Even before the SWOT analysis, we had some sense of what our key needs were and where our strategic development plan should go in the coming years, and the actual implementation of the analysis confirmed this - we needed to master modern teaching methods and to integrate ICT, which were our goals for the project. We wanted teachers with new knowledge of modern methods to be better able to create learning opportunities that put students in an active role and thus at the centre of the learning process. As our staff had been asleep in the field prior to the project, we deepened our knowledge in this area and at the same time learned new, modern teaching methods, teachers learned strategies to support the integration of ICT in their teaching. The school has become more open to technology and the teachers more innovative and skilled. We hoped that the success of the project would open the door to international exchanges of knowledge and experience. Our long-term goal is to use the contacts we have made in the preparation and implementation of this project to become an internationally oriented school, which becomes a host school for foreign schools and at the same time learns about the education systems of other European countries. Our ambition is to build on our contacts with other schools, which we have already done by hosting teachers as part of the KA1 and KA2 projects.
VIZ Primary School Rogatec is a small primary school with two branches. The school is located in the east of the country, right next to the border with Croatia. It is a rather underdeveloped area where most people move away, mainly for jobs. The families that stay tend to come from socially weaker backgrounds and the children do not have the opportunity to learn about other cultures, except for the pupils who come from foreign countries. One of the reasons for joining the E+ project was to work with schools from different countries, which in turn means learning about different cultures, their cultural and natural heritage. Through all this, we are preparing students to become active European citizens and broaden their horizons. The previous management was not receptive to innovation, but with the replacement we saw the opportunity to improve and acquire new knowledge in the use of ICT and modern teaching methods. We felt that this project would allow us to continue our professional development and saw it as a great opportunity for our teachers as they learn about the differences in other school systems and can apply some of the innovations in their daily work. We also wanted to participate in European cooperation activities.