- Öckerö gymnasieskola
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Öckerö gymnasieskola - A Swedish School under Sail
The Marine Biology program (MBI) — “the sea is our classroom"
Öckerö gymnasieskola is a municipal upper secondary school (AmE high school) funded by the government and one of the programs we offer is a specially designed 3-year program for future marine biologists. Although the program´s main focus is on marine biology it provides a broad general education in the natural science field and eligibility to further studies at the university or post-secondary level. The curriculum also includes subjects like social studies, physical education and languages (English, French/Spanish). Only 24 students are admitted to the Marine Biology program each year.
Our school is located on the island of Öckerö outside Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden. It is beautifully situated only a few yards from the sea and offers modern teaching facilities of an architecturally inviting design.
Field studies trips are an integral part of the program. For two months each year during the first two years these studies are carried out on board the largest training ship in Sweden: the T/S GUNILLA. A variety of marine aquatic environments in the North Sea as well as in both temperate and tropical regions of the Atlantic are studied. (See itinerary below.)
The three-mast bark T/S GUNILLA carries up to 44 students and 11 professional crew members. The roomy hull of 50 meters has below deck an interior layout of modern design. The students´ computer work stations, the highly advanced electronic equipment for navigation on the bridge combined with a traditional square-rig as the main propulsion, do indeed represent a stimulating concept of old tradition integrated with new technology.
Besides normal schoolwork: lessons, group work and individual studies the students work as seamen under sail. Supervised by experienced watch leaders and officers they serve as acting crew on board, responsible for all work aloft and on deck including upkeep of the ship. Hoisting heavy square sails or balancing out on the yard arm some thirty metres above deck requires co-operation and communication which will develop a sense of solidarity within the group of students in a unique way.
August — April
Studies at Öckerö gymnasieskola, Öckerö, Sweden
End of April — June
The first year students, aged between 16 and 17, sail from Öckerö, Sweden, to explore the seas and the coasts of northern Europe. The ship will make numerous port visits:
Itinerary Spring 2008
Warnemünde, Germany 2 — 5 May
Oostende, Belgium 11 — 17 May
St Malo, France 20 – 23 May
Portaferry, Ireland 27 — 30 May
Stornoway, the Hebrides, Scotland 1 — 4 June
Lerwick, Shetland, 6 — 9 June
Bergen, Norway 11 — 16 June
Return Öckerö 19 June
August — February
Studies at Öckerö gymnasieskola, Öckerö, Sweden.
March — Mid-May
The second year students embark at Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, from where they set sail for Turks & Caicos and the United States before crossing the Atlantic via Bermuda and the Azores. When the T/S Gunilla make land at Oostende, Belgium, it´s time for the students to disembark and fly home and let the first-graders take over.
End of May — June
Studies at Öckerö gymnasieskola, Öckerö, Sweden.
Studies at Öckerö gymnasieskola, Öckerö, Sweden.
Field trips and educational visits in the Baltic and North Sea regions — program not yet fixed.
When visiting ports around the globe our students make educational visits of different kinds, but equally important are the students´ personal contacts with people they meet. Öckerö gymnasieskola is therefore most interested in establishing contacts with schools, universities, institutions, companies etc., especially in the ports we visit. Please do not hesitate to contact us if our program interests you. One of the fundamental principles of our project is to provide opportunities for meetings enabling a mutual exchange of knowledge and ideas. Who knows — such a contact might be the beginning of a fruitful partnership!
You are most welcome to follow the T/S Gunilla and her students on our home page www.ogy.se
The present position of the ship.
Read the students´ logbooks (in English)
See pictures from the ship (click on the links)
Please don´t hesitate to contact us alice.elmersson@skola.ockero.se
Öckerö gymnasieskola is a municipal upper secondary school (AmE high school) funded by the government and one of the programs we offer is a specially designed 3-year program for future marine biologists. Although the program´s main focus is on marine biology it provides a broad general education in the natural science field and eligibility to further studies at the university or post-secondary level. The curriculum also includes subjects like social studies, physical education and languages (English, French/Spanish). Only 24 students are admitted to the Marine Biology program each year.
Our school is located on the island of Öckerö outside Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden. It is beautifully situated only a few yards from the sea and offers modern teaching facilities of an architecturally inviting design.
Field studies trips are an integral part of the program. For two months each year during the first two years these studies are carried out on board the largest training ship in Sweden: the T/S GUNILLA. A variety of marine aquatic environments in the North Sea as well as in both temperate and tropical regions of the Atlantic are studied. (See itinerary below.)
The three-mast bark T/S GUNILLA carries up to 44 students and 11 professional crew members. The roomy hull of 50 meters has below deck an interior layout of modern design. The students´ computer work stations, the highly advanced electronic equipment for navigation on the bridge combined with a traditional square-rig as the main propulsion, do indeed represent a stimulating concept of old tradition integrated with new technology.
Besides normal schoolwork: lessons, group work and individual studies the students work as seamen under sail. Supervised by experienced watch leaders and officers they serve as acting crew on board, responsible for all work aloft and on deck including upkeep of the ship. Hoisting heavy square sails or balancing out on the yard arm some thirty metres above deck requires co-operation and communication which will develop a sense of solidarity within the group of students in a unique way.
Year 1
August — April
Studies at Öckerö gymnasieskola, Öckerö, Sweden
End of April — June
The first year students, aged between 16 and 17, sail from Öckerö, Sweden, to explore the seas and the coasts of northern Europe. The ship will make numerous port visits:
Itinerary Spring 2008
Warnemünde, Germany 2 — 5 May
Oostende, Belgium 11 — 17 May
St Malo, France 20 – 23 May
Portaferry, Ireland 27 — 30 May
Stornoway, the Hebrides, Scotland 1 — 4 June
Lerwick, Shetland, 6 — 9 June
Bergen, Norway 11 — 16 June
Return Öckerö 19 June
Year 2
August — February
Studies at Öckerö gymnasieskola, Öckerö, Sweden.
March — Mid-May
The second year students embark at Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, from where they set sail for Turks & Caicos and the United States before crossing the Atlantic via Bermuda and the Azores. When the T/S Gunilla make land at Oostende, Belgium, it´s time for the students to disembark and fly home and let the first-graders take over.
End of May — June
Studies at Öckerö gymnasieskola, Öckerö, Sweden.
Year 3
Studies at Öckerö gymnasieskola, Öckerö, Sweden.
Field trips and educational visits in the Baltic and North Sea regions — program not yet fixed.
When visiting ports around the globe our students make educational visits of different kinds, but equally important are the students´ personal contacts with people they meet. Öckerö gymnasieskola is therefore most interested in establishing contacts with schools, universities, institutions, companies etc., especially in the ports we visit. Please do not hesitate to contact us if our program interests you. One of the fundamental principles of our project is to provide opportunities for meetings enabling a mutual exchange of knowledge and ideas. Who knows — such a contact might be the beginning of a fruitful partnership!
You are most welcome to follow the T/S Gunilla and her students on our home page www.ogy.se
The present position of the ship.
Read the students´ logbooks (in English)
See pictures from the ship (click on the links)
Please don´t hesitate to contact us alice.elmersson@skola.ockero.se
Öckerö gymnasieskola, Björnhuvudsvägen 45, Box 1063, 475 22 Öckerö
031-97 62 00, kommun@ockero.se
031-97 62 00, kommun@ockero.se
© Öckerö kommun