Stena Fastigheter invests in summer school for middle school children
“THERE’S A HERO IN EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US”
For children to have meaningful leisure time and to achieve passing grades in the basic subjects of Swedish, mathematics and sports – and to ensure a safe summer – Stena Fastigheter initiated a summer school this year for middle school children. The summer school is called Summer Heroes.
“We started the summer school in Gothenburg with the aim of contributing to the children in our neighborhood having a good summer,” says Claudia Andreasson, relationship manager in Gothenburg, who has implemented the summer school together with other actors. “To increase the desire to learn, we’ve worked with an artist in helping the kids draw their own hero. The hero accompanies the children during the weekly activities, with them describing what the hero feels and does during the weeks of the summer school.”
“The best thing about the summer school is that you make new friends and you feel safe,” says Fatima, a student at the summer school.
The Summer Heroes program was created for children attending Bjurslättsskolan in Lundby, Gothenburg – located a stone’s throw from Stena Fastigheter’s apartments on Fyrklöversgatan, where several of the school’s students live. There are children here who are not achieving passing grades in sports (as they lack swimming skills), mathematics and Swedish.
“Bjurslättsskolan has chosen to participate in this collaboration because it’s important that children have meaningful and pleasurable leisure time, and that they enjoy learning,” says Elisabeth Cadier, principal at Bjurslättsskolan. “The children have fun activities in sports, math and Swedish. We want them to maintain their reading skills and bridge the reading gap that we know occurs during the summer break.”
“When you come to the summer school, you think it’ll be boring, but then it’s not. You make friends and we become like a family,” says Feban, a student at the summer school.
SUMMER SCHOOL – PART OF STENA FASTIGHETER’S WORK WITH SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
The summer school is part of Stena Fastigheter’s relationship management and work to create safe and pleasant neighborhoods where people thrive and have faith in the future. The property management company has initiated and run Summer Heroes, but it has been carried out in close cooperation with several different stakeholders, such as Bjurslättsskolan, the Swedish Lifesaving Society in Gothenburg and the police.
“We feel that this work is a very important and it’s especially nice when a private actor is so involved who carries through with implementation as Stena Fastigheter has done,” says local police officer Hans Jörgen Ostler. “And we want to support and inspire other companies to take similar initiatives.”
“With the summer school, we want to enable the children to get better grades, as well as getting them to believe in having more choices in the future,” says Claudia Andreasson. “We believe in the potential and power of our children. There’s a hero in each and every one of us.” ⁄
The children draw their own hero. Claudia Andreasson, with the student at the summer school.
ABOUT SUMMER HEROES
The Summer Heroes summer school was initiated by Stena Fastigheter in collaboration with Bjurslättsskolan, the Swedish Lifesaving Society in Gothenburg, the local police district, Keolis, the House of Possibilities, artist Elin Andersson and Författarcentrum Väst.
