David Cooksey has taken up a post as principal of the brand new British International School of Uppsala in Sweden. He has been sharing his diary with ISMP, documenting the joys and challenges of moving from his home in Jordan to establishing a school at his new northern posting. He is accompanied on his adventures by wife Mariam and his two Jordanian rescue cats, Clover and Coco.
The British International School Uppsala has arrived at the halfway point in the first half of the first term – what a ride. Staffing budgets in a startup are of course tight, but two weeks before opening day I lost the secondary arts and humanities teacher. Then, one week into the school year, the secondary English teacher I hoped would fill the gap in secondary humanities, left. The words of Lady Bracknell spring to mind.
With students (and their parents) expecting to be engaged with a full curriculum there was no option other than to step in to fill the breach. Out went any prospect of non-contact time, in came emergency crisis management and creative thinking.
Somehow, we managed to get through thanks to the amazing group of people I have the pleasure of dealing with every day: staff and students. Two weeks later the cavalry arrived in the form of Janet, a Cambridge educated and trained science teacher with a background in museum education in both England and Sweden.
“Not only were the two major gaps in the curriculum plugged but I finally started to have some time to do the day job.”
Not only was Janet able to take over the English curriculum, which had been put into hibernation for the previous two weeks, but she was also able to take over exam level biology. Not only were the two major gaps in the curriculum plugged but I finally started to have some time to do the day job.
Despite the day-to-day difficulties, the school has achieved some major successes. Thanks to the people at Cambridge Assessment, we were able to achieve accreditation to offer the full Cambridge Pathway from 5 to 18.
We’ve started the process to gain accreditation to offer the IBDP, which will allow us to tailor the educational programme offered in the senior school to the strengths of our students, supporting them to achieve their aims in moving forward with their lives. Never having worked in an IB school, this is going to be a personal as well as institutional challenge. I start the IBDP head of school training in October, which I’m looking forward to.
The process of achieving COBIS Compliance status is moving forward; I’m just waiting to hear who our School Improvement Partner will be – I know who I want, I just hope I’m lucky enough to work with this particular lady again. I think it will help that we already have a friendship and a professional relationship which is based on mutual respect. Fingers crossed.
“The cats didn’t know quite what to make of all the grass but soon got used to it.”
On the personal front, things have certainly improved, not least because we have found somewhere (affordable) to live. It is a 45 minute commute to and from school but I don’t mind – I enjoy driving and the journey helps to clear my mind before I get home.
More importantly it’s in the countryside, actually in the middle of a farm. We had to move in the middle of the week, so we left the previous apartment in Uppsala at 5am on a Tuesday.
That weekend we let the cats out for the first time since we left Jordan in the summer. They didn’t know quite what to make of all the grass but soon got used to it. Clover got stuck up a tree and had to be persuaded down by the liberal use of the ‘t’ word (treats) while CoCo, clumsy as always, fell out of the one she was climbing.
“Our furniture is still in Jordan, apparently victim of the international shortage of shipping containers.”
Now we have a lovely house in a lovely area with lovely landlords but no furniture. Ours is still in Jordan, apparently victim of the international shortage of shipping containers. A couple of garden chairs from the local charity shop, the loan of a garden table from Camilla and Mathias (our landlords) and we’re set up, in the short term at least.
Our Swedish adventure continues, two steps forward, two steps back. Another piece of good news this week – apparently, they’ve found both a container and a ship to put it on. We might have our belongings back by Christmas. As for the personal tax number, which opens the doors to leading a normal life in Sweden, well, we can but dream…