SandefjordUpper Secondary School is a publicupper secondary school in Sandefjord, Vestfold, Norway. It is the largest secondary school in Norway. It is housed in two-story facilities which are located at Krokemoa near the Bugårds Park. It is an International Baccalaureate World School, but it also offers general academics, as well as elite sports, vocational education, and more. It is located across the road from a Meny supermarket, and is few meters from Bugårdsparken. The school is home to several student-run businesses, including a bakery, hair salon and an eatery known as Restaurant Barden. The school has about 2,000 students and 350 employees.
History
Sandefjord Upper Secondary School was established in 1997 when four schools merged to become SVGS:
Sandefjord Gymnas
Sandar Videregående Skole
Sandefjord Kokk og Stuertskole
Sandefjord Handelsgymnas
With over 2,000 students and nine branches of study, Sandefjord Upper Secondary School is very large by national standards. It is situated 120 km southwest of Oslo at the Krokemoa area of Sandefjord, Vestfold County. An early challenge was to unify the different schools under a single identity and to provide adapted learning for all students. The school offers general and vocational studies, and students of all branches are subject to the same organizational and administrative structure. From its beginning, it was realized that the new school may have problems with dealing with such a large and broad student body. The difficulty was aggravated by the need for new structures, each having specialized, course-related functions. The need for a social communal space was met with the construction of The Forum, a meeting place which consists of a dining area, bakery, cantina, bookstore, and a nearby library. The Forum has been described as the school's "base-camp of student services", and also houses offices for follow-up services provided to school drop-outs. There are also a health service office, educational and career services, along with a teachers’ workshop. As part of the integration of vocational and general academics at Sandefjord Upper Secondary School, the school has established a wide range of curricular and extra-curricular opportunities for students. High quality and modern structures were made for specialized teaching branches, particularly for students in the music and athletic programs. Students are encouraged to become self-reliant by taking responsibility for environmental and enterprise links with the local business community in Sandefjord. The school's ICT project has been regarded as an important way of encouraging teachers of various subjects to work together in changing teaching methods and modify the student-teacher relationships. Sandefjord Upper Secondary School has an emphasis on student-centered learning and providing authentic experiences to students, illustrated for example by the school's close links to schools in Soweto in Johannesburg, South Africa. The bond between the schools has resulted in SVGS students volunteering for extended periods of time in Soweto. The South Africa project began in 1999 and offers the opportunity for students at SVGS to travel to Johannesburg in order to visit schools in Soweto. Students from Soweto also visit SVGS as part of the international project. Students have been involved in a variety of projects, including the establishment of a soap factory which is located on campus. Student businesses include a bakery, butcher, physiotherapy, barber, and restaurant. The High School operates its own bookshop and has an on-campus priest hired as faculty. The school's library has a thousand visitors per day. The school's annual budget is 190,000,000 NOK, where 90 percent covers faculty salaries. SVGS has an exchange program with BASF in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
Educational programs
Education Programmes for Specialization in General Studies:
