Nipiagogio Avlonariou

Kindergarten of Avlonari (Nipiagogio Avlonariou) is a public school and belongs to the primary level of the Greek Education system. More specifically, primary education in Greece is mandatory and is divided into kindergartens, which welcome students at the age of four and last two years, and primary schools with students’ age range 6-12 years old. All levels of education in Greece are overseen by the Ministry of Education which exercises centralized control over the state schools by prescribing the curriculum, appointing staff, and controlling funding.

The kindergarten is located in a small village named Avlonari, on a Greek island called Evia, in Central Greece and it was founded in 1966. Its teaching group consists of 3 teachers, and its facilities are about 50 students (25 students/ teacher), with an age range of 4-6 years old. The school often enrolls students from other countries, such as Albania, Belgium, and Bulgaria and it also welcomes Roma students, who live near the institution.

The organization follows the Greek preschool curriculum and tries every year to participate in innovative and creative programs that improve the learning and socializing of the preschoolers. Μore specifically, through these projects, teachers try to promote students’ development emotionally, socially, physically, and academically, while acquiring new skills and supporting their talents. As a result, the team has participated in several national projects and it is an active part of the eTwinning and Erasmus+ communities. The involvement in the multicultural exchange of experiences and knowledge becomes a great motive for all the stakeholders to change their mindsets, respect the environment, and embrace cultural diversity. For this reason, the kindergarten has developed a strong collaboration with the authorities and the local community. 

From 2015 until now, the school community has won numerous eTwinning National & European Quality Labels, as well as 2 National & 4 European eTwinning Prizes. The school was also nominated with EITA 2022 for the project "Happy School through SEL". In addition, the institution has eTwinning school label since 2020. Furthermore, the team takes part in global & national school networks organized by the Foundation of Environmental Education: “Eco-Schools”, “Environment without Trash” and “Learn about Forests” and is awarded for the variety of actions, integrated into the school curriculum. The school is promoting the digital literacy of its members and has esafety labels and official cooperations with specialists (Safer Internet 4 kids).

Key persons of this project were:

1) Samoutian Margarita (coordinator of the project) has been a teacher for 10 years at public schools. She has academic skills and speaks fluently 3 foreign languages (English, French & Spanish). She has attended many Greek courses for the Protection of the Environment, Health Education, Collaboration in small groups, robotics in preschool age, etc. Moreover, she has ICT certification and she coordinates the Erasmus+ & eTwinning projects of the institution. Finally, she has an MSc in counseling and she is an eTwinning & Scientix ambassador and EU Code Week Leading Teacher.

2)Tatsiou Styliani, has been a teacher for 30 years at kindergartens. She has academic skills and speaks English. She has attended many Greek seminars about the Protection of the Environment, Health Education, etc. Finally, she has an ICT certification.

3)Tsirgioti Eleni, has been a teacher for 25 years at kindergarten. She has academic skills and speaks English and Italian. She is the headmistress of the institution and has attended many Greek seminars to increase her knowledge and renew her skills. She also has a ICT certification.

Kindergarten’s blog:  http://blogs.sch.gr/nipavlon