Istituto di Istruzione Superiore ‘Newton-Pertini’

IIS Newton-Pertini is a public high school in Camposampiero, a small town located in the north-east of Italy, near the university city of Padova, offering Science, Modern Languages, Social sciences, Information technology and vocational mechanics courses. IIS “Newton” opened in September 1999 and in, September 2016, it merged with a smaller neighbour school, Istituto “Pertini”, which has both secondary and vocational courses in Tourism, Finance and marketing, Fashion design. Thus, IIS Newton-Pertini has become the school campus of reference both for technical and humanistic education of the territory, with about 1700 students aged 14-19 (Year 9 to Year 13 in the Italian public education system) and 110 teachers. IIS Newton-Pertini mission is to teach students not only concepts but also to help them to develop a strong sense of European identity as responsible citizens of the world, by acquiring important competences like critical thinking, curiosity, active participation in democratic processes, intercultural understanding, discerning use of ICT and by developing belief in basic human values (social justice and inclusion, solidarity, the universal nature of human rights) which will accompany them into their lives as adults. The school runs and is involved in many community projects. Alongside curricular teaching, students are offered academic and vocational counselling, work internships, master classes, conferences and seminars, an annual Language Day, theatre activities in Italian, English, Spanish and German, school trips and excursions. Every year our students successfully participate in regional, national, and even international competitions in Mathematics, Physics, English and Computer science. More and more students each year are certifying their European language levels thanks to the school's language skills improvement projects. Furthermore, the school promotes many kinds of international student exchange and mobility projects, including European-financed projects.
The sport high school, particularly, offers a new opportunity of training that combines the study of physical education to the study of economic and scientific disciplines to have a solid cultural training and that allows access to any university course. The main sports deepened during the classes are gymnastics, fencing, hockey, rugby, judo, karate, volleyball, basketball, handball, football, archery and preparatory to weight lifting. At the end of the five years, students will have learned the basic technical elements of different sports. Besides sports already mentioned, the sport curriculum offers also other activities like athletics, boxing, traditional games, modern dance, funky dance, swimming, tennis, motor activity with the disabled, juggling and winter sports. The practice of sport and the learning of regulations goes at the same pace with internalizing values such as perseverance, generosity in the transition from competition to cooperation, respect for others, respect for rules, etc. The activities are often supported by the presence of experts and completed with visits to specialized sport facilities. Students regularly participate in sporting events of various kinds and level in the role of athletes, organizers, judges-referees, interns, supporters. At the end of their studies, students have the possibility to access university, but also enter the labour market by earning the lifeguard license or attending the course for football referees.