The upper secondary school for foreign languages “Exzarh Yosiff I”, a descendant of the first language school in Bulgaria teaches 900 students (13-19 years old) – 20 classes for intensive studying of German, 10 classes for English and 5 classes for French in a 5-year educational course. The pedagogical staff, 73 in number, is paying special attention to students’ activities beyond the classroom: participation in contests, acquiring German Sprachdiplom, publishing the school newspaper, doing research and making use of ICT technologies.Science acquisition is demonstrated in the yearly National Olympiad on mathematics and Computer technologies, organized in the school.Biology, Geography and History are taught in foreign languages during the 2nd and 3rd year of the 5-year educational course, while Civilization, Ecology and Business studies are introduced as special subjects by teachers, participating in LLP integrating interdisciplinary approach.Native British, American, German and French teachers have boosted language acquisition and raised cultural awareness. Two school groups participated in the Competition “50 Years Europe” and the highest prize in forensics at the National Day of Key Competencies was rewarded to a student from our school.Staff members use ICT facilities, 53 of the teachers have defended or are preparing research papers for up-grading teachers qualifications at the Department for Information technologies and teachers qualifications at Sofia University.The school hosts events – regional, national and international Olympiads, competitions and exchange visits. Experienced teachers participate as trainers in joint projects with the Training Association “Znanie”.Learning is fostered by partnerships with German schools, exchanged cooperation with Austrian and Belgium schools, implementation of project-based teaching methods by participating in Comenius programmes and eTwinning. The Comenius project with the partner schools from France, Romania, Turkey and Italy which will have been completed by September 2008 focuses on cultural diversity and paces the steps for further widening of the European dimension in education. The coordinator and the research teacher for this project have introduced the enquiry-base approach and will take active part in the realization of the work packages in the school, involving other schools from all over Bulgaria to get involved in I ACT activities.
