About us - Základná škola s materskou školou Maximiliána Hella Štiavnické Bane

The Primary & Secondary School of Maximilián Hell is situated in the heart of Štiavnické vrchy,
directly under the Sitno Hill ( 1 009 m ) which is mentioned in many legends. The school is named after the
world – famous astronomer and scientist Maximilián Hell who was born in this village, Štiavnické Bane. The school is founded by the Municipal Council of Štiavnické Bane.

The school is the only primary & secondary school in the world where the subject Falconry is taught as a part of the regular curriculum. Our school is an ordinary primary & secondary school with classrooms, dining room, school club, nursery and the after-school club. Pupils of the school regularly take part in the presentations of our school not only in Slovakia but also abroad – they have visited Belgium, Great Britain, Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Austria, Croatia and presented falconry training and displays for general public. Our young falconers have presented Slovak Republic many
times – exhibitions of tourist industry, celebrations of the accession to the European Union, visits of significant guests, e. g. Norwegian and Swedish kings and numerous meetings with the President of Slovak Republic.

The school area consists of three buildings. It is extensive, although a bit out – of – date. In the last few years we managed to reconstruct all restrooms, our gym, school interior and windows. We have interactive boards in all classrooms. For the public there is the Falconry Educational Pathway with birds of prey and owls directly in the school premises. We have small horse stables as well so our students can interact with horses on daily basis and learn basics of Horse Care on a decent level.

Our mission:

to make falconry education and falconry experience accessible to all and especially to our students
to empower our students through their direct interaction with birds of prey and their responsibilities
and our expectations
to include our students in specialized falconry activities and falconry displays on regular basis
to provide falconry education and qualification to our students with prospects of professional falconry
career for them
to develop our school and our region through the active participation on environmental and local civic
activities
to get connected with other subjects dealing with falconry on an international level