Our schools, which are working more and more for the building of a EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP among their other aims, are trying to MAKE STUDENTS FEEL WELL AND AT ONE’S EASE AT SCHOOL. In this direction, the necessary steps that we are going to take at school to prevent dropout and ESL are the following: SCHOOL GUIDANCE SERVICE identifies the students under the risk of dropout. These students are observed during the education year by the responsible teachers and the guidance service. During the project period, at the beginning of the education year, TRAININGS are organised to identify the profiles of parents and students and to cooperate the parents easily. We aim to gain the PARENTS CONFIDENCE, because one who trusts to school will easily provide the students attendance. During the project period, the continuity and discontinuity of students are controlled daily. The vision of our schools is “HAPPY STUDENTS, A HAPPY SCHOOL”. All necessary steps are going to be taken to make be students happy and self confident. To obtain this goal, “MOVIE DAYS” will be organised periodically at school to stimulate students’ attendance. Creation of a location for a WEB RADIO, a station that connects the network of schools with exclusion places, wherever they are. A ‘VIDEO BOX’ for young people (THE SOUL DRESSING ROOM) will be created. The students, identified at the beginning of the year as under risk of dropout, will be oriented to the CHOIR or the DANCE GROUP of the school to feel confidents and happy with the social activities. Also “THE COLOURING DAYS” will be organised at school. On these days students colour the place/parts of the school as they want. This activity helps students to feel relax and they can feel the school as a place where they belong to. THEATRE AT SCHOOL: students that have learning problems will be oriented to theatre room and the responsible teachers help them to teach the topics by using drama techniques. CONFERENCES and SEMINARS will be organised and some authorities will be invited to these seminars as samples to the students. They will tell their life stories to students: school lives, problems, obstacles. Students could understand that everyone can face some problems during life but this is not a reason of dropout. FAIRS are organised in spring and the money of the fairs is spent for the students (TRIPS to museums, circus, picnic and so on).These trips help students to socialize and to cooperate with other students and try to make the students relief and high motivated. OUR GENERAL AIM IS TO PREVENT DROPOUTS AND CREATE SUPPORTIVE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT. WE WILL STIMULATE STUDENTS TO DISCOVER THEIR OWN ABILITIES AND CHANGE THEIR NEGATIVE PERCEPTION OF SCHOOL INTO A POSITIVE IMAGE OF IT. FROM A CONSTRAINT TO SUFFER TO A PLACE WHERE TO INCREASE CONFIDENCE IN THEMSELVES AND IN THEIR OWN POTENTIAL, WHERE TO PARTICIPATE ACTIVELY AND CONSCIOUSLY TO THEIR PATH OF GROWTH, WHERE TO ACQUIRE AND/OR VALORIZE THEIR SOCIAL AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS, WHERE TO ESTABLISH OR IMPROVE THE RELATIONSHIP WITH PEERS, TEACHERS, PARENTS. At the end of the project period there will be the following expected results: public Twin space, website with materials, semi-annual Erasmus newspaper, leaflets to inform the educative community about the project, brochure regarding early school leaving and its first signals, e-Book with good practices for preventing dropouts (digital book “Drop by drop…stop dropout!”), slogans and video diaries, short films or comics strips and posters on prevention of early school leaving, final school show. To carry out the project, teachers will develop their relationship with the students basing it on the DIALOGUE, on the MUTUAL EXCHANGE and on the enhancement of the peculiarities and diversity of each, adopting methodologies that put each student, with his needs and his resources, in the centre of the teaching-learning process and preferring the METHODOLOGY BASED ON RESEARCH/ACTION (problem posing, problem solving; brainstorming; guided conversations). The main techniques of work that will be used are those deemed more appropriate for developing the CRITICAL THINKING, the AUTHONOMY, the SELF-ORIENTATION, the practice of co-operation and the acquisition of diversified communication techniques. About 1000 participants will be involved in the project and at least twice will benefit of it, if we consider teachers and students, parents, other schools, training centres, experts, decision-takers at local, regional, national and transnational levels, pupil guidance centres, local and national education authorities, public reached by press and social media. The importance to carry out transnationally the project lies in exchanging information, sharing and analyzing best-practice models, comparing them and adapting practices to each own environment. Transnationality is a means for improving the teaching and learning of languages and promote the EU'S BROAD LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY AND INTERCULTURAL AWARENESS.
The general aim of the project was to prevent dropouts and create a favourable school environment, while contributing to the affirmation of a European citizenship, with the promotion, through good practices, of the widest linguistic diversity and intercultural awareness of the EU. During 3 short exchange, pupils socialized and collaborated with their foreign peers, finding effective ways of communicating and becoming highly motivated towards the participation they were experiencing. Many activities, always in direct connection with the partner schools, saw them involved in contributing to the success of the project. Among these, the contest for the creation of a common logo, the shared drafting of an Anthem in 5 languages, the creation of a multilingual e-Dictionary on Early School Leaving, with hypertext links to their drawings, audio, video, photos. All the activities done during the 3 years project were focused on students showing lack of control, lack of self-confidence, difficulty in finding school interest, lack of values that often discourage the weakest, that after frequent failures at school leave it forever. Through the project activities, the students were able to discover their own abilities and change their negative perception of school into a positive image of it. The aims were to find the right strategies, educational tools, methodologies to deal with those students to prevent their early school leaving. The school became a place where to increase confidence in themselves and in their own potential and not a commitment to bear. A place where to participate actively and consciously to their path of growth, where to acquire or valorise their social and communication skills, where to establish or improve the relationship with peers, teachers, parents. About 2000 participants were involved in the project and at least twice benefited of it, if we consider teachers, students, parents, other schools, experts, decision-takers at local, regional, national and transnational levels, local and national education authorities, public reached by press and social media. 4 partners in the project: Italy- Naples- the coordinator, France – Paris, Portugal- Frazão, Paços de Ferreira, Spain – Gran Canaria - Arguineguín; There were 5 Transnational Project Meetings: TPM1 in France (Paris), TPM2 in Portugal (Frazão), TPM3 in Spain (Arguineguín) and TPM4 France (Paris) and 3 Project activities: C1 - a students’ exchange in Portugal (Frazão), C2 - a students’ exchange in Italy (Naples) and C3 - a students’ exchange in France (Paris). The last TPM was held online in Italy (Naples), due to the pandemic, in 3 different steps: in May, in June, in July. The original intents of the project were all met. All the partners carried out the different activities planned and they, according to the tasks assigned, prepared or collected the materials for the different activities carried out and the products done. At the end of the project the tangible results are: - questionnaires, with graphs and their interpretation - videos of the most impressive activities carried out during the 3 years of the project - e-book collecting the results of the students exchanges, stressed on Best Practices for integrating also students with disabilities and for preventing dropouts -interactive e-Dictionary in 5 languages with the most used terms about ESL -flyers and leaflets to inform the educative community about the project -a Facebook and WhatsApp project group -the logo of the project -public Twinspace -website with materials -semi-annual Erasmus newspaper -brochure regarding ESL and its first signals; -slogans and video diaries; -short films, comics strips and posters on prevention of ESL; -final school show (in virtual mode). Expected results and long-term benefits are: increase students' self-confidence and self-control and their competences in foreign languages; increase motivation and satisfaction in school work; increase quality of education and training in all the areas involved in the project, for disadvantaged students and to align education to the needs of the disadvantaged students, too. We think that the project had and will have a very positive impact of the local communities of all schools involved, because: Students: developed a positive attitude towards school and opened their horizons; shared with parents and friends what they saw abroad; raised self-awareness and self-esteem. Teaching staff: increased expertise concerning pedagogical approaches and teaching methods; shared experience and best practices. Teaching staff and students: enhanced the social/ict/language skills and communication abilities; gained team spirit. Parents: were more involved in the educational process and increased their support and engagement in school’s activities; developed a positive attitude regarding the cultural and social acquisitions; Other schools: became interested in European projects and learnt from our experience to fight ESL.