Sandefjord Upper Secondary School (, often abbreviated to SVGS) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

upper secondary school in

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Sandefjord ...

Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...

, Norway. It is the largest secondary school in Norway. It is housed in two-story facilities, which are located at Krokemoa near Bugårds Park. It is an

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

World School but it also offers general academics (the college preparatory ''studiespesialisering'' of the Norwegian school system), as well as elite sports, vocational education, and more. It is located across the road from a ''

Meny Meny (meaning "Menu") is a Norwegian and Danish supermarket chain owned by NorgesGruppen and Dagrofa (only the Danish stores, NorgesGruppen owns a 49% stake in Dagrofa). The chain historically was only active in Norway, where 187 stores opera ...

'' supermarket and is a few meters from

Bugårdsparken Bugårdsparken ('' English'': the Bugårds Park) is a 60-acre park and the main sports center in Sandefjord, Norway. It is also home to a 20-acre (8.2 ha) duck pond, Bugårdsdammen, as well as designated picnic areas and hiking trails. The park i ...

. 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 (established as Sandefjord Høyere Allmennskole in 1885, renamed Sandefjord Gymnas in 1964) * Sandar Videregående Skole (established as Sandar Yrkesskole in 1941) * Sandefjord Kokk og Stuertskole (est. 1893) * Sandefjord Handelsgymnas (est. 1917) With over 2,000 students and nine branches of study, Sandefjord Upper Secondary School is very large by national standards. It is 120 km (74.5 mi.) southwest of

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

in the Krokemoa area of

, 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 need help 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 houses offices for follow-up services provided to school drop-outs. There is also a health service office, educational and career services, along a teachers' workshop. As part of integrating vocational and general academics at Sandefjord Upper Secondary School, the school has established various 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 to change teaching methods and modify student-teacher relationships.Budge, David (2000). ''Motivating Students for Lifelong Learning: Education and Skills''. OECD Publishing. Page 171. . Sandefjord Upper Secondary School emphasises student-centred learning and provides authentic experiences to students, illustrated, for example, by the school's close links to schools in

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

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. The bond between the schools has resulted in SVGS students volunteering for extended periods in Soweto. The South Africa project began in 1999 and offers the opportunity for students at SVGS to travel to Johannesburg 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 bookshop and hires an on-campus priest 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 BASF SE (), an initialism of its original name , is a European Multinational corporation, multinational company and the List of largest chemical producers, largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters are located in Ludwigshafen, Ge ...

Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning "Ludwig I of Bavaria, Ludwig's Port upon the Rhine"; Palatine German dialects, Palatine German: ''Ludwichshafe''), is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in the German state of Rh ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Educational programs

Education Programmes for Specialization in General Studies: * Specialization in General Studies:

(IB) * Programme for Sports and Physical Education * Programme for Natural Science and Mathematics Studies * Programme for Social Sciences and Economics Studies * Programme for Language Studies * Programme for Art, Design, and Architecture * Programme for Music, Dance, and Drama * Programme for Athletic Studies Vocational Education Programmes: * Service and Transport * Electricity and Electronics * Technical and Industrial Production * Design, Arts and Crafts * Restaurant and Food Processing * Sales, Service, and Security * Healthcare, Childhood and Youth Development

Athletics

SVGS has two athletic programs: the Programme for Sports and Physical Education (Idrettsfag) and the Programme for Athletic Studies (Toppidrett). Classes are offered in sports such as

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...

ice skating Ice skating is the Human-powered transport, self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. ...

dancing Dance is an art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements or ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

, and

floorball Floorball (also known by other names) is a sport played with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. It is played indoors with sticks and a hollow plastic ball with holes. Matches are played in three periods. The sport of bandy also playe ...

. Sports offered at the Programme for Athletic Studies also include

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

orientation Orientation may refer to: Positioning in physical space * Map orientation, the relationship between directions on a map and compass directions * Orientation (housing), the position of a building with respect to the sun, a concept in building des ...

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

, and

underwater rugby Underwater Rugby (UWR) is an underwater team sport in which two teams compete to deliver a negatively buoyant ball into the opponents’ goal at the bottom of a swimming pool. It originated from physical fitness training programs in German d ...

. The school also uses facilities in nearby Bugårds Park for various sports. The school has a close corporation with

Sandefjord Fotball Sandefjord Fotball, often referred to simply as Sandefjord, is a Norwegian professional football club founded on September 10, 1998. The team currently competes in Eliteserien, the top division of the Norwegian football league system, and plays ...

, a professional football club, as well as Sandefjord TIF Handball and

IL Runar Idrettslaget Runar is a Norwegian sports club from Haukerød in Sandefjord. It has sections for athletics, handball, football, and cross-country skiing. It was established on January 7, 1949. Athletics Its athletics section is known for its pro ...

Notable alumni

Espen Sandberg Espen Sandberg (born 2 June 1971) is a Norwegian film director and advertising producer, well known to work with his childhood friend and director Joachim Rønning on several projects such as '' Bandidas'' (2006), '' Max Manus: Man of War'' (2 ...

, film director *

Joachim Rønning Joachim Rønning (born 30 May 1972) is a Norwegian film director, producer, and writer best known for the Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated ''Kon-Tiki'' and the Disney action-adventure films '' Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No T ...

, film director * Sonja Mandt, politician * Jonas Kilmork Vemøy, musician * Linn-Kristin Riegelhuth Koren, handball player * Einar Sand Koren, handball player *

Heidi Løke Heidi Løke (born 12 December 1982) is a Norwegian handball coach for the women's team at IL Runar. She is also assistant coach for Poland women's national handball team, Poland. As a player she last played for Larvik HK at top level and formerl ...

, handball player *

Bjørn Ole Gleditsch Bjørn Ole Gleditsch (born 13 January 1963) is a Norwegian businessperson and politician for the Conservative Party. Since 2003 he is the mayor of Sandefjord. Before this he served several terms in the municipal council A municipal council is ...

, current mayor of

Sandefjord, Norway Sandefjord () is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sandefjord. Other population centres in Sandefjord include Andebu, ...

* Frederic Hauge, head of the

Bellona Foundation The Bellona Foundation is an international environmental NGO headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with branches in Europe and North America. Founded in 1986 by Frederic Hauge and Rune Haaland as a direct action protest group to curb Norway's oil and ...

Lukas Zabulionis Lukas Zabulionis (born 6 March 1992 in Lithuania) is a Norwegian saxophonist and composer of Lithuanian origin, residing in Sandefjord, Norway. Biography Zabulionis has lived in Sandefjord since he was 7 years old. After graduation at Sandef ...

, musician *

Lise Davidsen Lise Davidsen (born 8 February 1987) is a Norwegian soprano opera singer. She came to prominence after winning the Operalia competition in London in 2015. Career Lise Davidsen was born in 1987 in Stokke, Norway, and began playing guitar and si ...

, singer *

Mathias Stubø Mathias Stubø (born 6 April 1992 in Tønsberg, Norway) is a Norwegian musician and DJ in the genre electronica, also known as Proviant Audio. He is the son of jazz vocalist Kjersti Stubø, grandson of jazz guitarist Thorgeir Stubø and nephew ...

, musician *

Vadim Demidov Vadim Sergeievich Demidov (; born 10 October 1986) is a Norwegian retired international footballer who played as a central defender. Early life Demidov was born in Riga, Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union, and is of Russian ethni ...

, football player *

Per Mathisen Per Mathisen (born 7 October 1969) is a Norwegian jazz bassist and composer who has worked with Terri Lyne Carrington, Geri Allen, Gary Thomas, Bill Bruford, Alex Acuña, Gary Husband, Ralph Peterson, Nguyen Le and Terje Rypdal. He is marri ...

, musician * Geir Ludvig Fevang, football player *

Kevin Larsen Kevin Larsen (born 10 May 1986) is a Norwegian footballer who plays left back for Sandefjord. He also has matches for the Norway national under-21 football team. He previously played for Store Bergan and Runar in his home town Sandefjord, bef ...

, football player *

Mats Haakenstad Mats Haakenstad (born 14 November 1993) is a Norwegian footballer who plays as right back who last played for Kongsvinger. A career highlight was winning the 2017 Norwegian Football Cup with Lillestrøm SK Lillestrøm Sportsklubb is a Norwe ...

, football player * Ole Breistøl, football player *

Sofie Karoline Haugen Sofie Karoline Haugen (born 22 April 1995) is a Norwegian speed skater. She won a bronze medal in team sprint at the 2018 European Speed Skating Championships in Kolomna, Russia, along with Martine Ripsrud and Anne Gulbrandsen. Haugen partici ...

, ice skater * Tormod Bjørnetun Haugen, ice skater *

Simeon Thoresen Simeon Thoresen (born March 14, 1984) is a Norwegian mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division of Cage Warriors. A professional competitor since 2006, he formerly competed for the UFC, DEEP, and BAMMA. Mixed martial ...

, mixed martial artist * Magnus Søndenå, handball player

Notable faculty

Øystein Havang Øystein Havang (born 3 September 1964) is a Norwegian handball player. He won national titles with Sandefjord TIF, and played for the national team over a period of ten years. Biography Havang was born on 3 September 1964. He played 187 mat ...

, handball player * Karl Erik Bøhn, handball player * Hans Mathisen, musician * Kristine Duvholt Havnås, handball player * Roger Kjendalen, handball player * Per Ramberg, former mayor of

* Gunnar Pettersen, handball player * Tonje Larsen, handball player * Olaf Alfred Hoffstad, former mayor of Sandefjord

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.vfk.no/sandefjord-vgs Sandefjord Buildings and structures in Sandefjord International Baccalaureate schools in Norway Secondary schools in Norway Educational institutions established in 1997 1997 establishments in Norway