Move to improve : how to engage into health and sports Erasmus Project

Project Title

Move to improve : how to engage into health and sports

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: Early School Leaving / combating failure in education; Health and wellbeing

Project Summary

The initial context of the project was based on an urgent need for the students to ‘get out of their social environment’ and to become fully involved in their health and well-being. Indeed, the initial observation had revealed that the so-called “dropouts” and / or less successful pupils in the establishments did not benefit or hardly benefited from a socio-cultural environment which could promote self-development.

There was a dual aim for project:
– make our students more responsible and active in their health by engaging them in actions that benefit them and those around them ,
– offer activities in the form of challenges (running challenge, 10,000 step challenge, sophrology challenge, No Screen Day , No soda day , No waste day , etc.) to relieve stress and focus better in class.

In order to achieve these goals, the coordinating teachers devised a series of activities in the guise of challenges that the students would take up to better understand the impact of these actions on their everyday lives and therefore, on their way of learning. The endorsement of the challenges would be done in a united and simultaneous manner in each participating school, thus developing a feeling of cooperation within the class group, the school and more widely with other schools taking part in the project. This European awareness could make it possible to give concrete reality to the concept of European citizenship.

The project spanned from September 2018 to August 2020 and its implementation encountered difficulties relating to:
– the composition of the groups: was it necessary to choose pupils at random or, on the contrary, to select motivated pupils?
– on the schedule: was it necessary to impose a schedule on the establishments or allow more flexibility in meeting the challenges?
– the content of the activities: should the content of the challenges be fixed unilaterally or could we allow greater flexibility or even leave the possibility for the students to make suggestions?
– the disparity of digital resources in establishments: how to carry out virtual exchanges when the establishments had neither TNI / NAV nor enough computers at their disposal.

The project necessarily had to evolve to better adapt to the difficulties encountered. The calendar of activities was made more flexible to better take into account the educational constraints of each establishment. The content was enriched with new challenges suggested by the students (fight against bullying, sophrology sessions to fight against stress). The attempts at virtual exchanges on EDMODO and E twinning were replaced by penpal exchanges that were reallyappreciated by the students.

Diagnostic and summative assessments were carried out to measure the effects of the project on students, and in particular on dropouts. At the end of the project, the students all appreciated the activities and especially the mobilities because they gave a concrete reality to the project and made it possible to offer a real identity to the very ambiguous notion, which is that of European citizenship. The students thus realized the impact that their sleep, their diet, the number of hours spent in front of screens and their physical activity could have on their physical and mental well-being. Finally, the annual review carried out revealed that the number of hours of detentions and penalties had significantly decreased and the students had clearly gained in working autonomy even if their school results had not altered much. The dropouts also had very positive and encouraging results since the students suffering from school phobias regularly come to class and the others obtained the desired professional orientation and global had a better self esteem.

The disappointment was great during the health crisis because the project was aborted and the mobilities planned could not take place. It was very difficult to regain motivation and new energy to extend the already substantial work done by the participants. Additional challenges were proposed (production of a video on the barrier gestures broadcast on LUMNI television broadcasts …) during this period but fears of a second wave as well as the risks of future contamination worried teachers and parents alike. The project was therefore stopped by mutual consent in August 2020.

When designing the project, the coordinating teachers imagined that the project would spread to other schools (primary …) in the area. But this was not the case because few colleagues wanted to take part and get involved in the project fearing to step out of their work comfort zone and / or to bear too much work. This could be the purpose of a future ERASMUS PLUS project for the years to come.

In the meantime the teachers will pursue the grounds of their task and you can consult this link that retraces the steps of the work carried out: https://fr.padlet.com/sandrinevuhoang/erasmus

Project Website

http://padlet.com/sandrinevuhoang/erasmus

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 85561,98 Eur

Project Coordinator

College Jean Lurçat & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Europaschule Langerwehe Gesamtschule
• IES ALBASIT