The salvation that God offers us is an invitation to be part of a love story interwoven with our personal stories; it is alive and wants to be born in our midst, so that we can bear fruit just as we are, wherever we are and with everyone all around us. The Lord comes there to sow and to be sown. (Pope Francis, Christus vivit, 252)

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a joyful New Year 2025.

St. Stanislav’s Institution, Diocesan Classical Gymnasium, Jeglič Student Home,

Alojzij Šuštar Primary School, Good Shepherd Kindergarten, Music School, Janez F. Gnidovec Residence Hall, Stane Kregar Gallery and Slovene Home

Anton Česen, M.A. Director

Each year the entire school community celebrates St. Stanislav’s Day to mark the feast of the Institution’s patron. This academic year the celebration is special as the 10th anniversary of the establishment of The Good Shepeherd Kindergarten is being marked. The fill rouge of the celebration is explained under the motto Rejoice in the Lord.

We have the pleasure of inviting you to this year’s celebration which will be marked with holy mass on Wednesday, 13th November 2024. Holy mass will be celebrated by the Archbishop of Ljubljana, Stanislav Zore at 3 p.m. in St. Vitus Church, Ljubljana Šentvid. The formal celebration will take place at 5 p. m. in the sports hall of the Alojzij Šuštar Primary School. Andreja Poljanec, Ph. D., a lecturer at Sigmund Freud University Ljubljana, will hold the official speech. The performance will be given by the students of all schools in St. Stanislav’s Institution.

We look forward to celebrating with you.

Anton Česen, M. A., Director of St. Stanislav’s Institution

Urša Logar and Vivijana Wogrin (year 4) accepted the invitation to participate in the competition entitled The Germans and Their Eastern Neighbors/Die Deutschen und ihre östlichen Nachbarn. The event is organized annually by the Bavarian Ministry of Education for foreign students learning German. The theme in the accademic year 2023/2024 was The Republic of Slovenia.

The above mentioned students entitled their work The Influence of the Slovenian Language on National Identity/Sprache und nationale Identität, presenting the Slovene people and their language through history, from the time of Carantania to the present day. The result of several months of work is a well-researched, insightful, and beautifully designed project 20241103-Sprache und nationale identitat .The mentor of the project is Irena Bolta, teacher of German at the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium. /Irena Bolta, B. A./

In the school year of 2023/2024 an exchange took place between St. Stanislav’s Institution and Sint-Lodewijkscollege in Brugge, Belgium. In September 2023 Belgian students visited Slovenia and Slovenian students returned the visit from 11-15 March 2024. The exchange was centred around the idea of freedom and self-expression in different forms, especially in art history and ancient times.

In Slovenia we explored the freedom of mind and body, including the freedom of travel and seeking different approaches. We created several artworks with certain limitations, and tried writing, drawing, and weaving. We explored the way our body speaks about our emotions and how it impacts our view of the world. We visited Celje where we got introduced to a world traveller and we saw ancient ruins under the city. The next day we visited lake Bled and wrapped up the exchange in Slovenia.

In Belgium we learned about different ways to be free within the limitations given to us by the world itself. By running around Brugge and taking whichever path we wanted, but keeping our goal in sight, we learned that there are a lot of different paths we can take and that this approach is also applicable to other aspects of life. We also analysed ancient views of freedom by translating different manuscripts from ancient Greek and Latin and created collages to illustrate different ways people can be enslaved by expectations or their own ideals. We learned about the history of the city of Brugge and visited several museums and galleries in Brugge and Ostende, where we also took an ice bath in The North Sea.

The most important takeaways were that every person has their own perception of freedom and what this means in their life. Learning from great philosophers we changed the way we think about the true meaning of individuality and freedom while trying to balance our own wants and needs with our community and the world’s expectations. /Liza Knez, year 4/

The international cooperation with Lycée René Gosse from Clermont l’Hérault, a school close to the 7th biggest French city Montpellier started last school year, when we were included in the eTwinning project Your art is also mine. Stane Kregar’s paintings with French motifs were the subject of our research.

This school year, however, we started the Erasmus and eTwinning project Art without borders, where we focused on the topic of architecture, both in Slovenia and France. The exchange at The Diocesan Classical Gymnasium took place from 7-13 October 2024, when 13 students and two professors from France were hosted.

At the beginning of March from 3-7 March 2024 it was our turn to visit the French friends. We started the journey from the Brnik airport to Paris and eventually to our final destination, Montpellier. Our French hosts were already waiting for us and we were happy to see each other again.

Next morning, we started the program with the headmaster’s speech and a few presentations of Slovenia. Then we participated in some ice breakers with our French and Polish friends, whose exchange was about ecology. In the afternoon we followed up with a tour of Clermont l’Hérault, the town where the school is located. It’s a nice town and it looks very Mediterranean. We also went up to the castle so we could get a good view from above the city. Having finished the tour, we spent the rest of the day with our hosts.

We took part in some lessons on the following morning. Most of us had an English class, the others took rugby which was a lot of fun. After the lessons we had a guided tour of Saint Guilhem le Désert, a gorgeous medieval town nearby. After lunch we also participated in a pottery workshop where we created different architectural designs from clay. We visited the museum of clay and pottery, where we learned a lot about this subject.

Wednesday was the most interesting day. We visited Montpellier, where we had a tour of the city, some free time for lunch and exploring the city on our own. Upon return, some of our host families took us to the coast where we spent the evening together.

On Thursday morning we visited a large Roman villa in Lupien. We learned a lot about Roman heritage on the French coast. In the afternoon we worked on the projects we had to brush up for the Erasmus project. We worked on a making of a magazine and a special architectural project, where we had to craft a building of our own. We were inspired by some of the buildings we saw during our stay in France. After we finished the projects, we had evaluation quizzes about the past week. During the finishing ceremony we received certificates of participation. In the evening most of the French hosts took us to dinner and we spent the last evening together. We left early in the morning, at 3.30 am and after a gorgeous sunrise, some pantomime at the airport in Paris and during two other flights we safely returned home. /Zoja Kern, Lucija Kremžar, year 3/

In this school year we have been celebrating the 30th anniversary of the reestablishment of St. Stanislav’s Institution.

We will mark this occasion with a conference in May that will bring together teachers and distinguished speakers to address the challenges of education in the digital age.

We are delighted to invite teachers from abroad to join us and share their insights and experience in addressing the challenges that lie ahead. The conference will be held from 9 to 11 May 2024 and will offer the chance to connect with fellow teachers, engage in meaningful discussions, expand knowledge and exchange best practice.

You are kindly invited to join us as we share and learn together.

For more information visit the conference website.

Anton Česen, M.A., Director

The exchange of the Kantonsschule in Wohlen and The Diocesan Classical Gymnasium was a huge success in every aspect – musical, academic and getting to know the Swiss way of life. Both conductors Walter Siegel and Helena Fojkar Zupančič are the most deserving of respect and praise for the outstanding organisation and uplifting the spirits at all times. The following two reports one by Klara, a Slovene choir singer and the other by Mr Seigel, both adequately reflect the ambiance of this joyous event.

“As a member of the (Re)Mixed Choir I had a chance to visit Switzerland from February 25th to 29th 2024 during the exchange with the school Kantonsschule in Wohlen. All Slovenian students stayed with Swiss host families who generously let us be a part of their family for a few days, making us feel at home away from home. Besides sightseeing, visiting a medieval church and climbing a snowy mountain, we spent a lot of time with the Swiss students and really got to experience life the way they live it in the picturesque Swiss countryside. I was paired up with another girl from our school that I had only known the name of prior to the tour, but grew really close to immediately.

On the first day, our host family welcomed us as if we were old friends and we  experienced more unforgettable memories with them every day. We also got to meet other Swiss hosts and Slovenian singers we hadn’t known before. The family dinners, late night talks and game nights filled me with such content and gratefulness for being so lucky with the family that had been chosen for me. During the day, we had many rehearsals with our choir and also together with the Swiss one, all in preparation for the big last evening concert. Being in the front row while singing, I was able to observe people’s reactions to our performance and I saw how taken aback they were by our energy, as well as our choreography and the type of music we brought with us. The acoustics of the church only enhanced the experience and together with the audience’s praises after the concert left an imprint in all of our hearts. Having enjoyed such a fulfilling experience, I can certainly say I will cherish the memory of it for a really long time. And to anyone deciding whether to join an exchange: definitely do, you will not regret it.” /Klara Gaberšek, year 4/

Walter Siegel, the conductor of the Swiss Choir, collected memories of the exchange by writing the following: “The past few days have been filled with joy, music, and camaraderie. Your singers brought an incredible energy to our community, and it was an honour to host them and share in their musical talents. The concert was a huge success and we earned a lot of credit for it here in Wohlen. That will immensely help us to implement future music projects. Thank you! I believe music has a unique ability to touch hearts and create lasting impressions, and I’m thrilled that our collaboration has left such a positive impact on everyone involved. The dedication of everybody involved and hospitality played a significant role in making this experience unforgettable. It’s been a pleasure working with all of you and hosting your talented singers. I too hope our paths cross again in the future.” /Lily Schweiger Kotar/

The Best in English contest, which took place on November 16th 2023, is an online English competition that includes countries in the EU and more. This year 24,343 students from 702 schools in 34 countries took part. It is opened to all high schools and their students aged 14-19. The level of the test is B1 – C1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The best students win a 2-week trip to Canada. Škofijska klasična gimnazija in Zavod sv. Stanislava did really well by getting the 167th position out of 702 schools globally. We are happy to announce that some students excelled also individually. The best result was achieved by Jurij Martinčič, (year 3), who was one of the top 7 students in Slovenia and ranked 66 out of everyone. Klara Lešnik (year 4) was second-best, followed by Jerica Brolih (year 3), Klara Gaberšek, (year 4), and Rihard Rener (year 2.)

The school community feels proud of students’ success and everything they have accomplished. Congratulations. /Katja Gorjup/

The Diocesan Classical Gymnasium student Vida Vurušič, year 2, won third place at Street dance show championship in two adult categories – namely the street dance show duos and street dance show formations. The event took place from 13th-15th November 2023. We congratulate Vida upon the outstanding success! The school community is extremely proud of you! /Lily Schweiger Kotar/

Each year the entire school community celebrates St. Stanislav’s Day to mark the feast of the Institution’s patron.  This academic year the celebration is all the more  special as the 30th anniversary of the reestablishment St. Stanislav’s Institution is being marked. The fill rouge of the celebration is explained under the motto To love out of gratitude.

We have the pleasure of inviting you to this year’s celebration which will be marked with the holy mass on Monday 13th November 2023. It will be celebrated at 10.30 a.m. in the Cathedral of St. Nicolas. The formal celebration will take place on Tuesday 14th November at 5.30 p. m. in the sports hall of the Alojzij Šuštar Primary School. Mr. Jože Kurinčič, a former teacher of Slovene language at the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium, will hold the official speech. The performance will be given by the students of all schools in St. Stanislav’s Institution.

We look forward to celebrating with you.

Anton Česen, M. A., Director of St. Stanislav’s Institution