Elos Newsletter | July 2014

Index

Elos newsletter: summer edition!

In this Elos newsletter you will find information about past and upcoming Elos-activities. The Management Team has
met in Porto and the celebration of 10 years Elos is approaching rapidly. What is happening on a national and European level and what is happening in the Elos-schools? Read more!


Would you like to contribute to future newsletters? Tips or ideas for improvement? Let us know: elos@omo.nl!

May 2014: Elos Management Team meeting in Porto

A Management Team meeting took
place in Porto (Portugal) on
19 and 20 May
2014. Subjects on the agenda were the evaluation of the try out at school level in all participating countries and the publication of all documents produced during this Elos project.
Furthermore the programme for the Elos Partner Meeting in September and the celebration of 10 years of Elos has been discussed.

When the current Elos project ends (November 2014) existing national networks will continue to develop and will be managed by national coordinators. Since Elos has now reached a fully grown stage and all models are ready to be used, it is time for the network to stand on it's own. This autumn Elos celebrates it's 10th birthday. An official book with stories from colleagues involved in Elos over the last 10 years and all models developed,
will than be published.


Meeting in Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The Elos concept was promoted during the meeting in the Estonian Chamber of Commerce (ECCI) and Industry on March 25, 2014. Meelis Kond and Reet Nõmmoja from Tallinn Education Department were sharing information and experiences about Elos programme and its opportunities.


The aim of the meeting was to make Elos programme known and to explain how the programme contributes to the internationalising secondary education and European dimension of the schools, demonstrating the European competencies, including entrepreneurial skills/ entrepreneurship of the students and giving input into the different educational discussions on the policy level.


The ECCI coordinates and develops the entrepreneurship education in Estonia and participates in different projects. The ECCI representatives, Maarja Loorents and Ene Rammo took a high interest in Elos educational concept and the ways on how to strengthen our collaboration were discussed.


Elos concept and activities have now been published and disseminated via the ECCI entrepreneurship education network and ECCI newsletter (more info:

http://www.unistusedellu.ee/content/elos-euroopa-kui-kooli-%C3%B5ppekeskkond-programm-koolidele). Tallinn Education Department will also participate in the seminars and workshops of the ECCI entrepreneurship education network in order to share good practices and methods for the development of cooperation between the schools and enterprises.


Contributed by Meelis Kond, Elos national coordinator Estonia

EU Democracy Tour

Students from thirty schools for secundary education in The Netherlands have participated in the EU Democracy Tour, which Jaap Hoeksma of Euroknow has organised in the run-up to the elections for the European Parliament. The tour has been conducted with the help of a board game about the EU. The aim of the EU Democracy Game Eurocracy is to become President of the European Union.


After play, the participants engaged in a discussion about the future of the EU. In order to address the democratic deficit, they came up with the first-ever Citizens' Definition of the EU. According to the Citizens' Definition the EU is a polity of states, wherein the citizens can participate both in the national democracies of their countries and in the common democracy of the Union. The picture, which was made during the presentation to the European Parliament in 21 May 2014, shows that the EU is on its way to become a living democracy.

Elos in borderregions: the province of Limburg, The Netherlands

Imagine you would be working and living in a borderregion where schools, companies and regional and local authorities are working clodely together to improve the international competences and therefore international chances of their students, employees and inhabitants. Where pupils in primary schools start with the development of their international competences at an early age. Start to learn their neighbours language and have first intercultural and entrepreneurial expriences. Where students of secundary school improve these competences in an integral approach, have there job orientation in an international context, obtain worldwide recognized certficates of Goethe and DELF. Where the institutions for professional education work closely together with their counterparts at the other side of the border.


Welcome to the province of Limburg in the south of the Netherlands. About 1 million inhabitants, with more than ten times as much international border as national border with the next province, Brabant. More than 30 school boards for primaty, secundary, vocational and hogher education have signed in for a strategic partnership with companies and local and regional authorities to improve the international chances of people in Limburg.


Some more good news, the backbone of this development is the CFEC. We are developing the CFEC towards competences for primary education and higher education. For (pre)vocational education, we are developing the Euregiocompetence, strongly based on the CFEC.


For the future this means that thousands of students in the province will be educated annualy according to the Elos competences and using the Elos instruments. The strategic program has a horizon up to 2020 and is strongly supported by the provincial authorities.


More coming up...!


Contributed by Wim Horsch, Chairman of the expertgroup for the international strategic agenda Limburg

ELOS dissemination event in the Basque Country

Die Grenzen meiner Sprache bedeuten die Grenzen meiner Welt.


Like every year during the week of the 9th of May, Europe Day, ELOS Basque Country
schools carry out different activities that have to do with European issues.
However,
this year we thought that
we had to do something else, something to enhance our European values. Why not to focus on the importance of learning languages? So we decided to arrange a common event for the students of our schools: Aniturri, Antigua-Luberri, Botikazar, Ekialde and Urola. Something to link studies and business.


We looked for professionals who were committed to the business world and arranged a conference in which four representatives of different professional fields took part.
We wanted the event to have an institutional character, so our coordinator Conchi Bergera moderated the conference, which was opened by the head deputy of the Innovation Department of the Education in the Basque Country and Elvira Etxebarria representative of Bilbao's council.


First of all we would like to thank the lecturers for their generous cooperation: Yon Barrenechea,
a businessman in the field of industry, Irune Cachorro, a physician and business woman in the field of medicine, Jesus Ugalde, an international Basque researcher
in the field of chemistry and Oskar Aranzabal, an experienced person in the field of exportation worldwide. We asked them to speak about the importance of learning languages in their professional life.


We were around 200 students in the audience all coming from our different schools. The conference was undertaken entirely
in English, as all of
the students are bilingual in Basque and Spanish with a good knowledge of English. The lecturers gave us a brief talk about their professional and personal experience and their views concerning language and the globalized world. At the end of the talks came the question time, so students had the possibility of going into detail about their worries.


We would highlight some key ideas as conclusions: The absolute need of a good knowledge of English, the importance of communication, of being a good communicator in order to do business or the importance of a good knowledge of the culture of the countries you are doing business with.

After the turn of questions we had a snack and all the participants, students teachers and lecturers could speak closely to each other and exchanged experiences.


Concerning the dissemination of the event, the national coordinator and one student of each school were interviewed for “Deia” and “Noticias de Guipuzcoa”, two high circulation newspapers in our country. The day after an article about ELOS and the event was published. This is the
link where the article can befound: http://www.deia.com/2014/05/11/politica/elecciones-europeas/europa-se-diluye-en-la-escuela-no-me-interesan-las-elecciones-europeas


The event was very successful and everybody involved agreed that it had been very rewarding. So we definitevely agree with Mr. Wittgenstein, the limits of our language mean the limits of our world!


Contributed by Conchi Bergera, Elos national coordinator Basque Country

Students from Bernarduscollege graduate with Elos-certificate

On Wednesday the 25th of June 2014, 260 senior students of the Bernarduscollege Oudenaarde (Flanders, Belgium) made history. They were the first to graduate with an ELOS-certificate on top.


An ELOS-certificate does not come for free. The school has to follow a clear European and international course. Which is certainly the case with the Bernarduscollege! The students are stimulated to get involved in international projects with peers from different countries, the school teaches 6 different modern languages, it puts forward knowledge about Europe and the world as an important priority and is involved in Content and Language Integrated Learning. In fact, biology and religious classes are taught in a foreign language. It is no surprise then that students from this school
do well in international contests, such as the BBC-awards and the mathematics Olympiad.


After a rigorous jury audit by the ELOS-jury and with the approval of Ryckevelde VZW, Flemish ELOS-coordinator, the label was awarded. In front of an enthusiastic crowd of 800 (parents, teachers and school board), the 260 graduates of the Bernarduscollege Oudenaarde received the first ELOS-certificate.


Congratulations!


Contributed by Sandy Snoeck, Elos national coordinator Flanders - Belgium

Grigoletti students (Italy) meet colleagues from Germany and France

Two students-exchange projects have featured on the log of Elos activities at our school this year. They have been received with enthusiasm, and the outcome has been up to the expectations - as the monitoring questionnaires filled-in by the students at the end of the project, reported. An international exchange-project is notoriously much more demanding - in terms of planning, managing and carrying out - than other similar activities schools can offer (such as language stages or field trips). However, if it is successful, it is rated by the students, among the most memorable experiences of the entire course of studies. This must be exactly what our colleagues and project leaders, Marina Sparavier and Jean Baptiste Bianchini had in mind when they set out to organize something of the kind with the support of
their colleagues from the respective partner schools: Höchstadt Gymnasium (Germany) and Lycée Benoît at Isle sur La Sorge (France). They involved a sizeable number of students (54 from Grigoletti) that had the opportunity to put to practice some of the many notions daily taught at school within the scope of
different subjects ranging from
modern languages to history, from civics to geography and information technology.
However, students
could also set
themselves to the test in a wide range of academic as well as informal situations that are not part of their school routine.


The Höchstadt Gymnasium has been a partner school with Grigoletti for quite a few years while
Lycée Benoît is a new option; in both cases, the participating students, have spent time at the respective partner's school, have been on excursions to the local sights and have enjoyed plenty of
... informal getting-to-know-you-and-your-lifestyle moments.


Students from both projects have created original powerpoint presentations to introduce their partners to the respective hometowns, to their schools and to the different national systems for education. They have practiced their communication skills in the target foreign language and, at the end of the project, they have acknowledged the derived improvement. However, most important, they have learned some important lessons about themselves as young adults getting ready to take up responsibilities and a place in society.


We expect to follow up with the partnerships also in the next school year. As for this summer ... apparently some of the students have already planned to arrange to see their partners again ... !!


Contributed from Patrizia Catalfamo, Elos coordinator Liceo Scientifico M.Grigoletti - Pordenone, Italy

ELOS -10 years! The Portuguese experience

ELOS is an educational concept, a
consistent way of promoting the European and International Dimension on Education enabling our students to be better informed citizens, by reinforcing the importance of values.


This “umbrella” project promotes a quality education, that takes in consideration knowledge, skills and attitudes, enabling comparison between different curricula, promoting collaboration between different Schools and reinforcing the contacts with peers.


Introduced in 2004 by the Dutch
presidency of the EU, this
10 year project, benefited from a clear vision of its goals and targets, a
consistent Comenius support and, most of all,
a great
commitment of its partners. These factors
permitted namely: I)
to develop the concept in a coherent and inclusive perspective; II)
create new instruments, available to all Schools; III) promote Schools active involvement ; IV) introduce and monitor the implementation of a
quality evaluation system; V) establish a European network.


The Jacques Delors European Information Centre, as ELOS National Coordinator for Portugal, was able to establish since the beginning of the project
a National Advisory Panel to accompany its development. The role of this Panel - composed by representants from the Ministry of Education and Science, the National Agency for Lifelong Learning Programme, a University and a partner School - was
fundamental in articulating ELOS objectives with the national priorities on Education.


Nevertheless the key factor for ELOS success at a national level was the involvement of the Schools.
In Portugal we counted with their experience, enthusiasm and support, namely from the ones involved in
the last phase of the project – the implementation of a Quality Review Process. These 5 Schools – Escola EBI de S. Bruno, Escola Secundária do Cartaxo, Escola EB 2,3 D. Luís de Mendonça Furtado, Escola Secundária de São Pedro do Sul, Escola Básica e Secundária Cardeal Costa Nunes
– chosen by its expertise/participation
in European projects worked very hard to accomplish ELOS objectives and as a result they were credited with an ELOS
certificate for a 3 year period.


To the question What does ELOS mean
to your School community?
they referred: Quality Education; Internationalization; Active Citizenship; Respect; Cooperation... Stretching Borders (http://www.eurocid.pt/pls/wsd/docs/F7407/what_means_elos_to_your_school_community-todas_as_escolas.pdf).


In synthesis, ELOS foster the European Dimension, promoting new paths/ways
of cooperation between Schools at a European level. The main challenge to this network in the near future is keeping the capacity to innovate and assure its sustainability.


Contributed by Filomena António, Elos national coordinator Portugal

Visit to a German Elos School

In February 2014 the German national coordinator, Doreen Huget at the centre, visited one of the German Elos schools: the Wilhelm-Busch-Gymnasium in Stadthagen (Lower Saxony, Germany).

First, we got a general idea about the current situation at their school regarding Elos (Interview with the teacher and Elos coordinator Elisabeth Stadtsholte on the left and school director Holger Wirtz on the right). Afterwards, the coordinator visited a lesson in the 5th grade and inspected a small segment of the Elos project "European day” which was realized by the responsible COMENIUS assistant Mrs. Buckovà from Slovakia and shows that the European dimension and international orientation in this school is very well advanced. In addition, the coordinator got a short introduction of concepts and ideas from the 10th grade for the implementation of Elos at school. The school implemented Elos in their daily school life and teachers developing interdisciplinary creative projects in different classes in order to anchor the European idea. At the end of the visit the coordinator left the school with positive impressions. In autumn this year we plan to give to the Wilhelm-Busch-Gymnasium the Elos certification for three years.


Contributed by Doreen Huget - Elos national coordinator Germany

Agenda

25-26 September 2014
- Partner Meeting 3 in Cologne, Germany

3-4 November 2014 - Management Team-meeting in The Netherlands

Elos
Vereniging Ons Middelbaar Onderwijs
Postbus 574
5000 AN Tilburg
The Netherlands
T +31 13 59 555 00
F +31 13 59 555 99
elos@omo.nl

NEWSLETTER ELOS
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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