Graduation 2020!


Publicerad 20 maj 2020

Information for Parents/Guardians and family ahead of the Graduation 2020!

This letter is being sent to you in the light of the prevailing worldwide pandemic, to explain how we at IHGR are planning to conduct the Graduation of 2020. We hope that under the current circumstances you are all in good health and we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support for our students who have all had their lives turned upside down in a very short period of time. We know that they have worked diligently with school assignments and the likes. They have had to take a lot of responsibility to succeed now during these unusual times as they would with their studies during “normal schooling”.

We should all be proud of how amazing the students have been throughout this time and have remained composed despite the cancellation of many enjoyable and rewarding activities being cancelled both in and out of school.

 The Spring term for our graduate students is usually dominated by hard work, but also an opportunity for our students to celebrate, party and look forward to the unfolding new chapters in their lives. This has been a very challenging time for not only the students but you as families. We would like to thank you all for being there for our students and for all the support you have shown.

Of course, the absolute highlight for our graduating classes is the actual Graduation at IHGR. The 1st of June 2020 has been the day to look forward to, a milestone in life where high school life ends, and a new adventure begins. We at IHGR are determined to make the 1st of June a special day, maybe even more so this year. Graduation is a day to look forward to, a day that should be full of hope for the future.

We would like to emphasize that the Student Committee which has been formed by class representatives from each of the graduating classes, have helped us in a very positive and constructive way, to plan a very special day. Their dedication and tireless energy throughout the entire process has been fantastically inspiring!

The program and planning for the Graduation 2020: 

We will invite the graduating classes to a special ceremony for each class, thus dividing the day into four ceremonies. The starting times as decided with the Student Committee for the graduating ceremonies are as follows:

9.30 SA17

11.15 NA17

13.00 IB17A

14.45 IB17B

The entire school building will not have any ISGR teachers or students present on the day. The graduating classes will gather in our dining room where we will offer a special Graduation lunch followed by fresh strawberries. (No buffet) The program in the dining room will last 45 minutes with the following points:

● Musical performance by students

● Speech by Principal

● Distribution of scholarships and awards

● Valedictorian speeches given by graduating students to fellow classmates and IHGR staff

● Music

● Presentation of the diplomas, grades and certificates to all individual students.


 After the presentation of the diplomas, the students will be allowed to move into the schoolyard one by one. There will be a possibility to gather as a group, but they will be required to leave the schoolyard relatively fast.


We do understand that you as parents, guardians and family want to be together with your graduating student, we are however unable to allow any relatives or friends onto the schoolyard. This is a decision made by the Gothenburg municipality applying to all high schools and will not be changed. Should you choose to wait outside the schoolyard, we recommend that you apply the social distancing rules and STRONGLY advise against bringing any family members belonging to the different risk groups.

 

The traditional traveling on the back of a large truck by graduation students throughout the streets of Gothenburg will NOT be allowed after a decision was made by the Swedish Traffic Authority. Therefore, we believe that most of the students will be collected by friends and family around the schoolyard. Please take the necessary precautions and refrain from creating larger groups around the schoolyard during this time. Ensure that you keep safe distances from each other at all times. As many of you are possibly aware, finding parking close to the school is a difficult challenge. We advise you to park within walking distance to the school and not to expect any parking to be found close to IHGR.

 

Preventing the spread of infection

Given the rules and recommendations of the Swedish Public Health Authority, the Principal of IHGR and the City of Gothenburg Education Department guidelines, we have planned the IHGR Graduation of 2020. We now sincerely hope that the prevalent spread of infection will NOT change rapidly for the worse causing us to make alterations to our planning.

We are very confident that both our students and you as families will take responsibility but at the same time celebrate this day to make it an unforgettable memory. We have asked students to let us know if they can attend the Graduation celebrations to enable us to make the best possible plans.

 

If there are any students in the graduating class (who we have not been informed to belong to a risk group), our school nurse is available for consultation.

The following points worth noting:

● Access to the washing of hands and hand disinfectant will be available

● Several toilets will be located adjacent to the dining room.

● Students will be informed on how to minimize any risk of infection spreading and how to prevent it.

● Pupils, staff and family members should not come to Graduation if they show the slightest symptoms of illness or cold.

● The Student Protection Ombudsman has met with the principal to jointly review the conditions for the ceremonies from the perspective of infection protection.

 

We have investigated the possibility of live streaming the ceremony itself indoors but have been informed by lawyers that it is not compatible with the GDPR nor with the so-called consent.We are working on some kind of photo shooting or live streaming outdoors of the students who want to.

Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all the parents and guardians for your support and commitment. If you have any questions regarding the content of this letter or require any other information regarding Graduation 2020, please contact our Principal Maria Laasonen.


Sincerely,

All the staff at IHGR through the Principal Maria Laasonen

Maria.laarsonen@educ.goteborg.se

070-80 84 56 or 031-7089229