"Project SPRINT - Schools Partnership Realising Integration of New Technologies Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can transform teaching and learning, substantially changing the way students learn and the way teachers teach. This project aimed to give teachers greater experience in a range of ICT, develop competence in using the technology as an effective tool in the classroom and to enhance teaching and learning, particularly in areas relating to the culture and heritage of the participants. The partners in this project brought together a unique blend of expertise in ICT and various areas of education. They shared best practice in the practical application of ICT across a number of key themes: Assessment, Reading, Writing, Special Educational Needs , cross-curricular ICT skills, collaboratibve tools and distance (remote) learning. The project provided training for educators to acquire expertise in the integration of technology and pedagogy and provided a wider platform to share this experience. It fostered collaboration and communication among students and teachers at a cross-European level. As much of the content of a primary school curriculum is related to cultural heritage: literature, art, food, songs and stories, a focus on cultural heritage as the primary curricular content connected 21st century technology and cultural heritage in a reflection of the European Year of Cultural Heritage: ""Our Heritage: Where the Past Meets the Future"". Objectives: INCREASED DIGITAL COMPETENCE: students and teachers will increase their levels of digital competence. COLLABORATIVE LEARNING: The project will result in a measurable increase in the use of collaborative learning methodologies within participant classes. INCREASED CULTURAL AWARENESS: students and teachers will increase their knowledge of aspects of their own cultural heritage and that of our partner schools. DEVELOPMENT OF DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP: The project will give teachers the opportunity to take a leadership role within their own organisation. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: Students in English mother tongue settings will be given an introduction to a number of foreign languages while students for whom English is a second language will increase their competence in English. CONTINUED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: The project will support the professional development of the staff in partner schools, predominantly in the use of new teaching methods and tools IMPROVED ACCESS FOR LEARNERS; Enhanced access, participation and learning for disadvantaged learners, especially in dealing with learners with special educational needs (SEN). Participants:The project team involved 5 primary schools from Ireland, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Finland. Schools were selected due identified areas of ICT expertise and participants bring a great degree of specialist experience to bear on the work. Students were drawn from all age groups across the primary sector. Methodology: Teachers participated in Learning, Teaching and Training activities to gain first-hand experience of how selected technology can be utilised in the classroom They then worked to implement this in their own school and collaborated on the compiling of a bank of lesson plans and exemplars to embed ICT into the curriculum with a particular emphasis on curricular content relating to culture and heritage. Such systematic integration of ICT was intended to enhance the technical and communication skills of both teachers and students. Results: At the end of the project both students and teachers increased their levels of digital competence. Participants created a web-based resource which features a range of technology and a framework for educators to use this ICT in their classroom along with exemplars of good practice. (www.projectsprint.eu). Simultaneously, through the focused curriculum content and collaboration with European partners, students gained new knowledge and experiences on the culture and heritage of project partners as well as our shared European heritage. Non-English speaking schools improved their English language ability over the course of the project and native English speakers were exposed to a variety of European languages. The themes and material covered in the project took on much greater relevance during Covid-19 school closures. The ICT tools explored throughout 2 years of this project were well suited to schools adapting to remote / distance learning or a hybrid learning model. In the longer term it is hoped that this project will enhance the professional development of teachers in the application of ICT as a teaching tool, with an increased take-up of innovative ICT practices by classroom teachers. It is hoped the nature and content of the project can lead to an increased willingness to engage in trans-national cooperation and an increased awareness among participants (teachers and students) of the cultures of our European partners."

CONTEXT / BACKGROUND:Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are critically important disciplines for modern society. The idea of adding the arts to STEM has recently gained a lot of momentum and given rise to STEAM i.e. exploring where the arts naturally fit into the STEM subjects. An art-inclusive approach to STEM strengthens creativity and ingenuity in all areas, allowing teachers to expand ways of knowing and learning to inspire more learners. This project aims to draw on key strengths of partner schools to weave STEM and the arts together to create more accessible and relevant lessons. It will draw on the experience and knowledge of partner schools to explore and develop activities that model good, inquiry-based science and mathematics teaching but also to draw on art in the development of lessons with a broader appeal.OBJECTIVES:The project will provide training for educators to acquire expertise in the integration of technology and pedagogy and provide a wider platform to share this experience. It will foster collaboration and communication among students and teachers at a cross-European level. Its objectives include:* Increased Teacher competence in STEAM teaching.* Developing student skills and competences through effective and innovative teaching and assessment. * Enhanced access, participation and motivation for all learners, but with a special focus on increasing girls engagement with STEM subjects .* Increased Environmental Awareness: Extending learning beyond the classroom and develop responsible attitudes to environmental awareness, both at home and in the wider community. * Increased Collaborative Learning / Student Agency The project will result in a measurable increase in the use of collaborative learning methodologies. * Opportunities for Distributed Leadership: The formation of STEAM TEAMs will give teachers and students the opportunity to take leadership roles within their own school. * Developed Links to Community: drawing on expertise of parents / community in STEAM professions in the wider school community.PARTICIPANTS:The project team involves 5 primary schools from Ireland, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Turkey. The partners in this project bring together a unique blend of expertise and specialisation in various aspects of STEM and Arts education. Each school will have a dedicated team of participating classroom teachers and also teams of student leaders. Participating students will be drawn from all age groups across the primary sector.ACTIVITIES:The project will involve 2 years of continuous engagement between partners. This collaboration will be punctuated by 5 Teaching and Learning Exchanges. Each of these will have a broad focus (Defining STEAM, Girls in STEAM, Computational Thinking and Coding, Robotics and Environmental Awareness / Green Schools). Participants will collaboratively develop a series of exemplar lessons in STEAM targeted access all ages at primary level. There will also be a series of e-Twinning projects which will be focused on various themes within the project.METHODOLOGY:(1) A range of workshops and presentations which draw on best practice and innovation in in relation to a STEAM related theme.(2) A Lesson Development Cycle:- * Identification of common content. Topics will be selected to ensure a broad coverage and adherence to the strands of each national curriculum* Sharing of best practice in teaching / learning methodologies from partner countries.* Develop exemplar STEAM lessons for selected topics (ensuring consistency with agreed criteria for effective STEAM lessons)* Creation of exemplar repository on the project website (in all partner languages)(3) A programme of open digital badges will be linked to project learning goals.(4) Student Agency - the development of students teams for peer teaching in areas such as robotics/coding. RESULTS:Teachers will have increased levels of competence in planning effective STEAM lessons which are motivating, engaging, and feature real-world content. The lesson repository will create a web-based resource which features a range exemplars in STEAM planning across all primary grade levels. Students will integrate and apply meaningful and important mathematics and science content in more engaging and creative ways. Furthermore they will have had the opportunity to engage in collaborative activities both in their own schools and at a cross-European setting.In the long-term this project will result in the professional development of teachers in the application of STEAM methodologies. Among students there will be a greater positivity and engagement in science and mathematics with increased interest in these areas among girls. As well as improved STEM competences there will be opportunity for skill development in communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity.

"Much of children’s early learning and development takes place through play and hands-on experiences. These experiences help children to manage their feelings, develop as thinkers and language users, develop socially, be creative and imaginative, and lay the foundations for becoming effective communicators and learners. The project focused on resources and methodologies to help children develop pre-literacy skills, problem solving skills and concentration, and also generate social learning experiences in greater diversity than in a single country setting. These resources and methodologies improved achievement in relevant and high-level basic and transversal competences. Several types of play can be considered relevant with respect to children’s holistic development during the early childhood years: exploratory play, constructive play, creative play, pretend, fantasy and socio-dramatic play, physical / movement play, and language and word play. Undoubtedly the form and focus of the materials developed and activities undertaken in this project were influenced both by children’s development and the socio-cultural context of each individual school. However a broader range and cultural diversity of content was developed due to the profiles of the project participants: St Mary's Parish Primary School (Ireland), Salesianos El Pilar Charter School (Spain), PLATON M.E.P.E. (Greece), Istituto Comprensivo Statale ""Elio Vittorini"" (Italy), Leirvogstunguskóli (Iceland) and Fundacao CEBI (Portugal). The project’s objectives were to::• Develop common resources which can be utilised in the Early Childhood setting. This took the form of thematic kits developed collaboratively by class teachers across the partner schools and will allow students to explore common themes while being exposed to the differences and similarities of other cultures.• Allow educators first-hand experience of Early Childhood settings and practices in other countries • Explore different models of Early Childhood education with particular emphasis on structured play and apply these best practices to individual classroom settings.• Develop literacy rich environments which blend specific Early Childhood literacy goals with the opportunity to explore the literature of partner countries.• Allow students to utilise Web 2.0 technology to engage directly with students in other countries.• Engage older students in using ICT in the creation of resources for junior classes. The project created a bank of resources for use in the Early Childhood classroom. This was organised thematically with physical and on-line resources. The resources are listed on the project website (www.playtolearn.eu). The primary target audience are teachers currently working with Early Childhood classes across the partner schools. However, the project activities have been disseminated to peers and colleagues through local professional networks. The opportunities for collaboration and training in best practice resulted in increased professional development and competences utilising structured play in the classroom. As expected the engagement in the project presented wider opportunities for staff to learn from other European schools (e.g. class and whole-school management practices etc.). Teachers engaged with their peers across Europe in a myriad of cultural and learning activities, thus fostering greater European awareness and co-operation. The work allowed participating students to have greater engagement in structured play in the classroom. This was observed through quality interactions with other children, objects, and places. Resources shared allowed for a broader language-rich environment to encourage play, exploration, conversations, and collaboration."

Social inclusion is an indispensable value in 21st century society as it is the tool that allows us to move forward and design a better future. That is why, through a communication process thanks to the European School Education Gateway and eTwinning platforms, we contacted six centres that shared this same belief to work on this project whose main objectives are to promote social inclusion, share good educational practices and develop successful educational practices. All these objectives that give response to a series of needs exposed by the faculty in a SWOT prepared for this purpose.Thus, each of the countries will offer a series of training seminars prior to the mobility of the students to share their strengths with the other partners in the project and, thereby, guarantee the quality of the project.-Romania: ICT tools for diversity and inclusion.-Greece: Involving parents in education and special needs education.-Spain: multicultural teaching.-UK: multicultural and social programs.-Ireland: Teaching groups and dealing with students from other languages.-Italy: Preventing bullying programs and ICT.This will be followed by a project whose total duration is 24 months divided into periods of three months each. In each quarter we have proposed activities to promote values that are essential for effective social inclusion and that will culminate with work and promotion of inclusion. Next, we expose the planned topics, the dates in which they will be carried out and the country in which the mobility will take place.-Parental commitment (September-November 2019): Ireland-Empathy (December-February 2020): Greece-Diversity and inclusion (March-May 2020): UK-Tolerance (September-November 2020): Italy-Resilience (December-February 2021): Romania-Social inclusion (March-May 2021): SpainTo these activities we must add those that aim to ensure maximum dissemination of the project in all social networks enabled by the centre (Instagram, Twitter, School Education Gateway, eTwinning and Youtube) with the authorization of families to comply with the regulations of Protection of Current data.-eTwinning projects-Creation of a blog-Publication on the radio, newspaper or local television.-Display of advertising posters in the city.-Seminars in the Transition Plan and good practice meetings.-Publication of a guide of good teaching practices, among others.It should be noted that in order to carry out such an ambitious project, we have designed a very clear distribution of tasks in which each of the countries is very clear about their responsibilities. Some responsibilities that will be carried out through a fluid communication thanks to the different European platforms.Finally, to make sure that the project has the expected inclusive and transformative character, we will carry out an exhaustive evaluation through the Erasmus + Commissions, which includes the project's previous planning, monitoring and control during its achievement, as well as the level of results obtained measured by qualitative and quantitative methods.

"Context/Background:International test results and governmental policy have identified literacy development as a priority in the primary school sector. Studies have also clearly identified that a key factor in developing literacy is the students’ interest and engagement with the reading material. This project focused on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the development of literacy, using myths and legends as the core curricular content. Similarly the use of ICT as the medium of instruction, means of communication/collaboration and in the creation of resources helped develop basic and transversal digital skills. This integration of mythology and ICT was used to develop oral language skills, reading and comprehension skills, as well as skills in the area of writing. The use of myths and legends offered a clear connection with the pupils’ culture and interest in mythological figures. Similarly the innovative use of ICT allowed for the creation of multi-media resources with a broader appeal and a richer learning experience for students.Objectives:There were 3 main objectives to the project:1. To support the development, transfer, implementation and dissemination of innovative practices in the teaching of literacy.2. To focus on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) both as an innovative means of presenting material and also as a tool for collaborative work in the creation of curriculum resources. 3. To advance students’ knowledge of the diversity and richness of cultures and languages of Europe by selecting myths and legends from different parts of Europe as the shared curriculum content.Participants: There were 5 participants in the projectSt. Mary's Parish Primary School, Drogheda, Ireland (Co-ordinator)ISTITUTO COMPRENSIVO ""ROCCO MONTANO"", Stigliano, italyZespol Szkolno-Przedszkolny nr 2 w Brodnicy, Brodnica, PolandEryaman Turkkent Ilkokulu, Ankara, TurkeySalesianos Inspectoria de San Juan Bosco Comunidad Nuestra Señora Del Pilar, Soto de real, Madrid, SpainResults and ImpactThe project resulted in the compilation of 25 myths and legends selected from the partner countries which were presented in a variety of technologies. These were then supplemented with additional literacy resources developed by the students in the participating schools. The project impacted across 3 broad levels:1. An increased knowledge of local mythology as well as learning about the myths and legends of the partner schools2. A dramatic increase in the use of ICT among students and teachers.3. A greater awareness of European identity among students.While the immediate project has concluded, the activities completed and ICT skills gained have seen longer lasting results from 2. and 3. listed above."