The most important challenges that our school is facing are: preventing school dropout and ensuring a fair and inclusive quality education, promoting continuous learning opportunities for all, especially for students with Special Educational Needs, in order to ensure their educational success. To achieve that, it is necessary to promote the professional development of the teaching staff, too. The project has been implemented to pursue the following goals: - to improve our students' professional skills, including those with fewer opportunities, through work-based learning experiences abroad; - to learn a new foreign language in the nation where it is the official language, use it for primary communicative and operational purposes, and acquire the vocabulary of the study sector to interact in relevant professional contexts; - -to improve our students' digital skills, reducing the phenomenon of the digital divide; - to educate our students about environmental sustainability; - to update and enhance the professional, methodological, and organizational-relational skills of teachers and staff through job shadowing activities.
The Merendino Institute is a state secondary school that offers technical and vocational learning programmes. It has three sites located in three different municipalities in the Province of Messina: Capo d'Orlando (legal seat), Brolo, and Naso. The school has 565 students, aged between 14 and 19, coming from various municipalities in the Nebrodi area, many of which are characterized by underdevelopment and isolation, especially in terms of technology. A significant number of students face socio-economic and cultural disadvantages. A high percentage of them have Special Educational Needs: 40 students have physical and/or intellectual disabilities, 20 of which are severe, and 24 have specific learning disorders. The school also must address the linguistic needs of the foreign students. The Institute is also involved in areas outlined in the Regional Service for dropout prevention. The project's actions are aimed at students and staff of the following courses: "Agriculture, Rural Development and Local Product Enhancement," "Hotel and Catering Management," and "Business, Finance and Marketing/Business Services."