Srednja skola Hvar

School webpage:

There are approximately 300 students and 50 teachers in four programmes of our school: a gymnasium and three vocational programmes (tourism, catering and agriculture). Students are aged 15-19 and they learn two foreign languages. All of them learn English and they choose the second foreign language – Italian, French or German. Grammar school students also learn Latin. Vocational programmes include apprentice which is carried out in local hotels, travel agencies and restaurants.

Our students are very interested in various co-curriculum and extra-curriculum activities. Therefore there are many groups they can join – archaeology, sport, ecology, journalism, photography, IT and voluntary group. There are also a choir, music band and drama club and they perform plays and musicals several times a year. During the last three years students gladly participated in Erasmus+ projects.

Furthermore, our school cooperates with local partners such as the Red Cross, Tourist Board, Association of Craftsmen and Grad Hvar - the local government.

The cooperation with the Red Cross organization consists of humanitarian education, fundraising, health protection, voluntary blood donation and competition. Our students have won local and national competition several times.

The cooperation with the Tourist Board is carried out on many levels. The main aims are related to ecology and promotion – to protect and promote national values, such as cultural heritage and natural environment. Also, we developed a valuable cooperation with Tourist Board Hvar in one of our previous Erasmus+ projects when designing hiking routes and therefore promoting sustainable tourism.

A local Association of Craftsmen is a significant partner for vocational programmes. Students have taken part in numerous gastronomy festivals, competitions and other events, demonstrating their culinary skills and local products. They participated in Istanbul International Gastronomy Festival and they regularly join the International Competition of High Schools for Tourism and Hospitality ‘Gastro’, successfully demonstrating their skills, knowledge and competence in eight different categories.

The most important local partner is Grad Hvar – the local government. Our students participate in activities, events and public occasions, learning the importance of promoting cultural heritage and development of our community.

In association with local partners our school provides various opportunities for our students and their mentors to participate in promotion and protection of our cultural heritage and natural environment. Due to the participation in various competitions and festivals, our students learn to appreciate and represent their tradition – traditional dishes, customs, monuments and other important parts of the heritage. Voluntary and team work provides valuable experience, improves their language skills, vocational skills and increases creativity, which could be used in this project.

Our school participated in three Erasmus+ projects and we had a unique opportunity to do some research and promote our cultural heritage at international level. One of our projects dealt with Mediterranean milieu, architecture, UNESCO tangible and intangible heritage. Another project enabled presenting our literature and culture. The third project was about sustainable tourism and we had an opportunity to learn about different types of sustainable tourism and ways to promote it by visiting our partner schools. However, the most important outcome of that project was designing three hiking routes on our island and promoting ethno-eco villages. One of the conclusions that we drew was that we have to include the majority of students in similar activities and therefore give them an opportunity to become active citizens who promote sustainable tourism and protect our heritage. Unfortunately, Hvar has become a party destination and mass tourism on the coast is devastating. Local government and Tourist Board are now trying to change the current situation by promoting active and cultural tourism. Therefore our school has a valuable support of our local government, organizations and associations.

Activities organised annualy and related to this project theme:

Drama club – many students participate in this extracurricular activity and they perform plays and musicals several times a year.

Visiting a theatre – we organise a one day trip to Split and our students go to the national theatre to see dramas, operas and balet.

Poetry nights – in winter time we participate in poetry nights, which are organised by local a association in one of the authentic places, so-called konoba ‘Luvi’

Meeting the writers – during summer Pjover association organises a festival in a small, rural place in the inland. One of the festival’s activities is a literary event with a famous Croatian writer

School newspaper – our students do interviews and write reports for the school newspaper

International Gastro competition – students compete in presenting local cultural heritage and local cuisine

Free walking tour – students organise a free walking tour around Hvar town annualy to promote cultural heritage

In order to successfully organise activities for our partners in this project, we will cooperate with local associations and organisations Pjover, Tartajun, Cultural Heritage Museum Hvar, Tourist Board, Stari Grad Museum, Enhancement of the cultural landscape of Stari Grad, Archaeological Museum Split and the Association of Craftsmen.