VEFSN FOLK HIGH SCHOOL TOPPEN
If you love that there is a lot going on, then you will enjoy being with us. With a clear conscience, you can finally say “Yes thank you, both!” The variety of activity and line offerings provides a unique mix of people and choices.
Take a chance to experience the warmth of the north!
AT TOPPEN YOU GET
Engaged teachers who know more than their subject
knowledge and experience that count
a safe environment and a varied everyday life
Invested in the future and friends for life
Vefsn Folkehøgskole Toppen is a free-spirited school with an 18 year age limit, but the average age is almost 20 years. We have room for about 90 students in the boarding school, and this is not the case of the largest public colleges. So if you want a clear and inclusive environment, then you will enjoy being with us.
The fact that we are a freelance folk high school means that the school is independent of the philosophy of life and that we offer an educational offer on a broad humanistic ethical basis.
Quality — Confident — Joy — Versatility — Commitment
What are the characteristics of our school? We have a school where there is a lot going on! On the lines there is full speed, and there is plenty to do socially and in leisure time. Here you don't have to be bored. The variety of line offerings provides a unique mix of People and Choices. With us, you can immerse yourself in the line of what interests you most, while giving you the opportunity to try out new activities and subjects. Great for those who like to be creative and active.
It is important for us to create a community at school where interaction and experiences provide great opportunities for personal growth and learning for life. It should be safe and at the same time challenging to be a student at the Top. We spend a lot of time together, including across the lines. With us you get to know more people who want the same things as you, but also many who have other interests. Here we appreciate inequalities and it is perfectly okay to make a mistake every now and then. It allows us to have an inclusive environment, which broadens our horizons and makes everyone a little wiser and more generous.
We who work at Toppen spend a lot of time at school and are keen that you will get great benefits from the year. We want you throughout your year with us to be inspired to see new opportunities, become aware of your resources and become confident in yourself. It will help you gain self-confidence, professional weight and a network that will mean a lot to you even afterwards.
Welcome here!
To live here
It's nice to stay at the TOP, no matter where in the boarding school you live. In the main house there are double rooms equipped with good frame mattresses, cabinets and writing desk. Each ward consists of three rooms that share a shower and toilet. Here you get a good, old-fashioned boarding house feel with a good standard.
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The newer boarding houses consist of 6 individual houses, perfectly situated overlooking the fjord. In the houses there are 4 nice double rooms with toilet and shower in each room. No matter where you live, you're not far from where it happens.
Most people choose to stay in double rooms, but we also have some single rooms in the main house for those who need it.
We have several common rooms so you can hang out together. We have our own student kitchen where you can cook and bake, or bake a pizza when it gets tight. Or you can take a session in the gym. In the fireplace lounge it is always ready to play a game or sit and chat. The common rooms can be used until 23:00 on weekdays and a little longer on weekends.
At our disposal we now have:
- WIFI throughout the school/boarding school
- Workout room
- Gymnasium and changing rooms
- Large theater stage
- Rehearsal Room
- Blackbox
- Music Studio
- Carpentry workshop
- Activity room
- Fireplace lounge with TV
- Student lounge with kitchen
- Laundry room with washing machines and dryers
- Drying room
- Leap
Vefsn Folkehøgskole wants to facilitate all students based on the prerequisites they have, but as of now, unfortunately, it is not well enough and has some physical limitations. The school consists of several different buildings in different levels and with different access. Our building stock is only partially wheelchair accessible, and not universally designed. The school also has no elevator, making access at some teaching rooms wheelchair accessible. In the main building we only have toilets in the basement, HC toilet we only have in the “gymnasium building”. The dining room is located on the ground floor of the main building and is accessible to all. Two of the buildings have automatic door openers, but the oldest building has stairs both in the entrance and inside the building. The school does not have any sound reinforcement solutions.
We have boarding rooms adapted for wheelchair users/people with reduced mobility in our houses and it is possible to apply for single rooms. The outdoor area has a hill between the teaching buildings and the houses which is wheelchair accessible. In winter, it can be challenging to move between them.
If you have any questions about the arrangement, just contact us and we can look at solutions together.
Internates
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Common areas
Living Together
Boarding school is your home this year, and boarding school life is one of the hallmarks of a folk high school. Here it should be safe and good for everyone. Living so close with others is incredibly rewarding and fun, while also presenting challenges.
It may seem a bit daunting to share a room with someone else, but you might be surprised to find it really enjoyable. Perhaps it is at the boarding school and with your fellow students that you learn the most about well-being, interaction, conflict resolution and community. You get experiences that make you more open and tolerant in the face of other people. These are the qualities you really want when you go into the workplace.
To Eat Here
The kitchen and dining room are the heart of the Top. We who work here meet you with a smile and feel best when people appreciate what we make. And the food at the top should be good. Tasty, healthy and exciting. It is food that gives people a reason to sit for a long time at the table, eat, talk together and share experiences from the day.
We cook all food from scratch, and vary so that you don't get bored. We want people to look forward to every meal with anticipation. We cook with flavors from Asia and Italy to ordinary Norwegian traditional food. Short-stay food with fresh ingredients is our specialty. We get great feedback from both students and guests, which of course we are proud of.
We have fresh home-baked bread and crispbread every day. Many kinds of toppings, oatmeal, cereals, yogurt and fresh fruit. We also try to have a good variety at dinner, and we always have meat, fish and vegetarian food during the week.
We have four regular meals on weekdays, breakfast, lunch, dinner and evening. On weekends we have breakfast later and then we skip lunch. Often there is a little extra cuddle as well.
If you need an adapted diet because you eat vegetarian or have a food intolerance, we have great expertise in this and prepare the same good food for you as well.
The Fellows
Fellowships are a great resource at the top. There are students who have gone here before and who have applied to the school to be fellows on their own leadership training line. They are experts at being a student with us. The “stips” take with them the best of the past year and pass this on to next year's litter.
You will meet the fellows a little bit all over the place. Among other things, they work with the school environment and documentation of the activity at the school, and they have practices and their own projects. They will also be with you on the lines. They make a big effort to make this year's new students have a good year. And they're nice to have when you're unsure about something or need someone to talk to.
At the folk high school, one gets the chance to experience such unfathomable softness, and not least, one gets to choose for themselves what one wants to experience and master. Whether it's winning a game in CS with good friends on the team, learning new tactics and improving football technique, standing on stage to perform a play you've worked hard on in several weeks, or reaching the top of a climbing wall you could have dreamed of before.”
Anna Skjelde Brunborg
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