Romania
Scoala Gimnaziala Rachita
Rachita is located in the eastern part of the Timis County, 70 km from Timisoara, the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, the first city free of Communism in Romania; 5 km away from Lake Surduc, in a countryside surrounded by beautiful nature with a complex of old wooden churches unique in western part of Romania. The village is part of Dumbrava Commune that comprises three localities as follows: Dumbrava, Rachita and Bucovat. The landscape is hilly, respectively mountainous, being part of the Lugoj hills and Poiana Rusca Mountains. Occupation of the inhabitants is agriculture and livestock but also growing of fruit. In our school, there are 117 students ( 34 age 3-5, 44 age 6-10, 39 age 11-13), it is a small one, but it has very good educational conditions, with warm and clean classrooms. We have a sports ground, a library and one computer lab. Each student can access the Internet and work on his PC. We have a good relationship with local authorities and all schools from our areas, with the local community, parents, but also with Timis County School Inspectorate. A small number of parents engages in school activities whereas most of the others visit the school to inquire about their children's marks or for health problems. Unemployment rates are high among parents. Working people are rare and those who work are involved in jobs that require little education, the lack of industry and other main economical branches being the cause of that. Because of this, the pupils are not able to get involved in social activities such as cinema, concerts, theatre. The school is the only way through which many children can socialize, therefore it is of high importance for us that we provide various activities and this is an important project for our students. Through the school year, we work with our students in order that they will become better citizens, worried about our community, building a better society for future generations with a better quality of life. Our students' need is the opportunity for social acceptance and interactions between them with and without disabilities, learning how to interact with peers from other European schools. The need of our school is promoting academic and social inclusion to give to all students the ability to reach their highest potential. Our students attend extracurricular activities which are provided by the school free of charge. They know how to use a PC and have basic knowledge about ICT, they cooperate before with pupils from Europe through five E-twinning projects, via the Internet. Our school needs to collaborate with schools in other European countries to discuss and exchange best practice which might bring out new and shared products, also through the support of ICT. All of our teachers can use ICT in their work. Our pupils need to understand different habits, values and ways of living. It is necessary for all our pupils to get in touch with European ideas that often seem to be widely abstract concepts and not a part of their daily life, in spite of actually living in a multicultural society.