OUR SCHOOLS

PARTNER No 1 - IES FLORIDABLANCA - SPAIN

Floridablanca High School is located in the south of Murcia city, borough Infante Juan Manuel, along the banks of the river (El Segura) on its right hand side. The borough is mostly made up of blocks of flats with court-yards and other open areas close by, often within the very same plot, for neighbours to step out and take the fresh air. Streets and avenues are wide, with quite a few small greens.
The school gets students whose socio-cultural and economic backgrounds cover a broad range, thus showing a rich variety of traits. In ESO (Compulsory Secondary Education) our pupils come from our own borough as well as from other boroughs and satellite villages. We also host immigrants, mainly from Ecuador, China, Morocco, Bolivia and Ukraine.
As regards their socio-economic and cultural level, 65 to 70% have a medium-high level and show a satisfactory academic performance, whereas the rest 30 to 35% come from a lower socio-economic and cultural environment and lack basic tools we do our best to provide them with. This diversity explains why we have chosen “Respecting Plurality” as one of the chief aims of our “Educational Project”, so that our students become true citizens properly integrated in our society, paying due attention to the development of a conscious self which will enable them to feel safe and encourage them to learn and unfold within a complex and open society.
Thus we try to instil in them values such as tolerance, solidarity, cooperation and others which are equally essential to lead a life worth living.
In order to satisfy the demands of particular groups of students, we have set up bilingual (English-Spanish), flexible and remedial classes, as well as a research line for the High School courses. Besides, the school organizes exchanges with France, Germany and the States. Last but not least, we have also been organizing, for the last six years, activities based on The Saint James’ Way which have given birth to this project (http://www.youtube.com/user/floricamino - http://floricamino.blogspot.com.es/)

PARTNER No 2 - GIMNAZJUM W ZESPOLE SZKÓŁ LICEALNO-GIMNAZJALNYCH IM. JÓZEFA WYBICKIEGO W RATAJACH - POLAND

Junior and Senior High School in Rataje will cooperate with the project. The school is located in the County of Chodzież (North Greater Poland Region). The unemployment rate is very high in the county (approx. 22-24%) which is the result of closing big agricultural cooperatives and ceramic industry.

The youth studying at our school (including mentally retarded students) come from all the county. The educational start for our students is difficult (distance to big cities, low education ambitions of the parents, limited access to mass culture – theatre, opera, cinema)

Our schools organizes additional specialized extra mural classes developing students' interests (cinema, theatre, art). These classes not only develop skills but also increase the chances to get into art colleges and universities for those students who come from little towns and rural areas.

Apart from extra classes the school offers a library consisting of about 20,000 books which covers not only the school and its students but also the community of Rataje village where the school is located.

PARTNER No 3 - ISTITUTO COMPRENSIVO INVERIGO - ITALY

The Comprehensive Institute of Inverigo includes two Nursery schools (pupils from 3 to 5 years old), four Primary schools (from 6 to 10) and two Secondary Schools (from 11 to 13-14), which are situated in two different towns, Inverigo and Arosio, located in the southern part of the province of Como, in the industrialized and economically developed area called Brianza.  Many highways and the railway pass through the territory and connect the area with the main cities.
Soon after the First World War until the early nineties, Inverigo and Arosio have changed from a rural economy to trade and industry, which has developed particularly in the furniture industry and the population grew.
In recent decades there has been a substantial increase in migration from non-EU countries; as a consequence people from different parts of the world work and live here and their children attend our schools. The school organization has committed itself therefore to carry out activities designed to create a welcoming climate for foreign children who are placed in our Institute.
There are many associations that operate in our area and some of them cooperate permanently with the Institute.
The school organizes afternoon activities (courses and workshops for groups of students) whose purpose is to develop skills for a complete realization of the personal dimension.

PARTNER No 4 - TARTU DESCARTES'I LÜTSEUM - ESTONIA

Tartu Descartes Lyceum has all together 663 students, including 494 elementary school students. Among others, there are some students who have learning or behavioral difficulties, or who come from problematic social background. We have students of Russian origin whose parents speak only Russian. Such students need help with integration in to Estonian-speaking environment.
Estonia is a newcomer in the EU. Therefore, we have a different cultural background. Since Estonia has been under the rule of different countries (e.g. Soviet occupation) during its history, we tend to hold to our national identity. European cooperation helps understand other nations, learn about different cultures in Europe and bring them closer to Estonia. This way, we hope to make Estonian youth more open-minded and help them become real Europeans. Our school is somewhat different from other Estonian schools as from the very beginning we have looked towards Europe – various foreign languages (French, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Finnish) have been taught. All this makes communication with young people of different nationalities very important for our students.

PARTNER No 5- SAINT CHARLES INSTITUTION- FRANCE

Saint Charles Institution is a private catholic school for primary and secondary education. It has 1865 pupils, ranging from pre-primary school to high school. It is located in the centre of Vienne, Isère, in the heart of the Rhone-Alps region.
The school, which bases its practice on the chief value of benevolence, welcomes students from all origins and socio-cultural backgrounds. However, a high percentage of them belong to the middle class.
There exist several strategies to bridge the gap between students with dissimilar levels: tutorial activities, help with their homework, classes to help lagging pupils consolidate knowledge from the 2nd year of secondary school. We also provide dyslexic students  with special assistance.
We offer our students several sections. They can choose an international class (Engligh and Spanish), Of course, all students learn English from 1st year  of secondary school, and can learn a second foreign language from the 3rd year of secondary school (Spanish or Italian). It is also worth mentioning that our school also offers a European section in English. We also organize several exchanges, usually with Germany and Italy.

PARTNER No 6- ABSALONS SKOLE- DENMARK

Absalons Skole is an ordinary danish public elementary school. It is located in the city of Roskilde. The pupils are from different social backgrounds but it is a rather wealthy area. We have a special reading programe for strudents with Dyslexia, which means that students with reading difficulties from the nearby school come to Absalons Skole and go in a Dyslexiaclass.
Furthermore we are a part of a national projekt called Sund skole (healthy school) which means that we focus a lot on healthy eating habbits and the importance og exercise.