The linguistic high school is a school oriented towards curiosity about other cultures: the study of three foreign languages for five years has many values because, in addition to allowing students to acquire communicative skills in community languages (English, Spanish, German, or French), it enables young people to learn, even in a comparative way, about the culture of nearby and distant people, overcoming prejudices and stereotypes.
While not neglecting a solid basic preparation, other disciplines are marked by this strong approach. For example, the study of Italian is carried out in a way to master the mother tongue both to ensure adequate expressive skills and to aid in the learning of foreign languages. Another example can be made for Latin, scheduled for the first two years, essential to consolidate grammatical and etymological skills and to facilitate the comparison between different languages through the recognition of the common Latin root (for French and Spanish) or to highlight structural differences (for English, German - which is similar to Latin in the use of declensions).
Transversal to all disciplines is the work on scientific and mathematical languages, as well as the acquisition of tools for analysing texts of all kinds.
Our linguistic high school has obtained the recognition of the status of Equal Private School with ministerial decree no. 639 of 28-06-2016.
Regarding the international pathway, the workload is different but still allows students to take some IGCSE courses such as Biology to achieve scientific skills in Italian and English different from those provided by the institutional curriculum. The following chart compares the teaching hours in Italian compared to foreign languages
Here are some of our characteristics:
- Attention to the needs of students;
- Scientific and humanistic subjects taught in both English and Italian;
- International certification of language skills;
- IGCSE Science laboratory covering Chemistry and Biology subjects;
- The curriculum includes English, Spanish, and German as core languages;
- In the case of mid-year or triennial transfers, if a student has studied other languages such as French, Russian, or Chinese, it may be possible to continue studying the language through individual courses;
- Theatre and dramatization (English Drama) in the first two years;
- Counselling service for students and families;
- Sharing of the “workload“ between students and teachers;
- Cultural and linguistic exchanges abroad;
- International certification of language skills;
- Synergy and collaboration with families;
- Digital innovation;
- Alternative emotional education laboratory as an alternative to Religion.
The educational objectives focus on the international certifications of the core curriculum languages studied. Other exams are related to the Cambridge curriculum and are associated with subjects taught in English.
Linguistic high school students can choose to participate in courses such as Maths, Science, or History from the classes of the Humanities curriculum and continue their academic path aimed at obtaining the Italian high school diploma (maturitĂ italiana).
Our typical day is structured in the following manner:
We are a private school, and the final examination takes place within our institution. With the state diploma issued by the Linguistic High School of the International School of Pavia, students can access all university faculties. Thanks to the courses conducted in English during the school cycle, there will be enhanced mathematical and scientific skills in both English and Italian.
Study trips have a strong educational value and are closely linked to the annual programming. Each year, students are offered at least two experiences abroad in sister schools.