Borgaregatans skola

Borgaregatans skola is a secondary school providing education to forms 7-9. Being the only municipal Swedish-language secondary school in Vasa, BGS receives students from four different elementary schools; Gerby skola, Haga skola, Sundom skola and Vikinga skola. This year Borgaregatans skola has about 360 students aged 13-16. The number of teachers is 35 and other staff 14 .

The school building is situated on the outskirts of Vasa in close proximity to nature. The architecture of the school transmits a sense of openness since there are no corridors but the classrooms are situated in separate departments built up around open areas, with the school library and computer room at the heart of the building. On the ground floor there are specially designed rooms for home economics, woodwork, textile work and art. On the upper floor there is a Yellow Department where languages – English, Finnish, German and French – are taught, a Blue Department for Swedish and literature, history, social science and religion and a Green Department for mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and geography. The spacious gym hall also serves as an assembly hall for gatherings and festivities.

The educational and pedagogical aims of the school focus on the students learning to learn. The general aim is for the students to develop their personality, acquire practical skills, deepen and widen their knowledge and strengthen their social competence so that they develop a good basis for life and for further studies. Borgaregatans skola wants its students to strengthen their ability to

•  think open-mindedly and without prejudice, critically and creatively

•  find, use and transmit knowledge

•  co-operate

•  assume responsibility for themselves and their actions

The school´s pedagogical policy centres on three main principles:

The best possible general education for everybody.

The best possible basic education means that the staff aims at seeing, utilizing and building on the students´ previous competence so that optimal learning results are achieved intellectually as well as emotionally and socially.

The greatest possible personal growth for each individual means that the staff aims at seeing and making visible each individual and giving him/her the opportunity to develop his/her self-confidence through challenges in suitable proportions.

Learning in collaboration means that the staff together with the students aims at creating learning situations that make use of different learning styles and intelligences and promote creative problem-solving, open-mindedness and tolerance for diversity.

The school profile

The school profile puts special emphasis on the following areas:

Focus on good manners, social all-round education and self-confidence

The school aims at giving the students a good civic competence through continuous fosterage in all regular teaching and by arranging theme-days and offering possibilities for participation in special projects.

Focus on environmental issues, mathematics and natural sciences

The school aims at promoting environment consciousness at all levels and at creating an interest for mathematics and science by developing methods and content in the teaching and through participation in school-development projects.

Focus on culture and general, humanistic education

The school aims at involving the students in cultural activities and strives to offer a wide range of culture within the school´s regular activities and to develop methods and content in the teaching of humanistic subjects and arts and skills subjects.

Focus on language skills

The school seeks to match the level of the students´ language skills at all stages, so that the teaching is purposeful. The mother tongue, the school language, is the basis for successful studies. The school offers Finnish for bilingual students as an alternative to studying Finnish as a second language.

Multilingualism is encouraged as an important part of internationalism education. German and French can be chosen as optional subjects.

Focus on physical education

Outside the ordinary lessons in physical education the school strives to offer clubs in different sports and games to meet the students´ needs for physical exercise and to promote participation in school tournaments and competitions. Basketball, floorball, soccer and volleyball are yearly sports clubs.

This year special emphasis is put on the development of healthy habits according to the motto: A Sound Mind in a Sound Body . The school has arranged theme days where this idea has been implemented through lectures, visits and practical exercises.

The Student Body

The students elect two representatives from each class to make up a student council , which among its members elects a student council board . The chairman is elected through a voting process involving all the students at the beginning of each school year.

The student body arranges discos, film showings, excursions, keeps up the student cafeteria, arranges games and activities on the school´s sports days etc. The student council also cooperates closely with other secondary schools in the area.

Back-up students

The new seventh-graders have back-up students among the older students. These are students that help to promote a good and safe atmosphere in the school. The school welfare officer Anna-Lisa Nyqvist and teachers Tomas Brännkärr and Mikael Nylund recruit and train new back-up students at the end of each school-year so that they are ready to make the new students feel secure and welcome in August. The back-up students arrange school orienteering, information gatherings and discos for the seventh-graders.

The School Board

The school board of Borgaregatans skola consists of a chairman and nine other members, of which two are students, one a teacher, one a non-teaching staff representative, one a member of the board of education of Vasa and the rest represent the parents of BGS´ students.

Subjects taught in Borgaregatans skola

Optional A-subjects

The same optional A-subjects are studied for two years and grades are given as in the obligatory subjects on a scale from 4 to 10. The optional B-subjects vary from year to year and there are no grades in these courses.

Special teaching

In Borgaregatans skola students can get part-time special teaching in certain subjects or be taught in special classes. There are two special classes, 7-9F and 3-10G.

The 7-9F class is intended for students who study according to an individual plan. Here the teaching is adapted to the students´ learning capacities and needs. In some subjects the students are integrated into ordinary teaching, provided that it benefits the students. Marica Rönnqvist is the teacher of this class.

The other special class (3-10G) is called the workshop class and is intended for students with learning difficulties, social and emotional difficulties and behavioural problems. Here the teaching is often arranged in larger work units. The students follow the general curriculum and are assessed accordingly. Students who are in need of an individual plan for teaching study and are assessed according to such a plan. Mikael Nylund is the teacher of this class.

Special projects

Curriculum revision

The school curriculum is being revised according to the guidelines of the national curriculum 2004 and the new curriculum will be taken into use 1 August 2006 . The school´s assistant principal Birgitta Höglund is in charge of the work. For each subject there is a working group consisting of teachers from both elementary and secondary school.

School and society

Borgaregatans skola is represented in Team Vasa, which is a group in the project “School and society”, a joint project for several Swedish-Ostrobothnian municipalities. The aim of the project is to reduce the gap between school and society by providing enterprise education both in theory and practice. BGS´ study counsellor Christel Lax is in charge of the project.

Folkhälsan´s Youth Project

Borgaregatans skola co-operates with Folkhälsan, a Finland-Swedish organization for the promotion of national health. Two students´ clubs are run by Folkhälsan and teachers´ recreational activities are arranged in collaboration with the organization. Contact teacher: Kira Bruun.

Co-fosterers

Senior citizens are invited to function as support staff during breaks and free periods. Folkhälsan is involved in this project as well. Contact teacher: Ann-Marie Kronholm.

Anti-Drugs

The school is not presently participating in any official anti-drugs campaign but the theme is dealt with in the regular teaching and during special theme-days.

Smoke Free Class

Classes are offered the opportunity to take part in the national Smoke Free Class campaign.

The OPE.FI-project

The OPE.FI-project is a national campaign aiming at improving the computer skills of teachers. Leader: Per-Håkan Libäck.

eTwinning

Since February 2005 Borgaregatans skola is involved in the European eTwinning project. We are looking for partner schools in Europe in order to start a new project around a topic of mutual interest.

Earlier international projects

Borgaregatans skola participated in the European Comenius project Improving the Quality of Teaching and Learning 2000-2003. The partner schools were Menntaskolinn vid Sund in Reykjavik , Iceland and Wolfsbos, Hoogeven, The Netherlands. The project investigated learning and teaching styles through tests and self-evaluation and involved teacher and student visits to all three countries during the project period.