The ABC (Anti-Bullying Certification) project aimed to develop a certification process to support high schools in developing an effective antibullying policy. The developed certification procedure is not just a “check” of written antibullying procedures but also contains an interactive needs assessment during which students and teachers get the chance to codevelop the improved antibullying policy. The main aim of this certification process is not to prescribe best practices to the school but to enhance ownership and making own choices in an appropriate school policy. When the project started we had seven partners. EAN, the European Antibullying Network was the “nest” from which the project idea developed and this international federation of NGOs and schools is also responsible for the sustainability of the certification. The six other partners each worked with one or two schools in their own country to experiment with the development of the certification process. Halfway the project, we discovered that the schools needed to be full prayer partners to be eligible for the travel costs and we filed an amendment to make this so. At the end of the project we had 11 partners. Some of the schools did not register a formal partner.Like we planned in their proposal, the certification consists of four products: 1. A manual for the process2. Quantitative needs assessment surveys for students and teachers3. A guide for a qualitative needs assessment by students and teachers (a student “visitation” and a teacher workshop; later called “reviews”)4. A toolkit with an overview of possible antibullying interventionsWith the help of the 5 original NGO partners, the 10 schools experimented with the procedure in the school years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. In 2018 and 2019 we also organized to elaborate school exchanges, in which we combined student and teacher meetings in order to stimulate open communication between students and teachers. During this experimentation we encountered a number of challenges. One challenge was that schools had very little knowledge about what works to make an effective antibullying policy. The international exchanges, teacher workshops, products and newsletters were used to increase his knowledge. Another challenge was the idea of certification. We discovered that we could not develop a formal ISO-certification because the partnership did not have a partner that is certified to grant such certificates. EAN approached a formal ISO-certification institute to attempt to develop this in addition to the ABC-project. A connected challenge was that we had discussion about if and how we wanted to score schools on the quality of their antibullying policy, and if we would do that, which criteria would be chosen to score schools on. These challenges were not completely resolved because partners disagreed on the need for scoring and on the quality criteria. It was decided to focus the final products on a self-assessment, and procedural document which outlines criteria and offers a tentative scoring list, but ultimately to leave the scoring to the self-evaluation of the schools. To sustain the results, the project intended to create a discussion with local, national and European stakeholders about the need to raise the quality of antibullying policy of high schools. From our needs assessments of the European situation in the national contexts, it became clear that the needs and possibilities for such policy improvement or discussion about improvement varied in each country. Still, the broad dissemination of the project and the discussions in the final phase of the project created a wide interest. This was despite the fact that we could not organize the final school exchange and meetings with politicians in Brussels, and six of the seven multiplier meetings due to limitations of the COVID-19 measures. As far as we could, we replaced those life meetings with online events and activities.EAN was provided with a manual on how to create a franchise system, in which certification or school self-evaluation trainers could be trained and equality of this work monitored. The project also delivered the training manual for such consultants. At the end of the project, we did an impact evaluation survey among participants, our stakeholders and interested persons. This evaluation showed that the self-evaluation products we developed created great interest. To our surprise, the participants in the project had become so confident in that the self-evaluation results in an improved antibullying policy, that they were after the project more in favour of scoring and even of mandatory reporting of the scores, in comparison to stakeholders who did not practically take part in the project pilots. This shows that the method creates a high level of self-assuredness.

The 10.5 million Children Affected by Migration (CAM) who are refugees, asylum seekers economic migrants, or children left behind by migrating parents/carers, are the most vulnerable children in Europe, threatened by the highest rates of cyber bullying, radicalization and on-line grooming.The partners have completed a ground breaking Erasmus + project Including Children Affected by Migration (ICAM) in schools which is being disseminated Europe wide by the three leading child welfare organizations in Europe, UNICEF ECA, Terre Des Hommes and Eurochild. Please see https://www.icamproject.eu.The project feedback identified a need to help CAM's internet usage and particularly the social media, on which CAM rely heavily, in ways that are both safe and responsible to the welfare of others.Consequently the successful ICAM programme will be further enhanced by the specific outcomes of the BeCSR projectBeCSR focuses on CAM aged 8-13 at a critical age for learning to use the internet. The project develops their Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), and increases their on-line media literacy so that they have the ability to protect themselves and other children and to make safe and responsible decisions when they are on-line; including in particular their avoidance of, and response to, cyber-bullying, radicalization and grooming - as victims or as bystanders.The internet is the most powerful aid for universal access to learning yet developed.Damage and harm caused by abuse and improper use of the internet is one of the biggest threats to vulnerable children that society faces. 50%+ of EU teens have been bullied online, and 50% have engaged in cyber bullying. UNHCR reports a rise in xenophobia, racism and racial attacks resulting from the recent increase in the migrant population in Europe. CAM are 2x as likely to be victims of cyberbullying and 3x more likely to suffer social exclusion on social media.Prevention policies and strategies to protect children and control internet usage are not enough SEL programmes are proven tools to address wellbeing issues such as reducing bullying in schools. SEL techniques have been developed by four of the partners in the Erasmus+ programme Action Anti-Bullying completed in 2016 and disseminated Europe wideVictims of cyberbullying suffer reduced learning capacity and lose all the benefits that on-line learning provides. In extreme circumstances the abuse leads to suicide. The rate of suicide among teenagers has increased in recent years to 9 per 100,000 average across Europe and is linked to the influence of social media.SEL is a process of acquiring social and emotional values, attitudes, competencies, knowledge and skills that are essential for learning, effectiveness, wellbeing and success in life.Although it can be taught, most SEL is assimilated and requires the appropriate climate in school and in the home for SEL to flourish. Consequently the SEL improvement for CAM will be achieved alongside the improvement to the climate of convivencia ( living in harmony) in schools and in the home.The project includes an essential parent/carer education programme An internet trawl uncovered no other programmes designed to improves children’s SEL for internet usage Our aim is to create the school and home environment of convivencia and improved SEL so that children know and understand better how to make decisions about their safe and responsible behaviour on the internet leading to lifelong learning behaviour in harmony with others in the world around them.BeCSR objectives are to develop CAM’s SEL and on-line media literacy by applying cascaded, effective training programmes which equip their school leaders, staff and parents/carers with the knowledge and skills for teaching children to make safe and responsible choices about their own behaviour when on-line. Specific objectives are listed in the sections below.The transnational approach of ICAM and now of BeCSR enables the partners to combine expert knowledge from the UK ,Spain Italy, Romania and EU (through OEC ) with the international reach of Associates UNICEF Terre des Hommes and Eurochild to develop approaches which will truly help reduce the damage to CAM and promote the positive benefits of safe and responsible internet usage for all children in Europe.The partners' Open Education Community and the international associates give the project the widest possible access to organisations Europe wide with a remit to support CAM and they also have the contacts to influence government policy.Trials in 10 schools from 1 county in 4 countries = 40 schools provide country specific models for county by county upscaling for national application of the BeCSR projectThe structured dissemination of this project has the potential to not only reach all CAM in Europe but also to provide a model to help schools and parents/carers improve the safe and responsible use of the internet by and for ALL CHILDREN

The project focuses on child literacy and inclusion, underpinned by continuing concerns about low literacy levels across Europe, particularly among refugee, migrant and disadvantaged communities, and concern about the growth of intolerance and prejudice threatening social cohesion and inclusion as well as harming the life-chances of individual young people subject to discrimination.There is increasing research consensus: low literacy skills are linked to wider underachievement and disengagement, with extensive impacts. “Literacy problems are not isolated unto themselves. Their effects spread like a disease to poor self-esteem, anger and resentment, disruptive and anti-social behaviour.” (https://acea.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Tom_Nicholson.pdf)It is also now widely recognised that participation in creative activity has a significant impact not only on educational attainment but also on intermediate outcomes such as self-concept and social capital, bringing significant civic impacts and increasing social cohesion.In an increasingly heterogeneous Europe, and in the context of these concerns and the research consensus, the project aims to bring partners’ experience in non-formal arts learning activities to bear on literacy and inclusion, boosting achievement through the power of the imagination and supporting whole school inclusion and equality.Targeting Years 5 to 8 across 20 schools in partner countries, the project will pilot a menu of tailored creative activities, planned and managed in close consultation with schools and school staff working with our tutors. It will extend partners’ existing practice on creativity to address social outcomes as well.A strategy publication will help schools develop policies and processes to create cultures of reading for pleasure and inclusion, school staff will be supported to continue the programme with further cohorts, and young participants themselves will create resources which will then be used in further activities and made widely available in an open access training and guidance pack.The project is expected not only to improve young people’s literacy skills but also develop a broader understanding of inclusion and equality, coupled with creativity, self-confidence and motivation to learn and to become lifelong readers. The 20-week course, spread over two school terms, will involve enabling beneficiaries to gain skills in storytelling and creating stories (narrative, graphic or multimedia) as well as short performances. Their creations will be then designed as books or posters that can be used as learning resources by the schools. This project will not only improve young people’s literacy skills and motivation but will also give them a boost of pride and self-confidence. Schools will have gained both an understanding of strategic approaches to improving literacy and fostering positive attitudes to inclusion and equality, and the expertise to sustain activities and positive outcomes following the conclusion of the project, and project resources will be available for wider use in school settings.Overall the project will both address concerns about low literacy levels directly, and offer ways to tackle wider impacts, on general under-achievement and, crucially, on social cohesion. Only a determined effort, backed by strategies at transnational, national and local levels, supported by adequate resources and training, will address these concerns. This project is designed to make a significant contribution.

<< Objectives >>To alleviate the uprooting and the disadvantages of learning and integral development of immigrant students, accentuated by the pandemic, to prevent school dropouts and discrimination as well as to promote mutual knowledge and coexistence in the school community through the promotion of European values and new approaches for inclusion and diversity in the classroom, making visible the common cultural heritage of the Cyrillic.<< Implementation >>Training and study visit and exchange of Spanish and Bulgarian teachers (Spain/Bulgaria).Workshops for inclusion in the classroom (Spain).Creation of a platform for educational and dissemination content.Inclusive eco-sustainable camp (Bulgaria)Twinning between Bulgarian and Spanish schools through the European school community eTwinningDesign of materials on new approaches to learning and school inclusion.<< Results >>It will introduce new approaches to learning and inclusion through the promotion of European values, the Cyrillic and the Pedagogy of the Sun, the Bulgarian alternative to the Montessori and Waldorf methods.It will equip teachers to deal with challenges for an inclusive classroom.It will improve the psychosocial and emotional well-being of immigrant students in general and Spanish-Bulgarian students in particular, fostering self-esteem and the feeling of belonging to the school community.