Scuola Media Parsifal

Parsifal Middle School

Parsifal Middle School is a non-state, state-approved middle school. As a rule, there are two sections for each class. The teaching staff consists of personnel who meet the requirements of cantonal regulations. The programs, admission and certification criteria, compulsory attendance, school calendar, weekly and daily timetable are in line with the regulations in force in cantonal middle schools. The school has a canteen and offers a guided study service that students can sign up for one or more days a week. From the first year of middle school, students can attend an extracurricular English course.

The Parsifal middle school aims to be a place where children feel welcome and valued for who they are. The school's task, together with the family, is to educate children to take responsibility and engage in increasingly demanding school work, in order to encourage each individual's freedom. What is learned with effort and enjoyment, together with what happens in and outside of school, is evaluated by comparing it with personal experiences shared with teachers and classmates. Students, teachers, and parents participate together in school life, each with their own responsibilities and tasks. Particular attention is paid to the needs of the children.

As a teaching method, children are encouraged to observe and develop their independent thinking, and their creativity and expressive abilities are fostered. For example, the morphosyntax method is used to teach Italian grammar. This methodology guides students to reflect on language through observation of the linguistic structures present in texts, preparing them not only for the study of their own language but also of other foreign languages. In this way, children are gradually educated to think about linguistic structures and functions.

An interdisciplinary approach is preferred among the subjects taught. In particular, we would like to highlight the Musical experience, which is offered every year by the eighth-grade classes. For the second half of the school year, the visual arts and music teachers collaborate in the artistic production of a theatrical performance staged at the end of the year for an audience of parents and friends. The creation of sets and costumes, as well as the production of songs and acting, is carried out entirely by the students under the guidance of their teachers.

There is active collaboration between teachers of the same subject, which is expressed in joint planning. In the so-called subject groups, there is active discussion on teaching methods, curriculum differentiation, and the results that lead, for example, to the same tests being administered simultaneously in the same classes of different sections. Some subjects or topics are taught in co-teaching. We would also like to mention the collaboration with the Il Piccolo Principe elementary school, an example of which is the work of comparison and verification with regard to the teaching of French and Italian grammar. This collaboration, in addition to achieving specific educational objectives, emphasizes the unity of purpose and vision of the educational community.

In addition to traditional guidance activities, during the second cycle of middle school, during class time, students are offered a number of meetings with guests who are close to them, to discover various possible paths. Former students, university students, or apprentices talk about their experiences starting from the choices they made after eighth grade. In addition, for several years now, Parsifal Middle School has been participating in the Lift project, which, thanks to weekly internships and the support offered by tutor teachers, promotes early entry into the world of work.