Lower secondary school: the development of autonomy

The lower secondary school lasts three years and concludes the first cycle of studies which began with primary school. It is a compulsory milestone that takes place both in public and private schools. Its main purpose is to foster children’s autonomy development, providing them with adequate preparation to continue subsequent studies and training. The topics and the areas of study are specified at the national level.

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Education

The lower secondary school:
  • Enhances basic literacy through the disciplines’ specific languages and knowledge, understood as points of view on reality and ways of knowing, interpreting and representing the world.
  • Avoids fragmentation and a transmissive approach to knowledge, supporting students in organizing knowledge in an articulated way, so that they will become better at mastering and integrating their know-how.
  • Through disciplines competencies, it promotes the development of broader and cross skills, which benefit the personal fulfilment of the students and their active participation in a social life oriented towards civil cohabitation values and the common good.
  • Stimulates the growth of skills such as autonomous study and social interaction, thus, triggering students in taking an active role in their education and encouraging them in defining their own life project.
  • Organizes and develops through literacy and in-depth study of informatic technology, the know-how and the skills related to cultural tradition and social, cultural and scientific evolution of the contemporary times.
  • Provides opportunities to gain awareness of all the makings and personal resources, playing a fundamental educational and orientation role for the subsequent studies and training programmes.
  • Backs up the study of the English language, introduced starting from primary school, with the study of a second language of the European Union.

Organisation and timetable

The yearly mandatory timetable of the lessons corresponds to 990 hours in total, which means 29 hours per week plus 33 hours per year of in-depth teaching of the literary subjects. According to the spots’ availability and the activated services is possible to organize extended time classes for a total of 36 hours of teaching per week that can be upgraded to 40 by including the lunch break time.

Classes

According to the norm, the first classes of lower secondary school are structured with a minimum of 18 students and a maximum of 27 (which can become 28, except for the situation in which the school can form only one first class, in that case, the number of students can reach 30). For classes which welcome students having a disability, the number of students cannot be more than 20. In schools located on small islands, mountain districts or in minority language community areas, it is possible to structure classes with a minimum of 10 students. If, in the same areas, it is not possible to reach the minimum amount of students to structure first, second and third distinct classes, it is possible to create classes with students from different levels, which, however, cannot exceed the number of 18 students. According to the norm, the lower secondary school classes which welcome students having severe disabilities cannot exceed the number of 20 students (Article 5 Decree of the President of the Republic n.81 of 2009).

Study curriculum

The ministerial decree 254 of 2012 (National Recommendations for Preschool and the first cycle of studies curriculum) has identified the compulsory disciplines for lower secondary school students.
Law No. 92 of 20 August 2019 added to these disciplines the teaching of Civic Education, a cross-curricular discipline that covers all school grades and focuses on three main thematic cores: Constitution, sustainable development and digital citizenship.

Italian

English language and second community language

History

Geography

Mathematics

Science

Music

Art and Imagery

Physical Education

Technology

Catholic religious education, alternative activities, and languages studies

Catholic religious education is provided for one hour a week for students that avail themselves of it. Students who do not take advantage of this subject can choose between studying an alternative subject among those proposed by the school, assisted individual study or they can request delayed entry or early exit from school. The decree of the President of the Republic n.89 of 2009 (article 5) has identified the teaching timetable for each discipline or groups of disciplines for both ordinary time and extended time classes.
If requested by the families, and according to the teachers’ availabilities within the school and only if there is no staff redundancy, the two hours of second community language can be dedicated to strengthening the English language. Students coming from foreign countries who need to master basic communication skills can dedicate the hours normally allocated to the study of the second community language to studying the Italian language. The national curriculum guidelines have established targets for the development of the competencies and the learning objectives for each discipline.

The learning assessment

The assessment in lower secondary school is ordered by the legislation of April 13 2017, n.62 and is expressed in grades based on an out-of-ten scale which indicates the different learning levels for each discipline. For the students who avail themselves of the Catholic religious education or the alternative activity, the assessment of the student is carried out on a separate note through a short evaluation. The assessment is integrated with the description of the process and the overall level of learning development. The behaviour is assessed through a short evaluation reported in the evaluation document. In the third class, the students are involved in the national survey on the learning of the Italian language, mathematics, and English language according to the National regulations.

Programmes with specialisation in music

Following Regional School Office authorization and in compliance with the staff and equipment availability, some scholastic institutions can activate programmes with specialisation in music which add the study of a musical instrument and the musical practice to the traditional disciplines and are ordered by the interministerial decreet of July 1 2022, n.176 in actuation of the legislation of April 13 2017, n.60.
To access those programmes, students must undertake an orientation-aptitude evaluation meant to assess their aptitudes and direct them to the specific instrumental speciality among the four activated by the school and according to the available spots.
In the programmes with specialisation in music, both individual and collective instrumental lessons, theory and music reading, and ensemble music are carried out in three hours a week added to the normal timetable on a multi-week basis (99 per year). During the extended time classes, additional courses are carried out within the overall schedule. The teaching of the instrument is part of the personalized annual timetable and determines the validity of the school year for admission of the student to the subsequent classes, or the state exams and it is subject to periodic and final evaluation.

State exam for the conclusion of the first study cycle

The first cycle of studies ends with the state exam according to the procedures set out in the legislation of April 13 2017, n.62 and by the ministerial decree of October 3 2017, n.741.
State exame can be taken by students who have:
  • attended at least three-quarters of the personalized amount of hours within the timetable;
  • participated in the national tests of the Italian language, mathematics and English language organised by INVALSI;
  • not received the non-admission disciplinary sanctions;
Also, external candidates can be admitted to the state exam under the conditions specified in Article 3 of the legislation of April 13 2017, n.62. The exam consists of three written tests (Italian language or language in which teaching takes place, logical-mathematical skills, English language and second community language) conducted on three different days and an oral exam aimed at assessing the level of the acquired knowledge, skills and competences according to the final student’s profile outlined by the national curriculum guidelines. The oral exam ascertains the level of mastery of the relevant cross-discipline competencies of Civic Education. For students enrolled in programmes with a specialisation in music, the multi-disciplines oral exam is supplemented by an applied test with the musical instrument. The final grade reported on the diploma consists of the average between the admission grade and the average of the four grades of the written exams and the oral exam.
At the end of the first cycle of studies, a certification of the competencies is provided, which certifies the ability to use the acquired knowledge to solve complex and new, real or simulated tasks and problems (ministerial decree October 3 2017, n. 742). Moreover, INVALSI integrates the validation of the competencies with a section describing the levels achieved in the national exams for the Italian language and mathematics and another section certifying the understanding and use of the English language according to the outcome of the national written exam.

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