DIRECTOR’S WELCOME Our aim this past year has been to have a year of reconnecting with our wider community. After two years of having to keep a distance, our school has returned to a year of connection, collaboration and community building! Students, teachers and staff are back to working closely together and are thriving. This is reflected in the growth of our enrolment which has now reached a historic high of 223 students! One of our main focuses this year has been working towards becoming a more sustainable school. The importance of a sustainable future on a global scale is translated into local actions in our everyday school life at ISB. Through a number of avenues, both student and staff-driven, including our ECO committee and our Green Thumbs Committee (a group of volunteering teachers) share the ambition to become a Green Flag School. This allows us to assess the impact we have on the environment and aim to reduce our carbon footprint. To this end the school celebrated Earth Day, Earth Hour, monitored paper consumptions, introduced composting, started an ‘adopt a local area’ programme and in general heightened the awareness of sustainability. I applaud our students for persevering in this journey and for their many accomplishments! As an English-speaking international school, we are proud of our students’ impressive high Norwegian National Test results which we have published on our website. Having achieved significantly above other schools, this also demonstrates the academic quality level of both our teachers and our learners! Additionally, our students received awards both in Lego League and in the Abel Maths tournament! ISB offered more new opportunities than ever before with sold out performances for Macbeth, the Talent Show, Stars in their eyes and the Wizard of Oz. True to tradition, we have celebrated Book Week, Earth Day, Sports Day, the Christmas Craft days, Welcome Back BBQ, and concluded with the Summer Picnic. Connection has been encouraged with parents returning inside the school building after a two year absence. Seventeen Connect Cafes, ISBs parent education and connection opportunity, were offered over the school year with visiting speakers and teachers and administrators offering a wide variety of topics, ranging from STEM and Diversity to Mathematics and the setting of boundaries. Thank you to all the parents who took the time to learn together with us. I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight the excellent work the PTO has done supporting our students throughout the year. Many events would not take place if it weren’t for their preparation and willingness to be that pair of helping hands each event needs. A whole new ‘face of ISB’ can this year be seen on our new website, on the newly created parent and staff portal, and in the new ISB film which has changed how the world views ISB. As a school ISB continues to go from strength to strength and now has the highest enrolment in its 47 year history. We look forward in the coming year to develop and implement a new Strategic Plan, offer further After School Activities in line with the school’s ethos and ensure that we contribute actively to a more sustainable world. We will continue to develop both hearts and minds, as this is what ISB is all about! #shapingthefuture Viki Stiebert, Director
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