The ‘Interactive school’ is focused on creating a new experimental model of verifying bilingual education in standard, traditional Slovak schools without foreign partnerships.

The project aims to increase pupils’ interest in foreign language learning, improve the quality of foreign language teaching so that it reaches the standards of ‘bilingual education’ and introduce new technology that will support the development of students’ language skills as well as integrating compulsory English study into selected core subjects (mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, history, civics, art and culture, etc.)

The bilingual education programme takes today’s needs into account, the needs of the students and creates space for them to attain better language skills, making it easier to get to the EU and global labour market. It [the programme] also enables students to study other foreign languages; Spanish, German, Russian, etc. which also improves the overall quality of their language education.

The objectives of the programme are expected to be realised in full. The Private Secondary school is a pilot school of the Slovak Ministry of Education, Research and Development in Sport and is a test model of a new programme for five-year secondary school bilingual education under the auspices of the State Pedagogical Institute, which was awarded, in 2005 and 2006, European certificates for quality in ‘e-twinning’ partnership programmes.

Experience shows that training and education based on ‘blended learning’ techniques and methods (a combination of traditional and modern methodologies) is a suitable tool for effective teaching and learning of foreign languages and is an appropriate tool for achieving higher levels of quality in foreign language students. Bilingual education incorporates and accepts the requirements of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and is based on skills training, active language learning, the introduction of new methods as well as new technology in teaching (interactive boards using Active Inspire software, e-learning through Moodle, Internet and social networks (Facebook, Twitter...), using blogs, mp3, wiki, podcasts, screenshots, flickr, etc.)

The project covers all aspects of language learning (learners, teachers, methods and materials).

The project’s implementation is from 2006 to 2017 aimed at 14-19 year old students of the Private Secondary school, as well as primary school teachers at the Private Primary school in Prešov.

EL priority 2012-2013

European mark for languages (Slovak)