Friends Across the Water will be an innovative project that gives children an understanding and voice concerning a major issue affecting Europe in our time - the migrant crisis. History may see this event as a turning point for Europe and it is vital that children are aware of the issues and the possible impacts and have an opportunity to share their own concerns and feelings regarding a crisis in Europe. Our story is a journey from conflict to the dangers of crossing seas through to cultural immersion and re-settlement. It is a two way process of visiting and receiving. Water is a friend but it can be an enemy. As we write this summary another boatload of migrants have drowned, including many children. Children hear this news and must come to terms with the catastrophes. Our project came about as a result of a group of diverse schools, from different parts of Europe, working with children to find out what concerned them in the Europe they inhabit. It is a project children have chosen and wish to explore together from many perspectives. The objectives will be all about children, their learning and strengthening the profile of the teaching profession. We aim to give children a voice with issues that concern them and Europe as a whole as is advocated in the UNESCO bill of children's rights, to explore the issue of migration and link this with UN sustainable goals and particularly the role and use of water, to develop values in each country and explore what are the shared values for children, to help prepare schools and countries to deal with the reality of migration, to improve the teaching and learning of schools and develop aspects such as meta-cognition, feedback and research and the pedagogy associated with these, to strengthen the profile of the teaching profession by exchanging, sharing and developing good practice, to support teachers skills in dealing with an increasingly diverse community of pupils, to support staff in developing leadership skills to deal with changes at local, national and European level, to raise awareness about the impact of humans on their own environment. Participants have been chosen with care due to the diversity they offer to the project story. We start with Turkey and journey across Europe to Bulgaria, Romania and Poland who have issues with talent migration, moving to Portugal, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Greece. A really diverse mixture of experience will enrich this project. The participants are also experienced in international projects, giving this ambitious project a really good chance of great success. Our activities are equally exciting, creative and innovative. Art and drama is used to examine conflict and war. It moves to dangers of water and crossings and how water must also be treasured. Children will have a unique perspective of water as a friend and an enemy. Change is the crucial aspect next. Change in climate is linked to change in supporting and managing diverse cultures, both accepting differences and celebrating cultures and values. Geography and History will then be the tool for journeys and looking at why they are taken and relating this to migrant journeys today, using media such as newspapers and pod-casts. Research projects carried out by children will be very powerful as a tool for learning. We will be training staff in leadership skills to manage the project as well as leading meta-cognition as a tool for developing learning. Children will prepare welcome packs for new arrivals in schools who will be able to integrate better as a result. This will enable children to explore their own culture and what makes it special. Lastly we complete the story by looking at peace. How is it achieved and how can it be celebrated through drama, art and music? All this will be shared and captured on a professional website which will be available for everyone. It will contain amazing details of the project to be disseminated widely within and outside the project. The impact of the project could be immense. Children as researchers is innovative, developing practical meta-cognition could be far reaching, giving children a voice on such an emotive issue will be fascinating, linking all this to UN children’s rights and Sustainable Goals is crucial to any European work about the child and school development. The long and short term impact will be great for the children, their schools and the teachers in particular. There will be exponential gains in pedagogy for all schools and the subject itself will generate great interest if it truly does what it says and enlists the voice of the child for the first time to explore such a delicate but important issue.
Friends Across the Water was an innovative project that got children the chance to understand and comment on an important issue affecting Europe in our time - the migration crisis. History can see this event as a turning point for Europe and it is important for children to be aware of problems and possible consequences and to share their concerns and feelings about the crisis in Europe. Our history was a journey from conflict to the dangers of crossing the seas, cultural immersion and resettlement. It is a two-way process of visiting and receiving. Water is a friend, but it can be an enemy. When we are writing this summary, many other migrants drowned, including children. They hear this message and have to come to terms with disasters. Our project was created thanks to a group of different schools from different parts of Europe who work with children to find out what concerns them in Europe where they live. The goals concerned children, learning them and strengthening the profile of the teaching profession. We gave the children a voice on matters that concern them, in accordance with the recommendations of the UNESCO Child Rights Act. We analyzed the issue of migration by researching and strengthening public awareness of the role of migrants in our lives and economy (the results of the surveys allowed us to conduct awareness lessons, promote films showing the difficult situation of migrants, and practical actions allowed us to identify with the immigrant's fate). We have carried out a lot of activities to raise awareness of the role and legitimacy of intelligent use of water, to develop and identify common values for children, to help prepare schools and countries to deal with the reality of migration, improve teaching and learning of schools and develop aspects such as meta-cognition, information feedback and research and pedagogy associated with them to strengthen the profile of the teaching profession by exchanging, sharing and developing good practices, supporting teachers' skills in dealing with an increasingly diverse student community, supporting staff in developing leadership skills to cope with changes in at local, national and European level to raise awareness of the impact of people on their own environment. Participants were selected with concern due to the variety they offer in the history of the project. We start with Turkey and travelled around Europe to Bulgaria, Romania and Poland, who have problems with the migration of talents, moving to Portugal, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Greece. A truly varied mix of experiences enriched this project. Participants also have experience in international projects, giving these ambitious projects really big chances for great success. Our activities were equally exciting, creative and innovative. Art and drama were used to study conflict and war. It is transferring to the danger of water and crossings and how to value water. The children had a unique perspective of water as a friend and enemy. Change is a key aspect. Climate change is associated with a change in supporting and managing diverse cultures, both accepting differences and celebrating culture and values. Research projects carried out by children were very powerful as a learning tool. We trained employees in leadership skills to manage the project, and to conduct meta-cognition as a tool to develop learning. The children have prepared welcome packages for newcomers in schools, which will enable them to integrate better. This will allow children to learn about their own culture and what distinguishes it. At the end, we told the story, considering peace . How is it achieved and how can it be celebrated through dramas, art and music? All this has been made available and stored on the professional website of our project, etwinning and individual websites run by individual schools, available to everyone. They contain amazing project details that can be widely disseminated as part of the project and beyond. The impact of the project is huge. Children as scientists are innovative, developing practical metacognition is certainly far-reaching. Giving children a voice about this emotional problem was fascinating, and combining all this with UN child rights is crucial for any European work on the subject of the child and school. Long-term and short-term impact will be felt by children, their schools and teachers. We are sure that pedagogy will grow rapidly in all schools, because the subject itself has aroused great interest and caused a lot of changes in students, teachers, but also in the local community.