Practical, freshened-up space with an amazing view
Longed-for and delayed for several years, but now the big day has arrived. On Tuesday 130 first-year pupils will step through the doors of Praktiska Gymnasiet Kristianstad.
What kind of school is Praktiska?
– A vocational school with a big heart. A lot of teachers have been here for a long time, and the pupils have a lot to say about how we work. Listen to the pupils and then decide what to do. They're the ones who are sitting at their desks, this is a school for the pupils, says Joakim Eliasson, deputy rector, while showing us round the school on Stridsvagnsvägen.
So it was natural to take the pupils' views into consideration when a new, modern school was to be built.. Pupils got to choose names for the fifteen classrooms, most of which look out over Vattenriket, and the corridors were colour-coded - bronze for the ground floor, silver for the first floor and gold for the top floor.
The atrium is bright and welcoming. From its windows the view over Vattenriket is stunning, almost meditative.
– The best view in Kristianstad, if you ask me, says Jonas Eliasson with satisfaction in his voice.
In the tall, three-storey building working areas have been planned to suit the needs of Praktiska's six vocational programmes: practical, with the emphasis on hairdressing, nursing and welfare, sales and service, building and construction , motor, which emphasises private vehicles and transport, and heating, ventilation and sanitation along with janitorial services.
In a separate newly-built building you can find the seventh vocational programme - land management and animal care - because water and ventilation are required for the small animals the pupils will help to buy at the beginning of the school year.
We're taking in 130 new students for the school year 2022-23. The only program with vacant places is sales and service, Joakim Eliasson tells us.
– It's just great that we can all be in one place. We're a vocational school, at least half of the time the pupils are out at a place of work, says Jonas Eliasson,, and returns to unpacking material for the start of term.
