1st: School, of course - Part 2

There is plenty of differences between the two secondary school systems.
Firstly the age of official state exams: in Italy at 14 and 19 yo, in the UK at 7, 11, 16 (GCSE)  and 18 (A level) yo. This discrepancy creates obstacles when families want to move between the two Countries. (To be honest, the problem isn't limited to the UK and Italy: across Europe, relocating is easy if children are younger than 14 and older than 19, in between the difficulties could forbid the project.)
A small note about the GCSE: if a student has studied 10 subjects in the years 9 to 11, he has to do 10 GCSEs; most of them are organised in 3 or 4 "papers", this is the reason why the GCSE lasts one month on average.
Secondly, the subjects. If there aren't big differences until year 11 - Seconda Superiore (in both systems pupils study 10 or 11 subjects, depending on their choices), from Y12, British pupils choose 3 or 4 subjects which they deepen a lot, because the average school timetable includes 8 lessons per weeks for each.
Thirdly: in Italy, after the Maturità, pupils can choose almost every university path. Obviously, if he studied something very technical like, for instance, information technology he hardly could study classical at Uni but it's not forbidden. In the UK pupils have to have the right A-levels: with Maths-Further Maths-physics-chemistry you cannot choose English Lit! This could be a big problem for pupils uncertain about their future carrier, but I reckon that it's almost the same in Italy when someone chooses the wrong secondary school. More or less...
Fourthly: the university applications. For us, what we do at school is enough to apply at the university. Yes, sometimes they want an English certification but nowadays every good school provides pupils with specific courses and exams. Here it's quite different because applicants have to demonstrate, not only to be passionate about the subject they want to study, but also to be "whole": active in their community with a voluntary job in some local charity for examples, with some work experiences either in the chosen field or in other activities, to be able to work with elderly people or with children, to sing in the church choir or to perform in the local theatre association. Not everything, of course, but something. They learn how to plan the right path to reach the goal, they choose from several activities their favourite, they learn that the school is only one, although the most important, of the necessary engagement for reach their target.

That's all, thank you for reading this claptrap (nice word!), next time I'll be shorter, I promise  😊

1st: School, of course! - Part 1

Preamble: this is the draft of a speech I have to do as a mock oral examination. I know it's boring, please forgive me!

For personal experience, I obviously know and understand the Italian school system. Now, after I've lived one year in the UK, I begin to have an idea about how the British school system works.
Due to my followers' nationality (some of them are Italian, but others come from different countries), I'll explain both systems, hoping not to be too boring ;-)
In Italy, kids usually begin their school life at 3, when they attend the "scuola dell'infanzia": it is not mandatory and it lasts 3 years. In this school, children learn to stay and play together, to respect rules and other people. They also learn to use pencils, scissors, glue, and to follow the teachers' instructions. In some school, they do physical education and English, always playing of course!
The school is mandatory to 6 until 16. "At 6" means that in September of the year in which the child turns 6 he starts the school, also if he's only 5 because he's born between September and December (me, for instance). In the UK it is different: "at 6" means that the children have already turned 6 before the 31st of August.
In Italy, primary school lasts 5 years, between 6 and 11, in the UK it starts one year before.
From 11 to 14 we have the "Scuola Media" (the legal name is "Scuola Secondaria di Primo Grado", but everyone calls it "Scuola Media" because it's shorter and clearer). At the end of that, pupils take the "Esame di Stato", a compulsory exam required to enrol to secondary schools.
There are three big families of secondary schools:
1) Licei, academic schools designed to prepare for the pursuance of university studies, they last 5 years, after that, we have the "Maturità" a formal state exam, compulsory to go to the university.
2) Istituti Tecnici, technical school, they provide an education orientated to specific jobs but often enough to go to University. They last 5 years and finish with the Maturità.
3) Istituti Professionali, Vocational schools, last 3 to 5 years, after 5 years is possible to take the Maturità and try to go to the university but it is really difficult to succeed.
In the UK, at 11 yo ( Y6 at school) pupils have to do the  SATs before the admission at the secondary school. Then, at 16 yo (Y11 at school) they must do the GCSEs: pupils have to pass an exam (2 to 4 papers each) for every single subject they have studied during the past three years (from Y9 to Y11). It is a very important certification, because of three reasons: first, it is the "piece of paper" that sanctions the fulfilment of the mandatory school; second, it is necessary to be enrolled to sixth forms or other schools; third, universities, as well as some employers, look at the GCSE's result (mostly English and Maths). The GCSE certificate follows you along your life.
To be continued...

You know me...

I've invited four or five people to follow this blog and all of you know me sufficiently (😊), so it isn't necessary to introduce myself!
It will be quiet challenging for me to write something entertaining and stimulating every single week, but, I hope, not so difficult for you to read it.
So, what have I to say? Let's start!