End of project work
I am now finished with my project work and I am handing in my report today. This means that I will not write anything more in the blog and start focusing on my final studies before graduation. This does not mean that you cannot contact me still att [email protected] or via my facebook (Victoria Söderberg), I am happy to answer any questions.
After the summer there will be a lot of new students here, hopefully one of them will be you. There will be another student, Frida Axelsson, to continue this blog and keep updating about what is going on at the school and the boarding.
As this is my final post I would like to take the opportunity to say that I have had an amazing year, even though it is not over yet. i recommend the school greatly. i have made many new friends and the teachers have been amazing. I would not take this year back for anything and I hope that those of you that are coming here next year will feel the same way in a years time.
My Thursday
It might be interesting to know what goes on here during a typical day. I thought I would summarize my day to show what it can look like.
7.15 Get up for breakfast
9.50 My first lesson starts, We had a Leadership course led by our headmistress
11.20 Lunch
Took a powernap in my room
14.00 Art lesson
15.15 Finished school
Went jogging to carrefour with a friendto buy some snacks for the evening
Walked back to the castle and took a shower
Did some studying
These are the plans for my evening
18.30 Dinner
19.30 Study math with a few friends
Arrange a surprise for a friend who turns 18 tomorrow
Floorball match
Today there was a floorball match at SSB. Last week me and a friend created an event on facebook inviting the whole school to come cheer for our boys. They, Waterloo Lions, met Tornado Brussels. It was a tough game and the opponents were very good. Unfortunately our boys lost the game but it was still a lot of fun to come down and watch. A lot of students actually came and cheered, kind of made it feel like a high school movie. I took some pictures I thought I would post here. All in all it was a fun day!
The Christmas Ball
On December 3rd the annual Christmas Ball took place at SSB. This is something organised by students and has been a traditions for many years. This year it was 4 students in Gym 3 that organised the ball together and it was very successful. All of the Gym students attended and the Classes 9-10 very waitressing throughout the evening.
During this day it was especially fun to love at the castle. Everybody ran around getting ready the whole day and helped their friends with hair and makeup. When everybody was ready the whole Gym socialized for about half an hour before the doors to the Mozart hall opened and the ball started. As I said it was very successful and I'm sure everybody enjoyed themselves. This is the event of the year at the school and people also tend to say it is the highlight of the year.This is also the event to which one can invite friends from back home which is a lot of fun.
During this day it was especially fun to love at the castle. Everybody ran around getting ready the whole day and helped their friends with hair and makeup. When everybody was ready the whole Gym socialized for about half an hour before the doors to the Mozart hall opened and the ball started. As I said it was very successful and I'm sure everybody enjoyed themselves. This is the event of the year at the school and people also tend to say it is the highlight of the year.This is also the event to which one can invite friends from back home which is a lot of fun.
SSB Autumn
It is November now which means we are well into Autumn on our way towards Winter. My friends in Sweden tell me about the cold back home, the huge jackets they wear everyday and their longing for sunshine. Now Belgium is not very far away from Sweden, but it is far enough for us here to feel a huge difference in weather and temperture. Autumn is here, yes, but the weather here is so much warmer and less extreme so many days we don't need to wear jackets, a warm jumper is enough! Today was a beautiful day outside as you can see in the pictures below, many boarding students choose days like this to take the train in to Brussels to stroll around or take a biking ride to a beautiful park in La Hulpe and enjoy the sun.
Dansk Julemarked
Today there was a Danish christmas market at SSB. People came to the school to walk around and look at things going on, purchase food and gifts as well as play with their children. I took the opportunity to walk around and take some pictures to show what it was like. There were things to do for people all ages. The kids were playing football with each other, participating in competitions (the price being a goldfish) or joining their parents walking around. Adults were playing with their children, socializing with fellow Danes or purchasing food. All in all, everybody seemed to enjoy themselves.
Questions answered
I have gotten a few questions from a student who is applying to the school next year. She currently lives in Stockholm and is in Gym 1, so I thought I's quickly answer her questions.
1. Considering that you have gone to a swedish school before you went to Belgium, what would you say is the biggest difference between the schools?
The biggest difference I would say is how close everybody is here, as some other students have said in the student interviews. We're not a lot of people so we really look out for each other. Personally I would also say that people here, in general, are more motivated and ambitious which makes school so much more fun.
2. How can I make sure that I do the right courses matching with SSB’s studyplans?
What I did was to firstly have a meeting together with my study counselor (studievägledare) at my school to discuss the different course plans at both schools. She helped me to find out what I would have to study here at SSB and taught me a bit about how the system works. After this I contacted Christina Newport at SSB and did the same thing, I told her what I would like to study and she helped me to plan my courses. I would really recommend using the help of people like this since it can be quite confusing to do it by yourself.
3. How does a typical weekly schedule look like, for a student going to upper secondary?
This question is diffucult to answer since it is very induvidual and depends on things like which courses you're taking and how many courses you've already finished. In gym 1 & 2 a lot of students have school from 8.15-15.15 with a lunch break but in Gym 3 some have less subjects because they have finished a lot of courses already.
4. What would you say, is the best reason to choose SSB?
The best reason to begin at the school is that you will learn a lot and actually feel that you are developing new skills. Also you make a lot of new friends and get to live in an interesting country. The best reason to live at the boarding is, according to me, that you really feel independent and more grown up than at home, it's a lot of fun and also here you make friends for life.
5. Which languages are the lessons held in, for instance social science?
The answer to this question depends on a couple of things. I would say that some subjects are in English most of the time and others in your mother-tounge. If the group of students are of the same nationatlity then you usually get taught in their language but if the class is more mixed the teachers tend to teach in English so that everybody can understand.
7. Approximately, how many people live at the boarding?
Currently 46 students live at the boarding. But there are also a few houseparents living here.
8. If you live at the boarding, is it easy to study after school or do you easily get distracted?
I think it is as easy as it is at home. Wherever you study you will always be able to find distractions like watching TV, friends doing something fun or being on facebook. I have no trouble studying at the castle because I can always go into my room and be alone. Since there are a lot of students living here there is always something going on that is more fun than studying, people watching a movie in the living room for example. I think it is important that you as an induvidual can take responsibility for your studies and make sure it gets done but these distractions at the castle can, as I mentioned, be compared to other distractions back at home too.
Films about SSB
Here is a great film about the school that gives information about most things concerning the school. On the school's youtube-channel you can find more films about the school.
Get in contact
When thinking about moving abroad for a year one obviously has a lot of questions. Through this blog I hope to answer some but sometimes there are other way of contacting the school and getting your questions answered.
www.ssb.be is the school website. Here you will find information about most things concerning the school and boarding facilities. Also there is a lot of contact information if there is a specific person at the school, for instance the headmistress, that you want to contact.
Everyone learns everyday: Kristy Lundström, the headmistress at SSB, runs a blog where one can follow the progress at school and read about different learning techniques used by the teachers. It gives more insight into what goes on at SSB from a teaching perspective.
The schools facebook-page: The school has a facebook-page where one can look at a lot of pictures from things happening at the school as well as take part in any updates concerning the school.
Youtube: SSB has their own youtube-channel. Here you can find commercial films about the school which can be helpful if you are interested in seeing the school grounds and undersand what days at SSB can look like.
If you want to contact me, a student at the school, my mail-adress is [email protected]
