06 Nov The harvest festival was a celebration of autumn
The absolute highlight of the week was, without a doubt, this year’s harvest festival! Dressed in cowboy boots, hats and jeans, the pupils were ready to take to the dance floor and brush up on their dance moves for a proper line dance. The atmosphere was fantastic, and you can see all the photos from the festivities further down in the newsletter.
Happy reading!
Visitors from India and Thailand
This week, we have had the pleasure of welcoming a small group of pupils from India and Thailand, who will be spending the next few weeks with us to experience what it is like to attend a Danish efterskole.
Several of the pupils have travelled extensively, and we can clearly sense their great enthusiasm, curiosity and openness when it comes to getting to know the other pupils. They have embraced the start of the term with impressive maturity and outgoingness.
One thing, however, has been something of a shock: the Danish weather! They think it’s cold here, but fortunately they say themselves that they’re quickly getting used to the colder temperatures.
Visiting teachers from Ghana
Over the coming weeks, we will also be welcoming four lecturers from Ghana, all of whom are currently spending an exchange semester in Aalborg, where they are taking additional modules. They have visited Ranum before, and we are really delighted to have them back. They play an active part in the school’s day-to-day life and activities and are heavily involved in planning lessons. In addition, they deliver their own lessons in close collaboration with our teachers.
It’s lovely to have you back!
Celebrating autumn
This year’s end-of-term party kicked off in the multi-purpose hall with line dancing – and what a dance party it turned out to be! Almost all the pupils were in high spirits, and it was fantastic to see a full 540 pupils dancing together. Most had also gone the extra mile with their costumes, and the hall was filled with cowboys and cowgirls in their finest denim outfits, complete with scarves, hats and boots. The rest of the evening offered plenty of activities. You could try your hand at nail hammering, challenge yourself on the rodeo bull, have your photo taken in the hay, listen to our brilliant music group give a concert, or roast a marshmallow over the bonfire.
Although Ranum is surrounded by fields, we can’t quite claim that the pupils have taken part in this year’s harvest. On the other hand, the harvest festival was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate autumn, community and the changing of the seasons. We’re now heading into the darker months, and before long the Christmas decorations will gradually start to make an appearance. But first, of course, autumn had to be celebrated in style!
You can view all the photos from the evening via the link below
Vaccinations in place
There are many things to sort out before a big trip gets underway – and one of the most important preparations is, of course, vaccinations.
Fortunately, we’re well organised on that front. With 540 pupils and around 60 adults set to travel to destinations all over the world, there’s quite a lot to coordinate. Vaccination requirements vary from destination to destination, and with both Danish and international students travelling to different destinations, this requires a bit of extra planning.
That’s why, once again this year, we’ve opted for the easiest solution: we’re having the vaccination service come to us! That way, we can organise everything in one place and make the process as straightforward as possible.
It has once again been a great success. The students can simply go to and from their lessons and receive their pre-booked jabs from the many kind and helpful nurses. It really couldn’t be much easier to get ready to travel!
The South Korea Culture course is preparing for the upcoming trip
We have had visitors from far afield, as the headteacher and a teacher from Mokdonaru School in Chungcheongbuk-do Province in South Korea paid a visit to Ranum.
Mokdonaru School was founded in 2023, drawing heavily on the traditions of Danish efterskoler. The school offers young Koreans the opportunity to take a step back from the traditional and highly intensive South Korean school system, and instead to focus on personal development, new experiences and gaining clarity about their own interests and future prospects.
The curriculum is structured around practical projects, work placements and personal development, rather than traditional exam preparation. At the same time, the school places a strong emphasis on global partnerships and international exchanges – including trips to Denmark.
We find it incredibly exciting that a school so far away from Ranum shares many of the same values and ideas regarding young people’s education and development. The visit provided an opportunity for fruitful discussions about potential areas of collaboration, and fortunately the interest is mutual.
That is why it is all the more exciting that a group of our pupils will be travelling to South Korea as early as January. Whilst there, they will, amongst other things, visit Mokdonaru School and two other schools to experience South Korean school life at first hand and explore opportunities for future partnerships and collaboration.
Thank you for visiting.
On a walk in Uhrehøje
The cultural subjects are already well under way, and both learning and preparations are taking shape in many different ways. This week, the Nepal culture group went on a walk in Uhrehøje to get a few kilometres under their belts whilst enjoying the sight of the beautiful autumn colours in the trees. The walk was a good opportunity to bring the group closer together and test the pupils’ physical fitness – as several of the trips require both strong legs and a good dose of stamina.
Over the coming weeks, the Nepal culture team will, amongst other things, be heading into the kitchen to try their hand at making rice and dhal, which form a large part of the Nepalese diet. They will also be visited by Nepalese people living here, who can teach them about the unwritten rules and norms of Nepalese society. In addition, the pupils will give presentations to one another on religion and culture, and perhaps the trip will also take them to Gedsted, where there is actually a Nepalese stupa. Yes, who would have thought it!
Headmaster's column
Dear reader,
It’s almost impossible to imagine 500+ young people standing in a line and dancing the same steps in time. But we managed it when we held the Harvest Festival and kicked things off with a massive line dance. Many pupils were dressed up in keeping with the theme, and after the dance there was entertainment provided by the music group, a rodeo bull ride, a nail-hammering competition and some lovely refreshments.
It’s also almost impossible to imagine a good 450 young people and staff being vaccinated with up to three jabs per pupil in a single day. But it was achieved, and now any viruses out there can just bring it on during the cultural study trips.
Our mission statement states that we must prepare pupils to live in a society such as Denmark’s, characterised by freedom and democracy, and develop and strengthen their democratic education and their knowledge of, and respect for, fundamental freedoms and human rights, including gender equality. This entire mission statement comes into particular focus when we reflect on the US mid-term elections, and during the whole-school assembly, Deputy Headteacher Matt Danaher offered a broad interpretation of the ”victory for democracy” in the US. Matt summed up the message from the new blue majority in the US to the incumbent president with a raised middle finger, and the pupils took the message on board.
The aim is also the focal point – on a smaller scale – of the many evening clubs. It’s brilliant to see pupils taking responsibility for the activities and encouraging one another to take part, and this week a group of pupils from the project class were on hand to serve toast and Sprite. Everything went like clockwork, and the project has already inspired others to organise similar events. Mostly things you can eat, but that’s hardly surprising with so many insatiable teenagers in the shop.
This weekend, there’s a ”survival challenge” exercise for the pupils who’ve signed up for it. I hadn’t imagined it would be ”fully booked” in just a few hours, but our pupils are well on their way to becoming resilient and will certainly be able to cope with November’s wet and dark weather.
Yours sincerely
Olav Storm
Principal
It happens:
Calendar
- Lecture by Naser Khader, 12 November 26
- Christmas Fun Weekend 14 November 26
- Grandparents’ Day 15 November 26
- TEBO 17 November 1926
- ‘Life of a Busker’ concert, 18 November 26
- Performance, week 24 November 26
- Family Day 28 November 26
- Healthy Living Weekend 5 December 26
- Christmas Ball 17 December 26
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