Friends at Home, Friends Abroad is a project under the Erasmus+ program of Strategic Partnerships for Schools, joining together schools in Belgium, Romania, Spain, Turkey and Portugal. The values of freedom, tolerance, respect for diversity and non-discrimination are cornerstones of European societies. Bullying at schools damages these values. It is a key factor in early school leaving, and has serious and long-term effects.The theme of our Project is connected to 2015 Paris Declaration on promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and nondiscrimination through education. 

In the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020) “Inclusive education, equality, nondiscrimination“ and “tackling discrimination, racism, segregation, bullying, violence and stereotypes” are some of the priorities.

The main objectives of our Project are:

• To reduce bullying at the schools by 10% by teacher trainings, students and parents activities and pupil exchanging activities. 
• To share European good practices. 
• To make the participants aware of children rights, discrimination and bullying. 
• To increase the degree of awareness about bullying and to develop an anti-bulling school policy. 
• To compare the causes and effects of bullying in schools. To promote peace and mutual understanding among pupils. 
• To strengthen and enrich intercultural awareness and dialogue between different ethnic groups, migrants and refugee, by the project activities such based on music and art, which are international languages of communication. 
• To learn to empathise with others to challenge prejudice and discrimination.
• To strengthen students' and teachers' digital skills and the level in foreign languages.
• To challenge prejudice.

The methodoligies to be used in carrying out the projects are critical thinking, peer works and team works, pre and last surveys, observation forms, presentations, evaluation forms after each LTT and a final report.

The expected results are: 

• Increased motivation to learn English, a strong feeling of belonging to "the one European community", reduced violence in partner schools. 
• A newly developed anti-bullying school policy, an increase of the academic level of the students who were bullied before, improved digital skills, higher adaptation of the teachers in European educational community. 
• Teachers and parents will learn their roles and responsibilities to deal with bullying.

In the long term, the violence at partner schools will decrease due to the activities with friendship messages. Once the project ends, the students and teachers will continue studying these languages. Their digital skill will help them use their improved digital skills in their lives, professions and new EU projects in long term.

For more information, please visit the project website by clicking HERE.