The Curriculum

At Birralee International School Trondheim we aim to provide a varied, stimulating and secure learning environment for the children where each child is valued as an individual. We will encourage the children to develop their special talents and reach for their full potential, encouraging them to become inquisitive, independent and enthusiastic learners and to develop the self-discipline necessary to complete tasks and make responsible decisions

Our curriculum is based on the British National Curriculum, an internationally recognized  high quality curriculum used in many international and English speaking schools throughout the world.  It sets out the most important knowledge and skills that every child has a right to learn and provides the framework for lesson planning and programme delivery.

The curriculum has been modified to suit the needs of international students and also to  meet the requirements of the Norwegian National Curriculum. The curriculum was approved by the Norwegian Department of Education and Research in 2004.

The school uses British schemes for teaching in addition to a variety of books from class and school libraries. For the Norwegian teaching we use Norwegian schemes. The children often work in cross-curricular topics or through projects where they can carry out research and present results in cooperation with others. The teachers use varied teaching methods and aim to meet the individual needs of all students. We promote creativity in both teaching and learning and we are keen to use the arts in our topic and
project work.

Hands on learning and learning by doing have always been a central element of the Birralee philosophy. This encourages the children’s’ creativity and makes learning fun. It provides the children with first hand experiences and encourages children’s’ natural curiosity.

Art, music, dance and drama are important elements of our curriculum. We are firm believers in
developing the children’s self confidence through working in groups, performing, presenting and sharing work with others.

At Birralee International School Trondheim we encourage the children to become motivated and interested readers beginning with our focus on early literacy. Our shared appreciation of books and literature motivate the children to become competent readers and writers. We believe that good literacy skills are the key to successful learning.

Birralee International School is a good place to learn and grow. The children are encouraged to respect each student’s rights to learn as well as the teachers’ rights to teach. This enables us to provide a safe and caring atmosphere and a stimulating and exciting learning environment that will encourage children’s
desire to learn.

We believe that by providing a happy, child-centred classroom environment and by using diverse teaching methods, we will foster the children’s self-esteem and self-confidence and help them to develop the skills needed to take responsibility and to care for themselves, each other, and our natural environment, both now and in the future. We aim to provide continuity in the education of children moving from one country
to another.

At Birralee, we encourage a close community spirit. We are fortunate in having children from many
different countries in the school. This enables us all to appreciate the diversity of cultural, linguistic and religious differences around us. It gives the whole school community the opportunity to practice peaceful co-existence and is a fine foundation for developing international solidarity and understanding.