The title 'Promoting a Healthy, Happy Lifestyle' describes the overall aim and motivation for our project. It is believed that both children and adults should be made aware of the importance of keeping their bodies and minds healthy and happy, and be empowered to view good health as fundamental in all that they strive to do. This is validated by 'Health 2020: A European policy framework and strategy for the 21st century' (2013:8) which states 'Maximising health through all stages of life is a fundamental right for all and not a privilege for a few. Good health is an asset and a source of economic and social stability.' The use of ICT will be a major vehicle for the project's success, as pupils and staff from partner schools will collaborate online using various platforms, such as TwinSpace, Dropbox, email and other appropriate apps and programs. The objectives of the project fall into four broad aims, which are: to develop awareness and attitudes of school staff, pupils and the wider community towards leading healthy lifestyles; to develop pupils' and teachers' skills in using ICT safely for collaborative learning; to explore the cultural heritage of partner schools within the context of the project; and to empower adults and children by teaching them how to look after their physical and mental health and the importance of doing so. Six partner primary schools will be involved in the project; and all schools have pupils who come from a range of socio-economic backgrounds. Each school has a number of students experiencing obstacles, such as special educational needs, social problems and economic difficulties. All school pupils will participate in in-school project activities, which will be shared with other partners through online collaboration. In addition, a number of pupils from each school will have the opportunity to travel to another school to participate in project activities. This will provide such pupils with an excellent opportunity for learning and skills development, especially if they are facing obstacles in their education. Staff from each partner school will also participate in the project through developing their classroom pedagogies on project-related activities and promoting healthy lifestyles in their schools. Some staff will also have the opportunity to travel to partner schools to participate in training events. Parents whose pupils attend partner schools will also have the opportunity to be involved in the project through attending organised talks on healthy lifestyles, sporting events, and collaborating on a project recipe book. Project activities will comprise short-term joint staff training events, short-term exchanges of groups of pupils, pupil participation and collaboration through the use of ICT, and involvement of school staff and parents. Activities will be carefully organised to ensure all relevant groups of participants are involved in engaging and appropriate ways. Teachers and pupils of all partner schools will collaborate online to share their work on the project TwinSpace. Pupils will participate in sports workshops and events and play sports that are traditional in partner countries. They will learn about different foods and diets and have the opportunity to taste traditional cuisines of partner countries. Pupils and teachers will also learn the importance of incorporating relaxation techniques into their daily routines. Such techniques will be taught in the classroom and exchanged between schools. Methodology will include active learning, group work, pupil, teacher and parent collaboration, and the use of ICT. Results of the project will include a positive change in attitudes of the schools' staff, pupils and wider community towards leading a healthy lifestyle. Furthermore, participants will have gained confidence in using ICT for exchanging, exploring, expressing, evaluating and exhibiting information (The Northern Ireland Curriculum: Primary, 2007). The project TwinSpace will be the main platform where participant's work will be displayed and celebrated. This will present the extent to which the project activities have impacted upon the pupils, staff and wider community through evidence of the work that has been done by all partner schools. In the long term, it is envisaged that all schools will incorporate physical activity, healthy eating and relaxation techniques into the daily lives of staff and pupils. Teacher confidence in targeting and promoting healthy lifestyles will increase as they build upon the experiences that the project has provided them with. All participants will develop as European citizens who celebrate cultural diversity; and learn from, tolerate, and respect other people. Furthermore, pupils and school staff will have been equipped with skills to make them more digitally literate in an ever ICT dependent world. The project TwinSpace will continue to be available for partner schools to use.
The title 'Promoting a Healthy, Happy Lifestyle' describes the overall aim and motivation for our project. It is believed that both children and adults should know the importance of keeping their bodies and minds healthy and happy, and be empowered to view good health as fundamental in all that they strive to do. This is validated by 'Health 2020: A European policy framework and strategy for the 21st century' (2013:8) which states 'Maximising health through all stages of life is a fundamental right for all and not a privilege for a few. Good health is an asset and a source of economic and social stability.' The use of ICT was a major vehicle for the project's success, as pupils and staff collaborated online using various platforms, such as TwinSpace, Google Drive, Zoom, email and other appropriate apps and programs. The objectives of the project fell into four broad aims, which are: to develop awareness and attitudes of school staff, pupils and the wider community towards leading healthy lifestyles; to develop pupils' and teachers' skills in using ICT safely for collaborative learning; to explore the cultural heritage of partner schools within the context of the project; and to empower adults and children by teaching them how to look after their physical and mental health and the importance of doing so. 6 primary schools were involved in the project. All schools have pupils who come from a range of socio-economic backgrounds, and a number of students experiencing obstacles; such as special educational needs, social problems and economic difficulties. All school pupils participated in in-school project activities, which were shared with other partners through online collaboration, mainly TwinSpace and Google Drive. In addition, a number of pupils from each school participated in either physical or virtual mobilities with a partner school. These provided pupils with excellent opportunities for learning and skills development. Staff from each partner school also participated fully in the project through developing their classroom pedagogies on project-related activities and promoting healthy lifestyles in their schools, for example, through daily 'brain breaks', exploring sports from other cultures, and taking part in training on mental wellbeing to name a few. Some staff also had the opportunity to travel to partner schools (pre-Covid) to participate in training events. Parents whose pupils attend partner schools had the opportunity to be involved in the project through attending organised talks on healthy lifestyles, participating in Sports Days, and submitting recipes for a project recipe book. Project activities comprised short-term joint staff training events, short-term exchanges of groups of pupils, pupil participation and collaboration through the use of ICT, and involvement of school staff and parents. Activities were carefully organised to ensure all relevant groups of participants were involved in engaging and appropriate ways. Teachers and pupils of partner schools collaborated online to share their work on the project TwinSpace. Pupils participated in sports workshops and events and played sports that are traditional in partner countries. They learned about different foods and diets and through the project recipe book were inspired to cook food from different cultures. Pupils and teachers also learned the importance of incorporating relaxation techniques into their routines. Such techniques are now taught in the classroom. Methodology included active learning, group work, pupil, teacher and parent collaboration, and the use of ICT for websites such as GoNoodle. Results of the project include a positive change in attitudes of the schools' staff, pupils and wider community towards leading a healthy lifestyle. Participants have gained confidence in using ICT for teaching and collaborating. The TwinSpace is the main platform where participant's work is displayed and celebrated. This presents the extent to which the project activities have impacted upon stakeholders through evidence of the work that has been done by all partner schools. All schools will continue to incorporate physical activity, healthy eating and relaxation techniques into the daily lives of staff and pupils. All participants will continue to develop as European citizens who celebrate cultural diversity. Furthermore, pupils and school staff will have been equipped with skills to make them more digitally literate in an ever ICT dependent world, especially given the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic which has acted as a catalyst for increasing dependence in the use of ICT. The project TwinSpace is now public so all can see the results of our project and continue to use concrete resources, such as the digital recipe book and videos on mindfulness. The Project Results Platform also acts as an area where key project results can be accessed.