← Back to the rankingChildren's International School Sarpsborg
Sarpsborg, Norway · est. 2019 · Private
Illustration · Sarpsborg
Children's International School Sarpsborg (CIS Sarpsborg) is a private IB-authorised international school for children aged 6 to 16, grades 1 to 10. It opened on 26 August 2019 with 175 students. Grades 1-6 follow the Primary Years Programme and grades 7-10 the Middle Years Programme. The admission rules state that all teaching is in English by English-speaking teachers except Norwegian and music; the programme page says instruction is in English and Norwegian with support for mother tongue students. The school's distinctive feature is an extended arts programme on top of the Norwegian curriculum: every student learns an instrument, plays in the school orchestra, sings in the choir and does dance and drama. Primary students receive an iPad and middle school students a MacBook. The school operates as a private school under the Norwegian private schools act, and the maximum fee level is set by the state.
Key facts
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Norwegian, Spanish
About the fees The fee is 3850 NOK per month for all grades 1 to 10, in 11 instalments a year; the year of the fee list is not stated. Fees are charged under state regulations, with a maximum level set by the ministry. Siblings of current students receive a discount, and families with financial difficulties can contact the school leadership about reduced fees.
Admissions The admission rules state that the school is open to everyone entitled to attend a Norwegian public school and admits children from the whole country; place of residence does not affect the decision. Students do not need to speak English to enrol: the school expects them to learn English and helps them until they are independent. There is no application deadline and students are admitted throughout the school year except June; applications are made online and the principal places students in classes. Children starting grade 1 normally turn 6 by 31 December. If there are more applicants than places, priority goes to children of staff and board members, siblings of current students, former students of CIS schools, children from international or bilingual schools and kindergartens, documented interest in the school, application date, then lottery. Appeals can be sent to the county governor (Statsforvalteren).
Stages and year groups Grades 1-10. IB Primary Years Programme in grades 1-6 (PYP1-PYP6, ages 6-12) and IB Middle Years Programme in grades 7-10 (MYP2-MYP5 in the list of homeroom teachers, ages 11-16). It is a compulsory-level school (grunnskole) with no upper secondary grades. Teaching is in English except Norwegian and music. The staff list shows two classes per grade in grades 2-5.
Address Tuneveien 20, 1710 Sarpsborg
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP · authorised programmeThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Primary Years and Middle Years programmes.
school is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
IBInternational Baccalaureate
A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: PYP (ages 3-12), MYP (ages 11-16). PYP is the primary stage, ages 3 to 12. It is not a set of subjects but a frame for the whole school: learning is built around lines of inquiry, and there are no exams at the end. MYP is the middle stage, ages 11 to 16. There are no exams here either; at the end an optional electronic assessment of pupils' work is possible.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
The school publishes nothing about where its leavers go: no share going on to university, no exam results, no list of universities.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
·Sports hallnot stated on the website
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: The school is in Sarpsborg at Tuneveien 20. Every primary student is given an iPad and every middle school student a MacBook for use at school and at home; digital literacy and coding are built into all subjects. In the extended arts programme every student has instrument lessons, plays in the school orchestra and takes part in choir, dance and drama. The staff includes a librarian, a kitchen chef and an IT employee. Grades 1-4 have an after-school programme (SFO) with a snack and dance, art and sports games. It is a day school with no boarding.
Clubs and activities: School orchestra · Choir · Dance · Drama
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
The contact page names the director of schools, the director of operations, the head of school, the PYP and MYP coordinators, homeroom teachers, teachers of Norwegian, music, Spanish and physical education, art, design, individuals and societies, a special education teacher, as well as the librarian and after-school staff. Teachers come from around the world and take part in ongoing professional development together with colleagues from the two other CIS schools in Østfold.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
The school says nothing on its website about security, medical care or pupil support.
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)72 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data65 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data70 Value for money (6%) scored at the median95 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 7 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country