Denmark, Copenhagen
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The school upholds four core values: Curiosity, Wellbeing, Cultural Encounter, and Tradition. Curiosity means learning together for life. Wellbeing means seeing every child and fostering a sense of community. Cultural Encounter reflects the German-Danish bilingual character and the school's role as a German-Danish encounter school. Tradition means knowing roots and shaping the future.
The school receives funding to support inclusion of students with special needs in the regular classroom, including 116,000 DKK in 2021. On average four students received fixed weekly support from pedagogues, and groups involving about 60 children benefited from wellbeing initiatives. The school did not receive funding for special education in 2021. It also received 188,000 DKK to support Danish-language instruction for multilingual students, used for for newcomer students and related language-band initiatives.
English begins in 3rd grade as a foreign language. French is offered as an elective from 6th grade. The school uses Danish as a second language (DSA) for students who do not yet speak Danish, and German as a foreign language (DaF) for students with Danish-speaking backgrounds. The school emphasizes a Danish-German language concept, with intensive Danish support for newcomers and ongoing language education integrated into the timetable. A language-band approach groups students by language level in the early years to build proficiency.
All 0. class groups have a pedagogue present once a week, and 1st and 2nd grades have weekly sessions focusing on wellbeing and the development of social skills such as cooperation, trust, and conflict resolution. The school uses external resources and programmes to promote wellbeing and digital literacy, and engages in national and local initiatives around wellbeing and digital formation. The school also runs activities to foster inclusive class communities, with a focus on ensuring safe and positive learning environments across all year groups.
The school has an anti-bullying strategy designed to prevent and reduce bullying both digitally and on-site, with a goal of strengthening overall student wellbeing and safe learning communities. It builds safe, tolerant communities where differences are seen as strengths, and it involves teachers, support staff, AKT-lærer, parents, and students in safeguarding. Bullying handling follows a three-step process: analysis, planning, and evaluation, with class-level wellbeing agreements and involvement of the student council. The school communicates clearly about bullying, provides pathways to report issues, and involves parents at meetings; it uses a national child helpline (116 111) and maintains guidelines for digital safety and media use as part of safeguarding.
St. Petri Schule is a Deutsch‑Dänische Schule in Copenhagen for ages 3–18, offering a German Curriculum with a Danish–German programme. The school comprises a kindergarten (0), a nine‑year primary, and a Gymnasium (10–12). Language is central through a Sprogkoncept, with Danish and German treated as equal languages taught by native speakers; DaF and DSU support Danish as a second language and German as a foreign language. In the 0th class, two teachers (Danish‑speaking and German‑speaking) work together to reach A1+ after two years. Indskoling (0–5) mirrors German Grundschule; Udskoling (6–9) raises academic and language demands and culminates in FP9 and the German SEK I. The Gymnasium offers a double diploma (DIA and STX), recognised by the Danish Ministry as equivalent to Abitur, enabling university access in Denmark, Germany and beyond. With a 450‑year history, it is the oldest German international school, connected to the Danish royal family and Sankt Petri Church. Its four pillars—Curiosity, Well‑being, Cultural Encounter, Tradition—shape a broad education with Umweltrat, Musikschule and Jugend musiziert, plus SFO and Klubben.