Slovenia

Osnovna Sola Pivka

Osnovna šola Pivka is a medium-sized primary/lower secondary school of general education with 460 students from 6-15 years of age and 40 teachers. It has nine grades which are divided into three triads - grades 1, 2, 3 / grades 4, 5, 6 / grades 7, 8, 9. At the end of the first and second triad students must take a national proficiency exam in Maths, L1 and the first foreign language (English). In 9th grade, students take their school-leaving exams, which include Maths, L1 and a third subject, chosen by the Ministry of Education. These exams play an important role in getting accepted into certain secondary schools. Our school is situated in a socio-economically threatened area mainly due to high unemployment. Statistics have shown that it ranks among the lowest economically developed areas in the country. This is especially true due to the recession that our country has been experiencing. Young people have been forced to look for jobs elsewhere. Some of them commute to work, but in many cases families move as well. Students who are socially threatened are strongly committed to the career guidance topic, which is part of the curriculum. We have activated several networks with local enterprise and secondary schools in the region. The school pedagogue expert sometimes joins the teacher during the lesson or gives extra lessons and offers these students additional help and support.