Innovate to Create Erasmus Project

Project Title

Innovate to Create

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Early School Leaving / combating failure in education; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Creativity and culture

Project Summary

The Innovate to Create project was a two year cultural and creative learning project, exploring and testing new ideas around performance and multimedia work within schools. The project was delivered by a partnership of four schools across the European Union. The partnership included Regent High School, a co-educational comprehensive school of 1000 students in north London that has extensive cultural learning expertise and offers students an exciting and diverse range of creative and cultural learning opportunities throughout their school life; Kodolanyi Janos Gimnazium es Szakgimnazium, based in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, with some 700 students; IES Mossèn Alcover, a state school situated in Manacor, Spain, with around 800 students; and IGS Bertha von Suttner Kaiserslautern, which is an inclusive secondary school of 1200 students situated in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

The project has fulfilled a need within all four schools to inspire disadvantaged students to re-engage with their learning and fulfil their potential, going on to achieve higher level qualifications and gaining necessary skills and experiences to enable them to access higher education and/or employment, in particular in the cultural and creative industries. Innovate to Create has seen students and staff experimenting with digital technologies and performance, giving all participants skills relevant to the 21st century and jobs in the creative and cultural sector. It has also developed students’ creativity skills, which are transferable to all subjects and future goals.

The project had five main objectives:
1) To develop new creative learning methodologies which extend student and staff skills and knowledge of digital technologies and their use within the creative process
2) To increase the value students place on their own heritage, their local community and the broader European context
3) To test new ideas around peer learning (on a local and international level) for both students and staff in order to extend knowledge and skills
4) To explore interactions between creative and cultural professionals, staff and students to test new ideas of performance, music and art
5) To test the use of digital technologies as a tool for pan-European communication.

Innovate to Create offered 144 students aged 15-18 the opportunity to take part in exciting and engaging workshops and lessons which tested ideas around performance, digital technologies and interdisciplinary work. Students used the theme of democracy and the history of how artists explore and question politics as a starting point to create new and theatrical works. Students were offered multiple opportunities to communicate and work collaboratively with students in the partner countries through virtual experiences and during two face-to-face student mobilities. The project saw students develop a deeper understanding of other cultures and knowledge of other European countries through activities such as online communication, social networking, video conferencing and written communication to build partnerships, professional networks and long-lasting friendships. Students were able to take part in peer-learning opportunities through activities set up with partner schools and also partnerships with cultural organisations. 20 staff members worked alongside professional creative practitioners to extend their knowledge and skills and take their own professional development further, and the core staff group met to share and explore ideas in three staff meetings.

Innovate to Create aimed to achieve the following impacts at local and regional levels:
Participants:
– Improvements in student attainment
– Increases in self-esteem and motivation to learn
– Increases in student aspirations and understanding of options after leaving school, including further study or work
– Deeper understanding of cultural diversity and an increase in the development of positive attitudes towards European values and each others’ cultural heritage.
– Increase in digital competence
– Successful application to higher education and improved employability
– Increase in creativity skills
– Increase in ability to express and share positive feelings of the local and regional environment

Staff:
– Better understanding of good practices, policies and systems in schools across EU
– Improvements in staff motivation and increased self-worth within the workplace
– Ability to develop new and innovative methodologies for use in future teaching
– A deeper understanding of other European cultures and a positive attitude towards European values

Creative partners:
– Development of long-lasting relationships between partners and schools that will last beyond the lifetime of the project
– Development of a better understanding of the schools, their students and cohorts

The project achieved each of these objectives successfully and has provided students and staff with new ways of thinking and creating.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 91175 Eur

Project Coordinator

Regent High School & Country: UK

Project Partners

• Integrierte Gesamtschule Bertha-von-Suttner Kaiserslautern
• Kodolanyi Janos Gimnazium és Szakgimnazium
• IES MOSSÈN ALCOVER