“FOR US THERE IS NO FORGOTTEN CHILD”: Students of this school in Serbia achieve fantastic results, and here’s why!

“Our school is special because we care about every child, whether they come from the city or from a remote mountain village. For us, there is no forgotten child,” emphasizes Ivana Petrović, a pedagogue at the “Stojan Novaković” school, which is among the most successful in the country, in an interview for our portal. We went there to find out why.

At the “Stojan Novaković” Elementary School in Blace, success is not measured only by grades and diplomas – but also by togetherness, solidarity, and dedication to learning, work, and life. The school’s pedagogue emphasizes that the students are versatile, diligent, and engaged, and the teachers are dedicated and ready to provide additional support to every child.

Our students compete in almost all subjects, and are most numerous in mathematics competitions, where they achieve enviable results. We also have successes in Serbian language, literature, literary Olympiads, as well as in foreign languages – Russian and English. Children gladly participate in history, geography, chemistry competitions as well… Most students qualify for district competitions, and last year we also had a placement in national competitions, which is a great success for us – emphasizes Petrović.

She adds that for a school from that region, every national competition that children reach is a great success.

– For a small school in a small town, it is already a success that someone reaches a national competition, regardless of whether it is fourth or fifth place.

This school also has its champions: a girl who was second in the national Russian language competition, a student who traveled to Moscow as part of the Niš Olympiad, as well as children who won the first three places in national competitions in previous generations.

– We have children who are grateful for the work, and our teachers are engaged and full of enthusiasm. When they see desire, will, and interest in students, they are ready to invest additional time and energy. We organize additional and supplementary classes – both for those who want more and for those who need extra help – explains Petrović.

The spirit of community is also fostered in the school: every year, a charity fair is organized at the end of May, where students and parents bring homemade food, books, dolls, flowers, toys… The money collected at the fair is used to help students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds – for buying books, paying for trips, excursions, graduation, and even clothes.

– Most of our students come from families engaged in agriculture, so after school they help their parents with various tasks – explains Petrović, whose face shows love for all students.

– Our children manage everything – they help their parents, study, socialize, play sports, and spend the least time on social networks and games. They use innovative teaching methods, participate in creative workshops, watch educational films, solve research tasks, and even hunt for treasure, solving math or nature and society problems. Teachers are dedicated to keeping students’ attention for 45 minutes and adapt learning methods – she adds.

Although there are also children in the school whose parents work as teachers, order is maintained in the school environment.

– In the street we are friends, but in school it is clear who is the teacher and who is the student. Children know how to address whom – explains Petrović and adds that this is part of the values the school nurtures.

At the end of the conversation, Ivana Petrović proudly states:

– Our children are versatile, diligent, and ready to help. That is our greatest strength.