Risskov Gymnasium is an upper secondary school in Denmark. We are located in Aarhus, the 2nd largest city of Denmark. We have approximately 800 students between the age 15 and 20 placed in three levels – 1st, 2nd and 3rd year. The staff is around 90 divided between teachers, technicians and administration.
Risskov Gymnasium is appointed by Team Danmark as a key partner in Sports talent Development. Team Danmark is the national federation for elite sports in Denmark. We provide special conditions for our sports students. We are committed to organizing a school day for the students so they can train in the morning twice a week. We supply extra lessons for students when they are absent from their classes due to travel, matches and training. We also provide the possibility of extending the education from three to four years if it is necessary due to long periods away from school (long training camps, preparation for international tournaments or games). We have special Sports Coordinators with a background in elite sports themselves at a professional level. We provide mentors and “Study Buddies” for our students, so they do not miss the curriculum. We put a lot of effort in our task of being a flexible school for our sports students. As one of the few gymnasiums in Denmark, we have entire classes of talented sports students. In addition, we are part of a local sports talent programme called ESAA. They provide high quality training for the students and our participation in this organization is crucial for delivering the best quality for the students. The cooperation with ESAA also makes the contact with the federation and the clubs more efficient. In addition, we are affiliated with the organisation of elite sports gymnasiums in Denmark. It is a network for schools in Denmark that works for improving the conditions of sports talent programmes and lobbies at political level to create focus on elite sports and education. We have in several years tried to deal with issues concerning gender equality and sports. We have come far, but we are still struggling with larger dropout rates for girls than for the boys. It´s an issue that concerns us a great deal.
Currently we have 80 students in our elite sports programme. This varies throughout the years due to the quality of the talents in our area. Our students are male and female and most of them comes from the large team sports in Denmark such as football, handball and basketball and individual sports such as gymnastics, martial arts and sailing. Currently we also have students from tennis, badminton, athletics, American football, golf and swimming.
We have worked with talented sports students for many decades and we aim to create an environment for education alongside the sport student´s training. The key for us is education and well-being for the students. We value social competences alongside the academic skills. The Dual Career mind-set is also a fundamental value at our school. We work hard to prepare the teachers for the special task of teaching and supporting talented sports students. We have special forums and teams for the teachers where sharing of best practices and development of new skills is valued. These teams are crucial for dealing with the everyday challenges in the work with talented sports students. The school supports teachers in being better and better equipped to challenges in the daily work with the students.
Our setup for elite sports students is of high quality and our experience with this type of students is refined over a long period of time. The school has great focus on sports and particularly to make Dual Career as successful as possible.