Agrupamento de Escolas Dr. Manuel Gomes de Almeida - AEMGA
Rua 35, 4501-852 Espinho
Portugal
www.aemga.pt
+351227340580
Headmaster: José Ilídio Sá
Project coordinator: Marisa Rocha
AEMGA is a School Cluster created about 7 years ago in Espinho, a small coastal town in the North of Portugal, and it comprises 5 schools (a Secondary School, a Middle School and 3 Kindergarten and Primary Schools). There are many differences among the schools within the cluster, mainly due to social prejudice and students Backgrounds. The peripheral schools tend to take students from poorer areas (early school leaving; low expectations) while the secondary school congregates students who tend to have more supportive families and aspire to getting a University degree.
AEMGA has more than 250 teachers and over 2800 students, unevenly distributed among its schools. One of the motivations to create this project is to level these differences, by offering equal opportunities to all. Most of the students who go to Domingos Capela Middle School come from poorer families, often with unemployed parents, who have low incomes and live in social housing.
Hence our constant search for opportunities to provide meaningful cultural, social and learning experiences, and involve the local community in the activities and projects we run. We teach the Standard Curriculum, as well as Vocational classes, so students are able to learn practical skills. We are an inclusive school, with Special Needs students integrated in regular classes. There is a support network for students with learning and behavioural problems. The school is equipped with specific classrooms for Music, Art, Science and ICT, as well as Gyms, an outdoor sports field and a library.
There is also a canteen and a cafeteria. Throughout the project we will involve 7th to 9th graders (prioritising the most disadvantaged) and help them become well-rounded, global citizens with an active role in their community and a better understanding of the world. We believe that contacting other realities and sharing experiences can help raise empathy, improve relationships, broaden minds, overcome language barriers, and build fairer individuals with new future perspectives.
MARISA ROCHA, responsible for this project, has been part of the school staff for the last 9 years, first in D.C. and since the merger, also in Gomes de Almeida. She is an experienced, awarded eTwinner, and was part of the Portuguese helping team during the previous school Comenius project “A Voyage of Sea Discovery”. She is also a member of the Portuguese Association of Teachers of English, and has done a few talks and workshops at seminars and conferences. For the first two years in D.C. she participated in PROSEP, the Environmental Club, and developed clean-up actions, tree planting, cork and plastic recycling and others. She still develops some small recycling actions.
She is dedicated to Human Rights and in charge of the AEMGA-EUClub. Both the Director and his team, and the various departments of our school are very cooperative, so it will be easy to involve Art, Music, Sport, ICT, Science and Languages, among others in our Erasmus project.
Agrupamento de Escolas de Ovar Sul - AEOS
Rua Irmãos Oliveira Lopes, 3880-192 Ovar
Portugal
+351256573333
www.aeovarsul.net
Headmaster: Nuno Gomes
Project coordinator: Bruno Marques
Monsenhor Miguel Oliveira is a Portuguese Middle school, located in the small seaside town of Ovar, between Aveiro and Porto. It belongs to the Ovar Sul Cluster, and takes students aged 10 to 15.The cluster comprises schools from kindergarten to secondary level with more than 180 teachers and over 1360 students distributed by 6 different buildings. Most of MMO’s students come from deprived backgrounds (parents are often unemployed, have low incomes and live in social housing). We try to invest in projects that provide meaningful cultural, social and learning experiences to our students. It is our policy to involve the local community in the activities and projects that we run. We teach the standard curriculum, as well as vocational classes so students are able to learn important skills. We are an inclusive school, with several students with special learning needs integrated in regular classes. There is a support network in place for those students who have learning and behavioral problems. We have specific classrooms for Music, Art, Physics/Science and ICT, as well as a sports pavilion, an outdoor sports field, a library, a canteen and a cafeteria. We are both an Eco School and an eTwinning School. We want to involve 7th and 8th graders to better-understand other cultures, promote their interest in language learning and acquire European citizenship through their own experience. We believe that contacting other realities and cultures enables the knowledge of cultural diversity as a European identity brand. It will help raise students’ empathy, build relationships, overcome language barriers, and expand their professional aspirations. With their economic situations, few are able to experience foreign travel. We want to show our students the beauty of learning and how interesting school subjects can be. We want them to learn by doing and to find meaning in doing so. Our school is one of the 50 pilot-schools involved in the recent Education Reforms. As teachers we want to be prepared and start thinking of new and innovative ways of teaching and learning.
BRUNO MARQUES is the teacher responsible for this project. He teaches History and is part of the team dealing with Autonomy and Flexibility Curriculum, in the area of Citizenship. He is the eTwinning coordinator. He also coordinates the National Cinema Plan and is responsible for C3 (Communication and Creativity Club), a school library project. He is also part of the school library team. Our departments have a very diverse curricular offer such as Art and Lyrics, Movement and Dance. The Sports department is equally active (Gymnastics Association, Athletics team, Basketball in the curricular component; the Portuguese Olympic Committee has recognized one of our schools as part of its Olympic Education Programme), so we expect to have a meaningful contribution in improving students skills in these fields, thus our choice for the Portuguese mobility subject-focus is "green" sports and Nature.
I.C. "F. P. Polizzano" Gangi
VIA SAN LEONARDO
90024
Gangi - Italy
http://www.icpolizzano.edu.it/
+390921644579
Headmaster: Francesco Serio
Project coordinator: Nicoletta Forestiere
I.C. "F.P.Polizzano" is situated in Gangi, a mountainous village in the centre of Sicily. Far from large urban centres, and with an insufficient road network, it enjoys an enviable natural, cultural, artistic heritage, and is known as “One of the best villages in Italy” and “Jewel of Italy”. It is surrounded by the Regional Park of Madonie with more than half of Sicilian vegetable species, considerable water sources and an Adventure Park. One can see the Gorges of Tiberio along the River Pollina.
Unfortunately, unemployment rates continue to grow, forcing young people to leave. Since 2000 our school has been a Unified School made up of three levels: pre-primary, primary and lowersecondary, with 528 students aged 3 to 14 (31 classes) and 70 teachers. Its 4 buildings are located in different parts of the village. It has got IWB, labs, canteens, gyms and a football pitch. Almost all pupils have serene and morally healthy families. The school has an important role in local development, so its main objective is to improve students’ performances in the eight areas of the European Competences, and in those connected with the fields of food farming, energy, tourism and environment. It also aims at valuing diversity, equality, local cultural identity and interaction with the world; and providing instruments to interact with different cultures, understand and compare them with their own. Cooperation between school, families and territory is continuous and effective. Our school is inclusive, also thanks to its enthusiastic, innovative and experienced teachers. Joining this project could be an important opportunity for students to know better and preserve their geological, natural and cultural heritage as well as understand how it could contribute to job creation and economic growth. They will become active citizens and compare their heritage with that belonging to their European peers. Moreover it will help overcome all kinds of boundaries (linguistic, cultural, religious) and offer the chance to travel abroad, a rare experience to them.
NICOLETTA FORESTIERE, who is responsible for this project, teaches English at lower-secondary level and is the school eTwinning coordinator. Her projects have won national and European quality labels, and she was a winner of the Mevlana Prize for Intercultural Understanding for the project WE ALL SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE, in 2018. She has contributed in different ways to the recognition title: ETWINNING SCHOOL. Thanks to 2 school exchanges within eTwinning projects, she has widened the opportunities for the Community, both inside and outside the school, and learnt how to manage trips abroad. This project was approved by the teaching committee (that has a common European action plan) and the consultative committee. It will be carried out interdisciplinarily, involving mainly Science, Mother Tongue, Geography, Foreign Languages, Art, Music and PE, which together will contribute to the achievement of common objectives.
Osnovna skola "Retfala"
Kapelska 51a
31000
Osijek - Croatia
http://www.os-retfala-os.skole.hr/
Headmaster: Igor Kopić
Project coordinator: Mirko Andrić
Retfala Primary School is in Osijek, the 4th largest city in Croatia. It is an International Eco-School and Center of Excellence. It takes 550 students (7-15). Work is organized in two shifts and there are 50 teachers, one Director, a pedagogue, a psychologist and a librarian. We regularly get assistants, and that contributes to the work dynamics and quality. Our mission is to educate students for life according to their needs and capabilities and our Vision is to offer 21st century education and training, a stimulating and modern working environment, and special quality education for the community. The School has been involved in Erasmus projects since 2010, most of which are in the
field of Ecology. Our project ECO Life got COMET prize for best project (Science and Maths) in Croatia. We have got 4 eTwinning projects at the moment. Being an International Eco-School is important considering the strong criteria to achieve that status. The school works on many different ecological fields and there has been an increased interest for Natural Sciences, ICT and STEM: video-conferencing lessons from physics, participation in NATURA 2000 projects, implementation of Eratosten’s Experiment, Small Ecologists for Big Prizes, etc. Our school has a special Eco Committee which connects representatives of pupils, teachers, school administration, parents, local community and NGO (echo sphere) who manage and evaluate school work on an eco platform. Now we want to take a step further in the area of Ecology and International Cooperation by moving to a KA2 project where we will exchange good ecology praxis with European partners. Natural/Ecology Heritage is essential in our area, because it is situated very near the Danube and the Drava rivers, the biggest European swamp (Kopački rit Nature Park) and a UNESCO GEO-park (Papuk Nature Park). Unfortunately, the importance of heritage is overlooked by the local community, especially the young generation. Direct contact with ecology challenges and different geographical areas will develop and improve our School work in ecology taking it to a more respectable level. All the benefits of our project will be embedded in long term work: its goals are shared by the Eco-Team and EcoCommittee, so they are sustainable. Moreover, it puts emphasis on field and practice work, combining and integrating different areas of science, socialization processes and media. The EcoTeam and Team for Projects will be responsible for this project. They include teachers of various fields (pedagogic, STEM, languages, media and library, culture, etc).
MIRKO ANDRIĆ is the Coordinator of this project. He teaches Geography and is very experienced in project coordination and ecology. He already coordinates a KA1 project (Centre of excellence 2019) and has attended many national and international Erasmus+ workshops, congresses and courses. He has participated in 10 eTwinning projects (founded 7) and won 3 European Quality Labels and the COMET Award.
4o Gymnasio Prevezas
Eptanison
48100
PREVEZA - Greece
http://4gym-prevez.pre.sch.gr/autosch/joomla15/
+302682060410
Headmaster and Project coordinator: Barbara Zadraveli
The 4th Gymnasion of Preveza is in the outskirts of the city centre of Preveza (20,000 inhabitants). It is a touristy seaside city, especially in summer, situated in the Western part of Greece. The water surrounding it is the treasure that has to be cherished and protected for its sustainable development. Unfortunately, this region, called Epirus, is cited as one of the poorest in Europe with very few growth opportunities. The school has a more autonomous character with a new building since 2006 allowing for its own development. It takes about 160 pupils (with a percentage of foreigners, with immigrant parents and a small number of Roma) and 25 young, enthusiastic, hard working teachers, very keen on Professional Development matters, encouraging various activities in the Field of Ecology and Culture. It is well honored in town, functioning in cooperation with local societies and authorities. All pupils belong to different school clubs, involved in various extracurricular activities, which are made known to the public through local, regional press and the school website. It has been actively involved in European partnerships for the last 10 years, both in eTwinning and Comenius / Erasmus+. It is currently involved in an Erasmus+ partnership for this school year (2018-2019). It has been awarded 8 National and European eTwinning Quality labels with the projects completed so far, it has won 1st National Prize and 2d European Prize respectively in 2018 and it has just been announced as a 2019 prize winner in the eTwinning Special category for Humanism and Intercultural Dialogue with the project Herit@ge Matters.
BARBARA ZADRAVELI, Headmistress and project coordinator, has been the regional Etwinning Ambassador for the last 10 years. Being active in training other teachers and schools in European partnerships, encouraging cooperation and teamwork among staff. The teams of teachers in the school can take up responsibility in various fields, safeguarding the smooth implementation of the projects undertaken. This planned partnership applying for an Erasmus+ grant has come out of the recently awarded Herit@ge Matters (3 partners have been working digitally for two years). It is an expansion of this project in Environmental Heritage Matters and expected to make possible for our students to cooperate digitally and in person via the mobilities, expand and reinforce the languages spoken in Europe and give them the pleasure of learning and acting together. They are not given the chance in "real life" to travel a lot. That's why a multinational European project is essential, so that learning a foreign language becomes more purposeful and new educational practices are shared and promoted through joint / collaborative activities. This Erasmus project will involve students actively in eco-matters of local and international importance, hand-in-hand with the curricula of subjects like Languages, Science, Geography, ICT and Arts and Crafts.
Colegiul National Petru Rares
Obor, nr. 83
425100
Beclean - Romania
https://www.cnpetruraresbn.ro/
+400263343190
Headmaster: Pop Cristian
Project coordinator: Marika Emese Cîmpean
Colegiul Național „Petru Rareș” is in Beclean, a Romanian city with a thermal resort. It takes 930 students (5 primary, 6 gymnasium and 24 high school classes). We have 5 different VET areas: Philology, Social Studies, Natural Sciences, Informatics and Economics for students aged 14 to 18.
There are 62 teachers in this inclusive, multicultural school which takes several students with learning problems, others from different minorities, and also those who come from surrounding villages. We create a culture of inclusion and collaboration in order to help our students achieve competences that will help them in their future jobs and build their character. Meeting the partners from our previous eTwinning projects will be amazing, especially as many students come from families that could not afford their travel expenses. We have lots of extracurricular activities related to culture, sports and social services. Recently our school has been involved in several, highly popular
POSDRU Projects on Entrepreneurial Education (a Skills for Jobs project which helps students discover careers appropriate for their skills, abilities, and interests; a Start-up on the labor market through enterprise networks, where students have to create and run their own virtual companies).
The contact teacher, MARIKA EMESE CîMPEAN, has been an eTwinning ambassador since 2013, and developed several eTwinning projects which got National and European Quality Labels. She won the 2017 National eTwinning Prize for Inclusion, with the project The Swallow is a Refugee or an Immigrant, and is part of this year's winning team with the project Herit@ge Matters, recently awarded the Yunus Emre Prize for Humanism and Intercultural Understanding. We have had the eTwinning School Label and the European Parliament Ambassador School recognitions since 2018.
Marika is an active promoter of the Sustainable Development Goals (she is a #TeachSDGs ambassador). The school, which is in a new building built through European funds, includes boarding facilities, a cafeteria, and outdoor sports facilities. It is equipped with specific classrooms for Language and Literature, Art, Science and ICT, as well as a library and a canteen. We will involve 7th to 9th graders (prioritising the most disadvantaged), focus on European values, and motivate the students to act for their future by making a change in their communities. The project is going to
involve the whole school, although there is a team responsible for implementing it. All our teachers are permanent and work on European eTwinning and Scientix projects. Our school magazines are awarded on national level and we have a 10-year-old Theatre Troupe. It will be easy to involve Art, Music, Sport, ICT, Science and Languages, among others in our Erasmus project. Our school's motto is „Sapere aude!” (dare to be, dare to become). One of the goals in our school's Institutional
Development Project is promoting European Dimension, Inclusion and Multiculturalism.