Student Report 2002-2003

I have been at the New School since the age of 3, and am now in my last year before going to university in England, so the school has really been a second home for me, and has taught me almost all I know, not only about academic subjects but about people as well.  I'd like to try and give you an idea of how the last 12 months have looked from a student's point of view...

My class started in the Sixth Form last year with great enthusiasm having seen the excellent results obtained by the previous Years 12 and 13, and with confidence as a result of  our own excellent results at GCSE level.  We also hoped that Year 12 would be a more relaxed year with less work to do but we were wrong, of course, and the teachers expected us to work harder than ever!

Last year's 6th form was also the largest in the history of the New School, with 29 students.  Many of us are doing unusual combinations of subjects:  I am taking A Levels in Maths, Physics, Italian and art, which is for me a perfect combination and one which I wouldn't have been able to take in most other schools.

The students were involved in many activities last year, perhaps the most satisfying being the fund-raising project for a small school in Uganda; all the classes took part with cake sales, toy and book sales and other projects, and my own class opened a bar once a week selling snacks and drinks.  We had great success: in total the school raised 1,600 euro which is being used to buy desks, books and stationery.

The Rome schools art competition,  where The New School traditionally wins many prizes, was last year substituted by a fashion design competition in which students from all the senior schools in Rome displayed their creations; once again,  two of our students, Milly Bellotti and Alex Giacchetti won. I was modelling for Alex Giacchetti's design and I'm happy to say there was a really lovely atmosphere with lots of fun, enthusiasm and good-humoured competition.

While we're talking about prize-winning, I should also tell you that prizes were also won by our students in the Keats and Shelley poetry competition, Tommaso Giovannini winning second prize in the Italian category and Alex Bellotti winning first prize in the English category.

As you know, The New School believes in involving students in decision-making, so when the interviewing committee was appointed last April to go to London and choose new teachers, the committee included not only 3 teacher members but also a student, Fabiano Corsetti, who took part in the interviews and had an equal voice in all decisions, which is something really unique to our school.

We all look forward to the senior school play and last year's was a great success: we performed "The Devil's Disciple" by G. B. Shaw, directed by our English teacher Una Eve who really involved us all and convinced even some of the shyest people to take part and act exceptionally well.  I think I can say on behalf of everyone that it took a lot of hard work but was extremely satisfying, and created a lovely group spirit.

Last year's May Fair was, as always, lots of fun, involving parents as well as teachers and students of all classes and raising a total of 5 000 euro which is now being used to improve the Primary playground and buy some of those luxury items a small school can't always afford.

The main event in June was a leavers' dinner for last year's Year 13 students, who are now at university or on gap years, and we heard at the end of the summer that they had all won the university places they wanted.

The final success of the year was the exam to enter Italian Universities, taken by 5 students who all obtained excellent results and are now studying in Rome and Bologna. Claudio Biasotti, who joined us only last year, led them through the one-year course and prepared them exceptionally well.  I am now taking the course myself although I don't intend to go to an Italian university in the near future, and I'm finding it very interesting and stimulating.

I'd just like to add that these have been 14 wonderful  years here and I know that I couldn't have wished for a better education from all aspects. The New School has given me confidence to develop my abilities in an encouraging, stimulating, and yet very competitive atmosphere, and I shall be very sorry to leave, but I'm also looking forward to using all that the school has taught me, both at university and in the rest of my life.