We are thrilled to announce that five of our students have excelled in the preliminary round of the Hippo English Without Borders competition and have secured their spots in the national finals/world semifinals!
A heartfelt congratulations to:

• Laura Damijanić and Amina Bajmak (grade 4b) - Hippo 1
• Antonio Fućak and Emi Galich (grade 6a) - Hippo 2
• Nadja Rajčić (grade 8a) - Hippo 3

We extend our sincere congratulations to all other participants as well, as they have also achieved outstanding results.

The final round will be held on April 19th and will be conducted online. We wish our candidates the best of luck as they prepare for this challenging stage of the competition.

On 21 March, Year 1 students celebrated the Day of Gifted Students with their English teacher Bojana Palijan in a lesson that integrated language learning with mathematical challenges.

Students watched a video read aloud of "The Monster Counting Book 1 to 20" by Frances Mackay. Filled with colorful illustrations and interesting riddles, this picturebook combines language acquisition with numerical comprehension. Students were given playful riddles to solve, which helped them master counting from 1 to 20.

For our Year 1 students, many of whom are still in the process of grasping English as a foreign language, this presented a delightful yet challenging opportunity. They approached the tasks with enthusiasm and determination. As students eagerly collaborated and exchanged ideas, it became evident that the lesson was not just about solving riddles or mastering numbers; it was about fostering a sense of achievement in our students. 

 1a

 1b

We are thrilled to announce the successful completion of the preliminary round of the Hippo International English Language Olympiad, which took place at our school on March 15th. This exciting event saw enthusiastic participation from students across different grade levels, demonstrating their linguistic skills and passion for English language.

A total of 17 students from grades 4 and 5 participated in category Hippo 1. In category Hippo 2, which catered to 6th-grade students, we had 13 students showcasing their language abilities. Additionally, 13 students from grades 7 and 8 took part in category Hippo 3.

The coordination and smooth execution of the event were made possible thanks to the diligent efforts of our coordinator teacher, Bojana Palijan and invigilator teacher, Danijela Tatalović.

As we wrap up the preliminary round, we eagerly wait for the results and look forward to the next phase of the competition. With such talented participants, we are optimistic about our chances in the semi-final round.

For the second year in a row, Education and Teacher Training Agency organized an online conference on September 26 to mark the European Day of Languages. As part of this event, titled "European Day of Languages: From Early Learning to Multilingualism”, a showcase of good teaching practices and innovative teaching methods took place on November 27, 2023. Our teachers, Anita Šehić and Bojana Palijan, participated in this online event and presented a collaborative teaching project they had conducted in the sixth grade in September.

Italian language teacher Danijela Tatalović and religious education teacher Dinka Bajčić Pavletić also participated in this school project which was based on the interpretation of Oscar Wilde's work "The Happy Prince". The aim of the project was to achieve outcomes from subject curricula related to understanding the importance of reading, interpreting literary works, using creative expression techniques, employing critical thinking skills, and proposing solidarity actions in school and the local community.

Through collaborative teaching, teachers Anita and Bojana raised awareness about the importance of knowing both native and foreign languages, as well as the significance of reading and performing good deeds. In the spirit of the entire project, which emphasized kindness, empathy, tolerance, and solidarity, our teachers concluded their presentation with a clear message for all the participants: "Kindness is a universal language that everyone can understand."

European Day of Languages is celebrated every year on 26 September. The aim of it is to raise awareness of the wide variety of languages in Europe. This school year we decided to celebrate it by promoting a healthy reading culture and motivating our students' reading habits.

Teachers Anita Šehić and Bojana Palijan worked together to develop a project that was conducted with Year 6 students and which included collaboration between the following school subjects: Croatian, English, Italian, R.E. and Form class. The project revolved around reading and discussing The Happy Prince, a short story written by Oscar Wilde, an Irish poet and playwright, and a lot of follow-up activities. Students started by reading the story in both languages, paragraph after paragraph, changing the language from Croatian to English and vice versa. By doing that, they noticed that literal word-by-word translation would render an unintelligible interpretation and that languages often differ in word order. Also, single words do not always have an exact translation equivalent, which brought students to conclude that we cannon translate each word separately. After reading the story, students were divided into two groups in which they discussed the plot, the symbols and the moral of the story. One group had the reading comprehension questions in their native language, the other one in English. Thus, learners who are usually reluctant to speak English were allowed to equally participate in the classroom discussion by using their mother tongue. The lesson was interactive and engaging, and both the teachers and the students loved the format of the co-taught lesson. It was a great opportunity to engage in a different type of teaching and learning.

Other follow-up activities included writing a letter of appreciation to someone who makes you happy, writing an acrostic poem using the 'theme words' from the story, such as kindness, generosity and compassion, and creating classroom posters with random acts of kindness in all the languages our students speak. Teachers Dinka Bajčić Pavletić (Religious Education) and Danijela Tatalović (Italian language) cooperated on the project as well. In their Religious Education class, students talked about charity work and ways of helping people in need, which is a recurring theme in the Oscar Wilde's story. In their Italian class, they translated the random acts of kindness they came up with into Italian.

The project aimed at developing not only students' reading comprehension skills, but also their critical and creative thinking skills, with a strong emphasis on cooperation, solidarity and inclusion.

You can find the materials we used below, along with the classroom posters and some of the students' writings in English.

 6.a

 6.b

 6.b