The first day back to school after the summer holiday is a class teacher day. Please check the calendar each year for the exact day in August. It is usually in Week 32, the second week of August.

Stages 2 to 7   8.00 Welcome back assembly in the school hall, then class. 11.40 home

Stages 8 to 11  9.00 Welcome in the school hall, then class 12.30 home.

Stage 1             10.00 Welcome in the school hall, then class. 13.00 home

Parent meetings for each Key Stage take place in the second week back. In 2021

Tuesday

17.00-19.00 Key Stage 1 classes, stages 1,2,3

19.00-21.00 Key Stage 2 classes, stages 4,5,6

Wednesday

17.00-19.00 Key Stage 3 classes, stages 7,8,9

19.00-21.00 Key Stage 4 classes, stages 10,11

This is a social event for families in the International Department. The idea is to welcome new families and to meet each other around the informal setting of a shared meal. The students put on some light entertainment. Usually there are around 300 people at the event which takes place in the school hall.

We have not had this event recently due to coronavirus.

Parent teacher conferences start in September with Stage 1 and continue in October and November with different classes – see the calendar for exact dates.

The conferences are for both parents and students in Key Stage 3 to 4.

In this first semester teachers focus on social and work related issues. Core subject teachers (English ,math, science and Danish) are present in Key Stages 1,2,3 while all teachers attend the conferences in Key Stage 4.)

In KS1 the SFO pædagog also attends to talk to the parents of those children who attend SFO.

In the third week of September we have an evening information meeting for waiting list applicants for the next year’s Stage 1 class. All those on the waiting list are personally invited to attend this evening and listen to presentations from the Key Stage 1 Coordinator and the Stage 1 class teachers. After this meeting, applicants start to be invited for interview prior to places being offered for the following year. If you are not on the waiting list you are welcome to attend, but will not be invited for interview unless you complete an application form.

The last day before the autumn break is  a sports day for the whole school. Classes are mixed together in age groups and participate in various outdoor physical activities. The middle school classes often participate in a half marathon cross country style event, and some complete it!

This one week holiday when school is closed, is always in October in week 42

Students in stages 4-11 participate in a poetry or short story competition in the first 6-8  weeks of school each year. This lovely event is often judged by a writer or poet on our behalf. The prizes are awarded to the best three poems by students in each of the key stage groups.

Open House takes place on the first Saturday in November. It is a day to profile our arts and music education when Stages 1 to 6 and the equivalent classes in the Danish department put on a magnificent display of art and crafts work. In addition each class puts on a musical presentation in the hall. Families and friends welcome.

International Children’s Day is on November 20th or the closest school day each year. This is the day the UN signed the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Every year classes from stage 1 to Stage 9 and the equivalent Danish classes  participate in various activities to celebrate this day and learn about children from other parts of the world. The day usually involves a fund raising event and the money raised is donated to children in another country.

The Half Year exams for Stages 7 to 10 take place in the second half of November, usually in Week 46.

Brobygning means bridge-building in Danish. During this week students in the Stage 11 class visit and spend the days at two different colleges of further education of their choice, in Aalborg. This builds on the experiences they have had in Stage 9 so they are better informed about the educational choices in front of them.

Towards the end of November Stage 11 are invited to an information evening with the Career Guidance Officer from UU-Aalborg.  They are introduced to the resources available online which will help them make choices about future education and career paths. In addition they find out about open evenings at the various colleges in Aalborg.

The First day in December is a special day where all classes spend the morning decorating their classrooms for Christmas. Children often share a lunch together in their classes and eat ‘æbleskiver’ – a tradition during a Danish Christmas.

Lucia is a Scandinavian Christmas tradition that takes place usually on 13th December. The children that participate, walk around the school in white shifts carrying candles and singing a traditional song.

All students in the Key Stage classes receive a written half year report just before the Christmas holidays.

In the fourth week of January, Stages 9,10 and 11 participate in an afternoon called Careers day.

Parents and other volunteers  come in and talk to the classes about their careers and jobs. Students usually hear about four different types of jobs during the session, and are able to ask questions.

Around the second week in February, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 classes each put on a school play.

In KS1, the lead roles are taken by stage 3 students, and in KS2, by stage 6.

Each play is performed twice, once on the Friday for the other classes at school and then on the Saturday for parents and families.

The winter holiday always takes place in week 8. This is usually the second or third week in February.

On the 5th March all classes stop normal lessons to focus on issues and themes to do with personal wellbeing and social relationships.

During the project week, Stage 9 takes part in a brobygning (bridge-building) with the local colleges of further education. This is part of their preparation for choosing further education.

The week before Easter is project week. Students in Stages 1-8 take part in a project theme, often linked to the topic of the school drama performance which takes place in the same week. Classes are often mixed so that students can make new friends.

On the Thursday evening of this week, it’s the Annual School party. The work from Project week is put on display and there are fun activities for the students. In addition the drama group put on their play for both parents and students.

The second set of parent/teacher conferences takes place in February/March. IN Stages 7-11, all teachers of the different subjects attend this round.

World Book Day, first initiated by UNESCO, takes place sometime in March or April. At Skipper Clement, both the international and Danish classes in the junior school celebrate it by listening to a children’s author talking about their writing and by enjoying some special acitivities to focus on books and writing.

The IGCSE oral exams usually take place just after Easter at the end of April. Students have oral exams in the languages, English, Spanish, German and any self study language a student chooses to take.

Students in Stages 6 and 9 sit Cambridge Assessment’s Checkpoint exams in English, Mathematics and Science. These exams are sent to Cambridge and marked externally. The results come with a diagnosis that helps students and teachers know areas of strength and weakness in student learning.

Cambridge Assessment’s IGCSE exams are spread over the whole of May, the last week in April  and the first two weeks in June. These are the school leaving exams for Stage 11. Stage 10 also take a couple of IGCSE exams, in English as a second language and core level mathematics.

FP9 and FP10, the exams in Danish language for Stage 10 and 11 take place in the first week in May for the written exams and in June for the spoken componants.

Every year Stage 6 students are invited to train for their cycling proficiency test. For this they will need a suitable bike and they will need to be able to ride confidently.

All classes from Stage 3 up have end of year tests in English, Math and science, set by Cambridge and following the curriculum. These are called end of year proficiency tests.

In addition students in Stages 7-11 have other end of year tests in most subjects.

These tests usually take place in the period covered by weeks 20-22.

5th June is a holiday for schools to celebrate the signing of both the original Danish constitution in 1849 and the current consititution of 1953.

The graduation ceremony for Stage 11 students takes place in the last week of school, usually on the Wednesday evening. On this day students receive their FP10 results and their end of year report. The IGCSE results are not released until 12th August and so cannot be given on this day.

All students participate in a sports day which usually takes place on the Wednesday in the last week of school. This is a fun day involving games and competitions between classes. School ends early at midday.

All students receive a written end of year report just before the summer holiday. This report includes attendance registers and checklists for the core subjects in Stages 1-9.

The checklists give a teacher assessment of each students mastery of a sample set of learning objectives from the core subjects, English, Mathematics and Science.

July is the summer holiday month for Danish schools. The summer holidays usually start in the last week of June and continue to the second week of August.

During the holidays the SFO, (after school service) is open for some of the weeks for children enrolled with them.