The traditional exchange with three Slavic Gymnasiums will take place from 7th – 11th March 2016. This year the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium Piarist Gxymnasium, Trenčín will host students from Piarist Lyceum, Krakow (Poland) and The Diocesan Classical Gymnasium from Ljubljana, Slovenia. Traditionally, students exchange their knowledge of singing as well as of all three Slavic mother tongues, namely Slovak, Polish and Slovene. The choirs will perform individulaly on several occasions, however, the visit will end with a joint concert of all three choirs and presentation of their language work.

The choir travelling to Trenčín is St. Stanislav Youth Choir of DCS, with 50 singers, which has received many awards and prizes at youth choral reviews in Slovenia and at international choral festivals, including golden plaques and awards for the best choir of the competition. This choir also regularly performs larger vocal-instrumental works and collaborates with professional institutions. More recently they are most proud of the International Choral Kathaumixw festival (2014) where they won the title “Choir of the World” in Powell River, Canada as well as the 1st prize for Folk & Cultural Traditions. The conductor of the choir is Damijan Močnik, composer and teacher of music at the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium. The accompanying teachers on the tour are Kaja Naglič and Pavle Šijanec.

The students of the DCG from the French Drama Club will participate for the third time in the observation of the International Francophonie Days in Celje, Slovenia. Students from ten different Slovene high schools will gather to stage a contemporary performance in French, namely Les Migrants by Sonja Ristič. Assisted by a French actress and stage director, it is the Slovene students who will set up this project, which is unique also in a broader context of topical migration issues, and demonstrates some good student teamwork. The first night will take place on 25th March 2016 in The Slovene National Theatre in Celje, Slovenia.
The students of DCG are rehearsing under the mentorship of Daša Obrč, teacher of French at The Diocesan Classical Gymnasium. /Lily Schweiger Kotar/

Students, parents and friends of St. Stanislav’s Institution had the pleasure of listening to a spring concert, which took place on Wednesday 2nd March 2016 in St. Stanislav’s Chapel. The program consisted of French-Canadian folk songs and works by Casals, Pergolesi, Galuppi, Dvorak and Rutter. The musical and artistic director of the Canadian choir Phillipe Ostiguy and Helena Fojkar Zupančič, the conductor of the Slovene choir, have managed to elicit from girls magnificently light, yet precise melodies that impressed the audience. When both choirs sang together the last two songs they presented themselves as one voice. The Borealis Voice is on a European Musical Tour, and are guests of the DCG students from 2nd March – 4th March 2016. The choir travels annually in international tours.

St. Stanislav’s Institution has the pleasure of inviting you to a spring concert, which will take place on Wednesday 2nd March, 2016 at 6 p.m. in St. Stanislav’s Chapel. The program consisting of French-Canadian folk songs and works by Casals, Pergolesi, Galuppi, Dvorak and Rutter will be presented. The Canadian girls’ choir the Borealis Voice is on a European Tour, being guests of the DCG students from 2nd March – 4th March 2016. It is a choir of about 145 girls (aged 8 – 17) and was founded in 1998. This is one of the best choirs in the area and it has staged with artist such as Celine Dion and Yoko Ono and many other musicians of Montreal area. The choir travels annually in international tours.
St. Stanislav Girls’ Choir of The Diocesan Classical Gymnasium, with 50 girls, has gained prestige through numerous victories at competitions in Slovenia and Europe. It has received many awards and prizes at youth choral reviews in Slovenia and at international choral festivals. The most prominent triumphs are the Euroradio choral competition Let the Peoples Sing in Oslo, Norway (2009) – winner of the youth category and overall winner, recipient of the prestigious award Silver Rose Bowl and the Overall winner of the International Choir Competition »Summa Cum Laude« in Vienna, and a special award of the Music Youth Austria for programme interpretation (2013).

The above words are the motto in Lent 2016 at St. Stanislav’s Institution. During every season of Lent, but even more so in the holy year of mercy, people try to strengthen their relationship with God. Priests working in St. Stanislav’s Institution invited the entire school community to simply open its heart to God’s mercy, rather than trying to find out what could be done by themselves.
Ash Wednesday in St. Stanislav’s Institution opened Lent with the following words »”Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” After the ceremony, the activities which would enable students and teachers to feel God’s mercy, were presented. They would consequently permit everyone to show mercy to close-by people. A Slovene woman who is married to a Touareg presented this Lent’s charity action of raising money for the needy children and women from this African nomadic tribe. Apart from this, each class was asked for the participation in one of the morning masses or prepare the stations of the cross or adoration prayers during the main breaks in Lent. Students were also invited to take the sacrament of penance and reconciliation as well as attend the adoration of the most holy trinity in the school chapel, which takes place at the end of Lent.
Together with Pope Francis we wish you that » mercy becomes your path to unite yourself with God, opening your heart for hope that we shall always be loved no matter what obstacles are posed by sins.« /Lily Schweiger Kotar/

The open house days in St. Stanislav’s Institution were held in mid-February. Numerous prospective students and parents were considering further education at the DCG. Visitors came from 60 primary schools from all over Slovenia, which means that the Jeglič Student Home will offer accommodation to about one third of future students. Presentations by faculty and current students offered ample information on school program, covering academics, arts, athletic facilities and life at St. Stanislav’s as well as extracurricular activities and in particular admission procedures. In the academic year 2016/2017there are 140 places available at the DCG for entry in year one.  All four Slovene Catholic high schools will accept 420 students, which represent 0,02 % of the entire population entering secondary schools in Slovenia.
Visitors took most interest for the specific features of the DCG school program, which include the school subject Religion and Culture, learning the third foreign language besides English and Latin, possibility of taking classical Greek, participation in spiritual retreats and other activities which build the class community. International activities were presented as well, along with sports, arts and natural sciences, which decisively balance the curriculum of any classical gymnasium. Visitors stated in surveys that what they liked best in school was friendly attitude and welcoming atmosphere.
Considering great interest in the DCG we are happy to see that the school meets the demands of times, by which St. Stanislav’s Institution fulfills its mission which is to foster the integral personal growth of each individual in the community for the betterment of the world. /Lily Schweiger Kotar/

This year’s main theme was ethno music, which brought about numerous arrangements of folk songs from Slovenia and abroad. The heart and soul of the festival, Damijan Močnik, claims this year’s festival has been the best in every aspect. The winning song was an arrangement of a Slovene folk song Marko skače /Marko Is Jumping/made by Marko Rus, with inspiring choreography by Blaž Pavlakovič, who was also the class’ conductor. They are both members of the winning class, as is the author of the following report:
Every January and February something changes at the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium. If one listens closely, singing can be heard from every classroom during breaks and even classes. Preparations for the traditional annual singing festival are in full swing. What is the singing festival anyway? The entire school community lives for this event. It does not matter whether you are the next Mozart or completely out of tune, you sing together with your classmates. Some classes practise for months, aiming to win, while others start a week before and participate just for fun. On the festival day, the tension grows as the school hall fills to the brim with students, teachers and other visitors. The roaring applause marks the beginning of the show and the teachers perform their arrangement, which usually causes salves of laughter. Then the real competition begins. Once you step on the stage, the adrenaline kicks in and you just sing your heart out together with your friends. The rush of performing is indescribable and once you sing that last note you already feel like you are on top of the world. At the end, the judges retreat to discuss the winners. Meanwhile, the stand-up comedians take over relieving the tension. The classes that practiced the most are hoping to snatch an award. Best debutants, best cover, best original song and best choreography are just some of the awards given. Of course there is the reward for the best singing class. The Oscar of the festival. Two runners-up are also awarded, but winning the first place is a dream. Especially if you are a part of the class that won for the second year in a row and receive three awards on this year’s singing festival. /Klara Jukič Wilfan, year 4/

Prospective students, families and friends of St. Stanislav’s Institution are kindly invited to St. Stanislav’s Admission Information Day to be held on 12th February at 9 a.m. and 15 p.m. and 13th February 2016 at 9 a.m. A presentations by faculty and current students will offer ample information on school programme, covering academics, arts, athletic facilities and life at St. Stanislav’s as well as on extracurricular activities. You will also learn about admission procedures to enter The Diocessan Classical Gymnasium and The Jeglic Student Home. For a more detailed schedule please call +386 (0)1 582 22 45 or write at [email protected].
We look forward to welcoming you to St. Stanislav’s Institution.

Yuka Marubashi, an English teacher at Kanto Daiichi High School in Tokyo, Japan visited St. Stanislav’s Institution from 30th January-3rd February 2016. She held several lessons in the DCG classes to unveil some cultural, social and educational aspects of the country. Students were especially impressed by the Japanese manners and etiquette, which differ widely from Slovene ways. The quiz on Japan and Slovenia brought about some competitive spirit among students and excited amazement at the large number of Japanese high tech products used in Europe and our school as well. This was a unique firsthand learning opportunity to provide students also with some basic Japanese words as well as Katakana and Hiragana alphabets.
The entire school community had the pleasure of Yuka’s company and performing at the traditional annual school singing festival. /Lily Schweiger Kotar/

Last weekend was extremely successful for four students of the DCG who took part in the Slovene national competition in astronomy. These are Matej Urbančič (year 1), Gašper Jalen (year 2), Vid Primožič (year 3) and Andraž Ristič (year 4). The seniors Andraž and Vid won the gold, thus gaining potential invitation to the XXIIIrd Astronomy Olympiad to be held in Saint Petersburg in spring 2016. There will be five representatives of Slovenia altogether participating in the international Olympiad. Matej and Gašper won the silver. Mark Loborec from Alojzij Šuštar Primary School also entered the qualifications for the Olympiad in his category.

Saint Petersburg Astronomy Olympiad is an annual international competition for high school students in solving astronomy problems and is attended by about 5000 students from Russian Federation, Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Serbia,, Ukraine, Canada and Slovenia, Many prizewinners become professional astronomers and work in different astronomical institutions  all over the world.

Congratulations to all young scientists and good luck with qualifications!