Vision, courage and teamwork - our journey of growth with Cambridge - Principal Elisamarzia Vitaliano at Istituto Comprensivo Nitti

Oct 23, 2026

Vision, courage and teamwork - our journey of growth with Cambridge describes how Istituto Comprensivo Nitti in Rome implemented the Cambridge Pathway to strengthen students’ English from ages 6 to 14. The principal outlines yearly goals from 2012–2017, including staff alignment, native-speaker training, language certification, curriculum planning aligned to CEFR, and accreditation as a Cambridge International School. Outcomes include wider family adoption, strong INVALSI results, and expanded English provision with native speakers, plus improved teacher communication and international opportunities.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Vision, courage and teamwork - our journey of growth with Cambridge

School overview and Cambridge Pathway introduction

2012 to 2013 – First goal: Identify strengths and vision

2013 to 2014 – Second goal: Develop English language skills

2014 to 2015 – Third goal: Strengthen English for continuity

2015 to 2016 – Fourth goal: Become a Cambridge International School

2016 to 2017 – Fifth goal: Introduce Cambridge classes in more subjects

2025 to 2026 – Current status and results

Challenges and team support

[cambridge.org](cambridge.org) Vision, courage and teamwork – our journey of growth with Cambridge Elisamarzia Vitaliano, Principal at Istituto Comprensivo Nitti Istituto Comprensivo Nitti in Rome (IC Nitti) is a public school for students aged 6 to 14. The school welcomes over 1000 pupils and offers an educational pathway that includes primary school (ages 6 to 10) and lower secondary school (ages 11 to 14). Principal Elisamarzia Vitaliano introduced the Cambridge Pathway at the school to support students to learn English, giving them the opportunity to improve their linguistic skills in line with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and to develop new opportunities internationally. Here, Principal Vitaliano shares her experience of this approach. You have been working with Cambridge for several years to improve your students’English skills and create new international opportunities. How did you achieve this? Our motivation to offer the Cambridge Pathway dates back a long way. We are a relatively young comprehensive school, which was established in the 2012 to 2013 academic year, following the merger of a primary school and a lower secondary school. Below is a summary of the most significant steps in our journey, focusing on English language development. 2012 to 2013 – First goal: Identify our strengths and vision In our first year, our priorities were to: • compare the different approaches to education and teaching of the two schools – primary and lower secondary – and highlight their strengths; and • build a common identity. Continued Vision, courage and teamwork – our journey of growth with Cambridge continued 2013 to 2014 – Second goal: Develop English language skills We found that developing English language skills was a key strength of the lower secondary school, based on: • consistency in teaching methods across the teaching staff; • training with native speakers (those whose first language is English) for Italian teachers of English; and • promoting Cambridge English Qualifications for students with particular abilities. As a result, we introduced language certification (formal recognition of students’ language skills) in primary school as well. Educational planning included creating departments to define a curriculum that is in line with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). 2014 to 2015 – Third goal: Strengthen English skills to improve continuity in teaching To strengthen English skills and improve continuity between primary and lower secondary education, we put the following measures in place. • Introduced our Native Speaker Project in primary school. • This project included three hours of English study with a native speaker in the 40-hour weekly schedule. The overall framework for English was as follows. Year 1: one hour of English with an Italian teacher plus three hours with a native speaker Year 2: two hours of English with an Italian teacher plus three hours with a native speaker Years 3, 4 and 5: three hours of English with an Italian teacher plus three hours with a native speaker • Strengthened how both parts of the school shared best practice by creating an English department that included Italian teachers of English and native speakers. The main goal was to encourage the primary and lower secondary schools to work together and develop an effective teaching model. • Analysed student enrolment data for upper secondary schools. We looked at students’ choices after lower secondary school and found that most of our students enrolled in Cambridge-affiliated high schools in the area. 2015 to 2016 – Fourth goal: Become a Cambridge International School After considering all these factors and discussing them at the Teachers’ Council, in June 2016 we decided to apply for accreditation as a Cambridge International School for lower secondary education. After gaining accreditation, we told parents of

FAQs

How did Istituto Comprensivo Nitti introduce the Cambridge Pathway?

Principal Elisamarzia Vitaliano describes introducing the Cambridge Pathway to support students’ English learning, aligned with CEFR, and to create international opportunities for learners.

What measures were used to strengthen English skills between primary and lower secondary?

The school introduced a Native Speaker Project in primary, set a staged weekly English framework across years, created an English department for best-practice sharing, and analyzed student enrollment choices after lower secondary.

What results and current status does the school report?

Families largely choose the Cambridge Pathway at enrollment, INVALSI English test scores are high, students take CEFR B1 and B2 exams each year, and the school offers an expanded six-hour English program with native speakers.

Oct 23, 2026

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