Online registration closed last week on the Ministry’s portal.
On Monday morning, our office received calls from alarmed parents, who hadn’t yet registered or were simply taking their time deciding on their child’s future school.
Is there still time?
What happens on the online portal if I don’t register my child?
Will there still be spaces in September?
We explained that nothing happens; the important thing is to decide by the start of the school year, which is September.
In fact, parents are still unsure; this marathon race to register by mid-February has led to a rush to open days, online interviews, and, in some ways, has caused a lot of confusion. It’s a big decision; you choose your future elementary school, your future middle school, or your future middle school.
In interviews with parents visiting to inquire about your future middle school or middle school, the most frequently asked questions concerned the specifics of our school. That is, it’s important for parents to understand Holden‘s strengths compared to other schools in the area. In every conversation, I emphasized the importance of language learning, supported by international organizations such as Cambridge University, with the introduction of the Cambridge Lower Secondary Program, which requires four subjects to be studied entirely in English, and the network agreement with the Confucius Institute of the University of Turin for Chinese language teaching. The choice of a second community language is also crucial for us: we chose Spanish because, after Chinese and English, it is the most widely spoken language in the world.
Another unique feature of our school is the adoption, for years now, of Finnish teaching methods. Not all parents are familiar with the key aspects of this new approach, which completely overturns classroom instruction in favor of learning by doing, a method that emphasizes experiential learning; flipped classroom (students study material at home through videos or readings and then work on practical exercises or projects in class); and cooperative learning, a method that promotes group work and collaboration among students to achieve common goals. Regarding mathematics, our school is equipped with a high-performance robotics lab, complete with a 3D printer, Lego Spike, and Arduino Creative.
One hour each week of the math and science classes is dedicated to robotics and STEM. The final question parents ask concerns the services offered by the school. Two shuttles travel within a 50 km radius of Chieri, taking students to school in the morning at 8:00 a.m. and returning them home in the afternoon at 5:00 p.m. The school also offers afternoon study, workshops, and language development classes, as well as a lunch service with the option of bringing lunch from home. At the end of the meeting, parents tour the classrooms, where the students keep their books in a personal closet, as well as their musical instruments.
We talk more about field trips, study trips to Ireland and Spain, and upcoming teacher training experiences thanks to Erasmus funding. We say goodbye with a smile and a handshake, thinking about the new school year and the ever-present excitement of meeting new students!
I wonder if the parents still need time or have already chosen our school? Even if they take a few more days to make their decision, nothing happens; the important thing is to make the right choice for their children.
