Lower School

They say time flies when you are having fun and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the students in the Lower School have had a fun year filled with a multitude of different learning experiences. The memories of cohorts and restricted playtimes are firmly behind us and this year we have welcomed parents and other visitors back into our classrooms to share in our learning.

We have also been able to venture out and there have been visits to the aquarium, Natural History Museum, Vilvite, and the art galleries. One of our core values is community and this year we began a collaboration with one of our neighbours, Sandsli Bo og aktivitet senter. This is a residential home for the elderly and for those who require assisted living. Our Lower School students paid them a visit and entertained them with a variety of songs and dance. There was much foot tapping and some of the audience even tried to follow along to the movements. As restrictions are lifted, we plan to strengthen this collaboration and invite the residents back to ISB for various events in the coming months.

Another new initiative in the Lower School is the Nanowrimo writing project which saw some of our students taking up the challenge of writing a book in the month of November. This took considerable commitment and students spent their break times penning their stories under the watchful eye of Jacob Silkstone, who is a writer and editor for various publications. After further months of editing and illustrating, the final editions went to print and a copy of each book can now be found in the Community Cove, our school library. This is a big achievement for our students and they can all be rightfully proud of their novels. This year also saw the arrangement of overnight trips for our Lower School students for the first time. Grades 3 and 4 are spending a night camping out on the island of Sotra and our Grade 5 students headed to Voss for an action packed two days which included a high ropes course, rafting down the river and sleeping in a lavvo.

Our youngest students also got to “practice” sleeping out and they enjoyed a sleepover at school. Adding these events to the Lower School calendar is another way that we are seeking to provide an enriched learning environment that goes beyond the walls of the classroom. We continue to focus on developing and strengthening our curriculum and there are a number of new programmes that we have adopted to further improve both our planning and assessing student work. We have moved to a new platform called Toddle for curriculum planning, portfolios and communication with parents and despite the teething problems that

Field trip: Grade 3 at Vilvite.

Nanowrimo: Writing sessions during lunch break.

come with introducing something new, we are well on our way to using all features the platform offers. We have also introduced further benchmarking assessments in reading and writing that help inform our planning and teaching. All of these initiatives ensure that we make the business of learning our top priority. When I reflect back on this year I feel incredibly fortunate and inspired to work with a team of such dedicated educators who are committed to making a difference to those in their care.

We are still a small school however we offer a multitude of learning experiences and truly know our students. I am already looking forward to the next school year with a great sense of excitement and anticipation as we are adding a second grade four class, due to high enrollment, and our other Outdoor education: Students learning while outside. classrooms are also all filling up rapidly. We are seeking ways to incorporate further Service as Action opportunities into our curriculum and are looking forward to collaborating closely with our parents and other learning experts. Together we continue having our ISB students at the centre of all we do!

Leanne Hagen, Lower School Principal