Gimnazija Vič is a secondary school in Slovenia that was established in 1929. It has approximately 740 students aged 14-19. The school employs a headmistress, deputies, teachers, teaching assistants, secretaries, accountants, and other staff. The core subjects of Math, Slovene, English, History, and PE are required all four years. Other subjects like Chemistry, Biology, Physics, and foreign languages are required for the first few years. Students can select optional subjects in their third year and subjects for their final exams in fourth year. The school year is divided into two semesters from September to January and January to June. Students have weekly breaks and longer holidays between terms.

1. Gimnazija Vič
in 1929
47
740
14-19 a headmistress, two deputies, a secretary for school
leaving exams (Matura), a school psychologist, a
computer support specialist,
a secretary, two accountants, chemistry, biology and
physics teaching assistants, cooks, two school
caretakers, cleaning ladies ...
Math, Slovene, English, History, P.E. and the second foreign language (French,
Italian, German, Spanish) – throughout the 4 years
Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Geography – during the first 3 years
Information technology – in the first 2 years (not for students who choose a third
foreign language)
Art, Music, Sociology, Psychology, Philosophy – only for 1 year (Music and Art – in
the 1st
grade, Sociology – in the 2nd
grade; Psychology – in the 3rd
grade; Philosophy –
in the 4th
grade)
In our second year we can choose between Information
technology and a third foreign language. In the third year
we have to choose 3 optional subjects (a sort of preparation
for the school leaving exams in the fourth year – we can
choose from all the subject we have studied or are
studying, except for P.E., and Music). In the fourth year we
choose 2 subjects for Matura (our school leaving exam) –
besides 7 obligatory subjects.
We have books, student books and
we also receive many handouts.
We have e-classrooms, where some of the
teachers upload some teaching/learning
materials. In some classes we have to use
computers but not very often.
We only use computers in Information
technology class and we use them to
program robots. Most teachers use
computers (they have PPT
presentations).
We have 2 terms; the first one starts
on the 1st
September and ends on
the 20th
January, and the second
one starts on the 21st
January and
ends on the 24th
June.
It changes once a year –
between terms.
We have 1 week long holidays every 2 months (at
the end of October; at Christmas; at the end of
February and at the beginning of May) and we
have a long summer break from the end of June
until the end of August. We also stay at home on
national holidays, such as Independence day,
Statehood day, etc.
We start at 8 am with the first lesson. After each lesson
we have a 5 minute break except after the third one when
we have a 30 min break for snack and we finish school
between 12:30 and 3 pm.
Each lesson is 45 minutes long. Sometimes we also have a
double period (90 minutes), especially at P.E. and Slovene.
We also have double periods in the 3rd
and 4th
year
(optional subjects for Matura).
We have a class that includes 32 students and at some
subjects it stays like that for 4 years. But at English and
German/French we sometimes have split groups (in the
2nd
and 3rd
year) when a half of the class has a lesson
with our language teacher and the other half with a
native speaker (in our school we have native speakers
of English, French and German). At P.E. we are divided
into group according to gender – boys have a male
teacher and girls a female one. In the 3rd
year we mix
classes when it comes to optional subjects – we stay in
a classroom with students from other classes and the
groups are of different size (from 15 to 30 students).
It’s similar in the 4th
year with optional subjects for
Matura. And in the 4th
year we also have extra lessons
for higher level English and Math where we are, again,
divided into groups of students from different classes.
In most classrooms we have 34 desks
with chairs; a whiteboard (in some
classrooms a blackboard), a computer
and a projector. In some classrooms
we have separate desks for each
student, so there are 68 desks with
chairs – we normally write tests in a
classroom like this. We also have an
auditorium for 100 people, where we
normally have lectures by experts
(university teachers, etc.) who come to
visit us on a monthly basis.
We address them with Mr./Mrs. and their last
name or professor (and sometimes their last
name). We never call them by their first name.
We have Wi-Fi available for our phones and
computers and we also have computers available in
Information technology classroom. We use computers
for various reasons – usually at Information
technology lessons, but sometimes also at other
subjects. Teachers have an online gradebook, so they
use computers at the beginning of every lesson to see
who’s absent and for grading.
There is something different on
the menu every day. Normally we
have soup and then either pasta,
potatoes and meat, rice, salad...
We can also choose a vegetarian
menu which, for example, includes
grilled cheese instead of meat or
something similar.
During the short breaks between lessons (5 min)
we change classrooms (we almost never stay in
the same classroom) and then get ready for the
next lesson. We also chat a lot but in case of
having an exam that day we study in the hall.
During the long break (30 min) we eat our snack
and sometimes (if the weather is nice) go outside
where we have a yard with benches and trees.