The school offers students good projects. However, there was a need of international recognition e cross-boarder cooperation, so that there could be an active participation, exchange of good practices and collaboration in projects that lessened the lack of European vision. We intended to develop foreign languages abilities e broaden students’ horizons making them citizens of Europe, as active members of society and aware of interculturality. We continued our Experimental Sciences Project, showing our work and learning with our partners’ works, to foster an active participation of the students and promoting excellence in science and technology, to preserve the environment. The promotion of recycling habits and composting at school and in the community, as well as raising awareness for the resources waste were crucial points. The promotion of volunteering actions and social empathy, social competences of the students and their responsibility as citizens, developing awareness on the opportunity of this projects and the values of the European Union were essential.
The school is composed by the main school, 3 basic schools and 3 kindergartens. The range of our students’ ages goes from 3 to 18. We have students from different ethnic backgrounds. Though these students come from poor social backgrounds, they are easy-going, hardworking and eager to learn.With the adoption of the “Perfil dos alunos à Saída da Escolaridade Obrigatória”,students and teachers had to adapt to a new reality centered on the profile of the 21st century student. Developing competences of the 21st century has been a priority in our school and in this project: creativity and innovation; cooperation and communication; critical thinking and problem solution; digital literacy; adaptability; understanding of balance and fragilities of our natural world in the adoption of sustainable behaviour which represent an answer to global challenges that the environment is facing; information management and leadership are on top of the list of our priorities. The project emerged as a need of making our school international, broaden students’ horizons as European citizens and of, with creativity and innovation, leading a project which promotes environmental awareness, exchange of good practices and the development of digital literacy.