ŞEMSETTİN KARAHİSARİ SECONDARY SCHOOL

         First of all, we would be grateful to inform you about the origin of our school’s name: Şemsettin Karahisari. The name of our school derives from one of the most well-known and talented calligraphers of Ottoman Empire, Ahmed Şemseddin Karahisari. He was born in Karahisar, which is currently known as Afyonkarahisar, in 1468 and died in 1566, at the age of 98 in İstanbul. His most important work is the Quran which he penned for Suleiman the Magnificent (reigned 1520-1566), which is preserved today at the Topkapi Palace. In terms of the technique and innovations made to the calligraphy, he is considered one of the most important three Ottoman calligraphers. Here are some examples of his successful masterpieces:                  

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

Our school was planned and built in 1966 in order to respond the basic needs of the city’s education at secondary school level. Even though there were few educational opportunities at those times, owing to its location and vision; the school became the centre of attraction. We can proudly express that the situation of the school’s populartiy remains the same or even much more advanced.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

The school consists of two buildings at present. However, in the near future there will be one additional building so as to meet the increasing demand of newly enrolled students. As was expected, in accordance with all the expectations of parents and students of the city; the school hosts approximately 1600 students in an age range of 10 – 14. The only crucial detail about our school is that we also have a kindergarten for kids at the age of 4 to 6 which are already counted in total number of students.

                                                  

As one easily can see, because of the densely-populated characteristics of our school we have a shifted education. That is to say; the 7th and 8th graders start in the morning at 7.20 and finish at 13.00. On the other hand; the 5th and 6th graders have their classes from 13.10 to 18.50. With its 105 teachers, 33 classrooms, 1 teacher’s lounge, 1 visitors’ meeting room, 2 ICT labs, 1 conference room, 2 science labs, 1 enriched library, 5 administrational rooms, 3 music, visual arts and technology&design workshops, a relatively large garden including football, basketball and volleyball pitches, a playground and a canteen; Şemsettin Karahisari Secondary School is located at the heart of the city-centre. 

                                                 

                                               

Apart from the physical features of the school, we would like to inform you about the academic targets and missions of our school. All of the students have an access to free and compulsory education at all government schools. If it is necessary to explain the term “compulsory”, it means that all the children aged between 6 and 18 must be educated via the primary schools, secondary schools and different kinds of high schools. The most significant mission of our school is to educate and train students with high self-confidence in terms of all aspects of major academic branches or self-improvement in art and sports. Technological applications one of which is so called “FATIH” Project is already in use in all the classrooms. Thanks to this Project, each and every classroom of the school is equipped with smart boards having internet access.

                                        

                                       

Last but not least; in our educational philosophy the students are to respect the differences of their peers. In other words; instead of dealing with the prejudices among various ethnicities or cultural differences, they respect one another and overcome any sort of difficulties with tolerance and mutual understanding.

                                   

To sum up; we believe that just like the previous Comenius Project SCOPE did, our Erasmus + Project FACE will be of great importance to help all the participants move one step ahead.