1.1. School culture and climate

The project partners designed and implemented a new anti-bullying programme in schools in five EU countries. It drew on the experiences of existing programmes and practices originated by the project partners working in different cultural contexts.  It provided further evidence of effective approaches to the reduction of bullying in schools that will inform the development of improved child centred, whole school strategies for adoption at European level.

The project goal is to provide a comprehensive analysis of best practices for preventing ESL in partner countries in the areas: of ESL monitoring systems; and, methods of counteracting ESL and reintegrating students.

Project partners were from Poland, the UK and Italy. Outputs include a report on ESL monitoring systems, a report on prevention and reintegration methods, and a training pack.

This project is designed to support the development of Social-Emotional Learning skills (SEL) for 11-14 year olds, and to promote Peer Support to tackle and reduce bullying. SEL Programmes improve the student's social, emotional and academic skills, which include more pro-social behaviour and positive attitudes toward the self and others, and lower levels of emotional distress. Peer support systems reduce the negative impact of bullying on victims and make it more acceptable for them to report it. It follows a whole-school approach which includes young people, staff, parents and the wider community. Thus, this programme is a departure from the two-dimensional view of bullying as victim and bully, and instead looks at the social and group dynamics in a school or leisure environment to address a range of factors which contribute to bullying. ENABLE has trained a team of Ambassadors in each participating country, who are available to provide information and guidance to any school or organisation wishing to implement the programme.

The ICAM (Including Children Affected by Migration) programme is an Erasmus+ programme designed to ensure that children who have been affected by migration can access education. The programme helps schools to create a safe and secure environment for children affected by migration to enable them to take full advantage of their education.

The InScool methodology is designed to flexibly guide schools through the start of a journey towards inclusion, improving personal and academic outcomes for all children and young people by focusing on their access to – and participation in – quality, relevant education.

The objective of the MiCREATE project is to encourage the inclusion of diverse groups of migrant children by adopting a child-centred approach to the integration of migrant children at educational and policy level. Stemming from the need to revisit the existing integration policies, the research project aims to comprehensively examine the contemporary integration processes of migrant children to enhance their agency, participation, and well-being.

The ‘Raising the Achievement of All Learners in Inclusive Education’ (RA) project aimed to provide evidence of effective practice in raising achievement and building the capacity of schools and communities to include and support all learners.

Rights Respecting Schools (RRS) is a UNICEF-UK driven approach that integrates the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as a whole school approach to child rights education. The overall aim of the approach is to create a participative, inclusive, and safe school culture, where respect for every member of the school community is guaranteed. The UNICEF Child Rights Education (CRE) Toolkit provides guidance on how to become a Rights Respecting School. Schools adapt the RRS approach to their context. The approach influences relationships between every actor in the school environment and is applicable in any school context. The framework outlined in the RRS toolkit is intended to provide a central organising principle for the entire school and, by extension, for the families and community in which the school is situated. There are three phases of development. The second and third phases (Levels 1 and 2) are similar. The aim is to execute the action plan that is developed during the Recognition of Commitment phase in order to reach the four standards of the RRSA: 1. Rights-respecting values underpin leadership and management 2. The entire school community learns about the CRC 3. The school has a rights-respecting ethos 4. Children are empowered to become active citizens and learners.

The school’s philosophy in relation to teaching and learning is focused students’ active understanding of and participation in the learning process. The school’s curriculum is based on the principles of progression and coherence.

‘The Bridge’ is one of the key innovative practices implemented at the school. It consists of a curriculum innovation established to provide a conducive and supportive learning environment for students entering secondary education at age 11. Learning is project-based and delivered by teams of teachers from different areas of the curriculum, which enables students to engage with a small number of teachers, and to work on clearly defined and cohesive learning objectives. The five principles underpinning the Bridge are: Achievement; Belonging; Celebration; Discipline; Enrichment. The students are empowered as independent learners – throughout their time at the school – and beyond. A rewards system enables students to earn points towards prizes at the end of the year.