The three participating schools met at a TCA for the first time and discussed the problem of early school leaving and found that the rates at our schools were all high. The Oberschule Geestemünde, for example, has had a higher percentage of drop-outs than the average school in the federal state of Bremen. Together we set out to identify the manifold reasons for early school leaving and to create this project which tries to tackle as many of them as possible. We have identified the following issues as the main reasons for early school leaving at our schools, which are interconnected: 1. For many students their needs to develop their skills and potential are not met by the way schools generally teach. 2. The students' self-confidence is often extremely low. They have no faith in their abilities. 3. Many students don't feel connected to their schools. 4. Many of these students come from families that are not very engaged at or interested in their children's schools. 5. Teachers struggle to engage students they don't seem to be able to reach anymore. Within our project we want to create a program that engages "high risk students", often outside the classroom, in order to give them room to explore their abilities and potential and give them time to shine. Simultaneously, our aim is that teachers, parents and the school communities as a whole will benefit from the program. The main aims of our project are: 1. Reducing the number of early school leavers and increasing the employability of the participating students. 2. Improving the level of key competences and skills (e.g. students and teachers). 3. Supporting educators by strengthening their professional development and skill set. 4. Internationalization of teaching and learning. 5. Creating opportunities to improve foreign language skills (English) We believe that if we empower every participating person in a child's school-life, we can ensure that the child itself takes advantage of the chances that he/she is given by school. Therefore, the inclusion of the parents plays a significant role in our project, we aim at a lasting parental support of the children. We are willing to help those who started their lives with many disadvantages and who need temporary help and guidance to succeed in life. This also includes the idea to help children with migratory backgrounds. Each school will select 16 students from the ages of about 13 to 16, who are in danger of becoming early school leavers. Other students will be involved in the project in supporting capacities for the main group of students. Another target group of the project is that of the students' parents, who will be involved in several activities of the project. By involving them in the project we hope to foster lasting connections between the schools and the families, and to show the students that their parents actually care about what they are doing at school. The third target group are the teachers. Our aim is to shake up all teachers, by encouraging them to being open to new/different methods, to open up their lessons, etc. The teachers who work closest with the selected group will exchange experiences and good practices at the beginning of the project. Overall, we are planning four mobilities. One teacher-training mobility and three student mobilities. The teacher-training mobility will be the first mobility in order to exchange good practices – each school has unique experiences in certain fields that will benefit our project - and train each other on how to prepare and carry out specific activities of our project. In turn each participating school will be the host of one of the student mobilities. For each mobility the visiting schools select 8 of their 16 students to travel. So, by the end of the project each student in the project will have been a visitor and a host once in the mobilities. During each mobility the group of students will either plan an event at the host school or produce a series of podcasts. By entrusting them with the planning and organization of such an event, we hope to create the opportunity for each participating school to discover skills they didn't even know they had and therefore make them more self-confident. At the same time the school communities as a whole should benefit from events like these, as they are an opportunity to celebrate the children and show the parents and the teachers what children can achieve if you place trust in them. This way we are working towards our goals of enabling the development of key competences, reducing the number of early school leavers and strengthening the teaching professions at the same time. Each school will carry out activities between the mobilities in order to work towards our goals, e.g. trust exercises, parent-teacher events, etc. The partners will provide the European school community with a guide book to instruct other schools on how to implement the project at their schools
Due to the possibility of optional participation in the project, the focus was no longer just on early school leavers, but also on students who generally have difficulties integrating into everyday school life and whose school-leaving qualifications were at risk. During the implementation, the focus was still set on the following points, even if they became slightly different over time: 1. Reducing the number of early school leavers, providing the chance to a school leaving certificate and increasing the employability of the participating students later in life. 2. Improving the level of key competences and skills, for the students and teachers. 3. Internationalization of teaching and learning. 4. Creating opportunities to improve foreign language skills (English). 5. Understand and accept the importance of cultural differences. 6. More freedom for the students in their academic development. 7. Mutual support of the participating teachers through the development of their professional skills and extension of their methodical and didactic skills. Working with the parents of the participants also continued to be a focus. With the help of the parents, we wanted to gain trust in the school. We were willing to help those who started their lives with many disadvantages and who needed help and guidance in life. This also included the idea to help children with migratory backgrounds. Due to the long-term existing Covid-19 restrictions, the parents involvement was difficult to implement. Especially because parents weren’t allowed to come to school without a negative Covid-19 test and many parents did not have the digital equipment to follow along. For a time, communication had to be made over the phone or letters. Because the restrictions applied to a large part of the project, it was also difficult to retain the students long term and to reach out to the early school leavers, who were reinforced in their behavior by the school closures. Students from 13-16 continued to be the focus of the project. 16 students were selected by the leading teachers. Due to the division into cohorts in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, most of these students had to be from the same grade. In addition, different regulations applied across national borders, which is why the information may vary here. In addition to the students and their parents, the teachers also should benefited from the project. Here, too, the planned teacher training mobility C1 had to be canceled due to Covid and travel restrictions. Despite the cancellation of the teacher mobility, the participating teachers benefited from the project because they were able to share their skills during the student mobilities C2-C4. Various methods were obtained here, which have been shown in the context of new media, different teaching and learning experiences and the increase of the cognitive ability of the students. In addition, through the joint exchange, they were able to acquire and pass on skills in the area of organization and implementation of international exchanges. Visible changes were made in the context of the student mobilities. We decided to separate the three exchanges from each other, which gave us the opportunity to work on individual topics/projects. The idea of supporting the students in their talents as well as the project aims to encourage the students to discover hidden talents, strengthen them and learn to use them for themselves was maintained. The project took the pressure off the participants by not only teaching in a regular set up. New methods and practical learning opportunities were created. The students gained experience in the implementation of a project for the first time and quickly learned to take responsibility for groups and tasks. Due to the Corona restrictions, the sustainability of the project at the schools has changed. In the available time, it wasn't possible to develop a guide which remains in the schools and can be handed over to the European school community. The time that we had to carry out the student mobilities was so tight that all working hours had to be put into the preparation and execution of the exchanges. In addition, there were three changes in the project management of the leading school. Therefore, it took a lot of time to familiarize with the project and to maintain it in accordance with the submitted plan.