The TARGET

The whole project dealt with the problems pupils faced every day by the teachers in schools, an issue that is being addressed by developed countries worldwide. These are behavioural problems of pupils, psychological problems, problems coming from the family environment or from society. Our aim was to involve these pupils in the project activities and at the same time we observed the behaviour of the pupils in the group and collected knowledge important for prevention.

The decision to implement the project proved to be the right one, because during the 3 years (the project was extended by one year due to the covid epidemic), we saw improvements in pupils with specific problems:

1. Psychological problems

2. Learning difficulties (dyslexia, dysgraphia, Asperger's)

3. Overweight

4. ADHD, behavioural difficulties in the school environment

5. Pupils at risk of failure

We emphasized the involvement of these students in sports and cultural activities, which we implemented in international meetings, as well as during the school year when we worked on outputs. Mixed groups of students with special needs with students of different grades or their classmates proved to be a good solution for socialization, motivation to achieve better results, competitiveness, but also cooperation.

We concluded with our partners that pupils from all organisations made a huge progress and were more outgoing, friendly and communicative in school after each return from an international activity. Throughout the project they communicated with each other via social networks, but even now that the project has ended, some of them maintain regular contact with their international friends.

Teachers became convinced that teamwork, the relationship between pupils and teachers, but also a change of environment can have a beneficial effect on solving and especially preventing conflict situations that lead to bullying, racism, exclusion from school society and eventually to failure at school. In addition, we have found that pupils with psychological problems, ADHD, or Asperger's syndrome function well in the work group and that active meaningful activity reduces their problems (especially noticeable in pupils with psychological burdens).

Pupils with different problems were no longer seen as "troublemakers" or "special" by their classmates, because other pupils from the school had worked with them for a long time, had the opportunity to get to know them well, to learn about their peculiarities and to respect them. They have learned that when everyone works as a team and does what they do best, they can all apply themselves and work better together. They discovered that many of them have a number of strengths that they have not had the opportunity to discover or show before. Pupils have learned to get along in and out of school and generally co-exist harmoniously in the school environment.

During the implementation of the project, we held three international meetings, each in a different setting with different sports and cultural activities. The first meeting was about canoeing and rafting in the mountains of northern Greece, with visits to local nature reserves and museums. The second meeting took place in Italy. We sailed on the sea and visited the most important archaeological sites between Salermo and Ischia. The third meeting took place in Prague, team sports thrilled all participants, we also visited the most important monuments of Prague and its surroundings. The organization of these meetings was challenging because there were sports activities in different environments, we always had to take into account that we were going with students who might react in unexpected ways. The fourth and last meeting, which waxs going to take place in Iceland, was unfortunately not held with the pupils due to covid restrictions.

Thanks to the excellent cooperation of all the organisations involved, good preparation and a well thought out program, I have to say that we managed to meet all the objectives we set ourselves. We consider the most important goals achieved to be:

1. improving the physical and mental health of the teenagers

2. the friendships that have been created between the pupils of all schools

3. the relationship between pupils and teachers

4. socialization

5. teamwork

6. a better relationship with sport

7. getting to know another culture

8. strengthening self-esteem

9. improving communication between peers

10. the use of foreign languages

11. learning about European countries-nature, culture

12. creating a good atmosphere in schools.

For the teachers, the implementation of the project was a huge benefit in gaining experience and working with pupils with special needs. These students often avoid group events, so the teacher meets them only during lessons or when solving a problem. The length of the meetings was around 10-12 days, this helped all of us to build trust with each other, but most importantly we could observe the pupils from close proximity and react quickly as needed. This experience is very important for the future prevention of problems of various kinds.