Upper School

And in what seems like the blink of an eye, another school year has passed. It only seems like yesterday that we were welcoming students back for the new school year in August. Where did those 11 months go? They say that if you have little to occupy you, then time goes slowly, so perhaps it’s an indication of what a jam packed year we have had that it seems to have flown by.

We had a wonderful start to the year with our Social and Emotional (SEL) learning day down at Nygårdsparken in our first week, where students in upper school took part in a wide range of activities to help them bond and work together collaboratively on a beautiful sunny day. And from there things continued in the same vein with numerous wonderful learning opportunities throughout the rest of the year that even Mr Covid, despite his best efforts, could not jeopardise. There were many highlights throughout the year and to pick out just a few is a difficult task. Nevertheless here are a few standouts that resonated with me. Firstly the return of the Interdisciplinary Unit Week (IDU). Over the years the IDU week had become a beacon of excellence due to the unique way that ISB has delivered this requirement of the MYP programme. To highlight its importance, and our belief in the concept of combining a range of subjects to allow a true deep understanding of a theme, we decided some years ago to abandon the normal timetable and to devote 8 school days to the event. During the time students studied a broad range of themes involving different subjects in each grade culminating in a presentation of their work to the rest of the school. This year the areas of study were GR 6/7 ‘Roots’ ;covering the many connotations of the word, from heritage to horticulture. Gr8 Diaspora; using languages and performing arts to explore displaced peoples in history and now. Gr9 ‘The Face of the Other’ a philosophical study of the individual and their experiences of life behind the face. Gr10; Ocean Environment, the impact of man on the ocean and life associated with it and how we can sustain it for the future. Each grade produced examples of outstanding work which prompted the Director Ms Stiebert, who had not experienced an ISB IDU week before to comment ‘An outstanding example of learning excellence’ . Secondly the return of residential visits. For the first time since the pandemic we are able to fulfil our full programme of residential events for every grade. Grade 6 students spent a week in Oslo on a Norwegian cultural exploration. Grade 7 visited Hardangertun Leirskole for a week of outward bound activities. Grade 8 went to Mjøllfjell for a week of winter mountain survival. Grade 9 went to Myrkdalen for ski week. And grade 10 students have visited Verona, Italy for a combined cultural and Service as Action trip, taking in Venice and Milan as well, with a joint project on the impact of Covid on young people in collaboration with the International School of Verona.

A third highlight for me would be our success story in the First Lego League. After a number of years participating in the competition and getting better each time, this year our superb Gr9 class came home with two trophies which are now proudly displayed in our cabinet in the entrance. The First Lego League is an international competition where teams have to design and program their own robot to complete a number of complicated tasks live on the day of the tournament. Especially impressive too was that our grade nines were nominated for the Scandinavian Innovation Award with a chance to compete in the Norwegian finals. On this occasion we were not chosen but next time we will try that bit harder and who knows?

Academically this year Upper School has had further success stories with outstanding results in the Norwegian National Tests performing better locally and nationally than other schools. Taking into consideration that a high percentage of our students are not Norwegian native speakers makes this 16

achievement even more impressive. Individually one of our Grade 10 students received a certificate of recognition award for their achievement in the Abel maths competition where they competed with students up to three years older than themselves. Also in Grade 10 another of our students has been chosen for a place at the United World College (UWC) in Maastricht Netherlands for their post 16 studies. Competition for places at the UWC is extremely tough with a very challenging interview process making this a great achievement indeed. Sustainability and environmental issues have been a major focus in Upper School as we work towards our Green Flag Status. This has been ably led by the members of the Eco Committee, and culminated in this year’s Earth Day celebrations and actions. The students were grouped in houses to take part in four activities that explored various aspects. These involved the following; encouraging biodiversity, alternative food sources (insects), neighbourhood clean up and public awareness of the challenges we face. For the older students this was a great way for them to include service action in the day as they were tasked with looking after their younger house members (down to grade 1) as they took part in things such as cooking, planting, creating wildlife hotels, to name a few. In relation to all of the things mentioned so far, none of these would be remotely possible without the amazing staff who are there to drive and support students every step of the way in their academic journeys. My heartfelt thanks to each of them for their dedication, expertise and perhaps more than anything the way in which they truly care. Looking to the future, our next school year will start with an accreditation visit by the IB and CIS/NEASC. Following this we aim to have a year of consolidation in terms of embedding many recent initiatives such as Social Emotional Learning (SEL), and service as action opportunities firmly within the curriculum with a strong focus on collaborative planning which returns to the fore following the pandemic. Of course we will also maintain and build further on all the achievements we have made this year. Reading over this document prior to publication once again flagged up for me the reasons why ISB means so much to me and why it is such a wonderful place to be. A place with a plethora of opportunities, amazing driven students, excellent staff and a wonderfully supportive wider community, what more could you wish for? Peter Ledger Deputy Director and Upper School Principal