School Blog

A grade nine student from IES Tyresö was crowned the winner after 18 bands and solo artists stepped forward to perform during the annual Internationella Engelska Skolan Modern Foreign Languages Eurovision Song Contest.

The popular competition is open to students at all IES schools and sees them perform a song in a language other than Swedish or English.

This year’s winner was Stella Chirinos from IES Tyresö (Pictured above with French Teacher Mr Guerneui, Founder of IES Ms Bergstöm, and music teacher Mr Stones). Stella sang Dernière Danse by French singer-songwriter Indila.

Stella said: “It was a strange feeling to hear that I had won. There was some very good singers from other schools. I knew that I had given a good performance and that I had a strong song but it's always a good surprise to win.

"I started in year 7 here at IES Tyresö so I've been learning French for three years. I like the language, I like how it sounds.”

Stella got the idea of performing the Indila song after a friend mentioned it in a French lesson and she realised it would suit her well.

She said: “I like to sing because it's fun and I can express feeling through songs. There are songs for all occasions, sad and happy.

"I've been singing since I was seven and I've performed on stage on several occasions previously so I have some stage experience but you can't take away the nervosity."

Her French teacher, Mr Guerneui added: “I knew that my student Stella was a very strong candidate for victory but when I heard the singers from Nacka and Gävle I felt that this year's trophy might as well go to one of these schools. The two girls had very strong and beautiful voices. It's my first year at IES Tyresö  and we are still a relatively new school so I am glad that we won with our first attempt.”

Second place was awarded to Paulina Johnson of IES Gävle (pictured, left) who sang Mii Años in Spanish, while the third prize went to a band from IES Nacka made up of Felicia Elding, Louise Andersson, Alva Willers and Annie Wallin (pictured, below, right). Together they performed Colores En El Biento in Spanish.

This year the event was hosted by IES Bromma, other IES schools taking part included those from: Älvsjö, Täby, Kista, Skärholmen, Huddinge, Liljeholmen, Uppsala, Hässelby, Eskilstuna, Halmstad, Lund, Sundsvall, Johanneberg and Hässleholm .

The result means that, according to Eurovision tradition, IES Tyresö will host next year’s contest.

Mr Guerneui is looking forward to putting together next year’s event.

He said: “IES Bromma has set the bar very high this year but we are confident to maintain the same standard next year."

When the national final of the challenging Pythagoras Quest maths contest is held in Malmö in June, students from three IES schools will be taking part.

Internationella Engelska Skolan in Nacka, Sundsvall and Uppsala will each be sending a team of three students after they won their regional finals, and the chance to represent their county (län) at the national event.

The students had to go through several rounds in order to reach the national final.  First they needed to pass an hour-long qualification test without the use of a calculator or any other electronic equipment.  The three students from each school who performed best in their qualification test were then chosen to attend the district final, to see which schools would have the right to go forward to the national final.

Isabelle Sahlin, represented IES Sundsvall alongside Klara Marntell and Filip Borgström. She said: “The regional final was really exciting. After two rounds the result was still not decided and we had no idea how we stood. It felt good though, we had found the answer to every question and we were pretty confident in our calculations.

“When we solved the tie breaker in just a minute, it was so quick that we felt like we had done something wrong, but we took a chance and submitted our answer. Because we were so fast we won. We hadn’t dared to hope to win, so we felt a huge amount of joy when they called out our team name.”

IES Nacka will progress after students Wilhelm Sigurd, Viktor Lundqvist, and Alex Thelander won the Stockholm regional final.

Viktor said: “It was very exciting to win the Stockholm final. We had practiced before the regional final, but we knew the competition was hard so we did not expect to win. In the end it was very close. It’s going to be great to travel down to Malmö and compete against schools from all over the country. The competition was tough in the Stockholm regional final, and we hope that it will be the same in Malmö. It will also be nice to meet and compete against our fellow IES students."

Alex added: "We think that we will perform well in the national final. The questions will be substantially more difficult, but we think that with enough practice and hard work we will be able to solve most. The competition was very tough in Stockholm because of its high population, so we are already prepared for facing off against other good teams. We will do our best, but in the end we will be happy regardless of how it goes since we never expected to get nearly this far."

Now, the three teams from IES will face off against one another and 11 other teams from around the country in the national final.

Ted Buzzelli, the organisation’s subject facilitator for maths, said: “At Internationella Engelska Skolan we believe in helping every student to meet their full academic potential.  While for some students this means giving them extra support to help them to understand difficult concepts, for others that means providing additional challenges, and helping them to go further than the syllabus suggests.

"Competitions like Pythagoras Quest are a fantastic way for students to challenge themselves further.  It is always beneficial for students to see just how much they are capable of, especially when working as a team.  I am once again delighted to see IES represented by no fewer than three teams in the national finals of Pythagoras Quest.  I am sure that colleagues and students from schools across IES will join me in wishing the best to these talented students."

The final will be held on Friday, June 2nd, in Malmö. 

Internationella Engelska Skolan plans to open a new school in Sundbyberg in August 2018 for grades 4-9 if we are granted all the necessary permissions.

We have been wanting to establish ourselves in Sundbyberg for quite some time, but have not until now found a suitable building, says Ms. Barbara Bergstrom, the founder of IES.

Internationella Engelska Skolan started its first school in Stockholm in 1993. With 24 years of school experience, we proudly operate 30 highly successful middle schools throughout Sweden, as well as Internationella Engelska Gymnasiet on Södermalm. We also manage one school in the UK, which opened its doors in 2012.

Now is the time to apply. We take in students based on the date of application, which means that students will be admitted on a first come/first served basis.

We extend an invitation to parents and students to attend our information meetings.

We are now recruiting the very best teachers in all subject areas. We expect you to be a true professional, with the credentials of certification – from Sweden or abroad – to prove it. We also need professionals in non-teaching areas to work with us.

If you are passionate about education, believe in our ethos of a safe and orderly environment and high academic expectations, then you are the sort of teacher we are looking for.

If you are enticed by the thought of being part of a dynamic international school environment – then this is an exciting career opportunity for you.

Send your CV to our HR department at www.engelska.se/careers/apply, citing reference SUNDBY18.

 As the summer holidays approached, students in year nine at schools across Sweden prepared to bid farewell for the last time.

For those attending Internationella Engelska Skolan, the event is marked by a grand occasion, a graduation ceremony featuring distinctive caps and gowns, where the achievements of students are honoured.

As well as speeches and awards, the ceremonies also feature music and joy, as proud parents witness their children passing a milestone and moving on to new challenges.

At Internationella Engelska Skolan Enskede, the original IES school, principal Mr Robert Clark spoke to his departing year nine students.

He told them: “A few months ago I got everyone together in the hall, but there weren't so many parents here, and we sat and I said - ‘Pretty soon you are going to be wearing these gowns and you are going to be asking yourselves the questions: Am I satisfied? Am I happy? Did I do my best? Am I going where I need to be?' and you listened, you have worked incredibly hard. I would like you to put your hands together for the teachers, because they have, not just this year, but in the years before, they have worked really hard for you.

"You have done fantastically well, I have very much enjoyed your company and interacting with you, I am very proud to have been your principal during your years at this school.  There are some amazing people in this room, and I am so sure that you are going to do great things, and I will be following you with interest."

Year nine graduate Felix Persson (right), formerly of class 9E at IES Enskede, won the school’s Ambassador Award for the contribution he has made to the atmosphere in the school.

After the ceremony he said:  "It was fun, it was nice to end, but I am also bit sad leaving friends and changing schools. Now I will be changing schools, moving away from English school and wrapping up having gone to the English school for six years.

"I was surprised to win an award, I didn't count on winning anything but it does fit, I like helping people and keeping people together, talking to different people."

IES Lund, which opened three years ago celebrated the graduation of its first ever grade nine class.

The principal, Mr Per Ola Olsson said: "We have shown excellent results in both the grades and the  national tests.  It has been a successful year and I would like to thank all the students but especially my hard-working staff, who have made this possible. I really would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to all you who work at IES Lund, teachers, non-teaching staff, supervision, administration and student care, all of you who contribute so much to making this a great school."

The graduates and the assembled crowd in Lund were also addressed by their student representative (left), who said:  "I am really honoured to be the one holding the valedictorian speech of 2016. I am so excited to be standing here in front of all you people, my name is Beata Erici and we have just finished ninth grade.  Gathered here around me today I see my lovely classmates, we have worked so hard these two years and are now just looking forward to summer, and sun and the ability to use our phones again.  I can still remember those first awkward days when we all met, we were so worried about speaking English, dressing appropriately and  pronouncing Mr Neppelberg’s name correctly that we completely forgot that we were just a bunch of insecure teenagers."

After the summer a new set of grade nine students will step forward for the first time, ready to make the most of their last year with IES before it is their turn to graduate next summer.