This two-year project aims to develop a package of training materials and resources at a European level to upskill teachers in supporting students with mental health issues and building resilience in both themselves and their students. It addresses the well-being of both students and staff. The target age group is the Secondary sector, and the project brings together 6 partners from 5 countries. Partners will identify the issues relating to the well-being of both students and staff and develop a common methodology to address those issues. The project has two strands. Firstly, it will address the vulnerabilities faced by students and develop strategies to address them, and secondly it will identify the pressures facing school staff and develop training resources to help mitigate them. There are therefore two sets of target groups, both staff and students. There is ample research to show that there has been an increase in stresses and pressures on both staff and students in recent years leading to a range of undesirable outcomes, such as increased absenteeism through mental illness, reduced performance, and teacher drop-out. EU level policy recommendations include, promoting schools as a setting for health promotion and prevention of mental and behavioural disorders, early identification for all children and young people and enhanced training for all school staff on mental health. Research also points to the need to build resilience in teachers and school leaders to develop strong self-regulatory skills. The overall objectives are to:•analyse and share existing strategies and resources for identifying and addressing vulnerabilities in both staff and students •identify common areas of strength and priorities for development •undertake a study visit to Batley Girls High School in the UK to investigate the policies and practice of assessing vulnerabilities and resilience and preparing teachers to address them•use the outcomes to develop a generic tool for identifying those at risk •develop a model set of training resources and a methodology to equip teachers to identify and target vulnerable students and address their own life balance issues•test the methodology and associated resources in schools in 5 countries•produce an impact report incorporating a series of case studies and recommendations for school policy •disseminate the outcomes widely There will be 2 Intellectual Outputs and 1 training event. The training event will explore an example of best practice in the UK and then produce a framework for a set of 5 training modules which are developed in Intellectual Output 1. The training modules will be:Module 1: Understanding well-beingModule 2: Supporting the well-being of young people Module 3: Professional Development for teachers and support staff Module 4: Support for the well-being of school staffModule 5: School policyOnce these modules are produced they will be trialed in schools in 5 counties with around 50 teachers, 30 trainee teachers and 460 students. There is a need to undertake this work transnationally as the target groups in the different countries have different contexts, but the issue is an EU wide problem requiring transnational solutions. This can be achieved by sharing of best practice and expertise and by specifically creating a set of resources and methodology that is applicable and relevant for all European schools by testing them in the different contexts.

The VEO Europa project (www.veoeuropa.com) brought together 6 partners from 5 countries and addressed Strategic Objective 2 of the EU policy on Education and Training (ET2020) ‘Improving the quality and efficiency of education and training’ by using an innovative technological approach to support initial teacher training and continuing professional development. The project built on work undertaken by Newcastle University, who developed a prototype software application for classroom observation: the VEO app for Video Enhanced Observation. This App adopted a novel and data-driven approach to classroom observation by enabling the observer to ‘tag’ (video timestamp) a range of different aspects of both teaching and learning for later review. The flexibility of the App allowed for customised tag sets to be developed to match the requirements of the activity being observed.The objectives of the project were to: •improve teacher performance by sharing best practice •identify the specific needs of individual teachers and using peer learning and observation to improve their performance and competences •use the technology to monitor engagement and motivation •provide a low-cost and time-efficient model of CPD •provide in-house CPD which is focused on the individual teacher•use the technology for self-evaluation, monitoring of teacher performance and setting performance management targets •use the technology to implement and monitor new approaches to pupil learning•demonstrate how this digital tool can be effective in improving the performance of both teachers and their studentsThe main outputs were:•an enhanced App with multi-language interface translation, capable of live recording and tagging, along with a secure portal for retrospective tagging and sharing video, and customisable tagsets•an online platform hosting the full set of downloadable training modules •a YouTube channel showcasing training and best practice videos •a research report and partner publications, including an edited volume with chapters contributed from the project partners and the VEO community of practice•in addition, an interactive electronic book (iBook) was published via Apple iTunes to promote the project and its outcomes to a wider audienceThe project customised the App by developing a multi-language translation interface for tailored use across a range of different country contexts. Learning to use the app was facilitated by a set of downloadable training resources. The training resources were tested with trainees and existing teachers in each country, a minimum of 400 teachers. These local workshops also served to develop the technical expertise of teachers, who were able to cascade their learning to colleagues and act as VEO champions in their organisations, where the VEO trials took place. Through dissemination, the project reached approximately a further 500 key stakeholders in the UK, Germany, Finland, Turkey and Bulgaria, including School Leadership teams, Teacher Training Organisations including HEIs, NGOs, Teaching Unions and National Ministries. Within the exploitation strand, partners have plans to exploit their networks to reach European wide organisations and guarantee the life of the project outcomes beyond project end, including involvement in other projects to build on work already done as well as incorporating VEO into local practice in each country. The VEO Group spin-off company continues its expansion, bringing VEO to wider groups, including medical and other practice-based settings. The project research strand gathered evidence of teacher development to ensure maximum access at a European level and inform policy development. In addition, partners presented the VEO Europa project at a further 22 academic conferences and workshops. Dissemination of the project to academic and professional communities has enhanced the credibility of VEO with teachers and academics and will continue to do so following the publication of the edited book about the project, scheduled for 2018. Results: the project has provided evidence of:•improved confidence and motivation to use educational technology •increased and improved skills and technology use for education•increased use of technology for teacher professional development•new models of observation in teacher training•new approaches to video for teacher appraisal and performance management leading to improved teacher performance, confidence and motivation in teachers •a demonstration of how this technology can be used to provide a more targeted, effective and cost-effective method of professional developmentThe longer-term impact of the VEO Europa project will be evident in the continuing shift in policy and practice in relation to lesson observation. VEO is now an integral part of key educational institutions in five countries, with an academic and professional community of practice developing around its principles.

The primeTECH project Promoting Technology Enhanced Teaching in Primary Schools addresses the need identified at the European level for improving teaching skills by increasing digital competence and the use of ICTs. Pupils tend to be more inclined to use ICTs than teachers, and increasing teachers’ skills to incorporate the use of ICTs in their teaching methods can consequently animate pupils for their school career. According to statistical data available at the EU level, many teachers wish to learn about ICTs for teaching and dedicate significant private time to pursue this aim. primeTECH aims at providing a unified training program for primary school teachers which fulfils the following requirements: .) To develop training materials and an appealing learning platform for primary school teachers which contain substantial information useful for the handling of ICTs in the teaching context both at basic and advances levels.) To implement a mechanism which allows teachers to identify their starting point for the training based on their previous experience and skills.) To concentrate access to the many sources already available for teachers and convey criteria to teachers how to select what is most appropriate for them.) To support teachers to find their own way to include ICTs progressively in their teaching activities and to evaluate their own progress.) To provide a structure of automatized assessments and tests that allows teachers to document and certify their skills and knowledge in a comprehensible way; and .) To offer easily accessible training tools for teachers in their mother tongues, especially in those languages where little information on ICTs is available.The primeTECH consortium consists of six partners: .) A&A Emphasys Interactive Solutions Ltd: this private institution in Nicosia is accredited by the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture as an educational and vocational centre specialised in the field of ICTs.) Biedriba Eurofortis is a Czech-Latvia non-governmental organization based in Riga dedicated to training and personal and professional competency development in the area of education.) edEUcation ltd is a consultancy based in Richmond, UK, working with schools, youth groups and training organizations in order to improve schools and teaching activities.) National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos” in Athens is the largest multidisciplinary research centre in Greece and specialised in the field of informatics and telecommunication as well as other sciences with experiences and competency in the areas of developing e-services and e-tools .) Scoala Primara EuroEd: this school in Iaşi, Romania, promotes a European dimension of education and encourages multiculturalism and multilingualism.) the Institut für Didaktik der Demokratie (IDD) at the Leibniz University of Hannover is specialised in civic education in formal and non-formal educational settings and coordinating this projectA consortium partners participate in a variety of EU funded projects dedicated to improving teaching and learning processes. Based on their analysis of already existing relevant reports about the use of ICTs in schools and the needs for ICT training activities for primary school teachers in the involved countries (IO1), the primeTECH project partners collected data among teachers in order to identify their specific needs with regard to ICT trainings (IO2). Based on the analysis of these results, the consortium structured the required content in five modules with three levels of difficulties each. These modules are: Safety and Internet Security, Information and Data Literacy, Communication and Collaboration, Digital Content Creation and Problem Solving in Pedagogy. The consortium then developed a procedure for the assessment of the ICT skills of the trainees (IO3), training materials (IO5), an e-platform programmed specifically for the target group (IO4), a system of testing and a corresponding granting of Mochila compatible electronic badges and certificates (IO3), and instructions with case studies for the implementation of ICT trainings for teachers in different settings (IO6). The study materials on the platform as well as the assessment procedures and tests have been translated into the languages of the partners of the consortium. They have also been adapted to the national context when appropriate. Training sessions with teachers and multipliers as well as a series of activities to spread the platform have taken place in all the partner countries. The feedback obtained was overall positive, and teachers felt inspired to increase the use of ICTs in their teaching activities . The primeTECH platform can be reached at http://primetech.iit.demokritos.gr/ and will be online for five years. Any person interested in broadening her or his knowledge about ICTs for educational purposes can register for free and engage in an interesting voyage through the courses.

The term Digital Champion is not new, so a distinction should be made: EU Digital Champions are ambassadors for the Digital Single Market, appointed by their Members States to help every European become digital. Community Digital Champions have the same goals but work from the bottom up rather than top-down. Digital Champions are the essential elements of our approach to digital transformation – they get the work done on the ground and make a huge difference to their communities.The Digital Champions for Community Success project brought together 5 partners from 4 EU countries to develop a Training package and Methodology to be used by adult educators and particularly by Trainers and Carers of vulnerable adults facing obstacles such as: disabilities and/or learning difficulties, vulnerable adults with social obstacles: low-skilled migrants, long-term unemployed, elderly in care. Trainers and carers are able to boost the impact of their work with the target communities and foster digital champions, who will continue to work within their communities to support their peers. As acutely highlighted by the Covid19 pandemic, in this age of digitisation of almost every aspect of our everyday lives, these adults are even more isolated and either dependent on external help or just excluded from participation in society. Often the approach was to solve their immediate needs, instead of empowering them to solve their needs by themselves and have a sense of achievement. The project drew on partners’ experience and newest research to create a Training Package for adult educators and carers who work with disadvantaged adults in different communities, no matter what the local context or type of community. The project created an integrated platform hosting a space for users, as well as 3 comprehensive training modules based on a training framework designed at the beginning of the project.Module 1 (Digital Skills) presents in 6 thematic groups various digital skills necessary to navigate modern life. They are structured by levels of ability, taking into account corresponding literacy, numeracy and transferable skills.Module 2 (How to be a Digital Champion) focuses on the competences that an educator / trainer / coach / facilitator of vulnerable adults should have or acquire in order to improve their practice of working with vulnerable adults. There is also a list of online tools which can be used for the support sessions with vulnerable adults.Module 3 (How to become a Digital Champion) describes the best practice when identifying suitable members of a community to become digital champions. It provides an insight into motivational and support strategies for the digital champions.A mini handbook has been prepared for the digital champions as first hand support in their new role.The training modules are complemented by a 9 case studies, illustrating the good practice in order to inspire the take up of the DCCS approach by communities of vulnerable adults.Stakeholders, such as other practitioners, local authorities and support organisations were involved through a comprehensive dissemination strategy and face-to-face or online multiplier events in each partner country: UK, Germany, Italy and Cyprus. This project is innovative on several levels:•Adult education sector – new approach of delivering and improving the retention of basic digital skills•Learning methodology – the Digital Champions for Community Success methodology is a catalyst to any training programme delivered by support organisations to vulnerable adults•Learning content – the self-learning modules offer an interactive way of exploring this new methodology•Skills development – after completion of the self-learning modules, educators will have gained new work skills, but most importantly the vulnerable adults will gain from the new methodology•Access to information – vulnerable adult learners will be able to access online services such as online banking, government services, and also this improved access to information online will help them make better consumer choices.•Geographical context – this project will benefit all the partner countries and the wider EU in different ways depending on the local situation. This project is important not only for its innovation in adult learning focused on vulnerable adults, but also for its impact on their social inclusion.

This two-year project addressed the problem of insufficient training provision in the field of adult care and the related outdated provision of care to dementia sufferers. It built a partnership of five organisations from five countries, who brought into this project complementary expertise and experience in senior care, adult training, e-learning, software coding and development of training programmes. The focus of this Strategic Partnership was to innovate through cooperative practice with the aim of developing an Integrated Platform to be used as tool for dementia care and a Vocational Education Training Package at a European level in order to: • improve the ways senior care professionals are trained to work with patients in person-centred mode; • provide them with the necessary digital skills, communication, problem solving and team building skills and specific sectoral skills in the care of dementia sufferers; • provide them with state-of-the-art guidance and digital tools to tackle dementia; • make the methodology accessible to informal carers in domestic setting; • ultimately improve dementia sufferers' condition In order to reach our aims, the objectives of this project were therefore to: • develop a platform to be used as a multilingual tool in dementia care, based on reminiscence therapy, allowing users to record and later use memories in the format of sound, images, text or videos • establish a baseline and create a comprehensive set of training tools (a training framework, 5 modules, 5 videos, 5 webinars) • pilot, test, evaluate and refine the training resources through training events and collaboration with our associated partners • identify and use tools to evaluate impact in the short, medium and longer term against the baseline • disseminate the outcomes widely through the transnational network of associated partners and through 5 multiplier events in 5 countries • build an online network of expertise to exchange practice through the online communities hosted on the Integrated Platform The platform and the training programme were developed in English, French, German, Polish and Greek. The initial impact has been a demonstration of improved training provision for VET and CVET learners in the field of dementia care, acquired new core and sector-specific skills for the professional carers, but ultimately an improved treatment of dementia sufferers through reminiscence and namely: • Improvement in cognition, mood, and functional ability. • Reduction in the symptoms of depression. • Reduction in the strain experienced by carers and relatives. This is the ultimate goal of this project, to improve the well-being of dementia sufferers through improved training provision for carers and use of modern methodologies.