Vardeegnens Gymnasieforberedende Efterskole: Combining academics and creativity

Mandarin, Latin, biotechnology, eSport and IT tech – these are just some of the subjects Vardeegnens Gymnasieforberedende Efterskole offers. The boarding school prepares students for A-levels while also allowing them to express themselves creatively in different ways. This is a boarding school for ambitious students who wish to be challenged and to advance their studies.

Vardeegnens Gymnasieforberedende Efterskole is the place to be for ambitious, high-achieving students who are looking for extra challenges before starting their A-levels. The boarding school specifically focuses on preparing the students for what awaits them during their A-levels, while also giving them plenty of opportunity to engage in creative subjects like painting, music or writing. Students certainly don’t need to be straight-A students to attend the boarding school; but they do need a can-do spirit, a willingness to learn and a good work ethic.

“Our students like learning, and they want to deepen their studies. This is a boarding school for students who love going to school. We have students who are primarily maths orientated and others who are more language orientated, but they all do their best – even if the subject is not where they are naturally at their best. It’s important that the drive and motivation come from the students and not their parents,” explains Poul Roed, principal at Vardeegnens Gymnasieforberedende Efterskole.

For students who wish to learn more languages, the boarding school offers languages such as Mandarin, Cambridge English, Latin, French, German and Spanish. For those more focused on STEM subjects, there are also opportunities aplenty, including biotechnology, eSport and tech subjects. In fact, the school offers a programme called MakerSpace, which is focused on everything related to IT, programming and technology.

The school also offers a myriad of other study programmes dedicated to music, theatre and musical, art, writing, and a programme called GamerSpace, for those with a passion for gaming. Students can combine up to three study programmes.

Let the creative juices flow

“It’s very important to us that we combine academics with creativity. That’s also why we offer these creative programmes; the students don’t have to choose a specific study programme, but most of our students do. Many of them are multi-passionate, and we think it’s important that they get a chance to express themselves creatively, while also focusing on their academic studies,” explains Roed. “It gives the school a very special atmosphere when you offer both academic and creative classes, and it is fantastic to watch and feel creativity thrive.”

Students can attend creative classes like drawing, pottery, creative writing, music and painting alongside their academic classes, and once a year they put on a musical. “Each student helps with the musical one way or another. Some act and sing, some make costumes, while others are in charge of sound. They do everything together,” says Roed. The musical is always a well-known one, and it is one of the highlights of the school year.

Left: The school is located in natural surroundings near a forest but within cycling distance from the city. Right: On the MakerSpace programme, the students learn to programme their own robots. Here they are designing parts for 3D printing.

A strong sense of community

While the students do have a jam-packed curriculum, they still have time to have fun, watch films together and go on exciting school trips. Every November, the students travel to Berlin – a trip that is partly planned by some of the students. “The students plan part of the trip, and they are allowed to have input. The rest of the trip is planned by the teachers,” says Roed.

Then, each March, there is another trip, when the students can go either on a fun skiing trip to Norway or travel to France on an exchange. In France, they stay with students from a local French school, which Vardeegnens Gymnasieforberedende Efterskole works with. This is a fantastic opportunity for those wishing to experience French culture in an authentic way, connect with foreign students and improve their language skills.

“The trips are also a way to strengthen the sense of community we have at the school. During their time here, the students develop very close and strong friendships that last a lifetime, and they grow academically, creatively, as well as personally.”

Left: Every year, the students put on a musical. Middle: The writing study programme teaches students various writing techniques and genres. Each year, the school publishes a book with the students’ own pieces. Right: Academics play an important role at the boarding school. Here the students are at a biotechnology class.

Vardeegnens Gymnasieforberedende Efterskole is a boarding school that prepares students for their A-levels.

The boarding school is for ninth and tenth grade students. Every year, around 120 students attend the school.

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