that you have selected.  

How to succeed with CAS

• Check you portfolio regularly.  
• Up-date your evidence frequently
• Complete finished experiences by doing CAS questions and getting supervisor reviews (where relevant)
• Reflect at significant moments
• Read the notes I write on your portfolio and do what I request.  See me if they are unclear.