Role of Early Childhood Education in Positive Transition/Induction Outcomes for New pupils Erasmus Project

Project Title

Role of Early Childhood Education in Positive Transition/Induction Outcomes for New pupils

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 school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Disabilities – special needs; Inclusion – equity; Romas and/or other minorities

Project Summary

Our project was a 3-year programme of research and development in early years education. It was undertaken by our 6 partner institutions of primary and/or pre-school education in Denmark, Croatia, Ireland, Iceland, Greece and Norway.

We focused on what we termed the RECEPTION challenge: a trans-European need for primary schools to address the diversity of children’s social and educational preparation for their entry to primary school. A wealth of evidence indicates that:(a) educational disengagement and under-achievement in secondary education is significantly related to early years experience and attainment; (b) children enter primary school with very diverse pre-school experience and readiness; (c) this diversity has increased as recent patterns of migration within and from outside the EU have added to longer-standing educational disadvantage associated with minority groups and children with special educational needs.

We investigated and disseminated successful attempts by our partner institutions to address the RECEPTION challenge within a wide range of demographic and socio-economic contexts and educational systems. These were instances or “cases” of “best practice” implemented specifically in response to the needs of a diverse range of children, often disadvantaged, many from migrant, traveler and Roma communities, and some with special educational needs including positions within the autism spectrum.

Early years children across the European area are the ultimate beneficiaries of our project. We believe that the dissemination and exploitation of our findings and products will ultimately enhance their long-term prospects for educational attainment and sustainable employment by reducing the chances of their disengagement from subsequent education as a result of inequalities in school-readiness during their early years.

Our immediate target groups were their teachers, school leaders, and associated professionals working within Early Childhood Education and Care Our specific objectives were to investigate and help to meet the needs of these target groups for training and support in addressing the RECEPTION challenge.

We achieved these objectives firstly by developing, producing and collating a resource pack of materials and resources for the strategic implementation of RECEPTION-related policies and initiatives, which are renewable and adaptable to the particular circumstances and needs of our target group members throughout the European area. This resource pack contains all the project’s findings, reports and products, an extensive Europe-wide bibliography, and key European materials from other sources on meeting the RECEPTION challenge. Secondly, and in parallel, we developed and delivered twice to delegates from across Europe, a 5-day residential training course and a substantial RECEPTION handbook. These can be exploited separately or together as residential, online or blended learning modules for target groups’ own use or for the training and support of other colleagues within their own institutions and Early Years networks. Thirdly, Each partner hosted a RECEPTION training course for delegates from its own and the other parter institutions who were not direct participants in the project itself.

All of our findings and products have been disseminated across Europe and made freely downloadable through a publicly accessible website – Receptionproject.eu – which we created for the project. It will be sustained and updated by one of our partners into the foreseeable future. Our core findings and products are: (1) initial “State of the Art” reports from each partner on current policies, strategies and initiatives for meeting the Reception Challenge in their institutions, regions and countries; (2) detailed “Case Study” reports from each partner on one or more cases of “best practice” in meeting the Reception Challenge in their own institutions and local networks; (3) the RECEPTION Resource pack, handbook, and training programmes noted above; (4) filmed presentations of RECEPTION best practice in each partner institution

After an introduction to the project and its partnership, the training course, handbook and resource pack have the following broadly indicative contents:
1. RECEPTION in European perspective; major issues, policies, and strategies; survey of current trans-European research and development work;
2. RECEPTION issues and strategies in each of the 6 partner countries; difference and similarities in socio-economic contexts and educational systems; the RECEPTION needs of specific groups and special children;
3. Documented case studies of “best RECEPTION practice” from each partner country, illustrated by filmed examples and analysis;
4. Issues in RECEPTION policy and practice in the course delegates’ and other participants’ own countries and institutions.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 337085 Eur

Project Coordinator

Clare Education Centre & Country: IE

Project Partners

• ALBERTSLUND KOMMUNE
• Osnovna skola Matije Gupca
• Langholtsskoli
• Luster kommune
• DIRECTORATE OF PRIMARY EDUCATION OF WESTERN THESSALONIKI