05 May Teachers return, normal week and family weekend

We rolled out the red carpet for all employees on Monday!!

Dear reader!
Finally the lockout ended and we got all the teachers back to work. On Sunday, the rest of the staff pulled the last load at the school, so that on Monday morning all teachers could gather for a joint welcome for all staff. During Monday, all students and contact teachers also met and soon we were in the normal teaching rhythm. The week has been marked by teachers and pupils tuning back in for the forthcoming tests and on Friday, at the final lock-in assembly for all staff, there was a widespread feeling that we were now back on track again. The lockout period has felt like a vacuum for all parties, a despairing momentum that everyone is relieved has ended.

In the collections we have presented the last travel reports from the 3rd profile subject trips to LA with Cheerleading, NY and not least the sailing trip to Greece and the diving trip to the Red Sea. More films and pictures are on the way. Thursday evening a large group of students went to the cinema to watch Ironman together and it was a nice shared experience.

This weekend we held a family weekend, and despite many lockout uncertainties, confirmations, etc., we managed to gather more than 200 parents and siblings for a nice activity weekend. First there was the opportunity for talks with the contact teachers and then we held a community gathering, which included dancing and the rest of the afternoon was spent in all sorts of activities.

In gastronomy, there was a pizza course by the students as teachers. They were totally serious and tough judges of the competition.

Families and students could also taste grilled Zebra and Kangaroo. And on the lawn, the outdoors had made sno-bread baking after the adventure race. In Music, students and parents played and in Design, young and old worked to create shrink plastic into jewelry.

In the Multicultural Centre, the climbing wall was in full swing and in the school playground, parents and siblings risked limbs on skates and longboards. Before dinner, the different profile subjects presented their latest travel experiences in pictures and films. After a lovely dinner, there was the Tour de Ranum with, among others, the biology samples from last year. And the evening ended with a big Nepal bank game with amazing prizes donated by the families. At bedtime for the youngsters, we adults met with the chef for some cheese and wine tasting and a good parents' chat.

On Sunday morning, there was morning exercise, assembly and the morning ended with a joint school evaluation in groups of students, teachers and parents. All in all a very nice weekend, and a big thank you to all of you who participated and brought exciting cakes and gifts.

The coming week will see full focus on exams and few profile lessons. We already end the week on Wednesday at 14.30 and send the students home for the Ascension holiday. On Monday 13.5 the written tests will start and a test schedule is available on the website under Teaching.
We know that many are still a little affected by the lockout, but both pedagogically and professionally we are from Monday 99% back on track and then we will also be completely ready for the tests!

Best regards and have a great week!
Olav Storm
supervisor.