Our educational project
The Saint Denis School, during its thirty years experience in teaching, has increasingly sought to respond adequately to the demands of the Families. To this end, it developeds a bilingual educational project structured as it follows:
On the one hand, the School teaches the disciplines contained in the Ministerial Directions for the Curriculum for Primary School in the following areas:
ARTISTIC-LINGUISTIC-EXPRESSIVE AREA
- Italian
- English
- French
- Music
- Art and Image
- Body - Movement - Sport
HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL AREA
- History
- Geography
MATHEMATICAL -SCIENTIFIC-TECHNOLOGICAL AREA
- Mathematics
- Natural and Experimental Sciences
- Technology
The programming is the work of each teacher, but it is duty of the whole Teaching Team and of the Directorate to harmonize the various educational proposals by developing a P.O.F. (Piano Offerta Formativa) of the School.
Through the study of curricular subjects, the children acquire, therefore, a solid foundation and a valid method of study.
On the other hand, the School provides a fundamental importance to the English language.
The Saint Denis School is convinced that children should acquire a sense of belonging to their own nation by studying its language, culture, customs and morals, but, at the same time, they should begin to feel "citizens of the world".
To this end, it is essential that children learn to speak and write in the most used language worldwide: English.
How is English studied at Saint Denis School?
Notwithstanding the fact that curricular subjects such as Italian, mathematics, history and geography are taught by Italian teachers strictly in Italian, foreign language learning takes place:
- through the teaching of English language as a discipline (grammar, conversation, learning habits and customs of English-speaking peoples);
- through the use of C.L.I.L. (Content and Language Integrated Learning).
This method, in use at our School for the past ten years, will teach a curricular subject in English.
The C.L.I.L. method is not just studying a language, nor just studying subject, but a mix of both.
The Saint Denis School uses C.L.I.L. adapting it to the age of the kids to whom it is addressed, without, however, making the child an "robot" but making a "protagonist" of his learning.
Some subjects are therefore exclusively held in English mainly by native speaker teachers. These teachers are, however, fully aware of the Italian language: this eases the relationship between the teacher and the pupil for what concerns both the teaching aspect as the eventual help that children with more difficulties in understanding could need.
French
French is studied as a Second Community Language at Saint Denis School, starting from the first class of primary school for a total of 2 hours per week.
The study of English and French is being strengthened also with the voluntary participation of children in the Game in English and French.