Leövey Klára Gimnázium (Leövey Klara High School)
History of the school
The predecessor of the school, Ranolder Institute was founded by Ranolder János, the bishop of Veszprém at the time, in order to give Ferencváros, which was mainly inhabited by German natives in those days, an institute to educate women in Hungarian. The school in charge of the Daughters of Charity was gradually growing receiving girls with the intention to study from all over the country. After the nationalisation in 1948/49 the school became a training (secondary) school for primary school teachers, then taking up the name Leövey Klára in 1955, it was turned into a high school.
The framework of education in the school
In the regular department the students between the age of 14 and 20 take part in a 4-, and 5-year school course/education.
This is a school of „the second chance” too, because at the department of adult education there is a chance for youngsters or young adults who for some reason could not obtain a secondary education certificate, are given the chance to get it within a night school or correspondent course system without giving up their jobs and starting a regular (daytime) secondary school course.
The school also offers a practice-oriented 1- or 2- year-long course based on the requirements of the secondary education certificate which gives a qualification to those who do not wish to or temporarily cannot continue their studies at a further education college or university.
In the school year 2011/2012 there are 720 students attending the regular and 330 students the adult department of the school.
Modernising contents in the educational work
In the educational work environmental education has a prominent role. Students learn about the importance of environmental protection at elective extra lessons, through doing project work and educational trips. A new project on environmental protection, which is on the way to be state-credited, is being tested at the moment at this school.
The school was one of the first high schools in Hungary to introduce the teaching of the subject ’Introduction to Economics in’ its curriculum as an elective extra lesson. Within the scope of the subject students could join a student enterprise program called Young Enterprise to gain experience on running a business.
From the school year 2005/2006 students have the opportunity of receiving the renowned Unified European Economic Certificate (EBC*L), and European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL).
As the result of the development made in the last few years the teaching of the subject ’Moving picture and Media’ has been introduced as an elective course and for students specialising in it, within the framework of which the students get to know the basics of analysing moving pictures and current phenomena of the media.
This school is a pioneer in using information and communication technologies (ICT). In this field traditions go back to 1983. These technologies are used in the background work of both teachers and students and in projects work as well.
Students, teachers and parents benefit from enhanced administration and logging of various school activities, thanks to the digital register system introduced in 2008.
Leövey Klára High School in projects
With the coordination of the European Schoolnet the school has been participating in the e-learning research and development work of the Celebrate project which has been going on since 2002 with nine Hungarian schools (including LKG) taking part in it. Teachers have been creating and testing e-learning resource materials to be used through the Internet.
The school is part of the Sulinet Digital Knowledge Base (SDT) the aim of which is to integrate informatics, learning and teaching materials into the process of school learning.
With the HEFOP 3.1.3. project the school can take part in the development program entitled ’Preparation for Competence-based Teaching’. All the 9-form students in this school are involved in it.
In our Digital High School program, since fall 2010, we prepare adults for their final exams (“Second Chance School”).
The participation in the Comenius school development program financed by the European Committee gives students the chance to improve their sense of solidarity and empathy. It also helps them to explore and respect the heterogeneity of European Culture and social traditions. This institute is the coordinator for 6 schools in the 3-year project entitled “For a European School of Solidarity” which aims at helping the participants to learn and cohabit with heterogeneity.
“Shared memories - Europe in 60s” (2009-2011): The goal of this project was to aquaint students with the atmosphere of the split Europe of the 60s. Eight schools from six countries participated.
Swedish-Hungarian student exchange programme (2010-2012): “Challenges and situations in Europe reflected in the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union”. The goal of this project is to familiarize students with the rights and duties presented in the Charter.
LKG hosts one of the most advanced school science laboratories in the country, equipped with state of the art equipment. The laboratory is utilized, besides LKG, by 13 institutions.
Specialities
Students in the 9th and 10th form learn the subjects of their own interest, which they specialise in, in a higher number of lessons. At the beginning of the 11th form they can revise their former choice and make a new one choosing another elective subject to orientate themselves towards another aim in their future career.
Besides the modern pedagogical methods used in the school, the students are attracted by the friendly atmosphere of the institution as well. The extra curricular activities also have an important role to contribute to this good atmosphere. It is not only the cultural programs which are of great interest to students but they show interest in acting, sports activities and hiking as well. The students’ self-government operates within a special independent framework.
The excellent atmosphere of the school is also due to the most modern way of keeping contact between parents and the school as well as students and teachers through the internet. This new type of “interpersonal” contact is operated through the Moodle framework and it makes the educational and pedagogical work of teachers much more effective.
The school has owned a certificate of quality management based on the QPSA model since 1999. For the sake of the permanent improvement the school is continuously processing the feedback (measure-ments, competition results, data of enrolment, final exam results) and survey the indicators of the level of satisfaction of partners (of parents and students) in the educational and pedagogical process. As the appreciation of the high quality of the work, the name of the school gets referred to more and more frequently in the leading organs of pedagogical literature.
Innovative School, TalentPoint
This school has been a member of the Network of European Innovative Schools since June 2003. This gives the opportunity of trying out new pedagogical methods and tools and of joining/participating international programs.
LKG became member to the Hungarian Network of TalentPoints in 2011 .
The Hungarian Genius Programme fills a long-ago identified gap in Hungarian talent support. It aims at developing a nationwide network of talent support organisations, which will help create or strengthen bonds between the educational and talent support processes covered in schools and such opportunities provided by NGOs or even private people.
The core elements of this network are the so-called TalentPoints, institutions that have gone through a meticulous professional accreditation system developed in the framework of the Hungarian Genius Programme. As of today, over 400 TalentPoints have been established, and 210 educational institutions and civil society organizations have developed new and special talent support initiatives in frame of the Hungarian Genius Program.