Italy

Our school has about seven hundred pupils and one hundred teachers: 5 classes Kindergarten (3-5 years old), 20 classes primary school (6-10) and twelve classes lower secondary school (11-13). As regards programs, we follow the national indications for the curriculum of the kindergarten and the first cycle of education, in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Italian Republic and the Ministry of Education. At the kindergarten there are not subjects, but “fields of experience”, to stimulate children and start them socializing and schooling. At Primary and at Lower Secondary school we teach: Italian, mathematics, science, technology, history, geography, English, French, citizenship and constitution, PE, music, art, religion. The school is in the suburb of Naples, the biggest and the most important city of the South of Italy. The name of the district is San Giovanni a teduccio, in the east border of the city, a very disadvantaged area. The context of origin of our pupils is characterized by conditions of deprivation and socio-cultural and economic discomfort. Most of them are from separated families and they are at risk of social exclusion because they have socioeconomic problems. We teachers always are incredibly careful to them, and we aim to give them the possibility to enrich their lives with other experiences and models of life. In fact, most of our students come from not well-off families or from dysfunctional families. Many children are victims of unsecured conditions of living and the school represents for them a safe and secure place where they can feel good. In our school, there are several students with disabilities, too, who work with specialized teachers together with the teacher of the classroom. Some of our students are challenged with specific learning disabilities, which are seen as "Special Educational Needs". Being a part of this project gives our pupils an opportunity to develop the European identity. Good part of the families follows their children&#thirty-nine educational paths with interest and attention, supporting the school and thirty-nine educational initiatives with active participation in the collegial bodies. For some years now, local institutions have also started a multi-year environmental, social, and cultural requalification project. Due to this interest, the area is starting to register its first significant successes, thanks also to the active participation of the healthy part of the social fabric, which is involved in numerous associations of voluntary work that have collaborations with schools of every order and grade of the VI Municipality of Naples.