Slow down, Move your body, Improve your diet, Learn for life, and Enjoy school time Erasmus Project

Project Title

Slow down, Move your body, Improve your diet, Learn for life, and Enjoy school time

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 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Early School Leaving / combating failure in education; Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development)

Project Summary

Slow down, Move your body, Improve your diet, Learn for life and Enjoy school time (S.M.I.L.E.) is a project designed with the aim of helping reduce the percentage of early school leavers in secondary schools in Europe and at the same time of stimulating the acquisition of adequate knowledge, skills and competences in order to cope with the requirements of a knowledge-based society.
To attain these goals six European schools and a university joined forces and cooperated to plan a specific educational path for students aged 14-18/20 based mainly on the pedagogical use of sport and physical education flanked by innovative teaching methods (CLIL and active learning) and ICT to involve pupils in school life and build significant ties with the learning community at large. The required creation of modules for student-centred active lessons also provided an incentive for teachers to update their teaching methods getting closer to students’ changed channels of information and modes of learning. Further innovative aspects included the use of: eTwinning for a parallel project on European citizenship to enhance the sense of belonging to the EU; social media as an educational tool; peer education and counselling; constant monitoring and data analyses by the partner university.
The specific objectives of the project were: – attracting pupils to school; – raising pupils’ potential to connect them to learning and active citizenship; – improving pupils’ school performance; – making pupils accept rules and respect themselves and others; – making pupils cooperate;- enhancing students’ awareness of being EU citizens; – developing pupils’ ability to plan, think critically and be creative; – implementing up-to-date teaching strategies and exchanging good practices.
To reach these objectives a set of motivating activities based on sports (traditional, non-traditional, popular, individual, team ones) and on pupils’ friendly ICT tools such as social networks were devised taking into account the importance of attracting students towards learning through what they like and enjoy doing instead of obliging them to stick to modes of learning far from their reality and from the requirements of a fast moving and changing knowledge-based society.
The products envisaged were appealing and engaging for young learners. They stimulated creativity and were useful means to make pupils feel important and responsible towards their European peers since what they produced may be used as a model in other schools or may serve to persuade peers all over Europe to go on studying and engage more intensively in developing their potential.
Other important aspects of the project were the transnational learning activities for both students and teachers. Six meetings were planned to give the participants the opportunity to attend overview classes, share ideas directly, exchange good practices, work together in European teams and feel active citizens of that supranational entity called the European Union.
As a result the project as a whole infused enthusiasm and was fun for young learners.
The project’s outcomes have been and will be spread through the dissemination efforts of all member schools aiming at contributing to raising awareness on the prevention of early school leaving and the improvement of school performance.
Sustainability has been an overarching priority as well: the methodological approaches adopted will continue to be implemented after the end of the project and sports clubs have already been organised in each school; the ties established at local, regional, national and European level will be maintained and reinforced.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 249625 Eur

Project Coordinator

I.I.S. “P. SRAFFA” & Country: IT

Project Partners

• Bauskas Valsts gimnazija
• VI Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace im. Krola Zygmunta Augusta w Bialymstoku
• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO
• atisalanianadolulisesi
• CONVITTO NAZIONALE DOMENICO CIRILLO-SCUOLE ANNESSE
• Liceul Tehnologic PETROL