International School Brescia is recognised by the Ministry of Education as a “foreign school in Italy, recognised by an external authorisation“. The school acknowledges the importance of the native language both to improve cognitive development and reinforce the cultural identity of the student, and to construct a solid foundation upon which further language learning can happen. ISBrescia aims to provide international students with an Italian experience, and at the same time provide Italian students with a unique experience to develop a global perspective without losing their Italian cultural heritage.
The school’s Italian programme has been developed following a solid structure, based on the IB philosophy and allowing close links between the learning of English and the learning of Italian, ensuring that the students cover the content of the ministerial programme of Italian where appropriate and preparing them to sit the state exams at the end of Primary School (PYP5) and the end of Middle School (MYP3) in a local Italian school.
Italian in the PYP (3-11 years): ISBrescia is committed to supporting and challenging native Italian students in their learning, providing 5 weekly lessons from PYP1 to PYP5. Our Italian programme is characterised by the following:
- Learning objectives and skills align with the Italian State programme for primary schools
- Lessons adhere to the requirements of the PYP
- Additional activities and library projects
- Development of Creative writing skills
Students who are learning Italian as an Additional Language follow a different IAL programme, which allows them to begin to learn the language of our host country in a structured but interactive way.
Italian in the MYP (11-16 years): The programme is designed to cater to the needs of all our students, regardless of their native language or home country. As our host country is Italy, we believe that all students should have some knowledge of Italian. The MYP Italian programme is characterised by the following:
- Language A: Language and Literature
- Language B: Language Acquisition (Italian as an additional language)
- Lessons adhere to the requirements of the MYP
- In depth study of the literary genres: poetry, prose, biographies, novels, satire, letters, play scripts
- Additional activities and library projects
Italian in the DP (16-19 years): The IB DP programme is internationally recognised as a high school qualification which grants access to university and provides an excellent preparation for the challenges of higher education. An IB Diploma from ISB is the equivalent of completing the “maturità” (end of high school) exam from a linguistic or scientific path of study in a high school, providing that the students choose study paths according to the law and amendments in the “D.M. 18 ottobre 2010, applicativo del D.P.R. 2 agosto 2010”.
The DP Italian programme is characterised by:
- Language A: Language and Literature
- Language B: Language Acquisition (Italian as an additional language)
- Language ab initio (SL): Acquisition language course for students without any prior knowledge of the language.
- Additional activities and library projects
- Lessons adhere to the requirements of the DP
