Rights In Sight Everyone! Erasmus Project

Project Title

Rights In Sight Everyone!

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: Inclusion – equity; Early School Leaving / combating failure in education; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

The RISE! project, (Rights In Sight for Everyone!) was a partnership of 6 schools with N. Ireland co-ordinating, Cyprus, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Finland in a programme designed to promote the educational rights and life chances of pupils from one to twelve.

Our aim was to motivate and engage young learners so that they become intrinsically driven and suitably skilled , thus wanting to stay on in school and to improve their employability. In some European countries, the economy has been dictated by the curriculum. This partnership aims to make sure that the pre-school and primary curriculum has more of a role to play in shaping the future economy. European studies of pupil achievements show that in N. Ireland, pupils achieve well but that they are becoming bored with the curriculum at around ten years of age.

Our objectives included devising suitable classroom activities and teaching strategies based on pupil consultation about what and how they want to learn. This also involved parent information and education so learners are supported at home as well as in school.

We aimed to study best practice in the early years as these foundations are key to effective learning in later stages. We aimed to improve transitions from pre-school, to primary to post-primary. Research and attitudinal surveys provided direction for the project’s activities.

There were 6 schools from countries Ireland, Hungary, Finland, Romania, Poland and Cyprus. These schools included a range of types from kindergarten to schools extending from primary age to 14 years old. The schools also included a range of socio-economic groups and high percentage of Roma families in Romania.

The development of ICT skills was also a key objective of our project. Employers need people with the right behaviours and dispositions and not just qualifications. There are thousands of IT jobs available and not enough people skilled to fill them. This project aimed to get children, teachers and families to see the link between education and job prospects as well as boosting their individual capabilities.

The methodologies included research on statistics related to achievement and employment in each country, as well as into attitudes and dispositions to learning and to the barriers to learning for particular groups of children.
There was sharing of good classroom and curricular practice from country to country. These practices have fed into policy development and adoption between the countries.
Competence checklists were devised, for pupil ICT progression. Pupils were given opportunities to use digital technology for presentation, communication, information exchange and collaboration, particularly in their ‘news style’ videos for example.
The inclusion of a business venture for the older pupils included a range of learning and skills development in a real-life context. A key feature was pupil consultation, choice and creativity, leading to analytical thinking, innovation and problem-solving.

A major impact was to be on the creation of more positive attitudes to learning for staff, pupils and families, with greater parental involvement and a charter of rights for learners and their families. ICT skills were to be developed which support learning across the curriculum. Institutions reviewed and amended their approaches to provision for pupils with barriers to learning and in light of best practice shared. Policies were devised to influence classroom practice.
There were to be stronger and wider community links between schools and between schools and business.

Such impact can be maintained after the life of the project. In the longer term, as it was also envisaged that schools and pupils would have a focus on internationalisation which will lead to active European citizens, aware of their own national identity and yet respecting the rights and identity of our European neighbours.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 114260 Eur

Project Coordinator

Saint John’s Primary School & Country: UK

Project Partners

• Néri Szent Fülöp Katolikus Általános Iskola
• AYIOS IOANNIS LEFCOSIAS PRIMARY SCHOOL
• Zespol Szkol im. Marii Konopnickiej w Radomicach
• Kindergarten Mukulax co
• Scoala Gimnaziala nr. 6 Bailesti