Motivation of our project

 As a group of six Special Schools (some of whom have worked together very successfully in the past) we are very aware of the need for our students to play their part in society and be recognized and included within it. To achieve this we must strive to raise and develop their skill levels to enhance they career and their employability prospects. As a teaching profession we must ensure our students receive every opportunity to succeed and develop the key competencies that play a huge part in their lives. We must strive to raise teacher capacity through a wide range of professional development opportunities, learning from the innovative practices across our European partners to create a high quality learning environment. We must strengthen our European bonds and understanding, raising awareness of the opportunities our European community offers for all our citizens and especially our disabled and disadvantaged. We must ensure our less able students become more aware of the European dimension and it widens, enriches and develops their lives. This partnership aims to develop the students through high quality educational opportunities. For students (and staff) to make new friends in a safe and secure environment, to have their voice heard, to learn about the traditions, and culture across Europe and to engage students in getting to know more about their European counterparts and fellow students. It aims to build the pupil self confidence and sklll to engage with their peers. To be able to connect with others and make their voice heard and to keep pace with a fast moving society with all its opportunities and challenges. Our project offers it teachers and professional staff exposure to a range of innovative strategies and approaches to enable them to enrich the opportunities for the students in all our schools. It will help to modernize our teaching workforce through the sharing of skills and expertise, where staff have the opportunity to visit classrooms meet with associated professional bodies and authorities and to remain at the cutting edge of educational development. Funding this project would enable 6 special schools to develop a high quality project, each special school has a slightly different specialism in regard to supporting special school pupils and each operates in a different educational system and structure. The practices and strategies that have been developed in each school vary and funding will enable face to face exchanges to showcase and expand upon the innovative practices eg in Thornfield House School great emphasis is placed on the direct teaching of social skills, this approach is led by the speech and language therapy department within school. Preliminary discussions between partners indicates a great interest in learning much more about this approach. There are already many other similar examples.

Funding will enable the opportunity for schools to meet with other branches of the education system and compare structures.