Italy

It is spread on 5 different premises. The 490 pupils are aged from 3 to 18 and the teachers are 85. It’s organized in 14 small schools: 5 pre primaries, 5 Primaries, 3 Lower Secondaries and a Higher Secondary located in a vast mountain-hilly area that stretches for about 60 km along a single winding road connecting the main towns. This difficult location causes a situation of economic and socio-cultural isolation. The area is organized in seven municipalities, grouped in the Union of Mountain Municipalities. The Union has got several small settlements with a very low concentration of the population. The demographic decline is connected with the population’s growing old age. Currently, the main employment facilities do not absorb the availability of manpower. Therefore ,there are a lot of commuters (due to lack of work and secondary schools) going to the main town ( 45 km from Bobbio). The school belongs to the INDIRE movement PICCOLE SCUOLE. The school started its Europeanization process in 2013 and thanks to European projects (etwinning – Comenius and Erasmus) it is no longer isolated.

It’s becoming a competencies oriented school with Europe as a fundamental focus of its PTOF (Plan for the Educational Offer). This project will grant a total change process in the educational paradigms and will allow teachers and students to stay focused on 2 fundamental perspectives that are often missing in modern society: ethics and aesthetics. The project implementation will provide enormous opportunities to make students and kids reflect on the beauty around them and on ethical choices to preserve it. This will contribute to widen the social awareness and the European active citizenship. Since 2015 a European Group has been created.Its 12 members are strongly motivated in widening the European dimension and in bringing innovation into the Institute. The members of the group are permanent teachers, with a good career progression in the Institute and determined to spread a long term vision based on European opportunities. This group is supported by other teachers who are involved in the implementation process. In case of very improbable defections of the coordinator or of some members of the European group, other teachers are available for substitutions. We decided to coordinate this project and involve some new comers in Erasmus, because during these last 3 year we have acquired specific experiences in European process, we are eTwinning School and we are used to disseminate and spread innovation also outside our institute on a provincial, regional, national and international level. Some of our involved teachers are trainers on active methods and ICT Integration and have a high competence in European project implementation. For this reason we can support newcomers in opening new European paths, using the right strategies and tools.