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DAY 1 (2024/04/22)
Today we started our experience at the "Istituto Comprensivo Mentana" 35 minutes from Rome. This public school has two buildings: San Giorgio and Brunnelleschi, the second one being a new and modern building. First thing in the morning we were welcomed by Federica and Cinzia, English teachers and representatives of the Erasmus + project. Our first activity was a guided tour of the facilities. The first thing that caught our attention is that children from Kindergarden, Primary and first years of Secondary are together in the same school, there are even primary and secondary classes in the same corridor.
As mentioned by colleagues who visited a school in Genova, primary and secondary students take two 10-15 minute breaks during the school day (8:00-13:30) inside the classroom. This year they have started an activity with the primary students, called "Active Patterns", which consists of doing some stretching exercises during the break to promote healthy habits.
The number of students per class is approximately 23. On some occasions, they have the support teacher continuously in the classroom to help students with specific educational support needs.
In Kindergarden, students are not grouped by age, as it is usual in the centers of Euskadi. Thus, we have been able to see students of 3, 4 and 5 years old in the same class. Curiously, we were struck by the resemblance between their infant classrooms and ours, as shown in the photos.
First we have attended a class of social and civic values, where they have explained that today was the day of planet Earth and they have talked about the importance of recycling. In the second hour we have seen the students doing an activity that is part of a UNICEF project, where they create spaces that encourage communication between them. In the next session we were introduced to a STEAM activity, whose objective is to work on healthy habits among the students. To do this they had to make a collage with healthy food dishes. To end the day we attended a literature class, where they studied James Joyce.
DAY 2 (2024/04/23)
Today we were also welcomed by Federica and Cinzia.
In the first session we have seen a traditional English session. We noticed that the students stood up when we came in the classroom. When we asked about this, they answered that they have the habit that when a teacher or a school worker enters the classroom the students must get up.
Continuing with the English session, Cinzia told us that primary school students have three English sessions, but many times they do not respect them. As this session is in Middle school (6th grade), they do respect the timetable. The English teachers make a great effort to improve the children's oral expression and follow two mottos: "Learning by doing" and "The more you speak the better you speak".
In the next session we met with Federica and Valentina (Spanish teacher) and they explained us some things about the school.
The school has approximately 1200 students and 140 teachers. As we mentioned yesterday, the school has two buildings and their intention is to make Brunelleschi a Secondary School Building.
About five years ago it was necessary to build a new school, Brunelleschi, because the population of Mentana has grown a lot in the last years. One of the reasons for this growth is the amount of students coming from abroad who generally come from the east of Europe (Poland, Albania, Romania...).
In addition to commenting on these aspects, they also talked to us about some of their educational projects:
Extracurricular activities: sports, drama, therapeutic music, laboratory and photography are the most successful.
"Reading is cool": this name has been chosen with the intention of playing with the word school. In this project they read classic literature (one chapter each month) and later they answear some questions and reflect on what they have read.
"Continuata": we found this project very interesting and it is done during the three stage changes that the students make. When the stage is about to end, they usually have a couple of visits to the first year of the next stage to reassure the children a little.
Later we watched a geography session. The project that is going on at the moment is called "The place of my heart". The project is a CLIL project, so they are working on Geography and English at the same time.
Each student has to choose an Italian village that he/she likes very much and prepares an exposition about it to explain it to their classmates.
To conclude the day, we went to a 4th grade lesson. When we arrived they had prepared a play based on a book. Later they sang a song for us and we danced a little with the children.
DAY 3 (2024/04/24)
First thing in the morning Cinzia and Federica prepared a delicious Italian breakfast for us.
Before starting the next session we had the opportunity to spend some time with a student who was taking the INVALSI exam (diagnostic test). As we do, the test is done using the computer and aims to measure the level of Italian, Maths and English.
The second session we have seen was an English class of 4th grade. As the teacher explained to us before starting, in order to have a calmer start, she plays three songs in the computer. Afterwards, we listened to two comics and at the end of the audios, the teacher translated the second one with the help of the students.
At the end of the session, we drove to the San Giorgio building. As we said on Monday, San Giorgio is an older building. The headmistress of the school, the secretary and a representative of the town hall welcomed us and showed us around the school.
Later, as part of the MUOVINSIEME project, we took a 20 minute walk around the village to learn about healthy habits.
To finish the day we went back to the Brunelleschi building and enjoyed a music session. This time the teacher played two songs and sitting in small groups we had to paint what the music made us feel. To finish, we titled our drawing and explained it to the others.
DAY 4 (2024/04/26)
Today we went on a trip to Rome with a class from the second year of primary school. To get there we took a 45 minute bus journey. This activity has been organised taking advantage of the fact that one of the teachers of the school has been a tourist guide for many years. As the students were young, we only made two stops: Castle Sant'Angelo and a nearby square. We enjoyed the excursion very much, but as Rome was full of people, we ended up very tired.
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