Healthier minds, smarter minds Erasmus Project

Project Title

Healthier minds, smarter minds

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 : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Health and wellbeing; Gender equality / equal opportunities

Project Summary

The project is adressed to all the students of the school community, mainly to those aged 14-15 years who are in secondary education. It arises from the need to make students aware of the importance of healthy and sport lifestyles among teenagers all over the world in a technological society of the XXI century. All the patner schools have asked the school communities to answer a questionaire on their food and sport habits. The results show that the students want more sport lessons and nutrition lessons as well.
The title, “Healthier minds, Smarter minds” results from some research studies which state that if students have a healthy lifestyle, they can learn better and improve results. Not to mention the importance of improving their self-steem, their physical appearance, so important when they are teenagers, and the fact that sport strenghthens the social ties that can be sometimes difficult to tackle together with students with special needs. On the one hand, there is an increase of unbalanced food among people in a society with many economic problems. On the other hand, we have to take into account the sedentary life that nowadays favours habits of staying at home playing online computer games,
social networks and play stations.The fact that having a new and innovative school in Sweden( MTH utbildning AB) gives the project a reference of the ideal kind of school for our students. The project activities will involve collaborative work among the students of the partner schools, leading to different material created by students, such as the creation of Apps, websites and different digital products dealing with the Mediterranean diet and sport world and lifestyle, which will include the use of videos, interviews, slides, research and documentation, will be accurately collated and revised by the Erasmus teaching staff committee with the use of evaluation rubrics. The fact that two sport schools are also involved in the project, it will help us provide the maximum detailed information and specific background to the project during the two years.There is also a need to improve social inclusion in the school communities and include students with special needs in the European project so as to improve our teaching methods and learning strategies. We wll be able to take advantage of the Mediterranen Games which will have taken place in Tarragona in June this year 2018, information we will have at first hand about games, organization and results. The project is current and innovative because it tackles an important issue for teenagers nowadays. This issue has become one of the most relevant ones in our present society among teenagers, their health, both physically and mentally, it is directly related to the food they eat and the amount of sport they practise. The project is considered innovative because students will work collaboratively with European teenagers creating apps and other digital products included in the activities proposed along the project. As far dissemination is concerned, students of each participating school will also be European ambassors of good healthy habits and sport lifestyle in the different primary, secondary schools, local health centres and town hall of each country, not to mention the spreading of their project among higher education, such as the Technological Nutrition and Health Institute (CTNS)in Spain where the future nutrition professionals are formed, the education department to let them know about the need to change the school curricula and other local communities, such as Parents’ associations or youth centres of each partner country and giving lectures about our European project to students in the Secondary Teachers’ Master course for future teachers to let them know about our results. Although it is true that our school has not participated in an Erasmus project during the last three years, the school has participated in other local school projects, such as the Green school projects, GEP project participation some years ago(Experimenting Plurilingualism Group) and the German exchange some students took part in last year.

Project Website

https://erasmus1820.wixsite.com/healthierminds

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 133766,88 Eur

Project Coordinator

Instituto Marta Mata & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Kauno rajono Raudondvario gimnazija
• Istituto d’Istruzione Superiore Patini Liberatore
• MTH utbildning AB
• GYMNASIO KRANIDIOY
• Agrupamento de Escolas Virgínia Moura