FINAL Evaluation of the project: RESULTS AND IMPACTS
PPT Analysis of the Project II by Maria Silva on Scribd
Evaluation of the 1st year of the project activities
Swot Analysis 1st Year by Maria Silva on Scribd
Erasmus+ Interimn report (short version)
Project Management and Implementation
Please provide an overall state of play of your project: what are the achievements of the project at this stage? Are the initial project activities and objectives being carried out and reached so far?
At the end of the first year of the project, all planned activities were carried out, in accordance with the objectives outlined. At the first transnational project meeting, the schedule of the mobility activities and the tasks to be carried out by each partner were revised and agreed. Changes in the dates of the mobilities had to be introduced. In each mobility, Transnational Project Meetings (TPM) or Transnational Teaching and Learning Activity (TTLA), an overview is undertaken to monitor the fulfillment of tasks and activities and to set the tasks, determined in detail, for the following mobility, so that the project activities are all carried out within the objectives proposed.
Please describe further in details the project activities supported by the grant for Project Management and Implementation that have been carried out until now.
At the beginning of the school year, the project was presented to the school community in a formal meeting and the official invitation was made to create our Erasmus+ team. A European/ Erasmus+ club was set and teachers and students were invited to enroll in the club so as to participate in the project activities, disseminate the project and prepare for the mobilities. Students and teachers gathered every week on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday to develop Hands in hands project activities and products supported by the grant for Project Management and Implementation which follow:
1- Hands in Hands "Erasmus+ Corner" board, which was created to announce activities, disseminate achievements and to motivate other students and teachers to join the project. It is updated by Erasmus+ team after each mobility or achievement.
2- We created a webpage in Portuguese language for our school community so that parents and local community can be informed of the development of the project.
3- Portuguese school is in charge of organising and continuously updating the Twinspace of the project on eTwinning platform.
4- A competition for the project logo was organized in school and all logos were exhibited on the Earsmus+ corner for polling.
5- Christmas postcards were hand made with different materials and sent by post to the partner schools.
6- Organizing the first Transnational Teaching and Learning Activity held Portugal:
- Opening ceremony (Presents for all the participants)
- Coffee breaks (food and drinks were provided during the week)
- Farewell party (Food, Drinks and presents for participating families who hosted the partners and other participants who supported the activities during the TTLA)
- Tags, folders, booklets and printed resources for the activities were made for each participant in the TTLA
- Study visits to the city of Coimbra (Visit to Portugal do Pequenitos and sightseeing tour), the city of Viseu (Women’s day ribbons were distributed + visit to the Grão Vasco Museum), visit to the municipality (Guided tour and visit to monuments)
- Specific teaching materials were created for Game-based lessons “Learning through Games” the partners took part in English for beginners, English for intermediate level and in Sciences, Physical Education, Special Education, Technological Education; Portuguese Cuisine. These materials and lessons were taught in English as part of Content and Language Integrated Learning school teaching strategy (CLIL)
- Organizing a creative workshop on the topic “The Solidarity Tree” and painting the tree on a school wall
- Presentation about traditional and regional games played hands in hands (Students’ presentation) with materials
- Cooking workshop “Hands in the Dought”
- Boccia exhibition with the National and International champion (Material and present for the guest)
- Workshop for Erasmus+ participants to learn how to use the project's Twinspace
- Dissemination of the results of the TTLAs: articles for the local and school newspaper, school website, Twinspace; making videos; Students Learning diaries on Smore shared both in English and in Portuguese)
8- Portuguese team created the Hands in Hands Magazine’s 1st Edition (printed for distribution to the school community and partners as well as online edition)
9- Preparing for the second Transnational Teaching and Learning Activity in Croatia
- Presentation of traditional games and traditional dances and making a written document and video with instructions for the games and dances
10- Participating in the Transnational Teaching and Learning Activity in Croatia (Presents were bought for the partner school and Mayor)
11- Participating in the Transnational Project Meeting in Germany (Preparation of the interim report, budget control, specifying the following TTLA)
12- Evaluation of the project through written surveys of students, teachers and parents
13- Making video of two traditional games to be presented in the 3rd TTLA
How is the monitoring of the project being carried out so far and by whom?
A series of questionnaires, internal and external evaluations and SWOT-analysis support the monitoring of the project together with photo reports, learning diaries, magazines and videos which are equally used to disseminate the outcomes and impact of the project on a national and an international level. We are using Twinspace, a closed Facebook group and email to communicate and discuss our results. Duting every meeting whether TPM or TTLA, teachers' meetings concerning the monitoring and checking whether we have achieved our goals and planning the framework of future activities are held. At school, before and after each mobility the Erasmus+ team meets for a debriefing to analyse the strenghs and weaknesses of the project activities. Participants who take part in TPM ou TTLA deliver a written report to evaluate the impact of the mobility and they fill in a questionnaire sent by the organizing team. Deadlines and reminders help colleagues who are under pressure with their everyday school routine.
How did the project partners contribute to the project so far? Has the distribution of tasks been adjusted since the application stage?
During our first TPM in Romania, the project activities were agreed and distributed by the partners. Then every country received a file with national and international tasks to be fulfilled. Thanks to a good personal contact between project partners, we are working as a team and all activities have been carried out on schedule. In general, all the activities have been carried out by all the partners within the foreseen period and whenever possible, there has been cooperation and mutual aid. Some changes in the distribution of task were introduced to adapt and adjust to the situation of the partners.
If your project involves other organisations, not formally participating in the project, please briefly describe their involvement.
In our project, the municipality and some parishes collaborate and support various activities of the project, namely in the reception of the partners, in some transports and offering institutional gifts to the partners.
If relevant, please describe any difficulties you have encountered in managing the implementation of the project and how you and your partners handle them.
Our main problem is connected to the political situation in Turkey. According to our application our first TPM was scheduled in Kayseri. In the times of terrorism and a series of problematic press articles concerning the Turkish government some of our colleagues and parents expressed their fear or concern in terms of travelling to Turkey. When first meeting our partners, we realized that we all shared these thoughts. When politely trying to ask our Turkish colleagues we were assured that everything is fine in Turkey.
Transnational Project Meetings
Please briefly describe the Transnational Project Meetings that have been organised within your project so far.
Our first TPM took place at our coordinator's school in Romania, Satu Mare from the 9th till 12th of November 2016. We started with PPT presentations about our countries, towns and schools. Summarizing the project, our coordinator indicated strong/weak points of planning. We had to revise our originally planned 3 year lasting project to the acknowledged 2 years duration. Responsibilities of the partners were agreed on. Twinspace and a closed Facebook group were chosen as platforms to communicate activities and exchange material. We presented the Twinspace and explained how it worked. We discussed the need to prepare questionnaires for monitoring the project activities and we decided to make questionnaires for students, teachers and parents to be filled in after each TTLA. Timespan of four month until our next TTLA in Portugal was scheduled in terms of activities (Christmas Cards, Project Logo Competition, video conferences, creating a Project Album, Book of Methods emphasizing the importance and efficiency of teaching through games etc…)
Follow-up
Impact
What has been the project's impact so far on the participants, participating organisations, target groups and other relevant stakeholders?
Using games as a method of teaching has opened new dimensions for our teaching processes, including teaching students with special needs in an inclusive way. We experience a great success by using this method as pupils feel more motivated, more active in the learning process. The learning atmosphere is more relaxed and more inclusive. By bringing bring together traditional games and modern technology we enhance motivation in learning activities. In addition we produce positive outcomes not only regarding the educational objectives, but also to the physical and emotional development of the pupils involved. By exchanging ideas of games from six European countries, we discover forgotten games, learn new ones and teach ours. In a global world the necessity for young students to travel and meet other young Europeans and share their experience has increased. Our students were very excited and enriched by sharing this project experience so far. Parents and students have expressed their benefit and positive experience in the questionnaires they filled in, in their learning diaries and in press articles. Their personal experience reached from a stronger feeling of self-confidence and self-esteem, world knowledge, intercultural skills, language skills and independence.
Dissemination and Use of Projects' Results
In case already applicable, to whom did you disseminate the project results inside and outside your partnership so far? Please define in particular your targeted audience(s) at local/regional/national/EU level/international and explain your choices.
The Project’s activities and outcomes have been disseminated in the following ways:
1. Through exhibitions on the "Erasmus+ Corner" at school
2. Publication of articles on local newspaper “Gazeta do Sátão”
3. Publication of articles on the school newspaper with 3 editions per year
4. Publication of articles and announcements on the school webpage
5. A website created in mother tongue where photo and video reports, information about the project and activities and outcomes are disseminated at local, regional and national level
6. A webpage was created to disseminate the results of the project activities for international audience
7. The eTwinning live is being used to disseminate activities and achievements of the project at national and international level
8. The Twinspace is our main international webpage where the results are stored and it is used for dissemination of the activities for international and national audience
9. The first edition of Hands in Hands Magazine was published and printed after the TTLA in Portugal for local audience and partners school audience (international)
10. An electronic version of the magazine was published online so as to be accessed worldwide
11. Learning diary published on SMORE for international dissemination.