ISTITUTO COMPRENSIVO STATALE "A. PAGANO" - NICOTERA
https://www.istitutocomprensivonicotera.edu.it
The I.C.S. “A. Pagano”- Nicotera is made up of Infant, Primary and secondary school (1st degree) with children aged 3/14 years (Primary level). It is located in the two small bordering towns of Nicotera and Joppolo. Many detached buildings around the villages are in rural area, in the town centre, near the beach, on the mountain, in the Mediterranean landscape of the Southern Italian region called Calabria. The students attending the school are six hundred about. The social context of the families is various and the number of migrants is increasing. A small number of students come from Eastern Europe. They are well integrated in the classes . The school also integrates students with special needs. The main purpose of the school is to create a safe and engaging learning environment and give students more opportunities to improve their knowledge and basic competences, social skills, the use of ICT and English in the communication and cooperation with peers all over Europe. The Primary school teachers are about 50 and the students attending the Primary school are 6/11 years old; they are 300 about. Teachers and pupils involved in this project are proud to be part of a European community of schools and they are ready to share teaching/learning experiences with other teachers and students beyond their national borders.The school has been involved in projects to reduce school drop-out rates, funded by the Regional or National government and in FESR projects to increase and improve the education facilities. The vision of the school is oriented towards the intercultural dimension and the cooperation with schools in Europe. The I.C. has been partner in Comenius partnerships until August 2013 and it is involved at present in eTwinning projects; last October 2018 the school got the European Quality Label. The school staff is always open to the dialogue with other associations and schools on teaching methods and school organisation. The results of the last national INVALSI test underline the students’ difficulties in English listening comprehension in our classes. So we would like to support our pupils' skills development in the second languages. This project could be a response to our pupils’ need to play and learn together and to cooperate in a team to accomplish shared goals. Teachers in our school are involved in courses to learn more about Cooperative Learning method and they are trying to involve students in team working. The games could be an opportunity for students to be intellectually active and personally interactive. Teachers involved in this project take care of their own teaching professionalism development, they can learn to use a variety of technical tools and improve their ICT competences. They have been involved in Comenius partnerships, in mobility to schools in Europe and they are able to work in a team, to plan and follow up activities in a good cooperative atmosphere.