Osnovna škola "Petar Zoranić" Nin

"Petar Zoranić" is a primary school placed in Nin, small town in Zadar County, Croatia. Nin is the oldest Croatian royal town.

School mission:

- A school that develops critical thinking and responsibility, relationships based on mutual respect and respect for diversity.

School vision:

- To create a modern open school that affirms educational values ​​by applying contemporary teaching resources, methods and forms of work with children according to their abilities and interests.

- A school of motivated teachers and students to achieve (even) better work outcomes.

In accordance with that, we increased the number of projects and extracurricular activities by involving experts and non-school associations in joint projects as users, partners or applicants.

School has about 300 students from 6 to 15 years old, school buildings in Nin (1st to 8th class), Vrsi (1st to 8th class), Zaton (1st to 4th class) and Ninski Stanovi (1st to 4th class). Pupils learn two foreign languages: English and Italian. The school implemented programs of working with children with special needs, including the gifted children.

In cooperation with the Agency for Education, the school from 2005 until today organized the training of teachers and students' parents of special needs (for visually impaired children from Center Vinko Bek, for the hearing impaired pupils from SUVAG, for students with motor impairment of Goljak Center, for gifted students) and thus facilitate the realization of quality education through the introduction of teaching and learning methods tailored to the needs of individual students, as well as technical assistance and support for pupils, parents and teachers through mobile teams.

Since 2008, when we moved to a new building in Nin, we carried out work in one shift, and our efforts are focused on increasing the number of extracurricular activities or that took place in the afternoon or non-teaching days; increasing the number of projects; increasing the number of external experts and associations who volunteer on joint projects. The students regularly achieve outstanding results in competitions, sports and art. School projects are additionally financed by the Zadar County and the City of Nin. Still, self-evaluation confirmed the need for modernization of the school equipment (4 smart boards, 20 classrooms) and teachers need opportunities for professional development by knowledge-sharing with teachers from other countries. The school regularly conducts self-assessment, brings development plan, in particular projects carried out and external evaluation (eg. "Life Skills Training" from the Public Health Institute Zadar). The employees actively participate in professional development, they are sharing their new knowledge to colleagues and students in the classroom.

Since 2010, the School has been successfully cooperating with the association "Petit philosophy": conduct workshops "Look at your own opinion" that are an integral part of the curriculum (project has a positive opinion of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, funded by the Zadar County); in 2013 we participated in the project Anna Lindh Foundation "Common Walues-Signs with The Human Dimension"; as a partner in the project "Sea and cost - place to reflect on our coexistence with nature", financed by OTP Bank; as a partner school in the project ETHOS-Ethical primary education, pre-primary schools for a sustainable future and Dialogic (applicant Theological Faculty in Ljubljana, 527134-LLP 2012-UK-COMENIUS-CMP), as part of the training of teachers, to identify needs parents and teachers, development of educational materials and tools and their evaluation; in 2015 we participated in the implementation of the project "Who's Afraid of corruption yet?". 

In 2015. our school was chosen to The Joint European Union/Council of Europe Project “Regional Support for Inclusive Education”. It  promotes the concept of inclusive education in seven Beneficiaries IN South east Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, ""the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"" and Kosovo. In this Project, inclusive education is promoted as a reform principle that respects and caters for diversity amongst all learners, with a specific focus on those who are at a higher risk of marginalisation and exclusion. The project helped our school to reflect on our inclusive practice and develop/improve our values, missions and visions, and school’s goals and activities in the field of inclusive education.

In 2016. we have become part of the Croatian Makers, project of the Association Institute for Development and Innovation Youth IRIM. In 2016. we also started to implement project "New knowledge and qualitative methods of teaching in European school". It is Erasmus+ KA1 project (2016-1-HR01-KA101-021814) which will assist teachers in their further professional development. We are partners in Erasmus+ KA2 project "Wearable Methodology A New Methodology Based On The Use Of Innovative Technologies For Education" (2016‐1‐ES01‐KA201‐025397, applicant  CEIP ANTÓN DÍAZ, Spain).

In the summer of 2016. we have become Microsoft Showcase School and in the autumn of 2016. we have become a part of European Talent Support Network as European Talent Point. In 2017. three students become a part of Youth Platform.

Through Erasmus+ KA1 project "New knowledge and new technologies for students with special needs" (2017-1-HR01-KA101-035033) and KA2 project „Fun, authentic, simple and trustworthy (FAST)” (2017), applicant Munkebjergskolen, Denmark (2017-1-DK01-KA219-034231_4), we try to modernize our institution through project work and international cooperation. With project Step into Science 2018 and Step into Science 2.0 2019., financed by Ministry of Science, Education and Sports (applicant Astronomy Society Višnjan), we want to link and strengthen the European Talent Points in Croatia, to improve the didactic approach of our school in order to increase the interest of the students for science. In 2019. we started project Active youth for suistanable development (applicant NGO Eko-Zadar).

Through the active participation of teachers and students in the eTwinning portal and Erasmus + projects, we have gained the status of an eTwinning school (2021) and, as one of the 7 primary schools in Croatia, Erasmus accreditation (2021-2027).

As a result, we have become recognizable in the community as a school that cares for their students, by educating, empowering and counseling parents and teachers.