The Family-School Network project starts from the proven need to increase the number of users of the Erasmus Plus program, in particular the number of families who, at European level, welcome students who participate in a mobility program. The project also aims to train teachers from high schools, providing them with better tools to get in touch with both students and their families -especially those from the most disadvantaged sections of society- while strengthening the school-family alliance, one of the points of attention in Europe in the education/training context. The ultimate aim of the project is linked to one of the EU's stated priorities, namely the reduction of the ESL (Early School Leaving) rate, which is today still too high and which represents a key-element for schools. Several studies have highlighted how taking part in a European mobility program tends to strengthen the participating students’ skills and abilities, inducing them to improve school performance over time and to make medium-long term projects, effectively continuing their studies and thereby reducing the risk of ESL. The project idea fits perfectly into the just outlined framework and intends to support and train teachers towards a paradigm shift: the students (and their families) are a "complex system" going beyond school aspects, to be taken into consideration in a new perspective. Starting from a more in-depth knowledge of the students and their families, teachers must help the pupils to build a life project, stimulating an active participation and strengthening their self-esteem, creating the conditions for an improvement in their school performance. The Family-School Network project refers to two main priorities of the program: 1) SE - Building capacity for organization and recognition of learning periods abroad; 2) H - Supporting educators, youth workers, educational leaders and support staff. With this in mind, the project will transfer to the teachers, the main target group of the project, an innovative approach towards students, providing them with a Vademecum containing some training modules preparatory to a testing. The aim is to facilitate them to build an orientation path and to be able to counteract the risk factors that make some students more easily subject to early school leaving. The IOs that the project will develop are: a Vademecum for teachers (IO1), which will let them acquire new skills on methodology and communication; a Digital Platform (IO2) accompanied by guidelines, that will act as a space for discussion and virtual meeting among the families involved, mediated by the teachers; an Emotional Communication Toolkit (IO3) made by the students, who will introduce both their own families and their hosting families. The project partnership has an extensive experience in the ideation of European projects, in the construction of training and orientation courses, and in supporting the inclusion of groups with socio-economic difficulties. The project partners are: Antares srl (IT), Head of Management/Administration and IO1’s leading partner; Secondary School IC Orte (IT), responsible for quality and sustainability, and support partner in particular for IO1, but also for IO2 and IO3; GEMS (UK), responsible for communication, impact and dissemination, as well as leading partner of IO2; Secondary School Stredná Priemyselná (SPS) from Poprad (SK), leading partner for IO3 and responsible for the products / training internal evaluation; “Rayko Tsonchev” Private Professional School (BG), responsible for the products / training internal evaluation, and supporting partner for IO1, IO2 and IO3; Malone Integrated College School (UK), responsible for the products / training internal evaluation, and supporting partner for IO1, IO2 and IO3. An important part of the process will be the dissemination and sustainability of the results. The partnership’s intent is to involve the largest possible number of potential users on the Digital Platform and the Family-School Network approach. Many and diverse forms of external communication will be used to increase the impact both in the partner countries and throughout all Europe. The goal is to create products (to be translated in the 4 languages of the partnership) that can be interesting for a large number of people for their innovation, free use, European dimension and immediate usability.
The ultimate goal of the Family-School Network project was to expand the number of participants in Erasmus+ programmes. Mobility activities develop individual factors in students that are crucial for their educational and social maturity. Through the project results, the project set up new tools and programmes for greater inclusion in mobility projects in an innovative way, with an emphasis on strengthening the school-family network. The project pursued this objective by focusing first and foremost on teachers. Thanks to the training workshop (IO1), a total of 56 teachers from the partnership schools were trained and acquired new communication skills to positively involve students and families. Furthermore, the innovativeness of the project is inherent in the IOs implemented and in the approach itself, as a greater connection between families and students is nurtured. Moreover, the project combines the digital element and the students' propensity to use technology, incorporating an innovative educational method within the education system and in line with EU recommendations.
The Family-School Network Project was conceived to fully achieve the objectives related to the EU's stated priority of reducing the rate of ESL (Early School Leaving). The project idea responds in an innovative way to European requirements and aims to counter this rate by focusing on teachers, the project's main target group. The project transferred to teachers, an innovative approach based on the effectiveness of communication, which unfortunately with the covid-19 emergency has increasingly failed, worsening the relational dimension. The project strengthened the bond between teachers and pupils and their families, especially the most fragile ones. The project results, first and foremost the Vademecum (IO1) play a fundamental role in strengthening this link, with the aim of making teachers a tool for students in the construction of their pathway, counteracting drop-out risk factors and increasing participation in Erasmus+ programmes. The project refers to two main priorities of the programme: 1) SE-Building capacity for organisation and recognition of learning periods abroad; 2) H-Supporting educators, youth workers, educational leaders and support staff.