HERMES: opening doors Erasmus Project

Project Title

HERMES: opening doors

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 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Gender equality / equal opportunities; Inclusion – equity; Disabilities – special needs

Project Summary

CONTEXT
Participating schools work with a diverse student body, of which about 17% have Special Educational Needs (SEN). It has been detected that, to a greater or lesser degree, there are certain distances between the students themselves, so it is necessary to address diversity and inclusion in a contextualized manner in the real world, in order to build an inclusive society. Likewise, students, and especially students with SEN, must achieve the acquisition of basic skills and gain autonomy, flexibility and independence by means of different inclusive didactic proposals.

OBJECTIVES
The project’s MAIN OBJECTIVE is to include 100% of students with different types of abilities and needs in the school’s daily activities and in extraordinary activities, such as mobility abroad, and to help them acquire key competences and improve their autonomy, flexibility and independence.
Secondary objectives:
– To normalize social relations between all types of students and the social, cultural and economic context.
– Improve autonomy and co-responsibility among students and at the school level.
– Increase the internationalization of the centers

PARTICIPANTS
The HERMES project will involve 115 students of 15 years of age and 20 teachers: tutors, teachers supporting students of functional diversity and teachers of various subjects at the level of the last year of Compulsory Secondary Education.
18 of these students present diverse SEN: autistic spectrum disorder, learning disorder, language disorder, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, non-specific generalized disorder, Down syndrome and maturative disorders.

ACTIVITIES
Some of the activities already planned are:
-Presentations on the project elaborated by the students (video-blog)
-Awareness and sensitization campaigns regarding the inclusion of people with different abilities developed by the students.
-Virtual exchanges through eTwinning
-4 exchanges, 2 in Valencia (Spain) and 2 in Berlin (Germany)

METHODOLOGY
The contents will be worked on previously in each centre in a more directed way with its group of classmates. During the mobilities, these concepts will be approached in a more integral way, from the proposed activities, and through their own experience. The assistance of the teaching staff will be key to ensuring the success of these activities. Before the start of mobility, teachers will coordinate to develop a series of activities and mini-projects that will favor the interaction of students from both countries. And during the mobilities, pairs of students will be established and providing support during the implementation of these activities.

RESULTS
– At least 50% of the 4th year ESO students with functional diversity participate in the mobilities.
– Ensure that 85% of 4th year ESO students participate in project activities.
– Increase student awareness of inclusion by 15%.
– Improve the autonomy of students with functional diversity by 10%.
– 30% of the participating students obtain A2 certification in a foreign language (English for Spanish students and Spanish for German students).
– 95% of participating students complete compulsory education
– Teaching materials for working on inclusion in classrooms
– Blog-diary about the project

LONG-TERM IMPACT AND BENEFITS
– STUDENTS will improve their language skills (both in a foreign language and in their mother tongue), their communication and presentation skills and their interpersonal skills. Greater motivation towards studies, awareness and knowledge about diversity and inclusion, as well as flexibility, tolerance, respect and autonomy are also expected…
– TEACHERS will design new didactic proposals to work diversity and inclusion of all types of people in 4th year ESO. They will increase their professional and interpersonal skills (teamwork, conflict resolution, effective communication…).
– The EDUCATIONAL CENTRES will use the didactic proposals elaborated and will keep them available for other centres that want to use them, positioning themselves as reference centres as far as inclusion is concerned. The relations with other European centres are also remarkable in this point.
– At LOCAL level, a greater awareness of the population about the richness of diversity is expected, showing specific examples (such as the activities developed in HERMES) of how to collaborate, work and share with all people regardless of their origin, ethnicity, culture or physical or mental abilities. The students will lead an awareness campaign within the centre, achieving collaborations with entities and businesses at local level.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 68953 Eur

Project Coordinator

Escuela 2 Cooperativa Valenciana & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Anna-Essinger-Gemeinschaftsschule