Comenius Project

1. Comenius Project NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND exploring non-formal education, lifelong learning and social action

2. PARTNERS City of Westminster (UK)- coordinator • Spanish Confederation of Training Centres (CECE), ES • EuroEd Foundation, Iasi, (RO) • Savanoriu Centre for Volunteers (LT) • The Cracow Centre for the Improvement of Educational Personnel (KCDKO) PL

3. European added value • First attempt at European level to compare non-formal learning initiatives and build on successful experience from countries like the UK, where it is institutionalized, enriching and diversifying the pool of good practices with examples from all participant countries with a view of disseminating and implementing them.

4. Evidentiating the benefits of non-formal education Non-formal education (learning and training outside school hours or even outside recognized educational institutions) vs. Formal education. • How to bridge the two? • Where do / can they meet? • How to empower and involve different educators in the process? ( teachers, the family, NGOs, children’s clubs, others)

5. What can non-formal education contribute? • Relevance to the needs of (disadvantaged) groups. • Concern with specific categories of persons. • A focus on clearly defined purposes. • Flexibility in organization and methods.

6. Target audience • Teachers • Teacher trainers • Educators • Parents • Educational boards • Organizations interested in and ready to invest in education

7. Beneficiaries • Students aged 5 to 18 from schools and areas where study support will be disseminated and implemented; • Families, especially those who encounter problems in raising or educating their children; • Society;

8. Instruments 1.Research pack based on results from questionnaires administered to 4 categories of respondents: • - teachers • - educational boards • - NGOs • - students • 2. Case Studies from all countries • 3. Training pack for teachers and trainers

9. Processes and outcomes • SWOT ANALYSIS + REFLECTION ON INFORMAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES • PREPARATION AND DESIGN OF EDUCATIONAL PRODUCTS - QUALITY TRAINING COURSE • PILOTING OF THE TRAINING COURSE • EVALUATION OF MATERIALS • FINAL DRAFT OF THE TRAINING KIT • DISSEMNINATION

10. IMPACT1 • THE RICH DIVERSITY OF INITIATIVES AND SUPPORT TOOLS USED TO DELIVER STUDY SUPPORT ACROSS THE PARTNER COUNTRIES WILL BE POOLED TOGETHER AND AN AGREED SET OF GOOD PRACTICE INITIATIVES WILL BE COMPILED INTO THE TEACHING PROGRAMME • THE EXTENSIVE RESEARCH DONE IN THE UK AND IN OTHER PARTNER COUNTRIES WILL MAKE IT MOTIVATING FOR THE OTHER PARTNERS AND IT WILL FACILITATE AN IN-DEPTH UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROCESS.

11. Some conclusions from questionnaires • The majority of educators in our country see study support activities as beneficial for formal learning especially with reference to reducing school dropout; There is a tradition of promoting extra-classroom activities in our country as educational and beneficial for the development of a child – most beneficiaries are in urban areas, where there are children’s clubs, libraries, cultural centres, etc. • The facilities and equipment schools have to support the extracurricular activities are mainly sports halls and, more recently, multimedia devices (especially in urban areas); • Most of the extracurricular activities are done on a voluntary basis (an exception are trips or some organized courses); • Thefinancial resources for the extracurricular activities are parents’ associations, sponsorships and European Programmes;

12. Over 60% of student respondents said that they take part inout –of- classroom activities in school,at the Children’s Club or at Cultural Centres: reading clubsdiscovering literature maths is fun drama clubs in Romanian, English, French “learn a language” Ecology The Little Gardeners agrobiology study club “Doctor’s Help” club The Red Cross volunteers civic education painting / architecture + photography explore design chess matt dance groups the school’s choir discovering the world through religion Sports for everyone – football, volleyball, basketball, tennis

13. Involvement • a wide range of institutions and schools mention the fact that they collaborate, which demonstrates great interest and awareness of the importance of extracurricular activities; • schools ask for school inspectorates’ and NGOs’ help in the development of such activities, which demonstrates that teachers are aware of the necessity and importance of correlating the parallel types of education: formal and non-formal; • NGOs consider they can offer the following services:, trainings, after-school services, volunteering, education through adventure, education through the promotion of arts, information campaigns; • most students are pleased with the activities they are already involved in or express their wilingness to get involved in such activities.

14. Effects Respondents mention the following effects of the extracurricular activities: • enhancing self esteem, self knowledge and team - work skills • use of the knowledge acquired during informal activities when back in class • improved concentration span • willingness to get involved in activities of all types • in some cases there was evidence of more controlin children’s behaviour

15. Needs and Aims 1 • The focus on projects and programmes with the aim of reducing school dropout, especially in the rural area; • Extension and multiplication of projects aiming at parental education (Parents` School, Parents’ Club) at the level of all the institutions, in order to involve parents as partners in their children’s education; • Introduction of indices for informal and formal education in the evaluation of all extracurricular and out-of-school activities; • Access to projects financed by the European Union, aiming to improve the schools’ facilities; • Special funds in schools, with the purpose of encouraging extracurricular activities;

16. 2 • Promotion of the developing extracurricular and out-of-school activities at community level, especially by involving the families more (awareness, contribution in organizing or financial support, time investment) • Teachers as resources in the projects in cooperation with NGOs, in order to make the methods and means suitable to the age and group features of the students involved; • Promotion among students, parents and local authorities of the nature of activities offered by schools; • Diversification of educational methods, combining curricular and extracurricular activities, formal, non-formal and informal education in order to raise the level of attractiveness of school activities without overloading the students’ programme.

17. Successful projects relevant to NCLB • THE PREVENTION OF SCHOOL – DROPOUT, carried out in the schools in Iaşi County (ensuring counselling services to a higher number of children / students, parents and teachers); • The “SCHOOL AFTER SCHOOL” project; • The “PARENTS’ CLUB” AND “PARENTS’ SCHOOL” projects; • The “BREAD ROLL AND MILK” Project • The County School Inspectorate programme for DEVELOPING EDUCATIONAL SERVICES TO SUPPORT THE CHILDREN and STUDENTS with special educational needs.

18. CASE STUDY • Painting and Drawing Club • A church in a deprived area of Iasi where an art teacher has been running for 7 years a weekly club for about 60 children aged 5 to 16 from families with no material means.

19. Main aims • stimulate the children’s interest in organized work • boost their self-confidence • attract them towards self-enriching activities • offer better examples than what they can see in some families • open a window to the world • help them prepare for a future type of work (mason, brick layer, mosaic worker, painter)

20. Support and description -the church provides the materials and room - other sponsors are the School Inspectorate and some schools, the Police Department, The Firefighters’ Department, occasional companies; -the teacher encourages each and every child to draw and colour, paint or arrange tiles to build a mosaic, in order to offer them an occupation they enjoy and they can learn from both in terms of rediscovering the world around and discovering their own aptitudes and inclinations.

21. Achievements • The children’s works are exhibited in the church • some of the little artists were invited to paint live at the most important art gallery in Iasi. • they took part in a competitions of street drawing • There is permanent cooperation with the school in the neighbourhood to stimulate the children and the evidence is that their school attendance improved. In some cases they started doing better in school. • One boy who could not link letters to be able to read managed to learn the basics through colours and drawings.

22. Case study 2- Bringing Family members together • Cooperation between the Teachers’ Training Centre Iasi, EuroEd, the Information Centre Ruginoasa, the Town hall and the Centre for Social Assistance in Ruginoasa (Iasi county)

23. Description • Educational and local authorities initiated a programme of computer literacy for members of the community, mainly children and grandparents - the parents currently working in other countries. Both the young and the old were given the chance to learn how to use the computer in order to communicate via e mail or messenger with their loved ones.

24. Relevance • Significant impact at the level of the community • Model for other such centres not only in our area • Main actors involved in education engage other stakeholders in a successful attempt to support families in danger of losing control over their children.