Project title: Take care! Sustainable children - sustainable Earth.
Main objective: Exchange of Good Practices
Start & end dates: 01-09-2019 to 31-08-2021
Purpose
The main objective of our Take care! Sustainable children - sustainable Earth -project is to educate children to become environmentally aware and caring, to live a sustainable life and develop our schools' cultures in a more sustainable direction in order to slow down climate change.We see sustainability in a broad sense (Agenda 2030), but we focus mostly on the green and social goals in our project. Other goals of our project include developing both students’ and teachers’ social, intercultural, digital and language skills and teachers' pedagogical skills. To achieve the goals, we exchange and try good practices and we use experimental, student-activating and creative methods, especially outdoor education and project work. These methods, in turn, will affect on students’ initiative and encourage them to grow into active, responsible citizens.
Main objectives
1.The
main objective of our project is to exchange and try good practices to educate
children to live a more sustainable life. We see sustainability in a broad
sense (Agenda 2030), but focus here mostly on the green and social goals.
2.Teachers
develop their pedagogical skills in the following fields: environmental and
outdoor education, social and communication skills, international communication
and digital skills like the use of eTwinning.
3.
Students develop the awareness of their role in protecting nature and slowing
down climate change. Students will learn practical actions they can take at
school and in their free time and thus spread the skills to their families and
to the broader community, which will empower them and grow hope.
4.
Students will learn new digital skills or improve them by using eTwinning and
other digital media.
5.Students
develop their social and communication skills through international cooperation
in Study groups, in the sharing events and in other social skills activities,
and of course during the learning periods in other countries.
6.
Students will have a chance to affect their own learning, their school
community and even the broader community, which will make them feel active
learners, active participants and active, self-confident and responsible
citizens.
7.Students'
and teachers’ attitudes towards other cultures and making international
cooperation will become more open and they will become encouraged in using a
foreign language.
8.Students
with fewer opportunities, migrant and refugee children, mostly in our Greek
partner school, and special needs students in all our schools, will feel
accepted and empowered through having equal chance to participate in an
international project and through positive attitudes by fellow students.
9.
The cooperation between “mainstream” schools and schools with migrant or
refugee pupils will benefit both the mainstream children and the children with
fewer opportunities, who come from migrant families or are refugees. Both
groups will develop their social and language skills and broaden their world
view. Especially those children who live in more remote areas with fewer
contacts to migrants or refugees, will have a good chance to develop their
cross-cultural understanding.
10.
School cultures change into a more sustainable direction. Those schools who
don’t have a green label yet, will start working for that.
Participating schools
Belgium: Ecole Europeenne, Brussels
Spain/Catalonia: Zer Guilleries, Viladrau
Greece: 21st Primary School of Athens "Lela Karagianni”, Athens
Cyprus: Tamasos Primary School, Nikosia
Romania: Scoala Gimnaziala Elena Doamna, Tecuci
Finland: Kultavuoren koulu, Orivesi
Belgium: Ecole Europeenne, Brussels
Spain/Catalonia: Zer Guilleries, Viladrau
Finland: Kultavuoren koulu, Orivesi
Belgium: Ecole Europeenne, Brussels
 |
| Ecole Europeenne Bruxelles |
Ecole
Europeenne Bruxelles is located in the city of Brussels linked to the European
institutions. We are one of 4 (soon 5) European schools. Our school is a primary
school with a population of approximately 1500 students. We are a very big
organisation that can offer unique resources and has a large enthusiastic
staff. This is our first time participating in an Erasmus+ project.
Our
strengths are as follows:
-Multilingual
school population: Staff and children. Sections: French speaking (BE, Fr, Lux);
English speaking (Ir); Tsjech (Slov); Greek (Cyprus); German(Austria, Lux);
Spanish; Dutch speaking (Nl, Be).
-We
are in the heart of Europe.
-We
have experience working between different language section. Our kids speak
multiple languages. Home language and a choice between English/French or
German. They are always eager to work with others and are used to do this in a
language that is not their own.
F.E:
as Primary 4 classes we are 9 classes in 7
different sections that work closely together. Once a week our children
will be equally divided into new multilingual
groups (2 kids out of every class) to a teacher in another section for
‘European Hours’. Every 3 or 4 weeks
these groups change teacher. This way they will see multiple teachers, on
different topics in a ‘European spirit’.
Spain/Catalonia: Zer Guilleries, Viladrau
 |
| Zer Guilleries, Viladrau |
We
are two grouped schools from different villages that share some resources.
One of the schools has 25 students and the bigger one has 80. There
are 15 teachers in total and 4 of them are itinerants, that means that go and
teach in both schools doing English, physical education, music and special
needs.
The
school surroundings are close to the forest. For that reason, it is really
important to promote different activities and tasks to take care of our
environment. Moreover, with this project we wish to start outdoor learning.
We
are a Green Label school, that means that we have received a recognition from
the Catalan Government to be involved in environment tasks. We promote
different activities to take care of the environment such as recycling and
participating in different sustainable activities. The methodology of our
school is working through projects and because of the school geographical
situation, we also want to promote outdoor learning.
Greece: 21st Primary School of Athens "Lela Karagianni”, Athens
 |
| © Google maps streetview |
Located
near the center of Athens our school's pupils' potential is greatly influenced
by the area’s population consisting of economic migrants and refugees. More
than half of the 245 students are second generation children of economic
migrants, mainly from Eastern European countries, and 10% are refugees and
asylum-seekers, mainly from Syria. The school’s staff consists of 30 teachers
of all specialties. There is an Integration class, attended by 15 pupils with
Special Educational Needs and a Reception one for the newly arrived migrants.
To respond to the constant and rapid changes taking place in the context of the
globalized environment, both teachers and students tried to be flexible and
become lifelong learners so as to acquire the 21st century life skills for
being successful in work and life. We have undertaken actions aiming at
developing the intercultural skills of teachers and developed a network of
partnerships with local, national and international bodies and organizations
promoting the European dimension in curriculum.
Our
vision is a school open to society, digital, sustainable and inclusive, where
students experience recognition and acceptance and are actively involved in
managing their learning.
To
achieve our vision we focus on the holistic transformation of the school into a
learning and collaboration organization.
To
begin with, our school is active in environmental projects focusing on
sustainability and has been awarded twice by WWF for its environmental actions.
Secondly, we are a member of Greek Sustainable School and the UNESCO Associated
Schools Network (ASPnet)
We
participate in the program “OPEN SOCIETIES AND SCHOOLS IN CLIMATE PROTECTION
AND ENERGY TRANSITION (CLIMATE SCHOOL Berlin - Athens)” 2017-2019. It aims at
mobilizing the local communities and municipalities for climate protection and
energy transition as well as at the energy efficiency of the schools with the
substantial participation and collaboration of the teachers, students and
parents.
Our
motivation to join this project is to transform our school to a space for
creative thinking, a source of inspiration, and a starting point for developing
a sense of awareness and responsibility. To provide students and staff with
concrete opportunities to contribute to sustainable living, while demonstrating
good practices to other school partners. Developing values that support a
sustainability ethos, working toward sustainability in partnership with partner
schools, their local communities and school authorities and ensuring students
share ownership of sustainability initiatives and decision making.
Cyprus: Tamasos Primary School, Nikosia
Romania: Scoala Gimnaziala Elena Doamna, Tecuci |
| Tamasos Primary School, Nikosia |
The
Regional Primary School of Tamasos is situated at the village Pera Orinis,
which is 19 km far from the capital of the island. Our school has a regional
character since 2007, with 142 children from three villages that is Pera
Orinis, Episkopio and Politiko. At the school there is a Special Unit Class
where 5 students attend. The personnel of the school consists of 16 teachers.
There
is a tradition in programs, training and extra-curricular activities. Recently
the school participated in an Erasmus+ project regarding outdoor activities and
cooperative learning. Teachers and students had the opportunity to be involved
in a range of outdoor learning activities in the area. We continue applying non
formal education methods inside and outside the classroom in order to empower
an inclusive school.
Indicatively
we also mention:
- Participation in environmental
programs of government national network of centres of education for
environmental and sustainable development,
- Participation in a research
competition on sustainable mobility,
- Participation in volunteering week,
- Participation in philology and
magazine publishing contest,
- Participation in museum, nautical,
skiing and sports programs,
- Applying environmental programs within
school: recycling, frying oil recycling, collecting food leftovers for animals,
studying the cultural heritage of the region,
- Organization of workshops.
The
school aims in strengthening active citizenship. For this reason, children,
through their lessons and actions inside and outside the classroom, are engaged
in initiatives in areas such as: volunteering, anti racist culture, organizing
walking activities etc. They are organized in committees; taking decisions and
seeking change in matters that concern them.
Our
school has an experience in organizing outdoor activities in the local and
broader area. We developed an Outdoor Guide Book with lesson plans, worksheets
and lots of ideas about topics concerned to outdoor learning.
 |
| Scoala Gimnaziala Elena Doamna, Tecuci |
Elena
Doamna aims to prepare students for real life. We have more than 500 students
from pre-primary to low secondary school and 37 teachers. Our motivation for
this project is to learn to protect our environment through different
activities and projects. We want to understand the importance of
3R:Reduce,Reuse,Recycle and to transmit the ideas to the pupils and to open the
doors to new cultures.
Our
school participates in this project to raise the awareness of keeping the
environment clean, make our pupils aware of the effects of environmental
pollution due to people's actions and the effects of global warming.
Furthermore we want to teach our pupils
the
formation of permanent selective recycling habits.
Finland: Kultavuoren koulu, Orivesi
Kultavuoren
koulu (Goldmountain school) is a modern primary school with around 350 pupils
(6-13 yrs). Our school has shared administration with Hirsilä primary school,
which has 45 pupils. Hirsilä school is located 8 km from the city centre in a
small village.
In
Kultavuori school there are 19 teachers and the principal, who administrates
also Hirsila school with three teachers.There are 14 assistants in Kultavuori
and in Hirsila one. There are 12 classes, two special education classes for
children with special needs plus a preschool class in both schools. Hirsila
school consists of three compound classes. Our schools are situated in Orivesi,
a small town of about 10 000 inhabitant near the city of Tampere. There are
forests near both schools and they offer wonderful background for all kinds of
outdoor activities throughout the school year.
The values of our school are responsibility, safety, respect and
communality which we try to adopt and adapt in our lives in and out of the
school. We are part of a national project called ”Moving school-project”
(Liikkuva koulu), which tries to include more physical activity to pupils's
school day.
Sustainable
development, ecological values and experiencial ways of working are importart
in our school - in principle, but not always in practice! Our school has some
points well organized (e.g. schoolbook recirculation and antibullying
ativities) but we have many other things that could be better, e.g. recycling,
organicity, energy saving, and most importantly: awareness and caring. Thus,
the name of our project, "Take care!", expresses well why we need
this project: we need to take better care of the nature and each other. We need
this project to produce new, innovative and different ways of teaching and
learning sustainable development in our schools. We are not a Green Label
school yet, but we hope that with this project we would get the label or at
least start working for it. We also need to develop our pedagogical skills in
more experiencial and outdoor direction. The present Finnish National
Curriculum underlines experiencial learning methods, digital skills and the
involvement of the pupils in the learning process, so this project would offer
us an unique chance of developing our pedagogical skills and empower the
pupils. There are also many years since our last international project
(2011-2013), which means that many of the pupils and staff have little or no
international experience. This project could give both important world-view
opening possibilities.
