1.4. Il-koperazzjoni fis-sistemi edukattivi

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.

In-netwerk Oscailt għall-kapijiet tal-iskola ġie stabbilit f'Limerick fl-2009 sabiex jippromwovi l-użu mill-komunità tal-bini u l-faċilitajiet tal-iskola, bl-għan li tiġi pprovduta firxa komprensiva ta' servizzi lill-istudenti kemm fil-ħinijiet tal-iskola kif ukoll wara. In-netwerk qeda lill-kapijiet tal-iskejjel fl-appoġġ reċiproku u fil-qsim tal-esperjenzi dwar l-ESL u l-iżvantaġġi edukattivi.

Fil-Portugall jintużaw indikaturi tat-tluq bikri mill-iskola u tat-titjib fit-tagħlim biex jippromwovu titjib fil-kwalità tal-prestazzjoni ta' student u jirrikonoxxu/jippremjaw ix-xogħol siewi mwettaq mill-iskejjel pubbliċi kollha.

In-netwerk jinvolvi 10 gruppi ta’ skejjel fil-Portugall (il-gruppi jinkludu diversi skejjel minn kindergarten sa sekondarja) li jikkollaboraw fuq għadd ta’ kwistjonijiet, bħall-pjanijiet tat-taħriġ, il-qsim ta’ esperjenzi u metodoloġiji u, f’xi każijiet, anki billi jaqsmu bejniethom ir-riżorsi umani. Barra minn hekk, in-netwerk żviluppa panels tematiċi fejn jiġu diskussi għadd ta’ kwistjonijiet mal-istudenti u l-imsieħba li jintervjenu.

The aim of the report Nordic Projects to Combat School Dropout is to improve and inspire new initiatives for young people, and to create enriching contacts between actors and organisations in the Nordic region.
The Nordic Web Resource on Dropout from Upper Secondary Education was a project commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers and run by the Nordic Welfare Centre between 2012 and 2015. The aim of the project was to compile good examples of initiatives aimed at increasing the proportion of young people in the Nordic region who complete upper secondary education.

This project was set up more than 10 years ago to reintegrate students who refused to go to school. Since 2007, the programme has focused solely on students who suffer from school phobia, anxiety disorders or depression. The programme is unique in Austria and is publicly funded.

For Arvika, Centralskolan is a big school with students coming from the city centre and surrounding areas. Students are from very mixed backgrounds, including students from disadvantaged areas. Several years ago, the school had a significant number of students whose academic achievements after the 9^th grade were not sufficient for entering an upper secondary education. One of the key issues in Centralskolan, as well as in other surrounding schools, was that the student reading comprehension skills across various subjects were poor. Subjects of maths and science have been extra prioritised by Centralskolan as student results within those subjects were especially low. Therefore, the school has started practising an explicit teaching of reading strategies within specific subjects for grades 7 – 9. These reading strategies have been implemented together with scaffolding, which means that a teacher gradually empowers students to lead a reading and text comprehension exercise.

The school’s approach to teaching and learning is based on attaining educational excellence and achievement for all students. The school developed a stimulating curriculum which seeks to provide its students with an understanding of the learning processes in which they are involved (meta-cognition) – and to build their self-belief. The provision of specialist teaching in certain subject areas (science, music, art, physical education) is a key element in this process, as is the development of maths teaching throughout the school (for 6th graders). The teaching of philosophy to all students is also a vital element in developing students’ thinking skills, resilience and self-confidence. Curriculum innovation is undertaken on the initiative of the school, working in co-operation with its Federation partners at Whitmore Park Primary School. All staff, the governing body, students and parents are regularly consulted and made part of the process of curriculum development, and the school is strongly engaged with community partners in developing broader learning activities.

The school practices several innovative initiatives:

- The ‘Exercise company’ supports students to go through all the steps of setting up a company, from the creation of its administrative structure to its daily management, supporting students’ entrepreneurship competences. This project is regarded very positively by the whole school community and national authorities.

- The ‘Different school’ (‘Şcoala altfel’) programme significantly changed the relationship between students and teachers, thanks to its flexibility. Coupled with the participation in trainings of non-formal education by the teaching staff and practices acquired during Erasmus+ projects, it helped to reshape the educational process at the school.

- Teachers have been involved in curricular innovation dedicated to their particular field of study (tourism and economics) while members of committees set up by the Ministry of Education and the National Centre for the Development of Vocational Education (CNDIPT) contributed to the renewal of the national curriculum.