The advance notification

Families who choose this path notify the head teacher of the state school for their area of residence each year, in writing (the primary or the lower secondary school, depending on the child's age). The notification is submitted on paper - by recorded delivery, by hand against a receipt, or by certified email (PEC) - and must be renewed at the start of each school year. The deadline is set annually by the Ministry and normally coincides with the opening of school enrolment, towards the end of January. The notification is accompanied by a declaration of the family's capacity to provide the education, together with the teaching and educational plan they intend to follow.

 

The role of the reference school

The local state school is the body that exercises oversight: it records the family's choice, informs the municipality of residence, updates the National Student Register and checks that the duty to provide education is being met, making sure the pupil sits the annual examination. It does not pass judgement on the educational method and is not required to approve it: its role is one of safeguard, not of control over content.

 

The annual esame di idoneita

Each year, children in parent-led education sit an esame di idoneita - an examination establishing that they are ready for the next class - provided for by article 23 of Legislative Decree 62/2017. It is the moment at which the year's work is formally recognised. In recent years Ramidoro families have always sat these examinations at the Istituto San Giuseppe Calasanzio in Sanluri, the state-recognised school run by the Piarist Fathers, with whom there is a long-standing working relationship. The teachers prepare the children for this appointment calmly, without turning it into an anxious ordeal.

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Moving on to upper secondary school

At the end of the path - our Class 8, the third year of Italian middle school - young people sit the State examination that closes the first cycle of education (the licenza media, the lower-secondary leaving certificate) as external candidates. With that qualification they can enrol at any upper secondary school, exactly like anyone coming from a state school.

 

Joining mid-year, even after the deadline

And what if a family decides to join the project once the deadline for the advance notification has already passed? It can be done. Moving to parent-led education is possible after the school year has begun: the family submits the notification to the reference school and, if the child is already enrolled at and attending another school, formally withdraws from it. From that point the child continues in parent-led education, and at the end of the year sits the idoneita examination for their class as usual. It is a straightforward step, but there are a few formalities to attend to in the right order: we accompany you through it, one stage at a time, together with the reference school.

Do you have a particular situation, or would you like to understand what this would mean for your child? Write to us from the Contact page and we can talk it through.