Tina is a teacher Maria Parkskolan school in Helsingborg Sweden.
Tell me about your school?
Our school is quite big, we have children from 1-16 years old. From 1-5 years old they attend nursery school, and from 6-16 years old they attend compulsory school. We are about 450-500 students in compulsory school. The school is situated on the outskirts of the town, close to the forest. The building has a quite interesting history, since it´s an old mental hospital, one of the biggest in the Nordic countries! Our school is named Maria Parkschool, after the old hostpital, St Maria hospital. And it´s said to be haunted!!
What’s your favourite part of your job?
My favourite part of the job is when I am with the students. I love to talk and discuss with them! When I do that I learn just as much as they do. And I do have very nice pupils. But I also like to travel and visit my schoolpartners in the Comenius project!!
Do your students have any pastimes?
Yes, the students do a lot at their freetime. Many of them do different sports, like football, floor ball, ice hockey, horse riding, hand ball, or dancing. Some of them plays different instruments (guitar, piano, and drums for example) or singing. A lot of them (especially the boys) like to play computer- or tv- games or (especially girls) shopping. We also have some students who like photographing, and most of them are hanging out with their friends on weekends and afternoons.
What do your students play at lunch time?
I´m a teacher in grade 8-9, so my students are 15-16 years old. They don´t play very much when they have breaks. They usually sit and talk to their friends or listen to music. But the younger children play a lot. We have two big playgrounds with swings, climbing frame, jumping mats, basket- and floor ball ground and other activities. They also like to play football, hide and seek, play tag and skipping rope.
What is Sweden like?
Sweden is a very long and “thin” country, and it differs a lot if you live in the south part or in the north. In south, where we live, we have a much warmer climate than up in the north. Our city, Helsingborg, is situated by the sea and very close to Denmark. It only takes about 20 minutes to get to Denmark by ferry. Sweden is quite a safe country to live in, we don´t have a lot of crimes compared to other countries. Sweden is also one of the least religious countries in the world. The “state church” is the protestant church, but most Swedes aren´t very religious and “beliving”. We do have quite many immigrants who are muslims, so Islam is the second biggest religion in our country, after the Christian church. In Sweden you pay a lot of your income to taxes, about 30%. But you also get a lot for your taxes. For example, the school is free and so is the school lunch. Everyone can afford to go to the doctor, ´cause the taxes pays most of the cost. So, Sweden is quite a good country to live in!
SWEDEN FACTFILE:
The currency of Sweden is the Swedish Krona. Sweden joined Europe on the first of January 1995. Stockholm is also the largest city in the country with a population of 1.3 in the urban area. Sweden is a Nordic Country of the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the third largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of about 9.4 million. Sweden’s last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when the Swedish by military means forced Norway into a personal union, which lasted until 1905,Sweden has been at peace since then. Regarding weather, Sweden receives 1,100 to 1,900 hours of sunshine annually.
