Cis special edition 2018 cph post

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A SCHOOL WHERE SUSTAINABILITY, COMMUNITY AND ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE GO HAND IN HAND

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A state-of-the art building for a state-of-the art school Copenhagen International School has long outgrown its beginnings in Hellerup and recently moved into one of the most striking buildings in the city architecture-wise When you approach the school from the land side, the first thing that strikes you is the fact that to all intents and purposes, side on it resembles a stack of blue and turquoise containers.

This is no accident; the building is situated on Levantkaj, one of the few remaining working parts of Copenhagen’s north harbour port, and the container port is one of the school’s neighbours.

To enter CIS, you have to ascend a gently inclined ramp on the side of the building away from the water. This takes you through a wide doorway and directly into a large open area, dominated by wooden steps dramatically descending to the level below where the canteen is situated.

The overwhelming impression is one of the warm colours of pale brown wood, glass and light – lots of light.

A small town atmosphere Anders Smith, an architect and designer, has been the prime mover behind the construction of the school. He is on the board of ECIS, the body set up to see the building project through, raise funding for it and rent the finished school building to CIS. Eventually, if all goes well, it may be possible for ECIS to donate the building to CIS. Anders points out that the school ought to be looked at like a town. “We created a plinth that can be seen more as a cultural centre or town. You arrive

Anders Smith (photo: Dennis Lehmann/INDEX: Design to Improve Life)

in the ’city square’ – which is about your stomach or your brain. That’s how people usually meet.”

One of the main ideas behind the school is getting as much light in and also, regulating that light in some extremely technically sophisticated ways. Natural light reflects what is happening outside but the intensity of it also affects a person’s circadian clock.

“Research has shown that if you have natural light from two sides and lots of it, you perform 30 percent better in maths tests, so why not build a building that can give you that,” asks Smith. There is energy-saving LED lighting everywhere and the colour and intensity can easily be turned up or down as well by the class teacher, depending on the effect the teacher requires.

Knocking down the walls “You will also see that we have glass walls throughout. We wanted to be more open than we were before. As we all know, walls are about keeping things out and we would like to invite people in,” he added.

It was also an important part of the brief to devise a ’school for the future’. In this regard, the innovative way the walls are arranged is a vital part of it, as it is impossible to predict what educational patterns or methods might require 50 years hence. Unlike most other schools, there are no two rooms in the school that are alike.

“We looked at various systems involving foldable walls and found out that they didn’t work – as well as being expensive. The model for us was to make differentiated spaces. As no two rooms are identical, you can find a space that fits your needs,” said Smith.

2 Publisher: CPH POST • Editor: Hans Hermansen • Journalist: Stephen Gadd • Layout: CPH POST • Info: hans@cphpost.dk • Tel: +45 2420 2411 Photos of school facilities by Adam Mørk/CF Møller unless otherwise stated

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Sustainability to the fore Naturally also, sustainability is an extremely important aspect. The building has no less than 12,000 solar panels and they generate 50 percent of the power requirements of the school. And they are not just any old solar panels.

Smith has developed an innovative solution here too.

The panels are used as cladding on the building and appear more as blue tiles. Each one is angled slightly differently so that the overall effect is pleasing on the eye and not monolithic. As Smith proudly says, “this is the one of the world’s largest photovoltaic building integration. Nobody else has put this many solar panels on a building – or used them as a facade.”

There is a system for collecting data from the energy production as well as energy use from the panels, and these figures can be used as part of the teaching process.

Director of Communications, Thomas Nielsen, added that “the emphasis on sustainability is really important from a theoretical point of view but also to try and live it. I like to tell students that sustainability doesn’t mean doing without; it’s not a monk-like existence! You can actually build a fantastic facility and at the same time, be conscious of your carbon footprint and other aspects of sustainability.”

Nielsen went on to say that “understanding the connection between your own everyday practice as a world citizen and your impact on the environment is something that is pretty unique to this school. There are so many ways we can remind each other of this; why not cover the facade in solar panels and use the data to demonstrate to the kids that it works?”

As well as the solar panels, in the design phase the school wanted to be even more sustainable. However, the regulations governing school buildings in Denmark have so far stymied their ideas for using ’grey water’ to flush toilets and for use in the fire sprinkler system.

Social sustainability As well as environmental sustainability, social sustainability is equally important. Smith points out that integration across the different ages was also part of the plan. “One of the things we were afraid of losing [from the old school] was the interconnectivity between the ages. A young child learns an awful lot from those who are a little bit older and the older children learn how to deal with the younger ones.”

The classrooms are situated on the four towers of the building and each floor has children of the same grade. This is to create peer groups to make the children feel at home. The classes are kept low number-wise in order that meaningful social relationships can develop.

School Director Jennifer Weyburn

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The classes are also mixed each year so that the children feel that their cohort is their age group and not just their small class. “The dream is to build a better society by actually knowing people. With 84 nationalities we need to know them all,” said Smith.

www.cis.dk IB – a new way of learning And what of the teaching and learning that goes on here. Is that as innovative as the building? CIS uses the International Baccalaureate system (IB), which is a truly international form of education. The IB system also places a lot of emphasis on educating the whole child.

A hands-on approach Nielsen explained that the IB system was firmly based on the idea of learning through activities. “Students are not just presented with the right answers and solutions, they also learn how to ask the right kind of questions and how and where to look for solutions themselves.”

School director Jennifer Weyburn, who comes from a background of international schools in the US and China explained. “One thing that fits here is that we believe that the education of the child is not only in the academic classes; it’s also about social/emotional learning and being part of a community.”

The IB also provides a much more holistic approach to education because the children are exposed to a lot of creativity and physical activity. The school has a number of gyms, rooms for music practice and theatre spaces and the visual arts play an important role.

Although the IB system seems different in many ways, it does have a very traditional examination system. Unlike many other programs, course work during the year does not count towards the final grade you get in an examination. As well as this, there are very few oral exams, except for those in languages.

If this seems a little old-fashioned, Nielsen explains that it is necessary because IB is a global program, so it would be difficult to include continuous assessment across such a wide range of countries and individual teachers. As it is, exams are set by the IB Board and a number of censors worldwide grade the papers. There is also a moderator system on top of that to ensure that the grading methodology is the same everywhere.

Developing critical thinkers Weyburn went on to say that she felt that children taking this type of education came out with deeper critical thinking skills, as well as having the ability to research and engage with their learning and research.

The strength of the IB program is that it does not look at the world though any particular national lens. Students are taught to look at reality through a number of angles and perspectives and through that, realise how reality changes depending on which perspective you have.

Director of Communications, Thomas Nielsen

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One of the subjects on the curriculum is Design Tech. This is a way of working with intellectual problems and seeing how they manifest themselves in the visual world.

school process, Danish can be useful but more in terms of the metacognitive result of learning a language. It is also the thought process and the flexing of the brain that is important here.

“Right now, grade 6 are working on a project to do with sustainable vehicles.

What modes of transport are most sustainable? What do you need to look at when you develop this kind of vehicle in terms of resistance, traction etc?”

A great responsibility Nielsen mentions that in the school’s mission statement, the vision is defined as ’educating champions of a just and sustainable world’, with the duality that the world ’champion’ implies. It’s not only about turning out the best students, but also students who are going to fight for these ideas.

“In this project, the students actually build model cars to investigate things first-hand,” added Nielsen.

Polyglots all The ratio of staff to pupils is also somewhat higher than at a traditional school. There around 200 teachers to 970 students. The students are as diverse a bunch nationality-wise as you could hope to find. At present, there are 84 different nationalities represented, so language is a big focus.

“If you don’t have the language skills you’re not going to be able to interact with people around the world,” adds Weyburn.

Everyone at the school speaks English and they also have their own mother tongue, which is often another language. On top of that, the students are taught Danish from the primary to secondary years. After that, they can decide to pick another language. “We’re aiming for our students to be at least bilingual if not trilingual,” Weyburn says.

Even though the children might leave before going through the whole

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The mission is ’learning to build a community’ by developing the potential of each student through offering educational excellence in a stimulating environment of cultural respect.

Weyburn is very proud of the school and feels that being an educator is the best job in the world because you have a responsibility for other peoples’ children.

“Every day the professional staff is trying to foster and support every child and getting a whole organisation to do that is tough! But it is the most exciting work ever because the students and families have entrusted themselves to us.”

Looking round at the groups of students going about their business in the school and in its classrooms, gyms and music rooms, it certainly seemed as if she was on the right track.

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– a family cleaning company that cares

Goran and Kristina Tunic are the co-owners of cleaning company Shine Service based in Hillerød. The company was established in 2010, so has a number of years under its belt.

They have chosen to specialise in offering a cleaning service for shops, private companies and public institutions. One of their clients is CIS. Kristina, what exactly do you do for CIS and how long have you worked there?

We actually started cleaning in the school in 2012. We started ShineService in 2010 but as a one-man business, not an ApS. We felt extremely proud when we started working with CIS, because they had faith in us being able to do a great job. And we did!

From the very first day, ShineService had the feeling that we were at one with CIS – and not just a company coming into the building to clean. We are there for them. If they have lost something during the day, we will find it when we clean. We are always there to help them if they need something – maybe for an event. We will ensure that every thing looks nice.

You pride yourselves on being a small family company. What difference does that make to the client?

You can feel the difference right away! For a start, Goran are I are married to each other and secondly, my dad is also in the company.

We love helping each other, and by that I mean that the three of us are always helping our employees clean. We are always around with them and

doing the best job ever! Me especially they call ’mama who takes care of us’! I always give them a cup of coffee when they’re working so they don’t have to come down themselves and get one. I will run errands for them. I also cook dinner and bake cakes for them and take the food with me to the school so we can all eat together. Otherwise, Goran picks up pizzas for us.

The most important thing is that we are down to earth with our employees.

And I think that the client can feel that we are laughing together and everybody is just fine – no stress.

We are also friendly with the clients, asking after them and just chatting in a normal way. We love having a “down to earth conversation” with our clients.

How many employees do you have?

With me, my father Aleksander and Goran, we are 13.

Why is it so important to offer a one hour reaction time service?

We need to provide a good service for our clients. If they really need us, we have to be there for them. In that way, they can feel that they can trust us if something happens – or has happened Contact us today at shine@shineservice.dk for a free estimate ShineService, Industrivænget 19, 3400 Hillerød +45 50 37 50 37 www.shineservice.dk.

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CIS: realising a singular vision

By Anders Smith

A tour of one of the most sustainable schools in the world in Copenhagen’s north harbour

the driving force behind what is one of the most unique school building projects in Denmark.

CIS is situated by the water at Levantkaj in Copenhagen’s new CO2 neutral suburb. It’s a lively, bustling area; where the tax-free harbour used to be, a new metro station will open next year. Containers still arrive with goods from around the world, but now students and staff also arrive at the the new campus for Copenhagen International School.

An architect and designer, Smith was responsible for some of the more innovative aspects of the design and worked closely with the buildings architects CF Møller. Here, he shares his thoughts on the building.

With room for 1,200 students of all ages from pre-school to the diploma program and facilities that cater to the wider international and local community, from the beginning it has been the goal both to signal transparency and inclusion – as well as to provide the best possible learning and teaching environment.

A driving force Anders Smith is not only one of the board members at ECIS, he has also been

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The building is covered with 12,000 custom designed solar panels with micro-inverters that supply approximately 50 percent of the electricity used in the school. Most of this electricity is used to drive the ventilation and the LED lighting system.

The ventilation system has been a specific focus to ensure a high oxygen content, and sensors in every room ensures we not only achieve this but also enable three times the airflow recommended in new schools, while ensuring optimal a draft free and comfortable indoor climate.

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The custom LED lighting system allows users to control the intensity and colour temperature of the light everywhere in the school to fit the activity and personal preferences and we can provide far stronger and better light than normally required in office and schools, as research has shown it to have a strong impact on performance and health..

Crossing the bridge Everyone arrives on the first floor from the north across the small bridge into the base of the school ensuring that they all have a chance to meet and access can be controlled. This also enables the wider public to come closer and see what goes on. We have ensured that large windows everywhere not only provide large amounts of daylight but also engage with visitors to the waterfront and show all the great things the students and staff are doing.

As we would like our students and the wider community to engage, we have built play facilities and ball courts for public use on the north side of the school and the clean water of the harbour has already made it a popular destination for anglers of all ages to catch herring and mackerel.

A home for everyone The schools is designed to provide a home for everyone and is structured

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along the lines of a small city around a central meeting space where we have the library and canteen. Both are places to hang out, wait for family member or friends, share a meal or look at media.

spaces to ensure a strong sense of home and belonging. To further strengthen this experience we ensured that every floor is unique and no two rooms identical, as well as easy to identify from the outside.

Around this heart we have the cultural facilities, with the theatre accommodating 350 as well as smaller performance spaces, the three large gyms with the fitness centre and dance studio – as well as the music classrooms and many practice spaces.

On the top of each of the 4 sub-schools (early years, primary, middle and high school) we have placed greenhouses and ball cages to isolate the ball playing from the regular play at the playground and to facilitate the maximum number of participants and movement. The greenhouses provide a sheltered activity space and a space for age appropriate science exploration – as well as a chance to grow vegetables for preparation in the school kitchen.

The four schools Above this base of shared cultural facilities we have the 4 schools and the playground. Each of these 4 buildings is designed to created the best possible learning environment for the students at their individual age, so that spaces, facilities and furniture support developmental levels and learning models.

Multidirectional daylight is beneficial to the learners and we placed all the classrooms on the corners of the building. British anthropologist Robin Dunbar’s research has shown that a person can only maintain a stable relationships with a maximum of 150 persons so we therefore designed each floor to hold an entire grade level, with 4 classrooms, staff offices and extra learning

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A bright and friendly space The central library and canteen space is built around the large atrium staircase, where the students, staff and parents collaborate, present and congregate. The large windows towards the water let in a lot of light that together with the oak floors, makes it a bright and friendly space with constant activity throughout the day. Through the glass walls to the middle school gym it is possible to follow the activities.

Learning in early years and primary school is very classroom-centred and often station based, so all the furniture is designed to be on wheels to allow

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teachers to easily customise the layout. The rug becomes a gathering spot to share and tell stories.

Thornburg’s theories into practice Between the classrooms and across the school we have designed a number of spaces for students to work alone or in groups. These are based on the theories of the American didactic theorist David Thornburg, who described four different contexts for learning. The ’cave space’ is where you focus and achieve flow as you engage in a personal pursuit, the ’watering hole’ is where you share with peers, explore ideas together and collaborate towards a shared goal. The more traditional school space he calls the ’campfire’, where a teacher shares knowledge or a story. This latter context is what we normally think of when we think of schools, but the former two we know mostly from work spaces where we call them workspaces and meeting rooms. The final context is ’community/life’ where we are able to apply the things we have learnt and learn how to be part of a community.

We built flexibility into the school at all levels to facilitate not just the way we teach and learn today, but also how we currently think learning will change in the future. From mobile furniture with age appropriate ergonomics to prevent back problems and allow easy reconfiguration of learning spaces and an LED-based lighting system that makes it easy to change lighting levels and light quality as well as placement of fixtures, to a building construction that simplifies future remodelling by having lightweight interior and exterior walls.

Placing the playground on the second floor ensures a safe playground and a short journey from classroom to playground for smaller kids, but also gives some shelter from the wind and provides a better view out to all the wind turbines at sea and all the way to Sweden.

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What’s it like to go to CIS? Teachers and pupils give their impressions to Clodagh Cunningham from CPH POST

Charlotte Knappe Charlotte’s parents are from Denmark and she was born and raised in England.

“What I feel makes this school different is the way I can tailor the learning experiences to individual and class needs. Also, there is a high standard of education that I strive to meet and at the same time a big focus on really getting to know and care for the students.”

“For me, in my classroom it is important to give students independence, opportunities to make mistakes so they can build up their own ‘fix-the-mistake’ toolbox and time management skills so that they can both honour the commitments that they have and understand that some things just need to get done – whether we like it or not.”

“As well as this, it is also very important for all of our futures that we all practice how to spot the strengths in others (not only ourselves, although that is also important), encourage and stand up for others and generally make sure that solidarity is still maintained in an ever competitive world.”

Michael Ferrari is from Australia “CIS has many more resources and facilities than any other school I’ve taught at around the world. The students are also different as they come from families that work all over the world for UN, embassies and other multinational organisations.

This gives them a good understanding of the world at large and a better understanding of many things.”

“I think the most important value to instil in young people is the value of each other and the idea of working together. Because we live in such a complex world that is changing so fast, there are so many challenges ... and we will need to work together on a global scale to ensure peace and sustainability. In terms of actual ’values’ I would say acceptance, tolerance, citizenship and sustainability.”

Gregory Lavalle is from France.

“What makes our school a great place to be is the diversity within its community. There is such a cultural mix that everyday you learn something new and I think that this expands people’s perspective.”

“To me, the most important values to pass onto students are resilience and respect. As an athlete, I had those values instilled in me by my coaches, as well as my parents of course, and it’s extremely important for me to pass them on. I teach them to ‘respect your peers and the place where you are but also respect yourself and the person you want to be, stay true to yourself’.

Learning from your mistakes and never giving up is something I hope the students walk away from this school with, as life is made of successes and sometimes failures, and behind every obstacle, there is always a chance to become a better person and grow.”

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Sebastian Jensen-Visser, 18 Half Danish, half South African.

Sebastian’s been at CIS for 3 years.

“The community at CIS is great. We have a student council that’s proactive and most people seem to work well together and support each other. The facilities at the new school are also great – the weightlifting room, boxing equipment, gyms and even the bathrooms.”

Nienke Kernkamp, 16 Dutch What’s different about CIS is that “it’s a lot more relaxed and everyone gets along with each other. The facilities are great, except for the fact that some things in the school are still broken, which is not so good.”

However, the values she would take away afterwards are “sustainability – and how to build a better community; but also friendships that I will have for life.”

Christina Hjortholm, 14 Danish The values she expects to take away with her when she leaves are “the discipline that the school teaches us, because it is very strict compared to Danish schools – but in a good way – and it is really going to help us in the future.”

Ronan Cunningham, 12 Irish He feels that “There is a different atmosphere to CIS. It’s a more comfortable atmosphere between teachers and students.” An important lesson he’s learnt at the school is “how to accept different people of different ideals and beliefs.”

Malin McKay, 10 Half Danish, half Canadian “I like the fact that it is right beside the sea and I will remember the view”

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Making a difference with Team Peru

By Douglas Whitbread CIS program gives students the option to provide aid to others overseas Team Peru is an overseas learning program created by Copenhagen International School. The program, which originated in 2005, provides students with the opportunity to work with Peruvian children who have physical or mental disabilities. This takes place at a dedicated centre located in the far north of the country in the high desert mountains.

The centre has a permanent staff that include: a physiotherapist, psychologist and a speech therapist. However, CIS students’ participation in the Team Peru program strengthens the overall service offered to the affected children.

By taking part in the program, students learn meaningful and practical tasks “The program gave them the chance to take part in a global cause in which they felt they could best help others.”

Ward with Fernando who is holding a picture of his sponsor, Ward’s mother Benjamin Ward, who co-founded Team Peru and helped run the program from 2005 to 2010, discussed its background and legacy in an interview with The Copenhagen Post.

Why Peru?

The idea for the project originally came from the school students. “Children at CIS wanted to be directly involved in a global project in which they could practically and directly contribute to help the lives of others,” Ward explained.

“They had a lot to offer such as time, resources, talent and motivation. However, they did not know where to focus their attention.”

Those who conceived the program wanted to understand how international aid was spent outside of Denmark. “Students at CIS were like many people – tired of simply donating money without any knowledge or oversight over how it was spent,” said Ward

Valuable knowledge Students were able to gain first-hand insights into the role and work of longterm aid-volunteers. “The experience means students learn to understand that their responsibilities as humans extend across-borders to those who are some of the most vulnerable on the planet”.

However, it was also important for students to understand the conditions through which aid should be offered and delivered responsibly. “The program simultaneously allows students to appreciate that both emotional and financial support is required to help those in desperate need of assistance.”

Skills and self-awareness Ward suggested that through their work, those who participate on the program acquire a rage of useful personal attributes. “Students who go on the Team Peru program get to engage in meaningful tasks whilst abroad. This means they gain proficiency in skills such as public speaking, team building and leadership abilities.”

The experience of working with the program often led CIS students to change their attitudes and perspectives. “In my opinion, the greatest impact of the program upon their education is that it allows students to reflect on their home-lives,” Ward averred. “This is because those who attend the Team Peru program learn to respect the advantages that they have gained as young people in Denmark.”

National significance Ward said that the work that students undertake on the Team Peru program had far reaching consequences and worked on two different levels.

The first part of the equation is the direct aid provided to Peruvian children with mental and physical disabilities in need in the specific location where the program is based.

The project helps CIS students focus their attention and resources to help others

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However, Ward added that “Team Peru also draws to attention the plight of children who face similar challenges in other parts of the country. The actions and activities of students and staff who work on the program therefore also spread awareness and knowledge on a national scale – throughout the whole of Peru.”

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Celebrating the continuation of CIS: the little school that could The international establishment has come a long way, via several different locations, since its foundation in 1963 Many might assume that CIS is one of those neverending American cop shows – the kind seemingly shown in an eternal loop on one of the SBS channels – but to most Copenhagen expats, CIS stands for something else entirely.

Truly international Copenhagen International School is one of Copenhagen’s largest international communities, with a student body of more than 970 hailing from over 80 counties.

“The people who started this school realised at the beginning that our audience is international,” the school’s former maths teacher and senior school principal, James Keson, who retired in 2005 after 36 years of service, told a special assembly at the start of the academic year back in August 2011.

“It’s not American, it’s not British, it’s not Danish. It’s whatever make-up the student body happens to be.”

A one-classroom school The only problem was that there was no physical school. So on the first day that CIS opened its doors (metaphorically speaking, of course), it was to the shared classrooms of the Søborg gymnasium. It only had one classroom at its disposal, which was used to house its administration. With approximately 24 students on the first day of school and window sills doubling as desks, CIS was born.

Since then, CIS has existed at a multitude of different locations. From Søborg Gymnasium to Gammel Kongevej to Stensogade in Vesterbro and even a brief stint at a youth club in a somewhat rough part of Nørrebro, CIS finally found a permanent home on Hellerupvej in 1993. There it thrived to the point of over-capacity, and in 2011, it opened its second campus in Østerbro. Now known as the City Campus, it was home to the senior school until this year.

“It’s not American, it’s not British, it’s not Danish.

It’s whatever make-up the student body happens to be.”

Predating the IB In 1968, CIS was one of the 12 founding schools of the International Baccalaureate. Better known as the IB, the Baccalaureate is a school program that covers all levels of schooling from kindergarten to pre-university, which is renowned for its academic rigour and international-mindedness. Today, the IB is taught in over 3,500 schools in 144 countries to over a million students each year.

Yet CIS has roots that extend beyond the program. It all started in 1963, when international schools were few and far between. In Copenhagen there was a small group of American children who were being taught through a ‘correspondence program’ with the University of Nebraska in the basement of the American Embassy.

Hardly satisfied with this as a ‘school’, a group of parents led by Mrs Frank B Gallahager enlisted the help of seasoned international school guru Ulf Østergaard, who had previously served as the head of the United Nations School in New York, as well as spending time in the Philippines with UNESCO establishing their educational system.

At the time, Østergaard was the director of the Danish Søborg Gymnasium, which came to play a vital role in the future of CIS. Together they brought in Godrey Sullivan, a history teacher and old colleague of Østergaard’s, to lead the new school.

Spirit stays the same Though the location of the school may have changed a lot over the past half a century, the spirit of CIS has not.

Those who have taken part in creating the school and making it into the place it is today are still commemorated and celebrated with each graduation class.

Each year a graduating senior student is awarded the Godfrey D Sullivan History Scholarship for their service of international character to the school, while the Red-Headed League Award honours the student with the most compassion, conviction and fortitude in memory of IB co-ordinator Britta Pierce.

Also present at the same assembly in 2011 was Inez Venning, the first ever principal of the Copenhagen International Junior School, who addressed the current students with a reminder of those who have gone before them.

“CIS has clearly meant a great deal to these people who are now out in the adult world,” she said.

“In fact, I predict that when you young people who are here today are 30 or 40 or 50 years old, you will still have a friend or two from this place, even though you are an ocean or a continent apart.”

At the time of writing the bulk of this piece back in 2012, the author, Linn Lemhag, a 27-year-old CIS alumna, shared an apartment with her assigned roommate from an 8th grade music trip to London.

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