The schooling ages range from six to twelve years old. There is a total of 195 students and 34 teachers. Some of our students (16) have special educational needs and others are immigrants (25), so they need and receive special attention.

The city of Florina is considered to be economically disadvantaged, because there is a high unemployment rate. Another important factor is that some parents are divorced and of low income therefore making it non affordable to attend cultural events with their children. Due to the aforementioned economic and social circumstances, lots of our students lack of motivation. Therefore, we want our students to gain a different viewpoint on different cultures, lifestyles, science and technology. We would like to offer a possibility to exchange views and opinions with students from other countries. We want to encourage our students to become more tolerant towards diversity and widen their cultural horizon. We believe that by meeting children from other countries and being involved in various workshops and multicultural activities, our students will appreciate cultural diversity and the importance of team work. It is hoped that this inspiring program will promote the participants’ self-development.

What are the activities and experience of the organisation in the areas relevant for this project? What are the skills and/or expertise of key persons involved in this project?

The 5th Primary School “Theodoros Kastanos” cooperates with the Primary School for children with special needs, the Faculty of Elementary Education and the Department of Visual Arts of the University of Western Macedonia (Greece).

Also, its collaboration with educational and environmental organizations ensures the high level and quality of learning as our main educational priority.

The school takes part in cultural and environmental educational programs, promoting educational and cultural good. We are also keen on educating our students to be open-minded, broaden their horizons, but also encourage them to find creative ways of promoting cultural and social merits of our country.

In general, our participation in LLP Comenius Multilateral, Regio and Erasmus+ partnerships have already changed our viewpoints at education and the acquirement of knowledge, thus enabling us to take the responsibility of being the coordinating school and fully meet the potential of the project as well as share our experience and guide partner schools.

Developing this project with our new partners, with or without previous experience, will further advance our experience and knowledge.

The whole school community, including school head, teachers and professional specialists, has the responsibility for providing guidance. Indeed, guidance provision is the task of a multi-disciplinary team consisting of different specialists as guarantee a holistic and differentiated approach, which enables customized support for pupils not only in terms of education, but also for those who require psychological support and counselling to overcome learning difficulties. To ensure the availability of skills between the staff that will be responsible for this procedure, we address digital competences, using of flexible educational pathways, entrepreneurship, employment, research, training modules, etc., as to organize a team with similar backgrounds. Moreover, teaching procedure, activities and initiatives generally address staff skills and experiences, focused on pupils who are enrolled in education.