Italian language literacy courses to welcome boys and girls from Ukraine to schools in Turin
Starting in the last week of March, the Benvenuti! project will offer Italian language literacy courses to welcome Ukrainian children and youths, fleeing from the war, to schools in Turin.
The project is promoted and supported by Fondazione Agnelli, in agreement with Ufficio Scolastico Provinciale di Torino (formerly Provveditorato), and will be carried out in collaboration with ASAI – Associazione di Animazione Interculturale. The Foundation has already successfully worked with ASAI for years, for the Italiano per Studiare programme, also designed for foreign students. Young teachers from Teach for Italy, already working in Turin’s schools, will also take part in the initiative.
The courses will be held in different ways and following different modular formats, in order to offer the maximum possible flexibility and meet the variety of needs that might arise.
Firstly, lessons will be held during school hours or, if necessary, after school in Turin’s primary and secondary schools where new students from Ukraine are enrolled. Secondly, some will be held in the afternoon in suitable spaces in Turin’s territory that are easy to reach for students staying in nearby towns. Finally, others will start in ASAI’s community centres already open in the city’s area.
Small groups of 10-12 children, appropriately divided by age, will offer the best setting in both organisational and psychological-pedagogical terms. In the first phase of the emergency, however, the project will strive first of all to flexibly satisfy any requests coming from different schools.
In addition, Benvenuti! will provide training sessions and a help desk for teachers and educators, addressing both teaching and psychological aspects, to help them relate to minors who may carry significant trauma due to their uprooting. An open, digital, structured repository will be gradually built with teaching materials for beginner, second-language Italian courses, and shared with all schools – even at the national level. Finally, the activities carried out in schools will be followed by further initiatives in June and July at summer camps, where children can play and get help with schoolwork, throughout the city’s territory.
Further details about the project are available in the press release attached (in Italian).
For further information, schools can contact us at info@fondazioneagnelli.it