Our School is in Izmir. Izmir is located on the west coast of Turkey.It is the third biggest city in Turkey and it is the main port ot the Aegean region. And it has been enriched by many cultures both recent and ancient. The city of Izmir was an important center of commerce,art and culuture of the ancient world. The oldest name given in the Hellenistic era to Izmir was 'Smyrna' There are lots of tourist attractions in Izmir. We live four seasons in our country.

The official name of Turkey is The Republic of Turkey. Turkey is a big country with 80 million population. It is like a bridge between Asia and Europe. It is located in two continents. It is a big peninsula. There are Mediterranean,Black Sea and Agean Sea around Turkey. Eight countries have borderlines with Turkey; Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Iraq and Syria. Istanbul is the biggest city in Turkey with 15 million population but it is not the capital city. Ankara is the capital and the second biggest city in Turkey. We speak Turkish and our currency is Turkish Lira.

Turkish education system is under the supervision and control of the state, namely the Ministry of National Education. According to the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, everyone has the right to receive education. Education is compulsory from ages 6 to 18 and free in state schools. The country's primary schools currently have a 98 percent participation rate. 
The academic year in Turkish education institutions generally begins in the mid-September or early October and continues to May or early June. There is also a two-week winter break in February. 

Mehmet Akif Ersoy Primary School was opened in 1967. There are around 1000 students and 45 teachers at our school. Students start school at the age of 5 or 6 in kindergarten and when they turn to 7 they start the first grade. The students wear school uniform in our school. They study at our school for 5 years and then they start secondary school. In our school they have a teacher and that teacher teaches all the lessons except English. They have an English and religion teacher. But in primary school religion is taught as cultural information. 

Students come to school at 9:00 a.m. and finish the classes at 2:40 p.m. They can attend after school clubs if they want. It is optional. They can attend after school clubs such as folk dance, English, chess, art, sports and music. 

There are some National Days in Turkey and all of them are celebrated in schools. On October 29 we celebrate our Republic Day. The Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923 by Atatürk. It is a very enthusiastic day. It is celebrated not only in scools but also in streets by everybody witheh fireworks. On April 23 we celebrate National Sovereignty. Ataturk opened the first Grand National Assembly in 1920. And the day was given to children as a gift by Ataturk. Children all around the world come to Turkey as our guests and celebrate this day with Turkish children because the day was given not only to Turkish children but also to all children in the world. We celebrate Youth and Sports Day on May 19. On May 19, 1919 Ataturk started the War of Independence. So İt is celebrated as a National Day. There are also other National Days.