30 Mar Newsletter 30.3 2012

Dear reader!

Easter holiday has begun and all the pupils went out of their houses all over the country. During the week we have been writing on the commemorative logo and ordering commemorative shirts and in the final assembly the students realised that there are now only 3 months left of the school year. It is now the final stage of after school life and it is also now that the students have to show that they have reached the point where they are self-reliant in their daily lives in terms of duties and responsibilities towards each other. Fortunately, most of them are very good at this and it is a pleasure to see the many activities during the week where the pupils take the initiative and achieve their goals.

This week a few students have organised a cinema trip to Løgstør Bio to see the local premiere of Hungers Game. We helped with bus transport, but everything else they organised themselves, and they had a great shared experience.
The week started, so to speak, at the weekend, when all the divers went on a diving weekend and the students took their tank tests. They were totally exhausted by both the physical and the academic challenges, as well as the heat in the pool, so it was pretty quiet on both Saturday and Sunday evening. On Monday, the music team visited Lynghøj Efterskole and played with their music team all day.

On Tuesday evening, the students of Gastronomy and the contact group in the kitchen invited everyone to a barbecue dinner in the South Garden at Kærhuset. Fortunately the weather was warm and it was a very nice and tasty evening. On Wednesday evening there was a spring concert for all students in the ballroom with the Vesthimmerland Cultural School's talent team. They did a great job! Thursday was a cinema trip, and for the teachers there was a presentation of the two young researchers' study of our profile subject trip to Nepal. It is exciting and instructive reading, which sets 6 recommendations for how we continue to develop our work with combining the academic program with the profile subjects and the personal formation process. The work of the two researchers will be presented on 27 April to other afterschools and schools in collaboration with the Afterschool Association and interested school staff can register for the seminar by contacting the school.

In the educational field the good weather has brought a lot of outdoor fun on the lawns and on the ball field. Many students enjoy riding their longboards and skateboards or roller skating on the new asphalt in front of the main building. It's great to see them teaching each other tricks and the "cool" ones wanting to learn from them and open for many to try.
On Tuesday we tightened up on room cleaning and luckily only 2 rooms had to continue cleaning beyond time!
Students have a lot of winter clothes and footwear in their rooms, so it would be smart to switch to a lighter spring wardrobe - once next week's spring cold is over. It is clear to see that the anticipation for the upcoming profile trips is now rising and it is really nice that the students are also showing some routine and enthusiasm in their preparations.
This week we sent out an email to parents informing them that the school account number has changed and that it is important to use the new registration number, otherwise payment will not be received. This was interpreted by several as if we had not received payment. It was simply an information that the new account number for payment for travel, parachute course, duel certificate etc. is reg. 9202 account 0000138622.

You can follow the planning of the profile trips in the Letters, which are under Profile subjects on the website here
The students who are going to LA and New York have an extra lot to do in their preparations, because cheerleading, dance and music will all be part of the trip. The sailors have been up for the theoretical aptitude test this week and have done really well. It's a hectic schedule, having to cope with a proficiency test alongside the many academic subjects, but when interest drives you, it can be done. Congratulations to all 40 new sailors who will be going to Greece in 2 weeks time to practice their practical sailing skills. The school's 6 small keelboats were launched this week and after Easter the students can start their practical sailing at Rønbjerg.

Parents' weekend on 11-12 May. The programme is being finalised and it will be from Friday to Saturday. It is possible to join us on one of the days, but we hope that you will make a trip out of it and stay overnight until Saturday. Since there is a joint open house throughout Himmerland on Sunday, May 13, we would like as many students as possible to stay for the weekend. Registration for the Parents Weekend will be sent out by email to parents and students.

The parachute course will be on the weekend of 27-29 April and students who are interested in participating must pay a membership fee to the Danish Parachute Union and this payment is also a 3rd party insurance. The deadline for registration is 12 April - i.e. before the profile subject trips.

In Easter week the office will be open until Wednesday at noon, and we look forward to seeing all the students again on Monday 9 April from 4pm.

Best regards and Happy Easter to you all!

Olav Storm
supervisor