19 Aug Colorparty, HouseCup and a bit of everything else
Ranum Efterskole has now had the pleasure of student team 19 for 2 weeks, which consists of over 500 fresh students. They have already written themselves into the Ranum history books, for a very special reason. If you just want to hear it, you can skip straight to the bottom of this newsletter.
If you'd like to hear much more about what students do with their time here at school, read on. We promise it's worth a read.
Here from Ranum there is soon a well deserved long weekend, so we hope you will do like us. Sit back, have a nice hot cup of cocoa, and enjoy this reflection of the week.
With that, I guess there's nothing left to say:
Very good reading,
from all of us, to all of you.
Colorparty
Colorparty is and will be a Ranum tradition, which is simply worth maintaining! It is synonymous with togetherness, community and the most colourful togetherness you could imagine.
The day started after lunch, when students gathered in their contact groups - and then the race was on. Decorations, costumes and table decorations had to be made, all of course according to the themes and colours chosen by each group.
Afterwards, the contact groups had their pictures taken and finally got to show off their great outfits. Afterwards, the tour went into the hall.
After a feast of photos, we were treated to a 2-course meal in the hall, where we had delicious poke-bowl for main course, and passion fruit panna cotta for dessert.
Entertainment was organised by teacher Mette, and included teachers performing TikTok dances, sing-alongs and songwriting. Afterwards, the rest of the evening was spent in the houses, where the students could relax a bit more.
Get a taste of the atmosphere below - and enjoy the happy faces, diversity and festivities. The rest of the photos can be found on our Flickr - find them by clicking here here
HouseCup
When you hear HouseCup, you think Harry Potter, rivalry and fighting to the last drop of blood. Or maybe not.
Here at Ranum, we're thinking chilli eating, cream bun inhaling and triple jumping. Not to mention running, inkers galore and bonding. Below we've created a little insight into what such a HouseCup actually offers.
HouseCup is a competition between the 3 main houses at the school (Ranumhus, Seminariehuset and Kær), where students can voluntarily sign up for disciplines. Then they compete while the remaining students cheer with flags, cheers and singing. It is a festive day where all pupils at Ranum gather around friendly rivalry.
You can get the full impression, inside our Flickr, by pressing here.
The wonderful everyday
Everyday life intrudes, and so does good old-fashioned teaching.
Fortunately, attending a school with 500+ students gives us many unique opportunities academically. Therefore, during the first two weeks, the students have been divided into levels, in Danish, English and Maths respectively. The teachers have been working flat out to produce the best possible teaching for the students, both on the mainstream Danish track and on Cambridge IGCSE, which is our international track.
As students settle into a rhythm of schedules and routines, learning will also take on more alternative forms, such as field trips, formation and reflection in family groups, and cross-curricular learning.
But what is an everyday life, besides one's snacks, slippers, and of course: mobiles
The return of the phones
Students started efterskolen on 7 August, handing in their mobiles and kissing security (in handheld form) goodbye for the first two weeks. This is done to cherish the togetherness and community in the first 2 weeks, and to challenge the students on how much they even need the little friend.
On Wednesday morning, they were able to hold it in their arms again as housemates and contact teachers returned the mobiles to each house. And how is it actually followed?
Amélie, from Kærhuset, says the following about the weeks:
“I hadn't missed it as much as I thought, at all actually. But it was really nice to be able to connect with people when you didn't know where they were - and be able to see the time! ”
All the evidence suggests that this small sacrifice in the first two weeks actually has a positive effect on school cohesion.
In the future, the student council at Ranum will set guidelines for how the phones should be used and to what extent students are allowed to carry them. Already, mobile phone boxes have been installed in all classrooms, where students hand in their phones when they enter the room.
We've asked around, and the consensus among teachers is, "It works!"
Whether the phones will be a central part of the students' stay is not yet known. However, it gives all of us at Ranum some comfort to know that the students themselves are feeling the positive benefits of putting it down for a while.
Evening activities with kick in
Experienced Ranum-nists will tell you that the evenings here at Ranum are something special. They are characterised by fun, happy students and red cheeks. Evenings this past week have included waterslides, board games, walk-and-talks and much, much more. It's largely the students themselves who decide what to do in the evenings - everything from the Stranger Things marathon at the cinema, to crossfit in the Workshop.
If you want to see much more of the nightlife at Ranum, just hop on over and follow our Instagram. You can find it by clicking here
A Ranum record
Ranum sets a record this year. And what kind of record is it?
Well, that's one of the ones we'd like to beat. It's the record for the number of pupils, set this year when we started with 506 pupils on the first day of school. That's historic and we're extremely grateful for the support and connection to the school. All the pupils, and some of the teachers, send you a little greeting above - a picture should be worth a thousand words.
Headmaster Olav Storm, says the following about the record:
The school wants to continue to grow within its own values, and thus give room to everything that defines Ranum. This includes, for example, that all pupils change profile subjects three times a year, and that we as a school thus safeguard the democratic competences that the pupils take with them from here.
It has to be said that the record still stands, as after two weeks, we still have 506 students at the school.
A little look back, and a little look forward
And after this knowledgeable retrospect, the only thing left to do, according to tradition, is to look a little ahead in the Ranum calendar.
Next week will once again be teaching at its best, before we head off for the weekend of vansports! It will include sailing, surfing, wakeboarding, windsurfing and diving, and is one of those weekends where very large parts of the student team choose to stay at the school.
So we've looked back, looked forward, and all that's left is a goodbye from here.
We, and everyone from student team 19, are looking forward to another week of experiences and learning next week,
Thank you for reading, and have a great weekend.
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