“FRANCESCO ORESTANO” SCHOOL PRESENTS…..

ITALY IS OUR COUNTRY

Location of Italy ( in orange) in the European continent

Capital city: Roma

Official language: Italian

Government: Parliamentary republic

President:Giorgio Napolitano

PHISICAL ASPECTS Due of its geographical position, Italian climate and landscapes

can be very different:

Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy

Monte Bianco (White Mountain,the highest mountain in the Alps)

Chianti vineyards on the Tuscanian

hills

PositanoAt the Amalfi coast is a well known touristicplace

ECONOMYItaly is well-known for its influential and innovative business economic sector, an industrious and

competitive agricultural sector, and for its creative and high-quality automobile, industrial, appliance and fashion design. Italy is the world's 7th largest exporter of goods.

Italy's major exports and companies by sector are:

• motor vehicles,

• chemicals and petrochemicals,

• energy and electrical engineering;

• home appliances,

• aerospace and defense technologies,

• firearms,

• fashion,

• food processing

• sport and luxury vehicles, yachts

Another important and growing sector of national economy is tourism.

Infact, with 43.7 million international tourist arrivals and total receipts estimated at $42.7 billion,

Italy is the fourth highest tourism earner and the fifth most visited country in the world.

CULTURE AND ARTSItaly has a central place in the Western culture. Italian people have contributed

significantly to world culture and to scientific and technological progress continuously since ancient times.

1. Dante Alighieri, His Divine Comedyis often considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature

2. Leonardo da Vinci, painter, sculptor,musician, engeener,scientist,inventor,mathematician of Renaissance

3. Alessandro Manzoni, one of 19th century Italy's greatest literary figures

4. Giuseppe Verdi,one of the most influential composers of the 19th century. His works are frequently performed

in opera houses throughout the world.5. Guglielmo Marconi, the first to develop the wireless

broadcasting, known as radio 6. Enrico Fermi, the discoverer of neutron chain reaction and

builder of the first atomic pile

1 2 3 4 5 6

The Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, one of the most famous, most reproduced and most parodied portraits of all time

OUR REGION: SICILYSicily is one of the twenty regions of Italy

• Capital: Palermo

• Government President:

Rosario Crocetta

• Total Area- 25,708 km2 (9,925.9 sq mi)

• Total Population 5,043,083

• Density

196.2/km2 (508.1/sq mi)

The flag of Sicily,

is regarded as a regional icon.

It was first adopted in 1282,

It is characterized by the presence of the

Triskelion(Trinacria) in its middle:

the winged head of Medusa and three

wheat ears.

The three bent legs are supposed

to represent the three points of

the island.

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea,comprising an autonomous region of Italy. Minor islands around it, such as the Aeolian or the Aegadis,are part of Sicily. Its official nameis Regione Autonoma Siciliana (Sicilian Autonomous Region).

ABOUT SICILY

Mount Etna is the largest volcano of Europe

Sicily, like all regions of Italy, has its own rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine, architecture and language.The Sicilian economy is largely based on agriculture (mainly orange,lemon, and olive orchards); this same rural countryside has attracted significant tourism, as its natural beauty is highly regarded.Sicily also holds importance for archeological and ancient sites such as the Necropolis of Pantalica and the Valley of the TemplesThere are continuous excavations that occur in Sicily due to its extensive history.

Archaeological Area of Agrigento

Duomo di Siracusa, an example of Sicilian Baroque architecture.

Cannoli, a highly popular pastry associated with Sicilian cuisine

The Sicilian cart (or carretto Siciliano in Italian and carrettu Sicilianu in Sicilian ) is an ornate, colorful style of horse or donkey-drawn cart. 

OUR TOWN: PALERMO

Palermo is the capital of both the autonomus region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its rich history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence:it is over 2,700 years old. Palermo is located in the northwest of the island of Sicily, right by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian See. 

Coat of arms of PalermoCoat of arms of the province of Palermo

San Giovanni degli Eremiti’ domes show elements of Arab architecture

Street market in Palermo

The Cathedral

Educational SystemOur country has both public and private education system: public

education is free and compulsory from 6 to 15 years. Inside this period the educational curriculum is uniform: one can attend private or state funded

schools, the subjects studied are the same, except in special schools ( for blind or other special needs).

Today there are two stages of education in Italy, firstly the primary and then secondary:

• Primary school lasts five years and is commonly preceded by three years of non-compulsory kindergarten.The subjects studied are: Italian, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, Art, Music, English, Sport, Tecnology,Social Sciences.

• Secondary school is divided in 1. First-grade secondary school or Middle school2. Second-grade secondary school or High schoolMiddle school (Scuola Media) lasts three years and includes an exam at the end of the third

yearHigh school (Scuola Superiore) usually lasts five years and ends with an exam that grands

access to the University. There are several types of High Schools with different subjects and activities, the main difference is between Liceo, Istituto Tecnico and Istituto Professionale; the second and the third types are more job oriented schools and give the opportunity to get a diploma after three years.There are also several types of Liceo. All of the Licei have some subjects in common, such as Italian Literature, or Mathematics (although the effective number of hours spent on each subject varies), while other subjects are peculiar to a particular type of Liceo (i.e. ancient Greek in the Liceo Classico or Geometrical Drawing in the Liceo Artistico)

Inside the Italian University system there are two main degrees: a three years lasting Bachelor’s Degree or Laurea triennale and a following two years Laurea specialistica or Master’s Degree

.

Our SchoolThe.”F.Orestano”School is a Pre-Primary and Primary school. It is located in the Eastern sub-urban area of Palermo,

called Brancaccio.This area, first a green, agricultural area, became, during the middle of the XX.century an industrial suburb with a considerable increasing of population coming from the other sides of the town..As many others suburban areas of big cities, to that wild population growth didn’t correspond a cultural development and a correct planning of spaces .No parks or public gardens for children and old people, streets are often the only possibilily for children to

play. Today the social context is heterogeneous and includes middle-class families but also a large number of families with economics, cultural and social problems.Therefore children and young people often show learning difficulties and are at risk Drop-out. In such a context education has a very important cultural role and schools have to work for social

inclusion.

This is our School Staff

Mrs. Palma Sicuro is our school head-master

There are forty-five teachers in our school

Our school consists of four buildings:

About 600 children attend our school.Primary school pupils attend their lessons five days a week from 8:00 a.m. till 2:00 p.m.They have Saturday free. Pre-Primary pupils also stay at school five days a week from 8:00 till 1:00 p.m or, full time, from 8:00 till 4:00 p.m. Above some examples of learning opportunities our pupils have during school time

School collaboration with other Institutions

•Project: “School goes toTheatre” in collaboration with Theatre Massimo

Our childeren act as touristic guides in the Project “Palermo opens the doors:School adopts a monument”

We are involved in several projects to promote legality in our country

Families are welcome in our school:

You are welcome too, European friends!