“Cicco Simonetta” Comprehensive School in Caccuri (Crotone, in Calabria Region) extends over a vast mountain area that includes several municipalities where there are school complexes for kindergarten, primary and lower secondary school. The area is characterized by various problems related to population decline and unemployment and the School therefore is the main training and, above all, aggregation center for young people of the area, through projects and opportunities for training and growth of young students. The mission of “Cicco Simonetta” Comprehensive School is to promote the values of civil coexistence, active citizenship, respect for different cultures, tolerance and dialogue. From this perspective, the School’s willingness to start “WayS - aWay from the Suburbs” project therefore inserts itself to offer young students the opportunity to exchange good practices in order to “get out” of isolation and allow them to grow and be trained with the same opportunities as their colleagues who live in more urban and structured contexts. The project will be based on the collaboration of foreign partners, “VentspilsValsts” in Latvia, “Agrupamento de Escolas General Serpa Pinto de Cinfães” in Portugal and “52 TsankoTserkovski” in Bulgaria. The project idea is therefore strictly connected to the area with the aim of exchanging good practices at a European level.The main issues will be those ones related to young people (legality, bullying, exclusion, human rights) through literature and theater related to civil commitment, as a way to learn about one's tradition and history and exchange it with other European countries, reflecting on issues concerning citizenship skills and the growth of students as responsible and aware citizens of tomorrow,who have knowledge of every man's rights, tolerance, respect for diversity and exclusion’s overcoming. In each physical mobility,students will examine a topix in depth,dealing it with discussions, role playing, study cases and storytelling. “WayS - aWay from the Sububrs” is addressed to 96 students of lower secondary school’s classes (24 for each school and 6 for each mobility) who will be able to live this experience in partner countries for 4 days plus 2 travel days. Students will deal with 4 different themes during the mobilities: legality, gender equality, human rights and bullying, issues close to young people, through interviews, songs, readings and they will produce for each mobility a theatrical sketch in English and local languages, which will then be uploaded to the final product of the project, a YouTube channel "Theater in the Suburbs", that will promote all the created videos and activities. The aim is to encourage young people to experiment mainly with created new multimedia teaching approaches compare to “classic” themes, thus improving language skills,creating an attitude of respect for the history of their territory, for the cultural heritage of European nations and for what is different from us, enhance the skills and the use of ITC at school and multimedia tools. The project therefore combines literature and theater with art, history and IT disciplines. The objectives of the project coincide with those ones set out in the Unesco 2030 Agenda which aims at Sustainable Development objectives, among which the offer of a quality, inclusive and equal education and the promotion of a life-long learning opportunities for all. The project will also have a strong inclusive connotation, expecting 40 mobility grants (10 for each school) to students with cultural, economic, geographical and social difficulties. Participation in the project will enhance learners’ language skills and the production of documentaries will be a way to hone artistic-creative and technical skills. “WayS” will produce the following impacts: • improvement of the expression and communication skills in English and an approach to the local languages of the Hosting countries. This impact will affect students, but also accompanying teachers, for whom it is expected the transition from B1 to B2 level. After 6 months, the achievement of the impact for teachers will be checked, while an increase by 30% of the language certificates for students is expected; • digital skills: film-making, editing and storytelling by students. Students are expected to increase their use of digital tools at school by at least 20% within 6 months. Furthermore, the participants will acquire skills of multiculturalism, autonomy, respect for human rights and global citizenship, tolerance.They will acquire a collaborative attitude towards colleagues, especially with respect to the most disadvantaged people from a cultural, socio-economic and psychological point of view.
The “Cicco Simonetta” Comprehensive Institute of Caccuri (Crotone, Calabria) extends over a vast mountain area that includes several municipalities where there are complexes for nursery school, primary school and lower secondary school. The territory presents various problems related to demographic decline and unemployment and the Institute, therefore, is the main training and, above all, aggregation center for young people in the territory, through projects and opportunities for training and growth of young students. The mission of the IC "Simonetta" is to promote the values of civil coexistence, active citizenship, respect for different cultures, tolerance and dialogue. In this context, the School's desire to launch the "WayS - aWay from the Suburbs" project is therefore part of the idea to offer young students the possibility of exchanging good practices in order to "get out" of isolation and allow them to grow and train. with the same opportunities as their colleagues who live in more urban and structured contexts. The project will be based on the collaboration of foreign partners, “Ventspils Valsts” in Latvia, the “Agrupamento de Escolas General Serpa Pinto de Cinfães” in Portugal. It is specified that Bulgaria abandoned the project and the physical mobility in Portugal did not take place due to the very high costs of the trip. In the first mobility the Italian school did not physically participate due to budget problems, the Italian students participated by connecting virtually on Monday morning and afternoon to introduce themselves and discuss gender equality. They also connected on Wednesday and Thursday to say hello. On the first day, after welcoming the European partners and introducing all interested parties through ice-breaking activities, the video sketches produced by each of the 3 countries were presented. This presentation served as the theme for the debate in which each partner had the opportunity to present their point of view, concerns and anxieties regarding the future of young Europeans. On this day there was also time for a Music Therapy session, a walk in the village which welcomed the mobility and the welcoming of the entire delegation at the Town Hall by the Mayor of Cinfães. The second day began with an interactive workshop entitled “Me and my world”. Here participants reflected on each other's posture in a world with fabricated scenarios and observed the importance of communicative context in human actions. There will also be space for "games without borders", a very fun moment, promoted by the Group's Physical Education teachers. In the end, all teams won! then they went to the Casa d'Abóbora Youth Association, based in Aldeia, Ferreiros de Tendais, to carry out a "Treasure Hunt" in nature and learn what compost is and how it is produced. On the third day, after visiting the city of Porto Antigo, the train took us from Mosteirô to Pinhão, one of the central points of the Demarcated Douro Region. In the afternoon we go up to Casal de Loivos to visit Quinta D'Origem, its vineyards and its Olive Oil Museum. Dazzled by the magnificent landscape of the Douro Valley and by the series of tastings of local products that were made available to us, we had the opportunity to learn a little more about the production methods of olive oil and wine, from older than those used today. On the fourth and last day of activity of our first mobility, we went to Porto. Here, before visiting the cellars of Cálem Port, we sailed through the waters of the river on a replica of a Rabelo boat doing the “6 Bridges Cruise”. These two experiences closed a week of activities on a high note, in which everyone emerged richer in terms of social and linguistic skills, everyone had fun and, above all, great friendships were born and moments of great personal enrichment were shared. Participation in this activity brought great benefits to all who participated. For most of the students this was the first time they had been part of an Erasmus project. As such, they had the opportunity to experience a different lifestyle in terms of new habits, different routines, a new school environment and even a different cuisine. Furthermore, they had to communicate with them in English, developing language and communication skills. Various activities were held at school so that they could engage in our school life. They developed their creativity and ability to concentrate and pay attention in the music therapy session, they improved their social and communication skills in the "Me and my world!" session. and, in general, committed to the real goal of this Machine Translated by Google project, which is carrying out tasks together and sharing knowledge. Additionally, they played traditional games as a team, learning to compete in a healthy way and experiencing traditional Portuguese games. Furthermore, they attended some classes because they were very eager to meet other students and talk a little about themselves. By visiting the Douro vineyards, a UNESCO heritage site since 2001, students and teachers were able to enjoy that wonderful place, learn where Port wine is produced, how the harvest took place due to the layers of the earth and, above all, discover that Our region is diverse, involving multiple landscapes, mountains and rivers. Visiting different places was very important, as the students not only saw the countryside, but also the coast. All activities contributed to developing social skills, improving communication and language skills and, at the same time, promoting cultural diversity. In addition to all this, they experienced new ways of living, met new friends and became more aware of other realities. Even the Italian students, despite being online, were enthusiastic about the sharing of different ideas and points of view.