This project is run by schools out of seven different countries (Germany, Greece, Poland, Spain, Austria, Finland and Denmark). Our target is to create a multilateral Erasmus partnership and to realize our vision of “an intelligent spirit is learning in a healthy body” Each country adds its own geographical aspects and social attributes into the project topics. The German primary school “Sudenburg”will manage this project. The learning requirements of students have changed completely at every participating primary school. Therefore all teachers and educational staff need to rethink necessarily to create useful learning conditions and teaching methods, they have to improve the learning environments. This is the foundation to enrich the quality of school routine. If we are not able to catch the interest and motivation of students in primary, it will lead to school apathy and further rejection in secondary education. In the worst case it will expand to future unemployment. The topic picks up inclusion and equality of opportunities with its international dimension, by simplification entrance to the existing offers for learners in disadvantaged conditions.These disadvantages are a result of personal difficulties and social obstacles, which avoid participation on cross-national projects or restrict at least the possibility of support. (compare: Programmleitfaden der EU Seite 16)The ambition of our project is to visualize sustainably the high value of continuous learning during the entire primary education period and to hand over tools to make learning more easy and reasonable.Even under the aspect of different perspectives, it is still the objective to visualize the international meaning and to find solutions for difficulties of learning new methods in connection with teaching technics and strategies. Together with their parents the students will analyze their joy of learning, willingness to learn and the high level of stress at the beginning, during and at the end of the project. This is connected to self-conclusion to avoid school apathy and rejection. This project will support the methodic expertise of the educators. This is supporting the level of quality standard of school and the human resources development as well.This aspect is according to guideline ”Europa 2020“ supporting the simplification of transitions.The students extend their competences in interacting with new media within these topics. They will learn to estimate foreign languages and improve their skills in using the latest learned strategies in stress handling. They realize the value of life responsibility, which is important for their personal development in future. The activities will improve intercultural competences of participating students.
During the 3 project years the European schools worked on three important topics to preserve physical and psychological health. We learned a lot about how we can receive our health with nutrition, stress management strategies and nonviolent communication. The project was designed to educate and boost basical competences. We focus on a healthy way of life, physical and psycological health, the support of social integration, language competences, equality of opportunities, media competences, social-emotional competences and culturell awareness. We teached the importance of nutrition, physical exercising, relaxing, nonviolant communication and team spirit as well as solidarity in families. Our audience were students and parents. Our aim was to show them how to get and stay mental healthy and teach the important skills to reach that aim. Our project work was divided in 3 main parts: 1. The Jobshadowings of our teachers and educators brought them important insights in European educational systems. These systems are marked by full-day care for the children and an intensive exchange and cooperation of teachers and educational employees, who take care about the children in the afternoons. Thats why they are able to work very complex on building up basical competences of the students. We realized that some parents are overwhelmed with parenting their kids. For these parents we offered different supporting projects. 2. The 2nd main part was adressed to the students, while we teached the following competences: Language competences (native language and foreign language): − improve the competences in the mother language − improve/ develop oral and written competences in foreign languages (reading, listening, speaking, writing) − oral and written communication for different purposes, use different text types media competences: − use of information- and communication- technologies in the meaning of learning skills during the project − use of modern technologies (Chats, E-Mails,...) for communication cultural awareness: − stimulate/ create an open and respectful attitude towards cultural diversity − get to know cultural particularities like traditions, music, typical dances of the other countries healthy way of life, physical and psycological health: − increase healthy nutrition (book of nutrition, courses) − sports (promote movement) − meditation as an useful method to deal with stress and conflicts/ training for students to become mediators (build up responsibilities, teach and practise democracy/ anti mobbing) − relaxing methods to reduce stress − music and dance − cultivation and care of healthy food (related to the climatic conditions of each country) 3. The 3rd main part was adressed to the parents The parents were instructed in parenting sessions to learn stress management strategies with their children (forms of autogenic training, relaxation trips, work with singing bowls, relaxing with music, movement through dance and sport). Cooking classes at the school and the after school center were initiated, in which parents prepared meals together with their children. Emerging conversations with the parents made it possible to reduce prejudices about the increasing number of immigrants. The school and afternoon offers were very gratefully accepted and implemented at home. We noticed a better stress tolerance of some children after continuous use of stress management strategies. Similarly, we could encourage parents to cook healthier at home and to give their children healthier breakfast sandwiches to school. Our project goals...: - Reduction of school exhaustion and exclusion - Increasing the joy of learning - Increasing social skills and acceptance - foreign-language competences - individual competence - Increasing life satisfaction -Enhancement of domestic family cohesion ... were achieved by the broad content of the project through subsequent activities during the 3 years. The work on the partner schools was conducted on the 3 main topics (healthy nutrition, stress reduction, non-violent communication). This content work has been documented by various project findings, such as the international cookbook with subsequent cooking, the Book of Silence followed by the setting up of silence and introducing relaxation techniques as part of the classroom and posters on non-violent communication and related communication techniques as well as related topics. These results were exchanged, made visible on the website https://sites.google.com/a/roiedu.fi/erasmus-mens-sana-in-corpore-sano/, and then worked on with European students in the 7 partner countries. During student and teacher exchanges, work on o.a. Topics intensified and consolidated again.