I.E.S León Felipe is located in the city of Torrejón de Ardoz, near Madrid, the capital city of Spain. Our school follows a bilingual programme (Spanish / English), which has been pioneering for both Spain and Europe. We currently have 842 students Our school has received a great number of immigrants in recent years, so our main concern is the integration and the reception of students from all over the world. Our school is a secondary education school, but we also have a building where students have access to vocational training (wood carpentry). Our school has participated successfully in Erasmus K102 for several years. In the secondary level, the curricula includes subjects such as Maths, Biology, History, Music, Chemistry, P.E. Arts, and French... In 2016 it became a bilingual school (English /Spanish) It meant new opportunities for training, methodological innovation, cultural transfer as a positive value, the arrival of new proffesionals andresources and generated a spirit of improvement, internationalization and innovation. Our school premises are situated in a problematic district, where the percentage of immigration is very high andpoverty and lack of resources are very common. Some families are at risk of social exclusion, and lack of motivation to study, coexistence conflicts and absenteeism are very frequent. Our school ́s motivation to coordinate this project is to provide our students with new opportunities. We believe that working with students from other countries will improve their motivation significantly, and travelling abroad for some of them will be a turning point in their lives. We can contribute to the project with our large experience in the topic of integration and inclusion. We have a plan for the attention to diversity (PAD), which we would like to share with our partners in the project. We also have experience in the integration of students in social disadvantage and prevention of absenteeism.Our final goal is the inclusion and improvement of the students ́ capacities and skills. Most of the teachers participating in the project have a long experience in the topics of diversity and inclusion.We think learning from other experiences from schools from other countries can be a verymotivating experience both for teachers and students. That ́s our main motivation to implement this project.
Agrupamento de Escolas de Rio Tinto, Portugal
Escola Básica Rio Tinto is located in the city by the same name, in the suburbs of Porto. It is the main school (5th to 9th grades: 900 pupils, 90 teachers) of a cluster of 10 schools with a total of 1600 children & 160 staff. We also have special education teachers because we host a large group of students with disabilities & 2 psychologists working with us full time. Additionally, our cluster has been receiving immigrants from different parts of the globe more & more, which arises new problems, essentially inclusion. As this is a recurring situation in all European countries, we feel the need to share strategies and resolution findings with our peers. The curricula for our 5-9th graders (10-15 year-old) include Portuguese, Maths, Science, Chemistry, Geography, History, English, French, Spanish, Arts, PE, Music & Citizenship. The school offers after class clubs in the following areas: sports, arts, drama, solidarity, multimedia, astronomy/robotics, writing, first aid, civil protection and environment. The cluster is located in a problematic urban area with some community neighbourhoods where drugs & poverty are a reality. The social level is low; most parents didn’t complete basic elementary education & live on social welfare while others work in the services sector. Most mothers choose to work outside the home which causes a serious lack of parent-child interaction, as children are left with grandparents or other members of the family. Many come from broken, one-parent or problematic families, so they don’t expect much from school or life. Our main objective is to prevent drop-out & show these teenagers alternative life paths, educating them to be reliable citizens & providing them with the basic knowledge that makes them feel part of the UE. Thus, we will show them work exits both nationally and abroad, by enhancing their understanding about the different heritages of each country and learning to deal with them, adapting their social behaviour.
Istituto Comprensivo Maria Montessori, Italy
The school was founded in 2000 and is located in the third town hall of the city of Rome, which has 200,000 inhabitants. It’s about 10 km from the centre. There are about 1200 students and 160 teachers. Most of the students live in the school's neighbourhood. The school consists of three separate school complexes. In two of them Nursery and Primary School follow Montessori method. Two of the three school complexes are set in a partially disadvantaged area. In our classes there are a lot of children with special needs (about 160) and a lot of foreign students. Our students study Spanish and English language. Our teaching method is based on respect for the learning ability of each pupil, and promotes the exercise and the development of skills through an active construction of knowledge . We help pupils to create their own experiences, as we believe that through the experience in the first person they can develop their personality. Our pedagogical method is based on the respect of learning abilities that every pupil has in order to promote, exercise and develop some valued building abilities. We believe that the teachers have the role to help students to understand their experiences through questioning and analyzing their problems. The teaching methodology is based on: attention to the person applying the Montessori method, cooperative learning and valid staff of teachers. We are very interested andactive in inclusion topics, conflict mediation and gender equality, healthy lifestyles. Recently weimplemented our school with new tools for an innovative teaching (ITC) that uses different technologies, especially in pursuit of greater inclusion. Our school often hosts teachers (Italian and European) and college students who want to learn the characteristics of the Montessori method. The teaching methodology is based on: attention to the person applying the Montessori method presence, valid staff of teachers and curricular support, flexible working hours, relationships with families and with nearest stakeholders.
Opshtinsko osnovno uciliste Dimo Hadzhi Dimov, North Macedonia
The Primary School ‘’ Dimo Hadzi Dimov’’ is situated in the capital of North Macedonia,Skopje. There are 786 pupils from 6 to 14 years, who are divided in 9 grades. We study according the stated programmes by the Ministry of Education and Education Development Bureau as his official part. Our total staff is 87; 71teachers, 1 principal, 1 pedagogue, 1 psychologist, 1 special needs teacher, 1 librarian, 1 secretary and 10 tehnical staff. Our school mission is to provide modern and quality education to all our pupils, with realization of the Ministry of education’s plan and programs, and to develop pupils for their successful further education and integration into life in general. According to that, the school strives to be a safe place for teaching and learning, a place for coexistence and organizing joint activities in the educational process of all ethnic communities in the community. The school has a lot of extracurricular activities, where pupils are involved together with staff and where they can use and develop their knowledge and skills in sport, art and culture, comunication, democracy, Intercultural education and learning, social dialogue and care of environment. The school prepares students to work in conditions of contemporary world by creating conditions to purchase of such abilities as: Planning, organising own learning, effective cooperation in team and group work, building interpersonal bonds, making individual and group decisions. The school accomplishes tasks which help students to maintain their national, linguistic identity. It acts for integrating different cultural experience with the respect for human rights. It teaches the civil education on the local and global level.The goals of our school are to create a positive and stimulating atmosphere through cooperating with other ethnic communities. Decoration of the school’s inner and outer space with the help of students, teachers and parents and throughout the collaboration with other ethnic communities.
Music School of Komotini, Greece
The student body of the Music School of Komotini consists of about 320 students ranging from 13 to 18 years of age. The students have a diverse social, cultural & educational background due to an allocation of different nationalities, ethnic minorities & different cultures, across the area of Thrace, where the School is located. In order to integrate students with such different backgrounds into comprehensive, as well as musical education, the school has adopted various practices, such as mentorship involving students of different age & background, flexible training models, such as individual tutoring, as well as attendance of mixed ability classes, frequent cooperation with parents, & social partners & so on.
The majority of staff are computer literate & run innovative programs with students. The participation of the school in the last 3 Erasmus+ projects has improved their (& students’ as well) digital literacy & mobile app skills. Overall, our School has made great progress towards achieving goals that constitute its priorities (cultivate & sustain an integrated multidisciplinary environment that facilitates excellence in research & creative activity, teaching, service, & community engagement, provide a well-rounded program of instruction using the best educational practices appropriate to the cultural instill feelings of respect for people & the environment in a context of social, moral, multi-cultural & spiritual awareness). Moreover, the administration & staff attempt to enhance a climate of cooperation, mutual respect & personal growth, a fact that is highly appreciated by students, teachers, parents & members of the local community that are involved in the educational environment. Our main target of the participation in the project is to develop model activities in order to prevent all kinds of unwanted behaviours that may arise.
Traditional songs with the Symphonic orchestra of the Music School of Komotini(performance in the Opera House of Komotini)