Ideas and suggestions for a good Comenius Partnership

Lucia Anna MarracinoDaniela De Marco

ITCG “E. Fermi” Isernia

Carried out Comenius projects in our School

• 2002 – 2003 “Great ideas which changed the world”

• 2003 – 2005 “I sing ….. So I speak”• 2006 – 2009 “Educate and teach: school and

educational communities”• 2008 – 2010 “Responsible citizenship and

lasting development”

School website www.itef-isernia.it

How to find partners

Direct acquaintance of partners1. Contact seminar2. Training course3. Conference4. Arion meeting5. Seminar course organized by the

European council.6. Previous acquaintance of a person.

How to find partners

• eTwinning portal, dedicated to the research of partnerships for community projects.

• It is better to contact and insert a greater number of partners than the minimum one required for the partnership.

• (in multilateral projects, for example, the minimum required number of partners is 3)

Preparatory Visit• It is a very important moment to organize the different

phases of the projects face to face and not by using internet.

• Some parts of the module must be filled in necessarily in the same way, because each national agency must have the same data.

• During the preparatory visit it is also necessary to decide the coordinator partner. It is important to indicate a substitute one, in case that the application form of the coordinator partner should be rejected. It is a good practice not to stop the iter of the project.

Preparatory Visit

• The request of the preparatory visit must be submitted to the national agency at least 6 weeks before the planned activity.

• The deadline indicated on the web site of the agency must be respected.

• Only one person is financed to go on a preparatory visit, generally the one who has never applied for a project.

Organization of activities

• During the organization phase, the contact and cooperation among the partners must be intense, especially to define the different activities.

• The activities have to foresee some moments in which each school has to work on its own in autonomy. Later, the obtained results must be shared with the partners during the project meetings. In this occasion partners have to work together, cooperating.

What is a mobility?

It is the number of movements from one country to another.

The movement within the same country is not considered a mobility

Mobility

• Every single action has a minimum and maximum number of foreseen mobility.

• This number must be indicated on the application form and it must be strictly respected.

• If a school does not use all the number of mobility, it will have to give back to the agency the sum of money

• If the activities of mobility involve teachers or students with special needs, or include travelling to overseas territories, they might be reduced up to the 50% of the minimum mobility number.

What to keep• The certificate of attendance

for each mobility, prepared by the hosting Institute

• Documents like boarding card, train tickets..

• All documents produced during the partnership as they must be indicated in the intermediate and final report.

Difficulties for teachers

Sometimes it can be hard to find good partners but once you find them, it is very important to keep in touch with them, not only during the meetings, as the personal relationship influences the success of the project itself.

Sharing the activities with all the teaching staff.

Teachers not involved are often not aware of the potentiality of the projects and it is necessary to share results and new ideas, because they might be interested in starting new stimulating activities.

Difficulties for teachers

Difficulties for students

Families have difficulty to host partners. This is an European problem caused by mistrust. Teachers should organize meetings at school to reassure parents about this. It can take place before each exchange period.

Videoconferences with the partners might help in this case. Before meeting students should get in touch through internet.

Difficulties for studentsSometimes students are not encouraged to take part in the project, because some teachers might think this could be a waste of time. Some bilateral projects involve students abroad for 10 days, during which they learn things they will never find on books…

Headmaster

• The headmaster should be directly involved in the project, taking part in the meetings and in the various activities.

• If he does not believe in the power of the project, it can hardly be successful.

Suggestions

• The most important aim of a comenius project is to involve:

1. teachers 2. families 3. Local authorities

1. Teachers: Partners net

To work with already known and reliable partners enable teachers to meet other teachers and widen the acquaintances.It is important to share good practise examples.

E.g. The headmaster met another headmaster and started a comenius project. After teachers came in contact, other teachers took an interest in creating a new project about history, even without European financing.

2. Families

• Families must be involved in the school activities. Some of them will have to host foreign students as well.

• E.g. we usually give parents a questionnaire, later analysed by a psychologist.

• Parents have to be reassured about what the students are going to do abroad.

• Families have to cooperate with the school to solve together their teenagers’ problems.

3. Local authorities:

• We never had problems to get enough resources to facilitate meetings.

• As the school involves local authorities, it always gets free transports or buffets, offered by the provincial or regional service.

Local authorities

We always plan a visit for students and teachers to the mayor and to the main tourist attractions. We do the same in the partners’ countries.

How to inform about the project• Another way to spread the contents of the project is

by using the local press, school newspaper, school website, so that everybody can become aware of the importance of such projects.

Piece of advice• Interpersonal relationship among teachers and

students are fundamental for the success of the project.

• It is important to define the roles of the partners, who have to respect the coordinator's deadlines and tasks.

Opportunities• Other colleagues of the

school might take part in meetings, activities, excursions, dinners, giving also their contribution to the success of the project.

• Foreign teachers and students might take part in our lessons, giving us contributions, and vice versa.