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European Innovative Teaching Award
Project

Special Education: Looking at the Whole Child

School: Castleconnell National School

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Topic(s) addressed

The rationale for this project was to develop new teaching competencies and skills amongst the staff that can enrich the educational experiences of the school's pupils. The core objective of this project was that staff, by attending specialised courses and engaging in Teacher Shadowing in a broader European setting, would be empowered to implement more innovative teaching methodologies towards broader and more holistic education for all our pupils.

Target groups

The project’s target group consisted of 240 pupils, of which 15% were of various nationalities.

Methodologies

The school organised an Art Exhibition in celebration of Schools Erasmus week in order to showcase the project’s output, with the event having been formally opened by Mr. San Kelly, MEP. The event was attended by 300 people, mostly residents of our local school community, and allowed our pupils to showcase their artistic abilities around the theme of Erasmus – with a focus on the project’s partner countries. The event was promoted beforehand on social media and afterwards a visual presentation was posted using the same medium. Linking on social media also allowed for a much greater audience beyond our community to view this wonderful exhibition. The school also organised a soccer competition for the pupils of our school in order to create an awareness of the Erasmus Brand while providing a fun activity for pupils. Pupils were divided into 16 teams representative of pupils’ diverse European origins and cultures – all of whom competed for the Erasmus Cup. The competition was successful in helping pupils associate and link Erasmus with Europe, and it was promoted on our school’s social media platforms and shared by others including Erasmus+.

Environments

School staff worked across all age groups and levels to organise key events for the project, which included an Erasmus-themed soccer competition and art exhibition.

Teachers

New learning on the project has influenced teachers’ teaching through the use of newly acquired teaching methodologies that influenced school policy in the area of special education. The project also helped the school’s management to look beyond the school and adopt a broader and more European outlook to school management.

Impact

As the project reached out to Europe and beyond, it has helped parents from different cultures associate more positively with the school. The project has also helped pupils become aware of our shared European culture and identity; furthermore, having an Erasmus Day allowed pupils to proudly identify with their countries and cultures of origin, and celebrate our school's diversity with our parents and the local community. Attendance at a specialised art training course gave the staff the confidence to organise an art exhibition on the theme of ‘Our European Heritage.’ This exhibition showcased pupils’ artistic talents to an audience of other pupils, parents, local community members, invited guests from the European Parliament, as well as an online audience through social media dissemination.

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Project category
Primary education
Project year
2021

Stakeholders

Participants

Futuraskolan AB

Address
Sweden

Escola Salvador Sanromà

Address
Spain