Italy

The  school “Centro Storico Moncalieri” is a multi-degree school which includes 3 levels of education: nursery school (3 to 5 years old children); primary school (6 to 11 years old); secondary school (11 to 14 years old students).

The I.C. “Centro Storico” is located in a town of 56,884 inhabitants, Moncalieri, in the metropolitan area of the biggest city of Turin, Piedmont.

The social context is characterized by a certain number of well-off-people but there are also a good number of families having social and/or economic difficulties.

The percentage of foreign students is about  20%, 10% of which coming from Romania. Foreigners also come from Africa and other countries. Furthermore, the presence of travellers is about 5%.

Our institute includes many school buildings: we’ve got three nursery schools; three primary schools and a secondary school, for a total of 655 students, of which 129 immigrants. We also have a large number of disadvantaged in the learning area.

Our schools should face some relevant social end educational problems, such as difficulties of the divorced parents or educational inadequacy.

Specialized teachers, according with the rest of the team, take care of all students’ special needs (disabilities, learning difficulties, etc…).  These students are all included in normal classes.

The town Council offers the following facilities: a rich, public library; various educational centres and events; many sport courses at a low cost, especially for children and young people, often developed in collaboration with our schools.

The whole educational community promotes inclusive education and personalized learning through a territorial network (teachers, families, doctors, psychologists, social and educational services and others). There is a deep sharing of information and skills, aiming to create a common, useful  background,   from the diagnosis to the treatment of the special needs.

In I.C. Centro Storico Moncalieri we develop mutual aid and collaboration in learning and teaching, sharing our good practices, in an inclusive optical which moves from the single person requirement to the whole educative community, facilitating the reception of all children, whose experience is usually very different and variegated in our schools. Our institute offers many particular services, such as different frames and help desks conducted by psychologists and other experts  or specific training for teachers and parents.

To enrich our work we collaborate with cultural services, such as art museums and associations.

We harness them to promote varied activities centred on an intercultural exchange.