Ranatus Academy, Oryculus

An Overview

An Overview Of The Academy

Located in the heart of the Oryculean forests and surrounded by buttercup fields - hence its name* - Ranatus** is an academy that focuses both on academic and magical pursuits. Due to its location, the students are able to roam freely and practise the magic and spellcasting, that they've learned in lessons, in a setting that best suits them. Academic pursuits, such as literature, writing, science and mathematics are compulsury until the 17th year of education; while magical pursuits are compulsory from the 6th year onwards and not taught to students any younger. The school was founded in 1307, an otherwise uninteresting year during the rule of a rather uninteresting monarch; and was built in the once-widespread forests that they now still reside in. 
Similarly to within the human world, the forest has declined over the centuries as towns have expanded - though efforts have been made to preserve the forest surrounding the academy. All headmasters and teaching staff, from both past and present, have worked to keep this ancient forest for their students to prosper according to the academy's values:
-Community
-Resilience
-Committment


*in Macbeth, buttercups are described as 'Toe of Frog'; the Latin for frog is 'Rana', and the Latin for toe is 'Digitus'
**Both 'A' syllables are pronounced with a short 'A' sound, like in 'Bat'

Academy Structure

1st-5th Year: Fyrstlyf* - Ages 3-8

6th-10th Year: Decem** - Ages 8-13

11th-16th Year: Sedecim*** - Ages 13-19

Optional 17th Year: Higher Studies Classes - Ages 19-20
-Spellcasting + Magical Proficiency Studies (for students who want to join guilds or groups relating to spellcasting and magic; often reccomended to those of druid ancestry, or those with skills such as animal communication)
-Physical Defence, Magic + Warrior Studies (for students who want to join the Oryculean Militia; often reccomended to those of paladin or warrior ancestry)
-History, Language + Culture Studies (for students who want to work to preserve the culture of Oryculus and teach others; often reccomended to those with multiple native languages or who know multiple languages)

*Pronounced 'First Leaf', the name was adapted from Norse and Old English spellings
**Latin for 'Ten', representing the 10 years of education that students will have completed by the time they transition to the next stage of school
***Latin for 'Sixteen', representing the 16 years of education that students will have completed by the time they fully graduate from the academy

Lessons + Subjects Throughout History

In the first two centuries of its existence - and as technology was rather mundane - classes relating to nature, such as animal rearing and farming, were considered the most vital for students as many of them were considered likely to live simple lifestyles as farmers; with only a select few ever having the opportunity to become warriors of any kind. 
These classes remained throughout Ranatus' entire history, though are now optional subjects for students in their last two years of Sedecim (17-19 and have been ever since the headmaster of 1894 changed these rules to align with the Industrial Revolution and developing technology.

A typical school week timetable for a 15^th Year student in Sedecim:

	1st Lesson (5:45-7:15)	2nd Lesson (8:15-10:15)	3rd Lesson (10:15-12:15)	4th Lesson (13:00-15:00)	5th Lesson (15:00-17:00)	6th Lesson (18:30-20:30)
1	Farming + Animal Care	Art, Music + Literature	Spellcasting Studies	World History	Defence Spellcasting	Optional Language*
2	Farming + Animal Care	Local Culture Studies	Optional Language*	Art, Music + Literature	Local History	Supervised Study
3	Farming + Animal Care	Optional Language*	Art, Music + Literature	Local Culture Studies	Physical Defence	Spellcasting Studies
4	Farming + Animal Care	Spellcasting Studies	Local History	Optional Language*	World History	Local Culture Studies
5	Farming + Animal Care	Physical Defence	Spellcasting Studies	Defence Spellcasting	Optional Language*	Spellcasting Studies

*Optional Language: A student is paired with a mentor who knows their native languages - eg. Druidic, Elvish and Halfling - and practices those skills in semi-independent study. They can also learn languages that aren’t native to them, but this is only available for students in Decem (8-13) and above.
Note that lessons both start early in the day and finish late in the day, and also that they're two hours long - apart from farming in the early morning. This was the original system brought about by philosophies that too many breaks during the day and a lack of constant thought wouldn't lead to any information being taken in and remembered. Also note that the school day always starts with farming and animal rearing. This was simply a practical decision so that animals could be fed early in the day instead of students having to be taken away from their lessons to feed them; which went against the above philosophy.
These philosophies are outdated, but no attempts to update them have been taken thus far due to a few corrupt members of the board of governors. A petition was recently created in order to change the structure of the school day, but progress on it has been slow.

Pets + Familiars

Depending on their views regarding the relationship between animals and humans, students and teaching staff either have pets or familiars. The most popular, like within the human world, are cats; though other familiars such as small dragons and songbirds are common. Students in Fyrstlyf (3-8) are encouraged not to have pets or familiars as they aren't responsible enough yet, though pets and familiars are allowed for students any older than this.
Hall Guards - Ranatus' equivalent of prefects, so called because the first duty they were given back in 1452 was to guard the hall outside the headmaster's office - are allowed two or three pets and familiars; while other students are only allowed one. They're also allowed rarer and more temperamental pets because they're the most responsible students in the academy; with popular choices being larger dragons, wolves, griffins and parrots. Familiars - approved as having that status by the headmaster - are allowed to sleep in dorm rooms, while pets sleep in a room adjecent to the dormitories and are looked after by trained staff or on-duty prefects.