Flying the Flag for a Healthy Europe; Building Capacities in Community for Special Needs. Erasmus Project

Project Title

Flying the Flag for a Healthy Europe; Building Capacities in Community for Special Needs.

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 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Disabilities – special needs; Health and wellbeing; Access for disadvantaged

Project Summary

Our completed project has been a multinational approach which has examined best inclusive practice among community organisations who support the health and well-being of young people with S.E.N.D e.g. SAFC Foundation of Light. Our project partners have collaborated to produce a Universal Training Tool for Healthy Living which to train and implement Health Ambassadors within our institutions who will promote healthy lifestyles in schools and build links within the community as advocates and promoters of Inclusive Practice.

The aims of our project are to address some of the deficiencies in current provision and to support and enable our students to make the greatest success possible of their lives. This includes being healthy, active and happy and therefore recognising that they have a valuable contribution to make in their local and global community. Studies have shown that young people with Complex Learning Needs in our communities are subject to social exclusion. Most are segregated at an early age and are sent to schools outside our communities. Many community organizations within our localities do not provide facilities or programs which are accessible or appropriate to the needs of our young people; in many cases social inclusion is not encouraged or understood. All partners have tremendous expertise in the area of educating young people with special educational needs with a wide range of learning disabilities and have used this knowledge and expertise to develop learning and curriculum materials in all our schools. We share a philosophy which is to improve the life of those citizens with disabilities by giving them the same opportunities as their mainstream peers. We have been involved in a number of Comenius partnerships and more recently an Erasmus+ project which have been recognised as exceptional by the EU. We have worked collaboratively for many years and value the opportunity of sharing our expertise and experience. To further develop our partnership we have been joined by a new partner from Sligo in the Republic of Ireland. This exceptional special school will enhance and provide additional expertise to our existing partnership.
Our partnership aims to address some of these issues and problems by sharing our expertise to provide a Universal Training Tool for Healthy Lifestyles which will be shared in our local communities by Health Ambassadors, these Health Ambassadors will be recruited and trained from our student populations. This will be developed by sharing good practice, allowing our facilitators to visit schools and places of inclusive excellence within our partner countries. We will track 2 groups of 10 year old and 14 year old learners who have severe to moderate learning disabilities throughout our project. This will include information on students awareness, interpretation and ideas for a healthy lifestyle, participation in community activities as well as information on student’s literacy, numeracy, social skills, independence skills and aspirations for the future. This will inform the content of the Universal Training Tool for Healthy Lifestyles in order to be effective. Data will be regularly collated, analyzed, used by all partners and shared at transnational project meetings.
Each transnational project meeting will include an international seminar or workshop which will engage us in conversation and debate about the areas we consider to be important in the development of a Universal Training Tool for Healthy Lifestyles including: community social inclusion and cohesion, social Inclusion in education/health (specifically Roma) and outreach programs, social inclusion and well-being in the workplace, enterprise as tool for social inclusion and well-being, rural inclusion and community enhancement, provision for SEND both inclusive and non- inclusive in the world of sport,promoting and sharing healthy lifestyles, shared excellence SEND community groups, a forum to introduce our Healthy Lifestyle Ambassadors and launch our Universal Training Tool for Healthy Lifestyles. In addition all partners will visit examples of best practice linked to each seminar/workshop and partner country expertise.
Students will complete a variety of activities which will include knowing what constitutes a healthy lifestyle and how they can educate and promote a healthy lifestyles to others; these activities will be decided on by all partners at the first transnational project meeting. A timetable of activities is attached to this form as a word document. Representatives from local community groups and sporting clubs will visit school and our students will visit local community groups to work together to develop inclusive practice. Inclusive community and sporting events will take place in each partner school to enable students to develop the skills needed to become Healthy Lifestyle Ambassadors.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 127685 Eur

Project Coordinator

Durham Trinity School & Sports College & Country: UK

Project Partners

• Rigas 1. pamatskola- attistibas centrs
• St. Cecilia’s School
• Võru Järve Kool
• Scoala Gimnaziala Speciala – Centru de Resurse si Documentare privind Educatia Incluziva/Integrata
• APPACDM de Viana do Castelo