20 Dec End of Christmas, Parcel game & Contact group

We have finally reached the long-awaited Christmas holidays. The students have said Merry Christmas and wished each other a Happy New Year, and they have done so on top of a week of Christmas endings, a huge parcel game (maybe the biggest in the world), nativity plays, a trip to church, house cup with Christmas activities and of course the last contact group time of the year.

It also means that we say goodbye to a fantastic 2019, which has been filled with great experiences. We have come through the first half of the school year in the most beautiful way, and for that we can only be heartily grateful. We are really looking forward to getting started with the new year, especially because the cultural studies trips are waiting for us at the end of January, but also because it will be a year of even more afterschool experiences, friendships and communities.

To those of you who read the weekly newsletter, we would also like to thank you for your commitment and support of the school's news and good stories. We promise you that there will be even more here in the newsletter to look forward to.

That's the intro, let's dive into the last news of the year from Ranum,

Thursday was dedicated to various competitions, games and activities that created a cosy atmosphere and turned up the Christmas spirit. The aim was to get around the 400 metre track as fast as possible, with the crowd cheering and booing. By the way, there were points for best costume, and I think it was Santa and his... camel (?) who did best in the turns here.

Everyone then gathered in the Multihallen, because it was time for the annual Santa hunt. 15 teachers were dressed up in elf costumes and it was the students' job to catch them. The elves got a head start and the pupils were soon after them. The elves posted various hints about their hiding places, and finally when everyone was found, the group that had caught the most elves got a big box of trinkets. You can imagine what the atmosphere was like at school as everyone ran around looking in nooks and crannies of our big school. It was great fun and the students were really keen to catch the elves.

Afterwards, there was a Christmas quiz and fun in the common room and canteen, and then it was time for a record-breaking gift game with more than 900 presents. Students sat in contact groups and hit 6s together to collect gifts to share. Things got pretty crazy when the second round started. You had to steal, and you had to run fast, because with 45 contact groups all hitting 6s at the same time, you had to be quick not to lose the gift again. Afterwards it was announced that there were actually 5×5 free passes for morning exercise. When Kristine told it on the microphone, there was a huge sigh, probably because they were popular. It's hard to believe. We set up a camera that filmed the entire session, so you too can get a glimpse of (perhaps) the world's greatest pack game.

Later we all went to church, and in the evening there was fun and dancing in the schoolyard around the Tree of Life.