3 days ago
Dibber International School: Five ways this international school creates a community
When settling down in a new country, one of the most important choices for any family is the school they choose for their children.
There are a lot of factors to consider, from grades to class sizes and of course, the curriculum. Most important of all is the environment: how will your child feel each day walking through the doors?
For a lot of international parents, it's a balancing act. To help your child integrate into Swedish society, achieve their academic potential, and keep their options open for the future, it's important to be bilingual in English and Swedish. Whether you speak one, both or neither of them at home, having a strong education in both languages is a huge asset for children who move to Sweden.
Dibber International School has two locations, one in Stockholm and one in Helsingborg. The Nordic-founded and family-run organisation is committed to offering children a fully bilingual, global education in an inclusive environment. They shared with The Local five factors which have helped them develop a great international school and community.
Find out more about Dibber International School in Stockholm and Helsingborg
Focus on fluency in Swedish
If you're in Sweden for the long term, giving your child the opportunity to become fully fluent in Swedish will help them feel rooted here, and give them access to broader learning and social opportunities.
The way that Dibber achieves this is by teaching some lessons in English and some in Swedish. The proportion in Swedish is never less than 50 percent, giving the exposure to the language the children need in order to feel comfortable with it.
There's a particularly strong focus on building Swedish skills in the younger grades to give all children a good base.
There are extra support teachers on hand and the option of a Swedish intensive course for those who need it, so you can be confident that your child will have the support they need to develop their Swedish at their own pace.
The remaining lessons (up to a maximum of 50 percent) are in English, preparing students for a global future. Around two thirds of students at Dibber speak neither Swedish nor English at home, so the school is well equipped to teach a diverse student population. Students collaborate on a project using a tablet as part of their bilingual studies.
Using music as a universal language
Alongside the core curriculum, Dibber offers its own music programme, with a focus on string instruments, and a class orchestra your child could participate in.
This isn't just about making sure the annual concerts sound great (though that's a bonus for parents in the audience!). The music programme is a big part of building the school's community – giving children the valuable experience of playing their part in a group – and is also based on research about the impact of music practice on cognitive development. In an environment with lots of native tongues, music proves an effective way to bring students together.
High teaching standards
Of course, the main purpose of school is to give your child a good education, and researching the academic stats is a crucial part of making that choice.
At Dibber, 85 percent of teachers are Swedish-qualified, significantly higher than the national average of 70 percent. When you include teachers who are qualified abroad, that proportion rises even further to 92 percent. And last year, 100 percent of grade 9 students at the Helsingborg school got the grades to attend gymnasium (upper secondary school), along with 89.7 percent in the Stockholm school. This compares to a national average of 82%, showing that an international school can open doors in your child's education. A student engaged in classroom activities at Dibber International School.
Truly international
If you've taken the bold step of moving your life to a new country, the chances are you would love your child to have the same ability in the future. It's not just the international backgrounds of the staff and students at Dibber schools that contribute to that global outlook, but the curriculum itself.
Dibber International is one of a small number of schools in Sweden that offers the IB programme. This means that at the end of grade 9, your child is awarded both Swedish and IB grades. They then have the option to progress to gymnasium and university here in Sweden, or study the IB overseas in English if your family ends up relocating or returning home in the future.
A community school
As for the wider team behind the scenes, the two headteachers, Jeremy Brooks at the Stockholm location and Anna Fondell Persson in Helsingborg, play an active part in building community at both schools. This is helped by smaller than average class sizes (25 to 28 students per class), and the fact both Swedish locations are in popular residential areas – the Norrviken (Sollentuna) suburb of Stockholm and the southern town of Helsingborg.
Founders Randi and Hans Jacob Sundby have used their more than 40 years' combined experience as educators to develop the schools' pedagogical methods, all rooted in inclusivity and supporting children as individuals.
Children get the best of both worlds: a bilingual school where teachers place equal focus on fluency in Swedish and English. They'll receive both an international education and the benefits of the close-knit communities of the schools themselves and the neighbourhoods they're based in.
Want to learn more? Find out more about Dibber International School and what your child's learning could look like
