ESC: Dänemark – Vardeegnens Gymnasieforberedende Efterskole

Vardeegnens Gymnasieforberedende Efterskole (VGE) is a boarding school, funded in a special democratic tradition. The purpose of the school is to provide good academic and creative education for teenagers, and at the same time help them to grow into responsable and open minded members of a democratic society. The school is open to all kinds of people. In daily life the VGE is aware of the need to find better solutions in terms of use and waste of ressources. VGE is a boarding school with 115 students aged 14 – 17. Fourteen regular teachers are employed plus a number of part time tutors. The rest of the staff includes a headmaster, an assitant head, a secretary and a 1 public relations liason, two caretaker and four cooks. The students come from all over Denmark to finish their secondary school. The students are diverse. The majority are quite normal, but some arrive with mental difficulties like anxiety, Aspergers or OCD. A few struggle with dyslexia or physical handicaps. It is the aim of the school to get everybody included. This goes especially for the students who are experimenting with or finally finding out about their gender identity. For those people VGE is a very welcoming and safe place. VGE would like to encourage all candidates with fewer opportunities to apply for a volunteer position with us. When deciding if we are compatible, we will take sufficient time to discuss with the candidate which practical measures or other preparation need to be in place to make everybody feel included and comfortable. The school offers education in Danish language and literature, Maths, English, and German. Very important are the lessons in additional languages: Spanish, Chinese, Latin and French. In natural sciences: Physics, Chemistry, Biotech. In addition VGE offers Computer programming, Innovation, History, Social Studies, Philosophy and Psychology. In the creative field great efforts are made with Music, Theater, Art and Creative Writing. The level in all subjects is ambitious. Most of all the students should feel encouraged and happy to learn. VGE is an institution called „Efterskole“. The Efterskole is a unique Danish residential school, where students from the ages of 14 to 18 can choose to spend one, two or three years to finish their primary education. Each efterskole is a self-governing independent institution and they all deal with both the educational and personal development of the students. They embrace a common educational focus on enlightenment for life, general education and democratic citizenship. One of the things that are unique about the efterskole is the teacher-student relationship. The teacher is responsible for both teaching and supervision outside of school hours. This means that teachers and students are together all day from the time the students wake up until they go to bed. This often encourages a close, personal and non-formal relationship between students and teachers. In the foundation for VGE it specifically is stated that freedom, the mutual respect among students and staff is essential. The open and inclusive conversation is seen as instrumental to the individual‘s maturing into a responsible citizen as well as being a nice person. At the VGE discourse between the young students is encouraged from day one. They are supposed to get to know each other as quickly as possible, in order to make them feel comfortable and to avoid any kind of prejudice. During their stay, they are working in different groups, and staying with different roommates in order to keep them from forming fixed groups. Sometimes their views on different matters is being challenged by a teacher and external lecturer or a guest teacher. Discussions are very welcome once in a while. The creation of environmental sustainability is not to be ignored. At VGE the kitchen has been orientated towards ecological produce. Food waste is almost non-existent and plastic waste reduced to a minimum. 50% of the produce are grown organically. In subjects like Science og Innovation the students often try to propose their own view on how we can deal with the huge challenge of sustainability.