• To develop new approaches and ideas with regard to curriculum design for the oldest pupils ( 8^th to 10^th year) attending the Danish "folkeskole" .
• To try out these ideas
• To evaluate and circulate the results of this work
• To build a bridge between primary and secondary education, economic life and society
• To establish international contacts and promote international co-operation
• To be a co-ordinated part of the experimental teaching and educational innovation, taking place at research and development institutions in Denmark

SPF is comprised of:

1. The school at the Innovative Centre (comparable to lower secondary) for 8^th to 10^th grade pupils
2. Youth Town where courses for 8^th to 10^th year pupils are held. The youth town has around 25.ooo visitors a year – consisting of pupils and teachers from different municipalities attending one- or two- day courses. Students from upper secondary and students from Danish teacher training colleges also take courses here.
3. SPF information service
4. SPF International

SPF functions as a unit. The school and the Youth Town are adjacent to each other and many of the teachers from the school also work as consultants in the Youth Town. Thus experience gained from projects at the school can be used in Youth Town courses and at the same time the school can benefit from the Youth Town contacts to economic life and society.

The (experimental) school is a " folkeskole" ( Danish comprehensive school) which has been given the task of developing innovative educational ideas by the Danish Parliament. (The only state - experimental school in DK)

It has classes on the 8^th, 9^th and 10^th year level (pupils are 14 to 17 years old). Normally the 48 pupils on each level are divided into two classes, a and b. Presently, however, the 9^th grade is one big class and the grouping of pupils is flexible. (The total number of pupils: appr. 140)

Pupils have to apply for admission to the school. For the most part they come from Copenhagen and its westerly suburbs but, theoretically, any 7^th year pupil can apply for admission.

Selection of the 48 pupils to enter the 8^th year classes is carried out by drawing lots. An endeavour is made to ensure a normal distribution with regard to the educational qualifications of pupils as well as an even distribution of the sexes, in addition, the number of applicants per municipality is taken into account.

Key words in the innovative work at the school are at present: project work, Multiple Intelligence(MI) in the classroom, room for learning, learning strategies, flexible grouping, evaluation and portfolio assessment, in collaboration with parents, students’ sense of science, communication and mathematics, information and communication technology, expressive activities, intercultural competence, global education.

Youth Town
Youth Town is a training centre built up and run by business- and non-governmental organisations plus the Ministry of Education. Youth Town consists of a number of houses in which specially trained staff from the different organizations teach pupils from 8^th- 12^th grade.

45 municipalities around Copenhagen have partnership agreements with Youth Town, and every year about 25.000 pupils attend the courses, which first of all are orientated towards society. The courses are carried out in one day, with one class in one house. Many of the courses can be made available all over Denmark. Schools simply apply to the various organizations involved in the innovative work in Youth Town.

Youth Town is a place of change: development, implementation, revision, and innovation frequently occur.

Some examples of courses are:

SPF teachers distribute their experience by doing courses and giving lectures for teacher colleagues, school boards, student teachers, pedagogical consultants, various members of school administrations in Denmark and abroad etc. SPF welcomes a lot of visitors. Lectures and courses can take place at SPF or anywhere in- or outside the country.

SPF teachers also write pedagogical articles and produce teaching materials. Articles on visions, objectives and plans can be found in the "School annual". Articles on the course and success of various projects are published in CRIT an SPF- magazine issued 3 times a year.

SPF has an international committee with the task of establishing and nurturing international contacts and promoting co-operation with people from different parts of the world. A newsletter in English about SPF’s participation in international events, meetings, projects etc. is published 3 times a year.

International Committee

Youth Town representatives:

Mr Carsten Skjoldborg
Mr. Poul Erik Christoffersen ( Leader of Youth Town)
Phone: + 45 44 91 46 46
Fax: + 45 44 91 41 40

E –mail :
Carsten.Skjoldborg@inet-spf.dk
Poul.Erik.Christoffersen@inet-spf-dk.

School representatives:

Ms. Unni Bøyesen
Ms. Marianne Munis (Head of School)
Phone: + 45 44 57 06 51
Fax: + 45 44 91 19 49