Our school 144 Secondary School “Narodni Buditeli” is a big school with 1280 pupils and more than 120 teachers in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It has been working out traditions and its own profile for more than 30 years now. It is specialised in Arts, Music and Choreography. The profiled training in these subjects includes intensive studying of English language. We also have classes in Spanish and Russian. Our students are aged between 6 and 19. They are of different social status; children from intermarriages; disadvantaged for socioeconomic reasons; suffering from chronic illnesses and partial disability and students with special educational needs. There are special and individual programs for their education and upbringing. The school has modern and advanced facilities for the acquisition of European education and has numerous honors and awards in competitions at home and abroad. It is the only school in Bulgaria which is a member of the World Dance Association of UNESCO. Our teaching staff has extensive experience working on various national and international projects - from 2004 on we have worked on various projects under the Socrates, Comenius, Lifelong Learning Programme and now - Erasmus +. Two years ago we finalized a Comenius project “Singing Europe” whose main topic was European citizenship and civil rights. Last year we finished our work on an Erasmus+ project entitled "United in diversity through stories of Europe" and this year - a KA1 project about how to prevent early school leaving. We have also worked on eTwinning projects and three of them are awarded with eTwinning Quality Labels. Our eTwinning project “Life on the Europlanet” was given the 3rd price for European citizenship by our HRDC. The director, the deputy directors, head teachers and teachers of primary and secondary schools of education in 144 Secondary School teaching different subjects - Bulgarian language, foreign languages, history, biology, informatics and information technology, philosophical cycle music, art, choreography and physical education and sports will be involved in the project. They are characterized by good communication skills, rich social experience, abilities for teamwork. Arts teachers build an artistic look at life and the world, skills, teamwork, tolerance and social commitment. Some of our teachers have extensive experience both in teaching the relevant subject and work on various national and international projects. So they are familiar with various European systems of education and best practices on how to help students develop their communication skills They have the skills and knowledge on how to assist the processes of teaching and learning by means of music , dance and fine arts. Another part of the teachers are young and ambitious people who, despite their not great professional experience are open to innovative approaches and methods of work and willing to constantly enhance their competence, knowledge and skills in class.
1 Dimotiko Sxoleio Triandrias is a public school in Thessaloniki, Greece. It is a modern school, with facilities and technical equipment. There are 6 grades and 12 sections-2 sections in each grade. In total, there are about 250 students. There is an 'integration' class for the children with special learning difficulties and there are also ‘all-day classes’ for the children whose parents work in the afternoon. Many of our pupils are of rather low economic status. There are 10 students with learning differences, one with special needs and two with autism. Students start learning at the age of 6 and end primary at 12 and then they attend secondary education. The teachers are experienced, they take part in seminars and lifelong training programs, aiming at their professional development. They try to apply new teaching methods and techniques, trying to motivate and engage all students in the learning process. The students of all classes take part in outdoor activities (visits to museums, environmental centres, theatres, etc). Also, the school cooperates with the municipality and the Parents’ association and takes initiatives for social actions, charities and volunteering. Also, our school has a tradition in planning and implementing innovative projects with environmental and cultural themes engaging all students in experiential learning. We have taken part in eTwinning projects, with the most recent ‘United through creativity’ and in the Erasmus+ project 'Creating, Communicating, our Diversity we are Celebrating!' The main aim of our participation is the development of intercultural values towards combatting racism and xenophobia. And this happens through participation in enjoyable collaborative activities, sharing and cooperating with other schools in Europe. The two key persons in the partnership will be the school principal (legal representative) and the English teacher (contact person). The contact person has significant experience with European projects and holds two Master's degrees. The school principal has a lot of years experience in school management holding two Master's degrees. The teachers who will participate in the project (10 out of 25) have more than 20 years’ experience in education and recent experience with an Erasmus+ project-KA2. They can speak English fluently (levels B2-C2 according to the Common European Framework for Foreign Languages) and they are competent in ICT. They have team spirit and they could take over in case the key people in charge leave their post in the future. Moreover, they cooperate with the parents’ association and the local authorities and they disseminate the products of their work in the blog of the school and the local press. Team spirit, open horizons and cooperation are the main elements characterizing our practices in the school. We hope that through this partnership our teaching and educational actions will continue gaining a European, broader dimension
Our school is a Primary School situated in Maków, in the centre of Poland. It is about 60km from Warsaw – capital of Poland. Our school community consists of 25 teachers and 273 students, aged 7 to 15. Primary school education is divided into two stages. In years 1,2 and 3 children learn in the socalled integrated subjects learning environment. In years 4 to 8 the curriculum is already divided into subjects. Many of our pupils are of rather good economic status. There are some pupils from socioeconomically disabled families and a small group of pupils with disabilities. They are provided with pedagogical help and special forms of teaching. Our students are really engaged in school life - apart from gaining basic knowledge, they attend after-school activities - dancing groups, sport clubs, brass band. They successfully take part in different competitions and festivals. Our school is modern with well equipped classrooms. By integrating modern technology into lessons, we keep students interested, develop their digital skills, improve their learning experience and give them new opportunities. We are really sure that all these skills will support students in their future careers. Our school takes part in many projects including outdoor learning. One of them is ‘Healthy living school project’. Our school belongs to ‘National Network of Healthy living school project’. We think that it is important to give children healthier eating habits. Students develop their skills and gain knowledge by participating in workshops on democracy, bike rides, nordic walking, sightseeing trips, meetings with politicians, art workshops, volunteering, sport trainings and competitions, outdoor games, zumba dances. Our students have opportunities to learn through outdoor experience. They even organise outdoor activities for local communities like other primary schools learners, parents or seniors. Taking part in the project 'Interactive holiday calendar in Europe' will give students the chance to develop digital competence and use it to share and broaden their knowledge about culture. Moreover, it is really important to make young people more tolerant and open towards different cultures. Our students are involved in many different actions connected with national holidays - they act in Christmas plays, design special cards and posters on various occasions so they could have the chance to exchange their ideas with their peers from other countries. Our teachers and students will gain some experience in international communication, improve their language skills. Our school doesn't have any experience in international projects but some teachers have experience in the Erasmus+ project. Teachers of different subjects will be involved in the project. They are hardworking, caring and dedicated to teaching. They know how to encourage students to work at their best levels. Two English teachers will be the key people in charge of running the project.
Alcochete's Grouping Schools is situated in the village of Alcochete near the capital city of Lisbon. The surrounding region is heterogeneous, a mixture of urban and countryside, whereby this project is important to our students who need a new stimulu This Grouping Schools comprises 6 primary schools, one middle school and a secondary school (10th to 12th grades). The school population is about 3500 students, of which 853 are secondary level students. We also have professional and vocational courses, which have been helping to fight early school leaving and have helped to provide the school community with equal opportunities to students with different interests. We have the skills for this project: web.2.0 experience, ICT and foreign languages: English, French, Spanish and German. We wish to work with middle school students with ages between 12 to 15. Our school is old, already in need of modernization, but we have students, teachers and families motivated for the learning of foreign languages, traditions, ICT and European and worldwide culture.The school has offered, beyond its curriculum, intensive courses for every teacher and student who want to improve their English and German. They have also French and Spanish.The goal above all is to provide them with communication tools for situations such as the ones that occur in every community project in which this one has been involved for the last academic years. We have also experience in management of national and international school projects as partners and coordinators. In the last four years we have participated in Comenius and Eramus + projects. Our projects have involved a great number of students from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.The group of K1 and K2 projects teachers has been diversified, because we are a Grouping School open to new experiences that have resulted in this interdisciplinary participation in projects. There has not been just one single group of teachers involved, but instead, groups of teachers from different disciplinary groups have participated, together with the engagement and support of the town council and other local institutions Our English teachers have a crucial role in many International projects. In this project they are going to share their experience with other partners and they will be responsible for the dissemination of projects results at local and national level. Our ICT teacher supports collegues with necessary technologies, presentations, making videos, etc. During this project they are going to support collegues with necessary technologies.We consider that it is very important and useful to share and exchange our experience by participating in European projects with other European schools by sharing the different curricula and methods of teaching and learning.