Herlufsholm: Naestved, Denmark

Herlufsholm in Naestved is a co-ed boarding school. Top boarding high school in Denmark, great science programme! One of top boarding schools in Scandinavian Europe.
International IGCSE 9th grade Herlufsholm Skole offers an international general certificate of secondary education – an internationally recognized exam through Cambridge IGCSE. Students in the international 9th grade at Herlufsholm are 14-16 years old, and the program corresponds to 9th-10th grade in Denmark. Teaching in at the international 9th grade is carried out in English in all major subjects while subjects like Physical Education and Arts are carried out in Danish along with the Danish students at the school. We believe that this benefits the students’ social life and feeling of cohesiveness. Lessons in Danish are mandatory and adjusted to each student’s level. Pre-IB The IB Diploma program is very demanding, and Pre-IB prepares the students academically and mentally for undertaking an international education at IB Diploma level. The goal is to ease the transition from lower-secondary to upper-secondary, focusing on giving the students academic competencies to thrive and excel at IB level. The Pre-IB is mostly for students who are not yet ready for IB Diploma and wish to fine-tune or improve their proficiencies while being academically put to the test. With IB being a challenging program taught solely in English, each student must take an English and Math test as part of the admission procedure for Pre-IB and IB. It is possible to immediately start the IB Diploma program but this requires a high academic level as well as a sufficient level of maturity and willingness to learn. Most students are thus recommended to start in Pre-IB to ensure that their academic level is high enough to give them the best possible IB Diploma exam. Our IB students come from a variety of schools and cultures therefore a year in Pre-IB will also give the students the possibility of improving their Danish proficiency and refining their English. During the year the class will be divided into two levels in the Math and English courses are divided into two level and Danish is divided into three levels for beginners, second language speakers, and students with native fluency. Pre-IB can also give access to the second year on the Danish STX/upper-secondary school. IB – International Baccalaureate The IB Diploma program is an international curriculum where all teaching is in English. At Herlufsholm Skole we also prioritize the Danish courses because it is the primary language of communication on a daily basis. IB corresponds to the Danish 2nd and 3rd year of upper-secondary school. This is why we have created a Pre-IB class that corresponds to the first year of upper-secondary. We expect that students in our Pre-IB classes show a sufficient level of maturity and independence as well as academic ambition and good results before they can advance to the IB program. With IB being a challenging program taught solely in English, each student must take an English and Math test as part of the admission procedure for Pre-IB and IB. It is possible to directly start in the IB Diploma program but this requires a high academic level as well as a sufficient level of maturity and willingness to learn. Most students are thus recommended to start in Pre-IB to ensure that their academic level is high enough to give them the best possible IB Diploma exam. CAS program As a part of the IB program each student must participate in the CAS program. CAS is an abbreviation of Creativity – Action – Service, and the program’s duration is 18 months. A satisfactory completion of the CAS program is compulsory for completing the IB program.
All boarders sleep in same sex sleeping quarters which may seem strange to new students but we are sure that after a while they will experience that this creates a homey and cozy feel to the dormitories. A dormitory teacher lives in each dormitory with his or her family. The dormitory teacher is responsible for supporting and helping the students to thrive in their everyday lives and he or she is always available for students to talk to if problems arise. Our dormitory staff highly prioritize helping new and young students to feel at home at school. To help the dormitory teacher coordinate everyday activities and assist new students, the school annually appoints prefects amongst our 3rd year upper-secondary students. The prefects help the dormitory teacher make everything work, and the boarding students may go to them for advice on school assignments and personal matters that they prefer to discuss with an older peer rather than an adult. The prefect arrangement is an addition to the boarding school that helps the dormitory teacher to ensure a good environment at each dormitory. Life at Herlufsholm is based on a 10-day cycle. 1st week/A week: Boarders arrive Monday evening and classes start Tuesday morning. The following weekend students stay at school with classes on Saturday. There is no teaching on Sunday but students are expected to stay at school. Saturday is considered a normal school day which is why the students have homework hours from 4:45-5:45 p.m. the same as every other weekday with classes. Saturday evening is spent at school unless other arrangements are made with the dormitory teacher or the school’s administration. A-weekends give students an opportunity to work on assignments that require a concentrated effort, and there is still time to relax, spend time together with friends and class mates without the everyday obligations. Our weekend program contains sports and creative activities, tournaments, movie night, café evenings, and excursions to the theater, concerts, etc. 2nd week/B week: In the second half of the 10-day cycle, the classed start Monday morning and continue until Friday afternoon, when boarders leave school to spend the weekend at home or elsewhere. The school arranges bus transport for boarding students travelling to and from Copenhagen and Slagelse. Boarding students leave school Friday at 2:45 p.m. and return to Monday evening between 8 and 9 p.m. Since we are responsible for students’ whereabouts, we always make weekend arrangements in cooperation with parents at the beginning of the school year. It is important that the dormitory teacher always know where students are spending his or her B-weekends so that it is possible to contact the student if needed.