Italian middle school: L. Coletti

‘Scuola Media Statale’ in Italian means ‘public lower secondary school’.

It is attended by students between the ages of 11 and 14.
This kind of school has three grades of classes: the first one (11 years old), the second one (12 years old) and the third one (13 years old).

At the end of the third year, the students have to pass an exam to go to the higher secondary school.
Our school is situated on the outskirts of Treviso. It has two buildings. The main one, with the administrative office, is in a district named S.Liberale, the other one, where I’m teaching , is in the S. Bona quarter, within walking distance.

The social context of these quarters is varied, because they are inhabited by an original group of families with economical and social disadvantages, alongside a more recent settling by middle classes families and nowadays also by a large number of migrants from the Balkan peninsula, Latin America, Africa and China.

The percentage of migrants is now between 10% and 15 %.
All students go to school from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. for five days a week (Saturday included) and from 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. one day a week. Often our students spend more time at school, in the afternoon, because they choose to do optional activities such as theatre, playing a musical instrument, sport… or, if they are weak in some subjects, they have extra classes.

The subjects taught in our school are: Italian, History, Geography, English, French, Mathematics, Natural Science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Ecology…), Technology, Music, Art, Sport, Catholic Religion (or an alternative lesson, depending on the choice of the parents) and Computer Science.

Mathematics and Science are taught by the same teacher for six hours a week.

Coletti school is also a centre of education for adults (mostly non EU).