Two French primary schools and two Greek primary schools educating pupils of a wide variety of social, geographical and cultural backgrounds, as well as refugee students, met around common observations: diversity is not always experienced as a wealth within the school and leads to increasing incivilities ; Europe and citizenship remain concepts without concrete reality for a majority of pupils and families ; the acquisition of basic skills by pupils is often prevented by a withdrawal of identity and isolation of students. Thus, 3 objectives have been chosen and will concern 100 students in the fourth, fifth and 20 school staff: - Making openness to the world and mobility at home and/or abroad a reality for all students regardless of their social, geographical or cultural origin by organising a discovery of European cultural heritage in two territories (Greece and France). - Build with students and families a European citizenship that is emancipatory and respectful of the diversity of cultures. - Strengthen key skills so that students gain self-confidence, be successful and build serene relationships with others. Schools have chosen to rely on their existing resources to organize activities to achieve these goals: French schools have been working on a territorial project around the Olympic Games and the values of sport and have measured students' motivation on the subject. Greek schools have placed the integration of diversity in school at the heart of their policy; one has worked on sports activities shared with France. Sport and values will therefore be the leading theme of the project. The first period of exchange between students via eTwinning is marked by discovery: of oneself, of the other, of one's school environment, geographical, of one's daily life, one's tastes and aspirations. The media (photos, drawings, clips, video presentation capsules, music) as well as activities (quizzes on the region, the country, stereotypes, Skype between the 4 classes, logo contests in Franco-Greek teams) are designed to motivate students to discover each other and build a sense of belonging to the same Europe. The second workshop between the students will focus on sport and its values (sports interviews, history of the Olympics, Olympic symbols, illustrations of the notions of help, solidarity, fraternity, fair play). It is hoped that students will identify these values and be able to implement them in practice at school. Mobility will be an opportunity for everyone to consolidate the first ties forged while working on eTwinning, to act as ambassadors, to experience an authentic encounter . The sport activities planned during each mobility will make them put into practice the sports values they studied together. The meeting in France of the 4 partners around the Franco-Greek Olympiads in April 2022 will be a highlight of the project: thanks to the Franco Greek competitions organised for the project, students will use the knowledge and every skill acquired during the cultural challenges and sports tournaments. Students will also participate in one of the school J0 events and observe situations before debating the sporting values at work during the competition. This informed view will complete their work on sport and its values. The mobility experience and activities will help students to build new academic and social skills: they will be more autonomous, more open, more tolerant, more curious and more confident in the relationship to each other. The long-term of exchanges between Greek and French students and between pupils in schools of the same country is targeted here. Similarly, the transfer of new skills into learning process should lead to better student achievement and increased self-esteem. The project is also expected to improve the school climate through students whose posture of withdrawal will change positively and who will be able to act citizenly on simple acts (welcome newcomers, developing mutual help and solidarity in learning). The success Indicator will be the reduction of incivilities in the schools. Schools will eventually gain a more positive image in the territories and serve as an example of their ability to integrate diversity. Families with little presence in schooling will find a new place in an open and more agile school in diversity management thanks to the European experience. The project teams will be able to build a European network on the theme of integration and citizenship.
The HELIOS project enriched an existing French project called "Let's all share the passion for games together". With the support of the French Institute in Greece, which associated the schools, the Puits Picard school in Caen corresponded with a school in Volos and the Senghor school with school no. 4 in Prévéza in Greece, the four schools working together on the same theme. Reaching mainly an audience combining social difficulty and multiculturalism, the objective was to open the students up to the outside, to give them a common identity through European citizenship and the universal and unifying values of sport, particularly Olympism. . The covid context has led to changes in dates and organizations but has not changed the objectives that have been achieved. The schools' educational communities with parents, teachers and agents got involved with motivation. The municipalities participated in setting up the exchanges by helping with logistical support (canteen, visits). Through the sports component, a strong partnership has been established with local Greek and French sports associations which have supported the implementation of activities during mobility and also those shared throughout the duration of the project. The regional Olympic committees offered professional work support and the possibility of meetings with top athletes and personalities from the world of sport. A twinspace allowed the grouping, sharing and visibility of work. The activities were varied: cards, letters, students' articles, production of video capsules (presentations, proposals for sports challenges, flashmob), interactive slide shows around the Olympic Games, creation of games around the knowledge of partner countries, the Europe, reports of meetings, constructions and presentations of exhibitions with quizzes. Exchanges were also made by mail between students and, during preparatory mobility, material for interacquaintance activities was exchanged. Videoconferences held throughout the project offered interactivity. The students were able to meet there in a fun way with the setting up of games prepared beforehand and then were able to communicate afterwards. Mobility enabled students from each school to meet their correspondents. They carried out Olympic-type sports activities together to discover each other. They shared schooling times exchanging on the differences of the systems. Greek pupils, for example, discovered French school canteens. Routes to discover the cities have been organized in each country. Visits to monuments and historical heritage sites took place with the discovery of Paris and Mont Saint Michel with the correspondents for the Greek pupils and the Panatenaic stadium and the Acropolis for the French pupils. Convivial moments of meals and evenings shared with all the partners have created strong bonds between all: the parents participated strongly in the preparation by being involved in the preparation of the meals to share the culture through the culinary. These more free times allowed students to exchange and share personal contact details to continue communication beyond the project. The mobility sessions were emotional highlights because the physical meetings with the correspondents had been worked on beforehand. The immediate results were a marked improvement in the school climate in the groups of students concerned with complicity, involvement in school, and increased motivation for the collective. Mobility has played an important role in the acquisition of autonomy and self-esteem for students. Many talk about future mobility for their studies. The apprehension of the unknown present at the start disappeared with mobility. The family-school bond has been significantly strengthened. Parents and teachers having carried out the project in a shared way and it having succeeded, a climate of trust was established and, through communication, radiated to all the schools. The parents have communicated the wish to continue. The benefit is therefore long-term because the project has marked the history of schools, especially since it took place during the Covid period. The impact of the Erasmus project has therefore been very significant on the schools, the school climate between students, on the trust that parents have placed in teachers and on the teaching team itself. He brought and supported a work dynamic at the level of committed professionals. School teams have acquired a motivation for international openness and unifying projects. To continue in this momentum, the teams of the Senghor schools in Caen, Prévéza and Volos will thus continue this year the correspondence with new themes.