Education – school system in Slovenia

Children usually attend kindergarten any time between the ages of two and seven years, depending on the local custom. Children are taught to develop basic skills through creative play and social interaction

Children first enter primary school at about the age of 6 and finish at about the age of 14. Each group of children born in the same year form one grade (class) which usually lasts until the end of schooling. Each year is divided into 2 terms. Once or twice per term, children have holidays: Autumn, Christmas, winter and May first holidays; each holiday is approximately a week long. At summer time, school ends on 24th June (except in the last/ninth grade, where it ends a week earlier), followed by a holiday of more than two months. The next school year starts on the1st September.

The 1st Period is the beginning of schooling for every child. From the first to the fourth grade children stay in one classroom and have one class and one teacher which teaches all subjects, except on some occasions, sports, art and music are taught by separate teachers or is supervised by the appropriate teacher. In the beginning of the first year there is always one special pedagogue in the classroom and he or she helps the master teacher lead the younger students into the new system. They start with reading, writing and counting. Children are taught their native language (Slovenian, Hungarian or Italian language, depending on the area of their schooling), mathematics, natural and sociological sciences, music, physical education and art. In the fourth grade they begin to learn their first foreign language, which is usually English.
The 2nd Period of primary schooling starts in the fifth grade when children begin switching classrooms. They still have a master teacher. He or she usually teaches them one or two subjects and all others are