WayS – aWay from the Suburbs Erasmus Project

Project Title

WayS – aWay from the Suburbs

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 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; Civic engagement / responsible citizenship

Project Summary

“Cicco Simonetta” Comprehensive School in Caccuri (Crotone, in Calabria Region) extends over a vast mountain area that includes several municipalities where there are school complexes for kindergarten, primary and lower secondary school. The area is characterized by various problems related to population decline and unemployment and the School therefore is the main training and, above all, aggregation center for young people of the area, through projects and opportunities for training and growth of young students. The mission of “Cicco Simonetta” Comprehensive School is to promote the values of civil coexistence, active citizenship, respect for different cultures, tolerance and dialogue.
From this perspective, the School’s willingness to start “WayS – aWay from the Suburbs” project therefore inserts itself to offer young students the opportunity to exchange good practices in order to “get out” of isolation and allow them to grow and be trained with the same opportunities as their colleagues who live in more urban and structured contexts.
The project will be based on the collaboration of foreign partners, “VentspilsValsts” in Latvia, “Agrupamento de Escolas General Serpa Pinto de Cinfães” in Portugal and “52 TsankoTserkovski” in Bulgaria.
The project idea is therefore strictly connected to the area with the aim of exchanging good practices at a European level.The main issues will be those ones related to young people (legality, bullying, exclusion, human rights) through literature and theater related to civil commitment, as a way to learn about one’s tradition and history and exchange it with other European countries, reflecting on issues concerning citizenship skills and the growth of students as responsible and aware citizens of tomorrow,who have knowledge of every man’s rights, tolerance, respect for diversity and exclusion’s overcoming.
In each physical mobility,students will examine a topix in depth,dealing it with discussions, role playing, study cases and storytelling.
“WayS – aWay from the Sububrs” is addressed to 96 students of lower secondary school’s classes (24 for each school and 6 for each mobility) who will be able to live this experience in partner countries for 4 days plus 2 travel days. Students will deal with 4 different themes during the mobilities: legality, gender equality, human rights and bullying, issues close to young people, through interviews, songs, readings and they will produce for each mobility a theatrical sketch in English and local languages, which will then be uploaded to the final product of the project, a YouTube channel “Theater in the Suburbs”, that will promote all the created videos and activities.
The aim is to encourage young people to experiment mainly with created new multimedia teaching approaches compare to “classic” themes, thus improving language skills,creating an attitude of respect for the history of their territory, for the cultural heritage of European nations and for what is different from us, enhance the skills and the use of ITC at school and multimedia tools. The project therefore combines literature and theater with art, history and IT disciplines. The objectives of the project coincide with those ones set out in the Unesco 2030 Agenda which aims at Sustainable Development objectives, among which the offer of a quality, inclusive and equal education and the promotion of a life-long learning opportunities for all.
The project will also have a strong inclusive connotation, expecting 40 mobility grants (10 for each school) to students with cultural, economic, geographical and social difficulties.
Participation in the project will enhance learners’ language skills and the production of documentaries will be a way to hone artistic-creative and technical skills.
“WayS” will produce the following impacts:
• improvement of the expression and communication skills in English and an approach to the local languages of the Hosting countries. This impact will affect students, but also accompanying teachers, for whom it is expected the transition from B1 to B2 level.
After 6 months, the achievement of the impact for teachers will be checked, while an increase by 30% of the language certificates for students is expected;
• digital skills: film-making, editing and storytelling by students. Students are expected to increase their use of digital tools at school by at least 20% within 6 months.
Furthermore, the participants will acquire skills of multiculturalism, autonomy, respect for human rights and global citizenship, tolerance.They will acquire a collaborative attitude towards colleagues, especially with respect to the most disadvantaged people from a cultural, socio-economic and psychological point of view.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 102160 Eur

Project Coordinator

Istituto Comprensivo Cicco Simonetta & Country: IT

Project Partners

• Ventspils Valsts 1 gimnazija
• Agrupamento de Escolas General Serpa Pinto de Cinfães
• 52 primary school ‘Tsanko Tserkovski’