Student Handbook

At MIS, all students strive towards the attributes of the IB Learner Profile. Because of this, the MIS community has developed a short and simple set of rules to help develop a accepting, safe, and well organized learning environment.

1. We respect each other, accept everyone and do not judge people according to their appearance, culture, religion, skin colour, sexual orientation, gender, background or disability.

2. We arrive on time, with the correct materials, and keep our belongings in good order.

3. We use respectful language and are polite and friendly.

4. We respect our school, local and global environments.

5. We use digital devices e.g. phone, computer, tablet and social media, appropriately and when agreed upon with the responsible teacher or management.

During long break times (and lunch period), MYP 2, 3, & 4 students are allowed to leave school premises. However, before doing that they must sign the check-out form, found by the reception on the first floor. Students should remember to sign back in later once they return to school premises. This practice must be followed for security reasons.

• Library - The MIS library is located on the third floor, in the left-wing, right by the stairs. Here, we house a large collection of books, ranging from picture books to fictional novels and informative encyclopaedias, all managed by our librarian Ilse. All students at MIS have a library card which can be used to borrow books from both our library and the digital Malmö Skolor library. Other than that, the library offers many places for studying, or just curling up and reading a book.

• Håkan's Cafeteria - Håkan's cafeteria is always open to MYP students, early in the morning and during their lunch break. From there, they can purchase breakfast or lunchtime snacks. The exact opening times can be found on the door. Please note that the cafeteria only accepts Swish payments

• PE Hall - Unfortunately, MIS doesn't have it's own PE Hall, and instead we share one with our neighbouring school, Glasbruksskolan. The PE hall is only a five-minute walk away from the school and is easily accessible. The PE hall is not open for students during lunch breaks, and as an alternative, students are encouraged to utilize the school playground, which has a football field, a basketball court, and a sprinting track.

• Lunch Hall - MIS believes in a well-balanced and healthy lifestyle, and so, all students are provided with a warm lunch each school day, which is prepared by the cafeteria staff using fresh and organically produced ingredients. All meals are served in the lunch hall, which is located on the 1st floor at the end of the left-wing of the building.

Student influence is an integral part of building a good and functional school environment, and because of that, MIS offers several opportunities for students to join in, and make their voices heard.

• The Student Council - As an elected group of student representatives and teachers, the Student Council's main purpose is to be a voice to the MYP student body. Each class has a weekly class council meeting, where they discuss issues, find solutions and how they can take positive action to make the school a better place. Any issues brought up there can be taken directly to the Student Council, which convenes twice a month. The Student Council is primarily focused on planning school events that involve student participation at large.

• The Environmental Council - Have been awarded the Green Peace Flag for our exceptional role in changing the environment around our school. Just like the Student Council, the Environmental Council have an elected group of student representatives who meet together with MIS teachers to address problems relating to the environment. They are also in charge of organizing environmentally related initiatives, such as the annual Environmental day at MIS. The Environmental Council meetings are held once a month.

• The Food Council - Each school year, one student is elected to represent their class at the Food Council. The Food Council deals with problems and issues relating back to well... the food, which usually means either the lunch food or the Cafeteria. Just like the Environmental Council, the Food Council meets once a month.

• The MIS Times - The MIS Times is the student magazine of MIS. Usually it takes about two months to publish an issue, with each issue revolving around on IB Global Context. Anyone is welcome to contribute pieces to the magazine, but it is mainly managed by a certain group of students, known as the 'Creative Team'. You can read more about the MIS Times (and view all their issues) on their official website, found here.

As you already know by now, the IB grading system is very different from the Swedish one. Firstly, in the Swedish system, grades are given on a six-point grading system, starting from 'A' (the highest grade), and going down to 'E' (the lowest grade), with the letter 'F' signifying failure. The IB system, on the other hand, uses a numeral system, beginning at 1 (the lowest grade) and going up to 8 (the highest), with the number 0 signifying failure. Keep in mind though that at the end of the year, the highest possible grade is a 7 and not an 8.

In your last year at Grundskolan (Year 9 in the Swedish system, MYP4 at MIS) your grades will be combined to form your 'meritvärde' which you use to apply to a gymnasium. Usually, with the Swedish system, this is an easy process. Simply assign points to each of your grades (20 points for an A, 17.5 for a B and so on) and then add all of the points together. Since there are 17 subjects in the Swedish curriculum, this will give you a maximum meritvärde of 340. Unfortunately, this isn't as simple with IB grades.

The problem mainly lays in the fact that we don't have as many subjects (we only have 10 subjects as compared to the Swedish 17) To convert your IB grades to Swedish, the first step is to assign each of your grades the correspondent amount of Swedish 'merit' points. Here is a table of conversion:

IB Swedish

7 20

6 17.5

5 15

4 12.5

3 10

1-2 0

After you've done that, add all the points together. Then divide that number by the number of subjects you add (we usually have 10 in the MYP). Lastly, multiply that number by 17 (since there are 17 subjects in the Swedish curriculum), and voila! You've got your meritvärde.

• What happens when a lesson is cancelled? - The most common reason for a lesson being cancelled is teacher absence. Usually, all teacher absences are displayed on the big TVs, found on the first floor by the reception, and on the second floor by the Cafeteria. This information is updated everyday, early in the morning.

• Lockers - All students at MIS are provided with lockers to store their belongings during the school day. The lockers for MYP students are located on the third floor. Students are expected to bring their own padlocks

• Lost & found - The Lost & Found box can be found on the first floor, to the right of the main entrance, by the toilets.

• Chromebooks - All MYP students at MIS are provided with their own Chromebooks which are to be used throughout the day for pedagogical purposes. If there's any issue with your Chromebook, or if you simply have any questions, you can talk to our ICT Coordinator, Magnus whose office can be found on the third floor by the toilets.