PROJECT SUMMARY

IES Padre Feijoo is an essential cultural reference point in the neighbourhood of La Calzada, an impoverished area which takes in a considerable amount of immigrant population from South and Central America as well as from Eastern Europe. In the current academic year, there are 747 students enrolled in our various course offerings: Compulsory Secondary Education, Bilingual Secondary Education (Spanish-English), Baccalaureate Studies in Humanities and Social Science, or in Science and Technology. A total of 86 teachers are in charge of these courses. Besides the academic sphere, IES Padre Feijoo has always been a dynamic source of activities and it is characterized by the general effort that management, teachers, personnel, families and students put into their everyday work to be able to offer and demand an inclusive, egalitarian and dignified education.

We have identified several areas in need of improvement in our school in terms of the development of educational quality and internationalization. In the first place, we need to encourage the learning of foreign languages and international activities in the school as a whole, so that we can offer a quality language instruction that facilitates the students´ mobility, their knowledge of European reality and improves their academic expectations and future employability. As a school, we have set the task of creating a more modern, dynamic and open environment and we want to internationalize our school even more with quality transnational projects, always considering and prioritising diversity and the participation of economically disadvantaged students.

Our project is centered in three specific areas: equity-inclusion, digital competence and methodological innovation, and the teaching-learning of foreign languages. The updates and improvements that we seek to implement will allow the creation of more attractive and motivating programs for our students which will guarantee quality learning opportunities for all, as it is stated in the UNESCO Education 2030 Framework for Action.

As teachers our main objectives are:

a) Observation of good practice on the topic of inclusion and integration in other secondary schools in  Europe.

b) Further knowledge of educational policies and systems in the European countries that are models of excellence and academic quality.

c) Teacher training in ICT, CLIL methodology, and inclusive education through courses in these areas.

d) Improvement of the linguistic competence of teachers.

e) Creation of classroom materials and didactic resources.

The twelve participants involved in the project make up an interdisciplinary team, comprised of members of the school management team and teachers from various disciplines: Foreign Languages, Social Sciences, Mathematics, Music and Technology. These teachers have ample experience in the management of international projects, school exchanges and participation in professional activities abroad. Most of them have been teaching in the Bilingual Program for several years and have  a permanent post in the school.

Our project is based on a biannual plan designed around structured courses abroad which include seminars and workshops, the observation of good practice, language learning, the knowledge of other educational systems and a cultural program. The competences and learning results acquired by the participants will result in an improvement of quality of the work and activities for the students. Moreover they will allow professional and institutional contacts which can serve as a  base for future international cooperation activities. In order to effectively manage the planning, development, supervision and evaluation of the project, three committees will be created: Management, Coordination & Supervision, and Dissemination.

As a school, the impact we hope to achieve is to be an outstanding cultural reference point in the community, as much in the quality of our educational offer as in the diversity of its recipients. Our students are, without doubt, the true beneficiaries of this project. We hope it will contribute to their successful academic and professional life as European citizens.