Scan Magazine | Issue 70 | November 2014

Page 71

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Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Education in Denmark

An educational melting pot NGG International School in North Zealand provides 210 four- to 16-year-olds from 28 different countries with an international education emphasising responsibility, independence and respect. As a state-supported institution, the school’s fees are well below those of many other international schools. By Signe Hansen | Photos: NGG International School

In 1996, NGG International School was founded as a department of NGG (Nordsjællands Grundskole og Gymnasium), Denmark’s largest private school. Founder and headmaster Jan Thrane’s ambition was to provide the area’s many expatriate families with an affordable, challenging and morally sound international education option: “Our main ambition is to equip students with a solid work ethic, teach them to respect other people, their opinions, colour and culture. We want them to be able to talk to each other on an equal footing. As a school we see it as an important duty of ours to enlighten them on the rules and structures of a democratic society,” explains Thrane, who also earlier, in 1992, established the Danish School in London (which is today a department under the Norwegian School in Wimbledon).

Today, 210 students from kindergarten to 10th grade study at NGG International School. The students and their educators originate from over 28 countries all over the world and all lessons are taught in English. The school offers the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) and Cambridge International Exams (CIE) for secondary students. “We started out with another programme, but we wanted to ensure that our students came out with the same high academic level that we have at our Danish school, and through Cambridge’s tests we have been able to confirm that we have achieved that,” explains Thrane. The International School now functions as a separate unit from the adjoined Danish school, with its own international traditions, environment and parents’ groups.

“We only accept students from expatriate families or Danish families who have been and expect to be expatriated, not students who just wish to go to an international school. We do this because we wish to preserve the special international atmosphere that being around like-minded international students creates,” explains Thrane. Students do, however, still take part in some shared events and Danish traditions, and, as a state-supported private school, it offers all students four weekly Danish lessons at their individual levels.

For more information, please visit: www.nggid.dk

Issue 70 | November 2014 | 71


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