Istituto di Istruzione Superiore “ Ferraris-Brunelleschi” a.s. 2010/2011

Our town: Empoli

Our school is in Empoli, an important town for trade in the middle of Tuscany among Florence, Pisa and Siena. Empoli has about inhabitants and it was a well known area for glassworks and clothing industry after the second world war. Nowadays Empoli is a lively town and an important commercial area.

Some pictures of our town –Empoli –Piazza Della Vittoria Piazza Della Vittoria

Piazza Farinata degli Uberti

Piazza Farinata degli Uberti, Collegiata di S. Andrea

The main department is 5 minutes on foot from the railway station. OUR SCHOOL

A new building is under construction

The school is divided into three departments: Technical college for chemists and experts in electronics or science technology, Vocational school for plumbers and mechanics Technical college for surveyors. The teaching staff is composed of 160 teachers and we have 1301 students coming from Empoli and its suburbs who attend our courses from 8:05 to 13:15 every morning from Monday to Saturday and they belong to families of every social classes.

Our students spend a lot of their school time in laboratory; there are laboratories for Chemistry, Electronics, Mechanics, Technical drawing, Electrotechnics and Information Technology.

ITG “F. BRUNELLESCHI” The technical college for surveyors is in the city centre, so it’s easy to reach it for commuting students.

Our Institute offers educational opportunities to every kind of students, especially to those who have a high risk of drop-out. Each course lasts five years and at the end of it, the students can go to the university or apply for a job. Only the students of the Vocational Department can leave the school at the third year after an examination, as skilled workers.

We have many extra time activities in the school, such as theatre, musical group, afternoon courses in support of students with special needs or behavioural difficulties.

We are a Trinity centre, so at the end of each school year the students who want to have a Trinity certification for English language skills have to pass an examination with an expert from Trinity College in London.

Separate waste collection and energy saving at school This Project concerns the separate waste collection of paper and multimaterials (aluminium, glass, plastics and tetrapak) in each classroom. The results of this collection are displayed at the end of the school year in an exhibition in our school. Besides, thanks to the activities and the data collected by the students of the Electrotechnic Department we try and teach our students how to save energy and respect the environment. Last year our school won a National Prize for these activities.

“Globe” Project The Italian Ministry for National Education has chosen our school to monitor the environment for this Project. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide secondary school-based science and education program. Students, teachers and scientists collaborate on inquiry-based investigations of the environment and the Earth system. They work in close partnership with NASA and NSF Earth System Science Projects (ESSPs).ESSPs

Comenius Project “Greenergy” Our school is a partner of this Project with other six schools from five European countries. Last year a group of our students visited Norham College in North Shields, Newcastle, to meet some of our English partners.

Comenius Assistantship Project This year we also have a Comenius language assistant coming from Turkey, Miss Duygu Alaçam.