Month-by-Month School Overview

August: Welcome Picnics, Settling-in, Fritids and Hot Food sign-up
The day before school starts there is a welcome picnic, it is the first event of the year and a great way to meet new and old friends/families. All new families are invited to come half an hour early (4:30pm) to meet the IPC members and staff. At 5pm everyone is welcome from the Rygaards community. Bring a picnic blanket and some food. If it rains sadly the event will have to be cancelled. It is a relaxed way to meet/greet each other and to gently start the year.

First day of school is a busy morning settling in kids. A couple of weeks later the IPC will host an orientation day in the old gym where various sports and clubs will be present to provide information/questions/sign up etc. The third week of August the Fritids (Kommune extracurricular activities organisation for sports, music and art) sign up happens. A brochure will be circulated the first week of school to show what is available e.g. pottery, art, piano, gym. It is first-come, first-served – get your laptop and credit cards ready, it is a 10am start gun (some classes get full in about 5 mins!) Hot food orders taken first two weeks of terms. Hot food available on Tuesday (empanadas) and Fridays (pizza/chicken/pasta, each rotates by week).

At the beginning of the new school year, each class holds a class meeting to familiarize you with the curriculum and workings of the classroom, it is also an opportunity to get to know the class teacher and teacher assistants and fellow parents. At this meeting new class representatives are voted in (previous year representatives request new volunteers !!). During the same week ,the Two Heads of Schools (Primary and Secondary) give a talk to parents in the old gym. This talk gives an outline of the school’s mission, vision and development plans.

The school will hold its welcome service for everyone the first week or so. All new children receive a special keepsake bookmark with the family principles. Late August the RCFA (Rygaards Catholic Family Association) holds its welcome mass. All faiths welcome, there is tea and coffee afterwards for everyone to meet and chat. It is a great way to meet other families.

Once you have your CPR code you should get your Parent intra access code, load the app/computer and check it regularly as it is the way the school communicates with you as a parent. Each child has its own identity, so you must check each child separately. New children will get their Education City codes (online educational tool used by teachers to support lessons after school). from the teachers, codes are easy to remember but keep it somewhere you can find it as it is not used every week and contains homework assignments. The school photographer will issue forms in schoolbags to sign up for individual and class photo’s – return them to the teacher.

September: School tours, Getting to know your way around (find the office and the milk corridor) :-))
Some classes will go on the year’s first-class tour. Tours and times vary by teacher. Other students have an opportunity to trial for the Danish International Schools Network cross country competition in Odense later that month. Year 1 to Year 6 have their InCAS computerised testing. The children spend some time completing Maths, English and Reasoning tests. The feedback help teachers with their detailed planning for the year. Reception Class children take similar computer tests called PIPS. The school celebrates its birthday every year in September. This is usually marked by whole school singing in the park. Weather is normally still good, and the kids play after school, when the weather changes kids can no longer play on the grass, only in playgrounds. Get your rain gear and wellies ready as this month can sometimes be wet. Unattended children can’t hang around – fritids.

Over the following weeks the Year Class representatives usually organise a coffee morning for parents to meet each other e.g. waterfront near school or a parent’s house.

In the first week or September the school participates in the Catholic Games. All secondary school is welcome to attend year 7 - year 10.

Sign up for communion and confessions begin in September. If you want your child to receive a sacrament in May, you must sign up for classes in Sept.

October: Busy month - Motion day, Harvest, Holidays, UN day and Halloween!
This is the busiest month of the year. It can seem over whelming as there are lots of requests sign up requirements and invitations. Get ahead by storing up some extra tinned food to donate for harvest day. Start to save shoeboxes (one per child) and purchase items for your child’s donations for the shoebox campaign in Nov. A huge number of volunteers are needed in this month. Please support the various events and campaigns.

In early October the school celebrates a national Fun Run Day (Motionsdag). Over 500,000 students leave the classroom and do age appropriate exercise. The school will look for volunteers to help man the running routes. Most kids run either at the school or at a nearby park.

At one point in the year very class from year 2 – 6 must do a class service. Each class uses their creativity to portrait a school value or theme related to class work e.g. harvest, courage, hope ,etc. The service is held in the school church, parents can attend. Alot of hard work by both students and teachers goes into this event, it is not to be missed – super good, you will cry and laugh and be so proud of the kids. The first service celebrates Harvest. In the spirit of sharing each class year is asked to bring specific foods (cans/fruit/dried goods – a letter will advise which food for which year) as donations for the Sisters of Charity who feed over 50 needy people every day in central Copenhagen. The food is blessed at the church service.

In late October the school celebrates UN day. Children can come to school in national dress, each child brings a dish from their country and the school holds a huge school wide international feast! Volunteers are needed to help organise country flag decorations, gather food from children and help to supervise the feast. Start thinking about your national dish, can it be eaten cold and without much mess!! Keep an eye out for an intranet notification for teacher consultations. The Danish International Schools Network holds many sports events throughout the year, October sees the first one – all welcome.

The Halloween committee (volunteers welcome) will organise a big party on the last Friday of the month (even if its before actual Halloween). Family tickets will be available, you can eat pizza, play games, dance at the disco, visit the Harry Potter section and do crafts.

During the last few days of October, the school’s ‘shoebox’ campaign begins. The school sends 300 shoeboxes filled with small gifts to poor children in another country for Christmas. The campaign runs for two weeks as the boxes must travel over land. Volunteers are needed for this campaign mainly to move boxes to do quality checks at the end. All items must be new, safe and age appropriate – a letter will tell you what to include – Tiger is a great shop for this!

November: Cosy get-togethers, fantastic work by the children showcasing the values of Advent, sharing time together
After busy October, November is a good time for class reps to organise coffees since the school is focused on curriculum and parents get a breather. Advent is a key theme and will be celebrated in many ways throughout the school.

At the end of the month KS1 lead the start of the advent services with their interpretation of advent. This is held in the school church at 1:30pmand parents are welcome, it is always fabulous! You will leave energised and happy to have been there!

Around this time Year 3 students visit the old people's home next to the school. The children entertain the tenants with music, sing carols and bring much joy and energy to the people there. In keeping with Danish tradition, the children present the home with a beautiful homemade advent calendar.

Towards the end of November on the first Sunday of Advent - The RCFA (Rygaards Catholic Family Association) have their annual cosy Christmas decoration making (check the date). This year the IPC joined forces with the RFCA to have one Christmas cosy. All are welcome regardless of faith, it’s a lovely ‘hygge’ day for families to make Christmas decorations, advent wreaths and craft. It is usually followed by Mass at 16:30 for those who would like to celebrate Mass.

December: Celebrating Advent, cosy Nativity, wonderful opportunities to watch children bring joy through music, dance
Classes will do various things to mark Advent/Christmas. Reception have a wonderful gathering with tea lights, joyous singing and movement and a visit from Santa! Other years hold class parent coffee mornings/afternoons where the child may perform some songs, show their work and parents meet.

On the 13th of December two of the primary classes are invited to the Danish Santa Lucia Service led by their age equivalent classes in the Danish school. Santa Lucia is a tradition celebrated on this day all over Denmark, the children sing songs in Danish and share in the joy of this occasion.

During this the school competes in the COBIS Manga High. This is a maths competition, involving nearly one hundred schools based all over the world. Points mean medals and students work very hard to earn their medal at assembly in January!

A big night in the family calendar is when KS2/3/4 will hold the Family Nativity Service circa second week in December. This is a beautiful night, the children sing (multiple choirs), there is usually a nativity play (not your usual nativity – it is with an international twist!) and a collection is made to provide Christmas presents for the children in Maria Assumpta village in the Philippines. It is a night filled with the real meaning of Christmas, you will leave feeling warm inside and part of a community. If your child is learning an instrument through fritids normally the piano teachers hold a recital for parents to attend. This is usually held after 5 in the evening in the music building.

There is usually a Christmas fair hosted by the IPC.

January/February: Hygge
In January the school focuses its attention on the Epiphany. Mr Dalton gives a talk to students at the school service. For the past few years we have been super lucky and have had a jazz band lead us into the new year. Parents are welcome to attend. The evenings are dark and there are no many event taking people out into the cold.

At this time Year 6 will seek out volunteer host families for French students from a school in Lyon, France. The school partners in an exchange programme with Rygaards every year. Friendships and language skills are encouraged as well as just having lots of fun together.

February: Fastelavn (also known as Halloween #2)
In February, the children celebrated Fastelavn which is the Danish custom celebrated before moving into Lent. It is the Danish equivalent of Mardi Gras or Carnival, where children dress up in costume and bash the barrel, bashing out all the bad and wrong things from the previous year. The child that knocks the bottom off first is the “Cat Queen” and the child that manages to knock the last wooden part of the barrel to pieces is the “Cat King.” All the children from Reception to Year 6 take part, bashing the barrel with their equivalent class from the Danish Department. Children from Year 1- year 4 join the Danish children for a celebration of Danish Fastelavn songs sung with actions. This date depends on Ash Wednesday so it can dip into March.

March: Lent and teacher consultations
The Lenten Campaign is launched at the start of March and runs for one calendar month. It begins with a special service when the school celebrates Marie Eugenie Day (the founder of the school). The school is privileged to have Sister Anna Kristina from the Assumption order who was a teacher at Rygaards school for many years visit us from Belgium. Children get to learn about the Assumption Sisters and their founder, Marie Eugenie, and how the school began. Over the month please support your children and their classes as they decide between them how they would like to work together to raise funds for our charity donation to a well deserving assumption school. This brings to the fore all their entrepreneurial skills as well as leadership and collaborative skills. It also fulfills the school’s mission that children in our school should endeavour to think what they can do for the world, and to understand that they all have the potential to change the world for the better.

Teacher consultation for both the primary and secondary schools happen in March. Look out for sign-up times as they get booked up quickly. Weather is still not great so you will need to keep rain gear at school.

Sports features allot in March with the DISN basketball tournament and the rugby tournament in Odense. Teachers volunteer to training children for across the school in the various sports. Training happens after school for 2/3 weeks in the-run up to the tournaments.

April: Spring & Theme Week
April is spring filled month. It starts off strong with our Easter Bonnet Parade - Earth Day - theme being in April - Easter holidays. Many children use the break to decorate their hats, many using recycled materials. Prizes were given for the most creative hat, the “earthiest” and the one with the best use of recycled materials.

Easter service is a special service and the school celebrates together.

Theme Week can place around this time of year (it is a movable week). This is a fantastic concept centred around taking a topic and really looking at it from every angle. On those days, school will be at the normal time, but the children will be off timetable and in mixed groups across classes. The children learn so much and enjoy it greatly. Parents sometimes can get involved depending on the theme.

Engaging children in many ways we have had Mexican-themed week, travel the world week – multiple countries, musical Cinderella Rockafella (every 3 years), etc.

May: School tours, Holy Communion and Confirmation, bank holidays, cricket DSIN tournament
Lots of years have school tours in this month, class visit places usually linked to what is happening in class e.g. Year 4 went to the National Museum to look at the Egyptian Museum as part of their topic on Ancient Egypt, year 5’s attended the Jewish museum as it relates to World War 2 etc. residential trips.

Year 5’s get to go to Helsingør for 3 days and learn about King Christian IV. Your child will need a sleeping bag and backpack for this (terrain does not suit suitcases!). It is the highlight of the year, kids love it and come back super tired! Year 2 have a day of school as a Victorian student! It's great fun and everyone dresses up as per the times.

If you have a child in year 6 the class will seek volunteer families to host a French student for 5 days. This supports the schools exchange programme in conjunction with a school in Lyons. Normally year 6 families host a 10-year-old and Rygaards children in year 9 travel to France but stay in a hotel.

During May, Reception Class will be doing the second part of their computerised PIPS tests while the rest of the Primary School will be doing NFER standardised tests in Maths and English. The children will receive an end of year report in all subjects after the Primary Closing Ceremony on Thursday, 28th June.

In May, we enjoy the celebration of First Holy Communion and Confirmation. These students will have prepared in after school classes held in the school. These are usually an hour long and on Wednesdays after school (times open to change). The event itself will be held in the school church, it is beautifully done, children wear robes and have a special candle. Volunteers will be needed to help organise the after-church element of the day. After the ceremony families come together in the old gym to share food and celebrate this event. See the RCFA website for more information and photos of those lovely celebrations.

A lot of classes do their residential trips in May across primary and secondary. The secondary school has some big trips in May. Year 7 students will go on their Czech Republic trip from Sunday to Friday. Year 8 go on an amazing 5-day trip to London.

Denmark do not have a huge amount of bank holidays, but they do have 4 together in May. So, look at the school holiday’s schedule to ensure you know when kids are on/off and collection times.

June: Sports days, End-of-Year coffee mornings, Leaving ceremonies, Fritids concert, year-end reports
Things to go to/sign up/volunteer opportunity: The Leavers ceremony is very relevant for anyone who has a child leaving. The closing ceremony is open to everyone and is a lovely event to attend. If your year has a coffee morning it is good to have a parent attend since the children show their work for the year, project etc. and no ones wants to be left out.

What to expect.

June is very busy with end of year tests, reports, going on trips and celebrating the children’s hard work throughout the year. KS1 AND 2 both have separate sports day, parents come to school at a designated time (normally 1ish) to watch the kids compete in the sack race, relay e,tc. Children are put into mixed year teams and identified by the colour of their t s-irts e.g. red, green, white t-shirt from home. This event can move dates as its weather b-und.

Mid-June our Leavers’ Services for Ks 1 – 4 happen. KS2 – 4 met in church at 9:00 to give thanks to God for the time the children who are leaving us from each class have spent at Rygaards and to pray for God’s blessing for those who are moving to a new school, including all those in our Y11 classes. KS1 have a separate service. At both services, the children were presented with a copy of the leavers’ bookmark. If you child is doing Fritids activities, then you can expect to attend the end of year Fritids concert. Its important people attend and stay for the entire event as by the end sometimes children can have a smaller audience than when it started.

Closing ceremonies are held on the last days of school (primary and secondary have different closing dates). The ceremonies are in the Old Gym at 13:30 on Thursday, 28th June. Afterward, weather permitting; there will be refreshments in the park where families will be able to say their farewells before the holidays. It’s a relaxed and happy way to end the school year. On the last days you also get your child’s school report, the big excitement is that you also receive a letter advising what teacher (class) your child has the following year.

RCFA leaving families mass in June on the Sunday in June.