DIMOTIKO SCHOLEIO DEFTERAS PANO
http://dim-pano-deftera-lef.schools.ac.cy
Dimotiko Scholeio Defteras Pano is a public regional school located in Deftera, in the southern suburbs of Nicosia district. The teaching staff of our school consists of 24 educators: the headmaster, three deputy headteachers, two special education teachers, one logotherapist and seventeen classroom or specialty teachers. Our school numbers 273 students aged 6-12 years old, attending one of the 14 classes (2 classes for each grade / 3 classes for the 2nd and 6th grade). There is also a Special Education Unit for students with special needs, whoare integrated into the mainstream classes, in some subjects. The demographics of our school reflect the composition of our wider multicultural society. In particular, the majority of the students are Greek Cypriots or from mixed marriages and come mostly from middle socioeconomic backgrounds. Approximately 10% are economic immigrants, coming mainly from Romania, or refugees from Syria. Newcomers with migrant or refugee background are integrated in the regular classroom and receive reinforcement teaching in Greek, during the first two years of their arrival in Cyprus.
Our school's vision is to give all students the opportunity to express themselves, to share and exchange ideas with children of their age, to broaden their thinking and horizons, and to acquire the key competencies for the citizens of the 21st century, in a safe, healthy and inclusive environment. Therefore, our school has always been involved in various educational programs. Among others, during the last four years, our school participates in European funded programmes and particularly in Erasmus+ (Key Action 2) and E-twinning, for which we have been nominated with a National Quality Label and a European Quality Label, respectively.
The topic of this project motivated us to join the group, in order to exchange ideas and good practices on how to integrate games in the daily school life, as a tool for the holistic development of our students, but also, on how they can become the means for mutual understanding with people and cultures from other parts of Europe.
The set up Erasmus+ team includes highly motivated people who have been actively involved in previous Erasmus+ projects, in E-twinning collaborations, in educational programmes and competitions of the Cyprus Pedagogical Institute and the Ministry of Education and Culture, in organizing conferences and other school activities.