School Blog

Under höstterminen har flera årskurser arbetat med läsprojekt med viktiga teman. Åk 5 har jobbat med boken Den osynliga flickan skriven av Deborah Ellis. Boken  utspelar sig under talibanregimen och handlar om en afghansk flicka  som tvingas klä ut sig till pojke för att  familjen ska överleva då pappan fängslas. Under bokprojektet diskuteras många viktiga frågor som jämställdhet, hur vi behandlar varandra och hur det är att leva i ett land drabbat av krig.

I åk 9 har vi läst När hundarna kommer av Jessica Schiefauer. I boksamtalen har det bl.a. diskuterats hur vi hanterar ensamhet, kärlek, relationer, föräldraskap och fördomar.

IESUmeå’s Year 8 students have been hard at work creating shoes with a 5cm heel  that can withstand their weight, and can survive a walk around the classroom. We learned about the different forces exerted on shoes while walking, and have been discussing solid and stable constructions. The students had to think about different elements of design, and how to best support weight using simple materials from school. They did a fantastic job combining both engineering and creativity!

Week 46 we had Business week for Y9 at school. The students planned and ran their own business during the week. They baked and sold cookies, made jewellerys, jam and walked dogs to give a few examples.  

Karl and Annop in 9B bought and sold Christmas things with a good profit. 

The winning team made a website, tomtetrampen.se. It´s a competition where you register as individuals or teams, and the goal is to walk/run the distance from Umeå to Rovaniemi (to Santa) before Christmas. 50% of the fee goes to Rädda barnen. 

The gymnasie schools presented their schools.We also had visitors from different companies, a policeman, an entrepreneur and a midwife.

It was a really nice week for the students and we saw a lot of good upcoming entrepreneurs.

IES Umeå’s Year 7 Teknik students have been hard at work lately planning and building houses that can withstand different climates for a mini-project. Each group of students had to choose a climate type that they wanted to construct their home for, and ensure that it would be able to survive different tests relating to that climate zone.

Some students built a home in the desert, and it had to withstand the warm winds of the desert (and keep an ice cube frozen while we held a blowdryer to the home). Other students chose to build a home in a polar climate, where it had to withstand heavy snowfalls (surviving under the weight of a heavy dousing of flour!).The last groups of students chose to build a home in a tropical climate, where it had to withstand heavy rains and flooding (staying standing and dry under a downpour of water, and pooling water at the base).

The students used materials that we had in our TK room-mostly recyclable and reusable materials. The students had two lessons to build and plan their house, and we had a great time testing them out! Check out their great work below!

After almost a month back at school I would like to say congratulations to the students and staff for a brilliant start to the school year. As I walk around the school each day I couldn't be more proud of the excellent work environment around the school, and the hard work and focus in the lessons. Hard work pays off! The SPTs were at the start of the week, and the feedback from students and staff has been positive to the new format we had to do this year, I would like to thank everyone for adapting well to this.

As we say goodbye to the summer warmth, I'd like to remind students to bring in appropriate clothing for both colder and wetter autumn weather. 

Keep working hard in the classrooms and at home and I look forward to seeing you around the school.