Schools in S&S eTwinning project

Among the regional and national schools in Romania, "Ferdinand I" National College takes pride in its flawless reputation, as a result of its long history of over 156 years. It started as a secondary school in 1867 and it developed and defined its identity until it became a National College. The mission of this prestigious educational institution is to build confidence, integrity and excellence in a safe, innovative and high-performing environment.

Along the years, "Ferdinand I" College had and has very dedicated teachers, renowned academically and culturally. Through the passion with which they fulfilled their mission as teachers, they essentially contributed to the formation of many generations, among whom there are numerous students who won prizes at international competitions in Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science and Chemistry.

The college is structured on 3 levels of education: primary school (7 classes), secondary school (8 classes) and high school (24 classes). Students and teachers benefit from modern classrooms and laboratories, boarding school, a canteen, a library, 2 gyms, 2 sports fields and a doctor's office.

Students in primary and secondary education follow general education programs and, at the end of the 8th grade, they take the national assessment exam for admission to high school. High school classes are divided into humanities profile (with specialization in social sciences or social sciences intensive English) or exact sciences (with specializations in mathematics-informatics or natural sciences), and at the end of the 12th grade they participate in the national baccalaureate exam. 98% of our graduates are admitted to higher education institutions in Romania and abroad.

Our high school students study English, French, German, Spanish, computer science and ICT, they participate in extracurricular activities/clubs: drama, debate, reading, robotics, and can take exams for certificates such as ECDL, DELF, Goethe-Zertifikat or Cambridge.

Hacı Süleyman Çakır Girls' Anatolian High School, located in Odunpazarı/Eskişehir, Turkey, is a project school established in 2015. The mission of our school is to educate qualified individuals who are self-confident, have awareness of their nation and history, are respectful, capable of collaborative work, critical thinkers, and can serve as examples through their behavior, preparing them for higher education. The education is in the form of full-day sessions. Our vision is to be a pioneering institution in education quality, academic achievements, and unique projects, particularly excelling in the field of foreign languages.

Our school has 521 students and 21 classrooms, as well as music and art studios, a cafeteria, physics, chemistry, and biology laboratories, 2 libraries, and a multipurpose hall with a capacity of 500 people. The school is actively involved in sports activities. Additionally, we offer elective courses such as project design, social change processes, and health education.

Benavente School, located in the municipality of Benavente, is in a region whose cultural identity and historical richness are intertwined with the specificities of its natural heritage: the Lezíria, the Charneca, the Natural Reserve of the Tagus Estuary, as well as the horse farms and cattle ranches. With an area of 520.50 km2, the municipality is situated in the sub-Mediterranean ecological domain, in an area of cork oak forests and plains mosaic, and Mediterranean alluvial lands of hydromorphic nature, with natural features of marshes and swamps used in rice cultivation or other irrigation-based crops.

The AEB has a significant geographical dispersion in terms of students, covering the four parishes of the municipality of Benavente: Barrosa, Santo Estêvão, Benavente, and Samora Correia, as well as students from neighbouring municipalities, particularly Salvaterra de Magos. This dispersion is a distinctive and constraining feature of the life of our School.

Currently, we have around 2000 students - from 3 to 18 years old - and 200 teachers. The school offers different courses which include sciences, economics, sports, languages, electricity among others.

Our school is a three-year state Vocational High School that offers study programmes in 3 scientific sectors: Construction engineering (Constructions and Geoinformatics Technicians), Administration & Economics (Tourist Trade) and Merchant Marine Professions (Captain & Engineer). Our students are taught and trained mostly in specialisation subjects both in classrooms and workshops and upon graduation they get the High School Certificate and the Specialisation Diploma level 4.

Apart from following the study programmes that provide knowledge, skills and expertise to the students, we take part in local, national and international projects on a steady basis because, thus, we have the opportunity to raise awareness of social, cultural and environmental issues, such as identity and self-esteem, multiculturalism, human interaction with the natural environment, etc.

Our school has participated in numerous European programs (Leonardo Da Vinci, Comenius, Erasmus+ KA1 &KA2) in the past and through them both our teachers and students have come to terms with different socio-cultural environments and the understanding and respect of diversity. Furthermore, the contact with foreign educational systems, languages and cultures has proved to be a quite inspiring and motivating experience.

High school Ban Josip Jelačić offers several different programmes – both vocational (Hotel and Tourism Technicians, Business Technicians, IT Technicians, Trade, Catering, hairdressers and Beauticians) and general education programme. We take pride in offering our students a great number of extracurricular activities (facultative English/German/Italian, school cooperative, drama group, choir, art group, sports groups, etc.), as well as a lot of national and international projects that the school takes part in.

Ban Josip Jelačić High School has taken an active role in numerous national and international projects, and it recognizes the benefits these projects bring to students, teachers, and to the school itself. The quality of school management, ICT and language competences as well as transversal skills have been improved, as well as media literacy. Also, by taking part in international projects, the European dimension has been introduced and the awareness of the special needs students’ inclusion. In the school’s daily practice, special stress has been put on the use of innovative teaching methods which put

students at the centre of learning, encouraging their critical thinking, creativity, innovation, collaboration and entrepreneurship, thus rising students' motivation and preparing them for the world of higher education and the world of work.