ISB Annual Report 2022 - 2023

Annual Report

Director’s Welcome

Being now on my third year here at the school, it has for me, in many aspects, been a year of consolidation. This has been reflected in implementing the preparatory work from the past two years.

What a wonderful year full of learning our ISB students have had. Our school has continued to grow and this year we were joined by 70 new students and reached an all time high of 250 students by June.

With growth new opportunities arise and this year a few of the many highlights are that we had UN day in a new format, over 20 students participated in National Novel Writing Month, we celebrated EARTH DAY as a school, sent our first group of students to Model United Nations, several of our Grade 9 students completed their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award and our IDU week celebrated learning at its best.

We upgraded our facilities with new flexible furnishings and every classroom now features an interactive SMART board. When you walk up the road to ISB, a wonderful mural graces the entrance which every child contributed a fingerprint to. Having an Orca as our mascot has

become highly visible! We have consolidated the implementation of several policies: GDPR, Definition of Learning, Global Citizenship and Child Protection.

Our staff has also been expanding their learning, with the school not only being part of the NIBS network but now also being a part of the Nordic Network.

Several of our staff have shared their expertise at these conferences and ISB is starting to be a learning hub in Norway, this year hosting conferences in Learning Support and Norwegian. We are very proud of these teacher leaders!

Academically our students continue to thrive and we publish our results transparently on our website where you can enjoy our National Prøve and our ISA results. Additionally we participated in Lego League, Kenguru Mathematics, Unge Abel and chess competitions. In each competition we fared well even on a national level!

For the second year in a row we are performing our school musical at Fyllingsdal Theater where this year, High School Musical is being staged. A group of ISB students has received professional

training in sound and lighting technology and are now able to support both in house and at a professional theatre.

The Art Meander has been hosted for the first time since Covid and every student has had several works exhibited. We opened ISB to the public for all to enjoy our artists!

Looking ahead to next year we will be heading into another year of working on the concept of becoming an even more intentionally inclusive school.

We will be working on our newly developed Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) statement making it come to life. All of our new initiatives will be in their third year and will begin being a part of the ISB fabric. What a wonderful time to be a student at ISB and part of a vibrant and thriving community.

I would like to thank our Board, our staff, our parents and in particular our students for this year being second to none! Go Orcas!

Warmly,

Viki Stiebert ISB Director

Board of Trustees

Getting closer to our 50th anniversary as a school, I would like to reflect on how we keep on opening new chapters in ISB’s history.

As a dynamic Board of Trustees, we have worked together in a cohesive and positive manner with the ISB Leadership Team.

This relationship was commended highly in November’s triple accreditation as an extremely positive one. As a continuation, this sparked several concrete results, with the most prominent being finishing ISB’s strategic five-year plan.

It is also worth mentioning the strength of working with a stable and established Leadership Team. An obvious indicator of the school’s success is that we have reached the highest number of students in the school’s history. We now have 250 students.

Growing as a school was the Board’s main goal since moving to the Sandsli premises. As a result of growth, new and exciting opportunities are given to our students. This again shows the need for an inter-

national school in Bergen. As a school that continually innovates, we are proud to share our new vision with you. Pulling together accreditation recommendations, along with our strategic Board aims, will allow the creation of a path towards expanding and creating opportunities for the coming five years.

As a school that continually innovates, we are proud to share our new vision with you.

An unexpected challenge has been the law change demanding that preschools with more than 30 students are required to be a separate unit. The effect on our Early Childhood Centre was immediate and decisions had to be made swiftly. Our youngest learners have always been an important and cherished part of ISB.

The Board is thoroughly committed to continue the ECC at its present size, which led to the establishment of a separate entity. All aspects of learning, staffing and community support continue, despite the law changes and we aim for the ECC to continue to be an integral part of ISB.

The Board has actively maintained relationships with the wider community. Meetings with Bergen Kommune are ongoing and their support allows for the school to continue thriving, including giving us access to these outstanding facilities.

Through the ISB weekly newsletter, the Board has communicated directly with the community. In addition to meeting with ISB staff, it has made an effort to be visible and approachable at school events.

On a final note, we want to thank our community. We will continue to provide a captivating learning environment for our students with the help of our new Strategic Plan and we are looking forward to the years ahead.

Silje Hopland Lien, On behalf of the ISB Board.

Financial Report

ISB is a non-profit organisation and all income is either re-invested towards improving the school’s infrastructure, enhancing student experiences, supporting programmes that enrich the learning experience, or saved to guarantee financial stability for years to come.

The School’s revenue is split between grants from Bergen kommune and tuition, grants providing 50% revenue and tuition providing 50%. In 2022 the increase in number of students turned out to be higher than budgeted for.

Revenue school

NOK 34,870,500

revenue and tuition 21%. Numbers used are based on the 2022 accounting.

Revenue ECC NOK 7,714,000

development and more. The costs have increased from 2021 to 2022 mainly due higher salary costs, but electricity costs also increased significantly. Total costs in 2022: 36,000,000

The main investments of the school year 2022-2023 have been thirteen new promethean boards making sure that there is an interactive board in each of the school’s classrooms.

How does the school spend its money?

The core of our expenses are related to salaries and constitute 86% of all costs. The remaining 14% are costs related to IT, student equipment, cleaning, heating, marketing, maintenance, professional

In addition, both the school and the Early Childhood Centre have classrooms which have recieved new and additional furniture.

To sum it up, the financial result in 2022 showed a surplus of NOK 4,000,000.

For ECC (Early Childhood Center) the revenue is also split between grants from Bergen kommune and tuition. Grants provide 79% percent of the

Auditor’s report revenue

Auditor’s report balance

The board of Stiftelsen International School Of Bergen

Tina Pavlin

Member of the board

Karl Johnny Hersvik Member of the board

Joseph William Cook Member of the board

Silje Hopland Lien Chairman of the board

Dheeraj Sharma Member of the board

Lars Martel Antoine Coenen Member of the board

Viki Stiebert General Manager

Student Enrollment

Human Resources

ISB has 51 staff members from the age of 20 - 69 years.

37 staff members work fulltime and 14 work part-time.

Our staff represents 15 different countries with the majority from England, Norway and USA.

In 2022 the sick leave percentage for the whole year was 4.9%.

Early Childhood Centre

We started off this school year with an Early Childhood Centre at full capacity. It is a joy to have 51 students join us everyday for learning and play.

Our students have engaged in four different Units of Inquiry throughout the school year, all focusing on transdisciplinary learning and social and emotional learning.

One unit that really stood out,

that both students and staff found very inspiring, was the unit ‘My Body, my Health’.

During this project period we experienced transdisciplinary learning at its best, where our students’ creativity, engagement and skills inline with the PYP learning attributes blossomed.

Art, literature, music, dance and drama make up an important part of our learning

and play environment in the ECC. From time to time we have the pleasure of collaborating with different outside organisations, Bergen kommune and Den kulturelle bæremeisen being one.

In September we had two artists, a dancer and a musician, join us to provide a workshop for our Kindergarten class with the title “When it rains in Africa”. All ECC students

When it rains in Africa: Kindergarten showing the result of a creative workshop.

attended a show towards the end of the workshop, where our Kindergarten students performed and shared their learning. What a great experience, what a joy!

Autumn 2022 was a busy time in the ECC also focusing on the accreditation process, where the whole staff was a part of both preparations and the accreditation week. A great opportunity to reflect, learn, share and develop our practice further. Being part of a learning or-

school and ISB as a whole, as a law change required that all private preschools have to become separate legal entities, with separate budgets. For a while this caused concerns for the ECC’s future.

The big question was if we would be able to run our Early Childhood Centre in a financially sustainable way. Through hard work and enthusiasm from all parties involved, including the ISB board, we solved it and were able to reassure our staff and

of the International School of Bergen, owned by the ISB foundation. Providing a safe, inclusive, predictable and inspiring environment for all students, makes up the foundation of the programme in the ECC.

Bergen kommune have now started a project collaborating with private preschools focusing on the students’ psychosocial environment. Moving into next school year, this will be one important area that we will be focusing on to ensure that we work in line with the Norwegian Kindergarten Act.

ganisation and an inspiring sharing culture has a great impact on the quality of the program we provide for our students.

Structural changes

January 1st 2023 became an important date for our pre-

families that we will continue to provide a high quality program for children ages 1-5, from August 2023.

We will continue to run an ECC at full capacity with students on the waiting list, where the ECC will be an important part

We look back at this school year with our students, families and staff with gratitude. What a year and what an inspiring and engaging community to be part of.

Thank you all for your contributions!

Ingebjørg Rensvik ECC Principal

Norwegian National Day: Both students and staff dressed up to celebrate.

Unit of inquiry: My body, My mind.

Lower School

Each year when I sit down to reflect and write the annual report I am struck by just how lucky I am to work with such an amazing team of teachers and leadership who share a joint vision for our school. An integral part of life at ISB is our thriving internship programme. We have been fortunate to have hosted outstanding student teachers from Germany, Spain and Italy who carried out their internships over a period of four to six months.

This is a mutually beneficial partnership between ISB and the student teachers, who gain on the job training and experience of an international curriculum which differs hugely from their home country.

Our teachers and students benefit from more individualised instruction and having an extra pair of hands in the classroom which allows them to plan more varied and differentiated learning experiences.

One of our core values at ISB is community and this year

Grades 1-5

we have continued to build on our relationship with the care home in our neighbourhood. All Lower School classes have visited the residents at various times throughout the year to participate in joint activities such as Christmas crafts, baking, playing games together as well as joining in the special parade to mark Norway’s national day. Language is no barrier and the joy on the faces of the elderly when they interact with our students is testament to the importance of this core value.

After a break of four years due to the move to our new campus and a pandemic, we were finally able to host the ISB Art Meander once again. Our new school building meant that we had different areas to exhibit the art produced by our students and the aptly titled exhibition, “Hidden Spaces, Mysterious Places,“ did not disappoint.

The scope of talent and creativity amongst the student body was evident in every

International internship: We have had interns from different countries.

“One of our core values at ISB is community”

Building community: Students visited the local nursing home in March.

nook and cranny and students took great pride in showing their masterpieces to their parents. None of this would have been possible without our two extraordinary art teachers, Christy Dayhoff and Solveig Wivestad, who together with some Grade 10 students curated the entire exhibition.

Enrolment has continued to grow across the entire school and after receiving feedback from the joint accreditation, we took the decision to split the principal and coordinator roles. This will ensure that curriculum development in the PYP programme will be driven forward with greater purpose under the watchful eye of our newly appointed curriculum coordinator, Camilla Martinsson, who is also one of our most experienced PYP teachers.

Next year our focus will turn to

further developing our Outdoor Education programme in the Lower School and taking the learning outdoors (even in the Bergen rain) .

Each child, each parent, each employee makes up an important part of the tapestry of ISB and it is a joy to work here.

I would like to thank all of our community for contributing to yet another inspiring and purposeful as well as warm and caring year.

Warm regards

Leanne Hagen

Artistic expression: Students taking an active part in showcasing their talents for the Art Meander.

“Next year our focus will be Outdoor Education.”

Upper School

As ever it's been a very busy year in the Upper School with many highlights along the way plus a few goals to tackle for the future.

Upper School has tasted success throughout the year in many ways. Once again two of our grade 10 students have been successful in gaining places for their post 16

education at the prestigious United World Colleges. One of them will study here in Norway at the UWC in Flekke whilst the other will travel to the UWC in Pearson, Canada. Huge congratulations to both.

As with the other sections of the school, Upper School received very favourable feedback regarding all

Grades 6-10

aspects of its performance in the recent accreditation visit.

One goal for the future, that we were already aware of, was to address some challenges with our written curriculum which had been left somewhat on the backburner during the Covid pandemic. We are determined to bring this up to speed and have appointed Jennifer Oelz to be the MYP Coordinator starting August 2023. This is a very positive move for ISB and will ensure that the curriculum now has the full attention it deserves.

Mathematics has been a big focus for ISB this year with participation in the Unge Abel as well as the Kenguru competitions, where students were placed highly in all competitions. A big thank you to the Maths department and particularly Mr Cook and Ms Pavlin for leading this initiative. We have also gained commendations for our achievements in this year's First Lego League.

The Arts are an important part of ISB and in Upper School we are in great anticipation of the upcoming production of High School Musical in June,

Students scienctits: Certain science experiements are best put in to practice outside in the playground.

where US students have been key in helping to direct and choreograph the show.

There have been great individual achievements with both Corriveau brothers winning the Norwegian

young musician national competition at Ungdommens Musikkmesterskap: competitions for violin and cello. Preparations are also well under way for ISB’s participation in the International Shakespeare Festival in London next year.

ISB has also made a substantial contribution to the local community via our Eco Committee and the Trash Warriors, who have cleaned up almost a tonne of garbage from the locale. The Duke of Edinburgh International Award inaugural group in Grade 9 are moving swiftly towards the completion of the Bronze Award. They too have made great contributions

to our local community by completing weeks of active service hours.

I am sure there are many other achievements that deserved a mention but we haven't the word count here today so apologies to those excluded.

Working at ISB is a real joy with such dedicated staff and motivated students. I hope I have highlighted above some examples of why it is such a pleasure to arrive at work each day.

Onward to next year.

Best wishes

Mr Peter Ledger

Knitting skills: Students showing progress suring Visual Arts classes.

Visual Arts: All students are encouraged to express themselves through arts.

Parent Teacher Organisation

We have had an incredible year, filled with a variety of successful fundraising events and initiatives. With Covid restrictions finally lifted, we were able to get creative and truly make a positive impact on the ISB school community.

To kick off the year, we hosted a vibrant Welcome Back BBQ that brought returning and new families together for an afternoon of food, music, and laughter. We were thrilled to receive an amazing amount of support from parents and teachers, which set the tone for the rest of the year.

In the autumn, grade 10 approached the PTO with a novel idea to collaborate on a fundraising event for their school trip to Italy. This resulted in a successful joint hot dog sale.

As October drew near, we continued the tradition of last year’s popular Lower School Halloween party, complete with the famous haunted tunnel that the students loved.

As winter approached, the PTO was excited to once again host the Christmas Craft Fair. This was the biggest

fundraising event of the year, complete with the fabulous gingerbread city, creative activities, a Christmas market, a lucrative lottery, and a visit from Santa. It was a wonderful way to bring the school community together in the holiday spirit.

In February, the PTO organised their first Valentine’s Day bake sale, which was a huge success thanks to the unprecedented support from the parent community. The International Food Night was another big hit, showcasing the diversity and inclusion that is central to our school’s core values. Grade 9 also had a lovely Winter Ball, which the PTO contributed to.

Looking ahead, we have planned a luncheon for Teacher Appreciation Day to show our educators how much we value their hard work and dedication. We will also be hosting a car boot sale flea market and a summer picnic to conclude the school year.

In addition to organising these events, the PTO has funded a

number of requests throughout the year, including singing lessons for the High School Musical end-of-year production and purchasing outdoor playground equipment. We are also excited to support the Duke of Edinburgh program by contributing outdoor camping and cooking equipment for the students to use.

Overall, it has been an exciting and fulfilling year for the Parent Teacher Organisation, and we are grateful for the support and participation of the entire school community. We look forward to continuing our efforts to enhance the educational experience for our students.

Thank you to all who have helped raised friends and funds for ISB.

Vinita Rangroo Thrane, PTO Chair

Silke Burgbacher, PTO Vice Chair

Raquel Rodriguez, PTO Secretary

Vidhi Shukla, PTO Treasurer

Student Council

Student agency and student voice are strongly valued at ISB and one example of this is The Upper School Student Council.

As the Lower school has now established its own student council the upper student council charter has been changed this year. This was discussed within the student council and then ratified at the Coordinating and Environmental Committee, where parents, students and school staff are members.

The Upper School Student Council has an elected executive committee consisting of a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary and includes 2 representatives from each class from grades 6 to grade 10.

This year both the two grade 7 classes have had their own representatives. Two representatives are also elected to be on the Coordinating and Environmental Committee.

The student executive committee is organised and run by the council themselves, with the support of the

Counselor who does not have voting rights. The Chair and Vice Chairperson have met with the Deputy Director and the Director when needed to discuss proposals. Students have met regularly to plan events and discuss views on matters relating to the school or the students’ learning and well-being environment.

Events organised this year have included Halloween and a wide range of spirit day activities. These have been fun, collaborative, social activities both at school and outside of school, such as ice skating. The purpose has been to promote wellbeing amongst students and have a balanced focus on their social and learning

environment at school. The school council led ISB’s annual Pink Shirt Celebration, a world wide anti-bullying event which is supported by the whole school. Students organised activities and gave a presentation at a whole school assembly to inform about and celebrate this event.

Susan Lonnberg, Counselor & Ravi Grellscheid, Student Council Chairperson

Upper School Student Council: Making sure student voicces are heard.

From the Teachers’ Perspective

From finances to fine arts

After finishing her Master’s degree in finance, Sneha Parekh realised that she wanted to do something more creative with her time.

“Growing up in India, it takes a lot of courage to pursue a creative career and art was not given much importance during my schooling,” Sneha says.

She decided she wanted to go into design and for four years she had her own bou-

tique, designing and selling traditional Indian clothing for women. Now, Sneha works as a teaching assistant in ISB’s Early Childhood Centre and finds her creative outlet using arts as an integrated part of her teaching.

“I enjoy being creative with the children. It comes very easily and it does not feel like a chore. It’s all very natural,” she says.

In her spare time Sneha paints and she sees painting as a calming influence on her life. She is also a strong advocate for integrating art into everyday teaching and learning situations. She believes that

using art as a tool in teaching different units of inquiry helps students to get a better grasp on what they are learning.

“Instead of just listening, students take a more active role in their own learning. They will then better understand and remember what they have learned,” she says.

Sneha mentions how pictures in books motivate the students to read and how music, rhythm and song help build language. She refers to the social aspects of art and how the students gain from looking at each other’s work and creative expressions.

Creative activities: Sneha making decorations with preschool students.

Traditional costumes: Roberta and Sneha dressed for a celebration.

“Art has its own language and since we are multilingual, art gives the children the possibility to express themselves freely,” she says.

According to Sneha, one of the most important reasons to use art in teaching has to do with the space it gives the students to explore problem solving skills.

“There is also more room for personal opinion and expression. It expands their creativity, which is so important. Imagination is important,” she says.

Listening to students through art

Visual Arts teachers Christy Dayhoff and Solveig Wivestad are both trained illustrators in addition to being teachers. They see it as a privilege to be teaching PYP/MYP Visual Art and Design at ISB, working with students across all the grades.

“There are many important reasons for children to learn art technique,” Christy Dayhoff says.

“But I am more interested in how creativity develops during formative years, and how this again is expressed by the individual, and in that way, fostered to the fullest extent.”

She believes teachers are key in protecting creative environments to ensure artistic development in a non-judgemental space.

Christy says that educators try to defer to student artistic initiative rather than imposing their own, allowing student individuality to go forward and as far as possible.

“One of the goals I had this year was for students to see their work professionally set in our Art Meander Exhibit and to experience it as part of a bigger, yet connected endeavour,” she says.

“The students’ artwork was outstanding and Solveig and I felt incredibly proud of their dedication to art practice and

their willingness to share their work publicly.”

The Art Meander, a wholeschool art exhibition open to the entire community, was the end result of the teachers’ wish to ensure that each student could confidently make decisions regarding composition and materials.

Art Meander: Solveig and Christy prodly poses with tudent art.

Visual arts in action: Christy enjoys seeing students expressing themselves.

Solveig and Christy also hoped they may see their art in new perspectives and be able to discuss the reasons for their choices.

The teachers are eager to see the exciting things that will continue to happen for ISB student artists as the school grows its programme and learns more about student interest areas within the visual arts.

“We see their talent, but more importantly, we get to hear their voice in every single work of art,” Christy says.

“And what an honour it is to listen!”

Confidence from performing

John Hasselgreen was very shy as a child. Until he joined the local theatre.

Since then, John does his best to share his passion for performing arts with his students and with the rest of the school and wider community. He says that nothing has affected him and his life choices as much as the performing arts have. He adds that teaching Performing Arts and English Language and Literature using interdisciplinary lessons adds to the students’ overall learning experience.

“No two lessons are the same, but using art as part of teaching allows you to think in a different way,” he says.

John has set up, among other performances, an annual musical at the end of each school year. This year will see students from all grades performing in High School Musical.

“Theatre productions are a great way of promoting student leadership. There are many leading roles, including creating posters, directing, choreography, sound and lighting. The actual performance is a small part of the whole,” he says.

These events expose the students to professions that they otherwise might not have come across.

“I want students to have the

opportunity to experience performing arts the way it has helped me. Besides developing confidence, it teaches children to speak in front of an audience and to work towards deadlines. A production has to be done by a certain time, and when a performance is due, there is no possibility of an extension,” John says.

He emphasizes how the students learn to work as a team and as part of a group, resulting in a real product in the end. These are some of the highlights for him gained from teaching the arts in school.

“I think it makes students see things in a different way and teaches them how to express their feelings. It develops their creative side and their imagination. And it can also be an escape from reality, which can be therapeutic,” he says.

Student opportunity: John with with winners of a creative writing competition.

Performing Arts

There have been a lot of opportunities within Performing Arts this year.

Performing at Edvard Grieg Hotel

We were approached by Bergen Kommune about performing at a seminar about young people and alcohol awareness. A trio of string players performed a medley of classical pieces.

from grades 6-10 have successfully applied to be Performing Arts Ambassadors, who each get responsibilities during the year. These have included leading a ballet group, running a choir and hosting various events.

Performing Arts Ambassadors

Student Leadership is integral to the running of the Performing Arts events. Approximately 20 students

Amy’s Drama Club

Drama club is focused on ISB’s lower school students with members from grades 1-5. This spring the drama club created their own magical Casita! We explored the story of Disney’s latest musical Encanto. Throughout the term children create their own

ensembles, devise their own scenes and learn and perform songs and dances. This culminated in a successful end of term sharing to parents and friends in the PA room. This summer, due to a shorter term, we are going to create a musical mashup and are looking forward to sharing it with family and friends in June.

Technical training (AV team)

Professional AV technician Magnar Gjertsen was hired to teach 5 students about sound and lighting during performances. This has led to a significant increase of quality in the performances and concerts, as well as giving the students a good understanding of the technical side of PA.

New Year Concert

In January, we held our postponed Christmas concert, where students from grades 1-10 got to show their musical talents. This was hosted by two of the PA ambassadors, and also included performances from the student-led choir and ballet group. All the lighting

Tech group: Learning sound and lighting techniques before performances.

and sound was done by the AV team of students.

Talent Show

In March, we had our US and LS talent shows, where students from grades 1-10 get to show off their talents. The PA ambassadors and AV team hosted the event and took charge of sound, and professional performers from Bergen judged the events.

of AV. The event was judged by a parent, a student and Eurovision performer Christine Guldbrandsen. We raised 16,500 kroner, which will go to a local charity in support of Ukraine.

Looking ahead

High School Musical

Eurovision Song Contest

To raise money for Ukraine, school staff sang classic Eurovision Hits. PA ambassadors hosted the event and were in charge

In June we will stage our second annual stage musical, ‘High School Musical’. As with last year’s performance of ‘The Wizard of Oz’, it will be performed at Fyllingsdalen Teater and include approx. 60 students from grades 1-10. PA ambassadors have directed, choreographed and led singing classes, as well as taking responsibility for costumes and scenery.

In October/November, 22 students from grades 8-10 will perform an abridged version of Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ in London as part of the Shakespeare in Schools festival. We will also be organising a talent show next Spring and aim to stage the musical ‘Oliver!’ in June 2024.

PA Ambassadors: Student leadership is an important in PA events at ISB.