This is a 3 year project which aims to do two things: 1) Equip children and young people across Europe with '9 European Super Powers' that will enable them to feel confident, valued and give them the power to make a positive contribution to their local and wider communities. Motivation - Confidence - Pride - Independence - Respect - Creativity - Enterprise - Courage - Co-operation Activities have been designed to enable acquisition of the above personal 'powers', but also to support the development of communication and interaction skills. Improving these skills will help our pupils to become less insular and to enjoy their lives, enabling them to participate more fully in their communities and to become more socially integrated. Participating in this project will build confidence among our pupils and equip them with essential skills that will be useful to them in all aspects of life, but especially in the world of work. 2) Provide opportunities for specialist teachers and education staff to improve their own practice through the sharing of ideas and professional expertise with European colleagues. A particular focus in this project is communication and interaction - staff will be given the opportunity to develop skills in teaching and working with children and young people who have specific difficulties around communication. Each school is unique in the way that the curriculum is designed and delivered and all will benefit from being able to experience this first hand through visits, job shadowing and organised training events. By participating in this project, schools will feel more confident and equipped to incorporate outdoor, pupil-led and sensory aspects within their respective curriculums, thus appealing to a wider range of learning styles and needs. There will be approximately 400 children and young people who will participate in this project, the majority of whom have learning difficulties and / or disabilities, particularly around communication.
This was a 3 year project between five schools, three of which are special schools and two of which have large special needs departments. The project aimed to do two things: 1) Equip children and young people with '9 European Super Powers', enabling them to feel confident, valued and empowered to make a positive contribution to their local and wider communities. The nine European Super Powers were: Motivation - Confidence - Pride - Independence - Respect - Creativity - Enterprise - Courage - Co-operation Project activities were designed to enable acquisition of the above 'powers' whilst supporting the development of communication and interaction skills. The idea was to help pupils in all participating schools to become less insular and to enjoy their lives, enabling them to participate more fully in their communities and to become more socially integrated. Participating in this project helped a large number of children and young people from five different countries build confidence and to develop transferrable skills that will be useful to them in all aspects of life, especially in the world of work. 2) Provide opportunities for specialist teachers and education staff to improve their own practice through the sharing of ideas and professional expertise with European colleagues. A particular focus in this project was communication and interaction. Staff in participating schools were given the opportunity to develop skills in teaching and working with children and young people who have specific difficulties around communication. Each school has a unique curriculum for children and young people with a wide range in needs and abilities, and different areas of expertise. Many staff in each of the participating schools were able to experience and learn from this first hand through visits, job shadowing and organised training events. Approximately 400 children and young people participated in this project, the majority of whom have learning difficulties and / or disabilities, particularly around communication. In-school based activities were built into the curriculums of each school and included film making, arts and craft activities, story writing, enterprise activities, community events, learning about traditional games, outdoor education and responsible citizenship. Pupils were able to develop a personal profile of personal and social development skills (or European Super Powers) through participation in these activities and were able to make a practical and positive contribution to their own school and local communities. They were also able to gain a better understanding of different European countries in terms of the diversity between their physical environments, language, cultural differences and traditions. Through activities that were designed to promote employability skills, some pupils were able to see how the 'world of work' could be a realistic option for the future, thus raising personal expectations and aspirations. Participating in this project also had a positive impact on the staff in each school, in terms of professional development. They were able to compare education systems, training, curriculum models, teaching and support strategies used in different countries in order to share good practice and enhance their own. A longer term benefit of this project is that it has inspired a new project idea that has since been approved for funding. Some of the participating schools are therefore looking forward to working together again and introducing two new partner schools, further strengthening and widening our network of European colleagues with the shared value of improving life outcomes for children and young people across Europe, particularly those who are most disadvantaged due to disability or social circumstances.