Mission statement

Our mission statement

Vasa International School of Stockholm is a small, friendly, multicultural IB World school that strives to foster a challenging, internationally- minded and inclusive environment for its students.Our vision is to acknowledge every student’s potential and build upon their strengths and interests in learning.

We aim to be caring and inspiring teachers, ambitious and principled students, and informed and engaged parents. 
Our mission is to stimulate student voice, choice and curiosity through inquiry and encourage respectful relationships between all members of the school.
 

As a community, we constantly seek to empower all students to express themselves individually and collaboratively, preparing them for the challenges of the future and encouraging them to become lifelong learners and active global citizens.

Our philosophy

As an IB World school, we are committed to the IB vision for the creation of a collaborative, diverse community united by a mission to make the world a better place through meaningful education. 
At Vasa International School of Stockholm, we promote and develop the learning of different languages and the understanding of different cultures. Our students, their families and our staff are internationally minded and as a community we embrace and promote all of those different identities and cultures.




By aiming to instill the IB values into the hearts of all community members we encourage our students, teachers and parents to embrace the Learner Profile attributes and become inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, courageous, balanced and reflective.

As a school, we promote collaboration, encourage learners to have an active role in their learning  and we inspire each other to ask questions and learn through mindful inquiry.


 

We also value reflection as a means to deepen our understanding and to improve teaching and learning.

As an IB school, we recognize the importance of taking action as a means of connecting our learning to real-life situations and as a means to improve ourselves and the world around us.

History of the School

In 1995, Rita Ahonen and I opened the School with years one to six and after-school  activities. Believing that we had a great deal more to offer the Swedish school system,  we set up the Docendo Discimus foundation in 1997 with the aim of establishing the  best school in Sweden. 

We were qualified teachers from Estonia, and we were convinced that we could  combine the best from the Estonian and Swedish school systems, and give the  concept an international feel – we learnt from other school systems to then craft  something unique. 

Orderliness, homework and a supportive study environment, wellbeing and respect: a  school for ambitious families who value an excellent education. Our marking system  and rules on behaviour resulted in criticism from the Swedish National Agency for  Education, but our approaches are now accepted. 

Our decision to focus on languages and maths was the result of a number of 
factors. We felt that maths teaching in Sweden was not up to international standards  and therefore needed strengthening. Once learnt, language skills are the last of all skills  one forgets: a language one has learnt always stays with you, and can always been  improved later in life. In 1997, we spoke five languages ourselves, and felt that learning  languages was enriching and it was therefore important to learn more languages. 

The Swedish curriculum is fine, but it felt as though the International Baccalaureate, 
(IB), was a superior alternative as a planning tool, holistic thinking and an approach  used in more than 100 other countries. 

In August 1998, we started with 56 pupils and finished the academic year with 65. In  August 1999, the School had grown to more than 120 pupils, and after a few more  years the School was full in every year from 0 to 9. 

In 2006, the School was separated into two. Our school buildings were sold, but we  found two new premises. Years 
0 to 5 moved to a beautiful old school building on Luntmakargatan, and years 6 to 9  moved to Gotlandsgatan, which was also soon expanded to years 0 to 5. 

Years 6 to 9 started on Luntmakargatan in 2014, and the School launched an 
English-speaking course that exclusively follows the IB programme. 

In August 2022, our new school, the International School of Kungsholme was established, which now hosts our our English-speaking  IB programme at Stadshagsvägen 7.

Today, our three schools maintain high teaching standards, are orderly and promote school  development on an international level. 

Annette Parts  
Head of the Board 
Vasa International  School of Stockholm
 

Why are we named "Vasa"?

The School takes its name from a defining chapter of Swedish history – the Vasa  period – during which elements of the Swedish state were established under King  Gustav Vasa, or Gustav I, (1523-1560). During his reign, Protestantism was introduced  in Sweden, and the monarchy acquired the church’s once considerable power and  wealth. 

In 1544, Sweden became a constitutional monarchy and the House of Vasa was  established. Gustav I has been described as the founder of modern Sweden, and even  “father of the nation”. 

His name is commemorated in a number of ways to this day: a portrait of Gustav I  graces the SEK 1,000-note, and Sweden’s annual Vasaloppet – the world’s largest  cross-country ski race. His name is also given to an area of Stockholm – Vasastan –  where the School is located.