http://www.yalovalisesi.k12.tr/
Yalova Lisesi -the coordinator of the project- is a General Secondary Public School with 87 teachers and 1423 pupils aged 14-18 boys and girls. It is the biggest and the oldest educational institution in Yalova.
Most of the students come from the town centre, districts and villages of Yalova, therefore there is a large profile backgrounds of the pupils and their families. Nearly half of the pupils come from socially and economically disadvantaged families.
More than 250 students are economically supported by the school or sponsors. 7-8% of the students' parents are divorced. There are many students who come from the eastern part of the country and having difficulty to integrate the social and school life. There are also physically disadvantaged students who uses wheelchairs or come to school with special supervision. Physically disadvantaged students prefer to come to Yalova Lisesi as there are facilities such as classes, ramps, toilets, doors etc. for the disabled.
Smith's Wood Sports College
http://www.smiths-wood.co.uk/index.htmlSmith's Wood Sports College is a large comprehensive school on the outskirts of Birmingham. It is part of the Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council. The school serves in an area that is in the lowest 20% for depravation. Over 90% of the students are in the most deprived 10% of households nationally. 29% of the students have Special Educational Needs and approximately 3% of those are statemented. We are an improving school; in fact we are in the top 100 most improved schools in the country for GCSE performance. Our examination results continue to improve every year. The school caters for students with differing backgrounds and needs but we have recognized our need to learn more about the different ethnic groups in and around our community. One way that we can do this is to partner with other schools whose students come from a more culturally diverse background. Smith's Wood's students are talented and the school offers many opportunities for its students to excel in areas such as Sports, ICT and Music, among others. We welcome visitors with open arms and are always willing to share our knowledge and experience with others.
Lyndon School Humanities College
http://www.lyndonschool.co.uk/home.asp
Lyndon is an over-subscribed specialist Humanities College with 1317 students aged 11-16. Lyndon recently changed to Foundation school status with a Trust working with partners from education, business and industry. Both our students and teachers are from many different background and nationalities which brings along challenges which the school meets well. The vast majority (80%) of our students are White British. Students with special educational needs (SEN) is 20.6% Their needs are met through tailored IEP’s. Lyndon hosts the Local Authority’s hearing impaired centre. The percentage of students who are eligible for free school meal has increased over the last 3 years. Lyndon is an improving school.
Vasaskolan
http://www.kalmar.se/t/subportalpage.aspx?id=45957
Vasaskolan is a nine-year comprehensive school situated in the centre of Kalmar. Kalmar is a town in the southeast part of Sweden with a population of 60 000 inhabitants. Vasaskolan is the largest comprehensive school in Kalmar with about 500 pupils and 45 teachers. The pupils in year 1-6 are generally from the local environment which is a middle-class area. In year 7-9 the pupils are more mixed, both from from the neigbourhood and from another area which is an area with socially and economically disadvantaged families. About 10% of the pupils are immigrants or refugees therefore the knowledge of other cultures, apart from the Swedish one, is limited. There are also 25 pupils integrated in our special school. Mentally disadvantaged pupils come from different areas around the city to get special supervision and education among students of the same age.
The philosophy of Vasaskolan is based on three words, knowledge, confidence and health. We believe in the involvement of parents, that the parenthood includes taking a great part in pupil's studies and life. We have throughout the years had different parent-teacher associations. For exampel parents have had representatives in school councils together with headmaster and teachers. During a couple of years there have been many parents participating in lively discussions. Recently the group of parents who want to participate in meetings that do not concern their own child in their own class have decreased.
We wish, with this intercultural project, to stimulate parents to get involved in their children's lives as teenagers, pupils. We believe this is important not only for teenagers success in school but also in life.
Liceul Pedagogic "Sabin Drăgoi" Deva
http://www.sabindragoi.ro/
Liceul Pedagogic "Sabin Dragoi", situated in the town of Deva, is a living and modern institution that has already celebrated 135 years of existence. It is the place where students from Deva but also from the surroundings villages and from the Valley of Jiu (a disadvantaged area, that used to be heavily industrialised and where the main activity was coal mining, but due to low efficiency, most of the mines were closed down in the years following the collapse of Communism in Romania) come to study and some of them live in the boarding school. Some of our students (5) with specific needs feel good about participating in all the extra-school activities we organize. Our school also has a parents association, "Edu+" that can provide the necessary support to help us face the challenges of our students.
In these days it is important to build a strong partnership between school and home.
http://g2gostynin.pl/index.html
Gimnazjum nr2 im. Polskich Nblistów is a secondary school situated in central Poland, in semi-urban area. Most students are the inhabitants of the town itself, but many of them live in the surrouding villages. The students usually come from families of low or medium income. The rate of unemployment is about 15% which is the source of many problems that our students must face and put thm at risk of social exclusion. 20% of them are coverd by the help of some social welfare institutions. We have many studets whose one or both parents have emigrated to other countries, it happens that they studied abroad and now they continue their education in Poland. Therefore, they can find if difficult to accustom to a new situation.
