As a part of their European Tour, St. Stephen’s Global Touring Ensemble from Austin (Texas, USA) performed in Cankarjev dom (Ljubljana, Slovenia) together with the String Orchestra on 12th March 2015. A variety of eclectic music from classical music, blues, jazz, sophistic music to southern American melodies was be performed under the conductor and soloist John Moon. The String Orchestra, which consists of students of the Diocesan Classical gymnasium, played the Concerto op. 6, nr. 8 by A. Corelli under the baton of Damijan Močnik.

The American group is to present concerts in the cities of Salzburg, Ljubljana, Trieste and Venice. In St. Stanislav’s Institution we looked forward to the experience of performing together with the young American musicians and sharing common enthusiasm for music.

From 24th – 26th March, 2015 the students of the DCG took part in the innovation camp together with other students from different Slovene high schools as well as the students from Oslo, Norway who shared share their abundant experience in entrepreneurship. The event took place under the sponsorship of Microsoft and in cooperation with the Slovene Institution for Promotion of Entrepreneurship among the Young, which functions under in the realm of the international organisation JA-YE.

Ther innovation camp is a a part of the Erasmus+ project, this time led under the mentorship of Mirjam Lindič .

On 4th March 2015 the DCG students and their mentors participating in the project Erasmus+, Art nouveau-Art Renouveau went to see the exhibition entitled New Art and Nature in the National Museum of Slovenia in Ljubljana. The exhibition is a part of an international network of Art Nouveau European cities, with Ljubljana being a part of this group.
The founders of Art Nouveau movement observed and researched natural parameters and motifs and included them in their art, thus establishing a new artistic expressiveness. The nature was considered as a sanctuary and was depicted and interpreted with numerous symbols.
Observing nature and interpreting its symbols is part of the Art Nouveau – Art Renouveau project and therefore we were extremely pleased to have the possibility to see the results of the observations of the Art Nouveau founders from 1900.

Students who take French in the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium are getting ready to stage a new theatrical piece in cooperation with 14 other Slovene high schools. They have been working on it for last five months under the mentorship of a French director and an actress. They will stage a contemporary play by David Lescot L’Européenne. The mentor in the DCG is Daša Oberč.

The performance will take place on 27th March, 2015 in Slovensko ljudsko gledališče Celje. Welcome!

The first transnational meeting took place from 26th November – 1st December 2014 and was organized by the coordinating school of the project, Wellington School from Ayr. In spite of rather gloomy weather, partner school coordinators and participating teachers were warmly welcome by the organizing Wellington team. We got to know each other and discussed the tasks and timeline of the project. We found out that we all look forward to researching the similarities and differences of the Art Nouveau movement in each country respectively and enjoying artistic ideas that will be a source of inspiration for everyone involved.
The mentor of this Erasmus+ project at The Diocesan Classical Gymnasium is Alenka Battelino, teacher of English.

The teacher of German in St. Stanislav’s Institution, the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium Irena Bolta participated in a course on methodology and German language teaching, which took place from 18^th -29^th August 2014 in Regensburg. The objectives of the course were to refresh oral and listening skills, update one’s knowledge in current German affairs, improve methodology skills and didactics in teaching German, and to benefit from the exchange and share best practice with colleagues. Six teachers had lessons from Monday to Friday (9.00 to 12.30 & 13.30 to 15.30), which included working with pictures, texts and films, talking about songs in the classroom and German products, thus getting acquainted with the youth and street speech. Besides that, there was additional programme in late afternoons and evenings in which we were expected to take part: a guided city tour, a Regensburg quiz, an excursion to Walhalla, a visit to a local brewery and the cathedral.

I benefited a lot from the course. I discussed different ideas with other participants and got plenty of useful teaching materials. I will try to apply these materials in the classroom as often as possible, especially with the advanced groups of learners. Some examples include various topics such as characteristics of the German language, healthy food, travelling, living in Germany as well as other useful materials for teaching grammar, vocabulary and idiomatic expressions.

I had a presentation of my two-week stay and the course in Regensburg at a teachers’ meeting at The Diocesan Classical Gymnasium in October 2014, another presentation followed in November 2015 at the International German Teachers’ Conference of Slovenia held in Rimske Toplice. Furthermore, I share my experience and the materials with my colleagues at my school and other German teachers in Slovenia I meet on different occasions. /Irena Bolta/