The project entitled Ready for the Future was initiated following the need to attain the strategic goal from the European Development Plan: Enhancing the European dimension of education in view of the inclusion and social-professional integration of SEN students. The general objective of the project is the vocational development of the teaching staff from education, in order to innovate and improve the quality of the teaching-learning-evaluation process, so as to be able to offer educational activities and programs which would meet the needs of the hearing-impaired youth and increase their chances of getting employment on the European labor market. The specific objectives are: 4 members of the management team will acquire school management skills in the vocational field, so as to correlate their managerial activities with those in European schools with seniority in vocational training 20 teaching staff will get acquainted with sets of alternative methods and means, strategies and tools specific to the subjects with a practical-applicative character, in accordance with the individual psychological features of the hearing-impaired students and the requirements of the labor market. 20 teaching staff will develop their skills required for the organization, development and monitoring of the students’ vocational training, in order to facilitate their social-professional inclusion. 20 teaching staff will improve their artistic,vocational,entrepreneurial and IT skills in order to accomplish the curricular and extra-curricular activities that are appropriate to the needs of deaf students. 20 teaching staff will develop their skills in view of designing a new optional subject: Entrepreneurial Education, which will contribute to an increase in the quality and attractiveness of the educational offer of our school 20 teaching staff will develop their managerial skills, practical skills in the field of IT, entrepreneurial education, handmade skills, which will be further trained and developed in their students, during educational activities. The optional subject Entrepreneurial Education, will train entrepreneurial skills in students, by teaching them how to prepare themselves for their social-professional inclusion. Acquisition of basic skills in various fields will alow the students to turn to jobs that will suit them and, in this way, will facilitate their employment on the labor market. Within the project, mobilities will take place in 4 flows, as follows: 5 persons will participate in job shadowing activities in Bulgaria-5 days 5 persons will participate in job shadowing activities in Portugal-5 days 5 persons will attend the courses Handmade and Interior Decorations in Bulgaria-10 days 5 persons will attend the courses IT-the Basis for a Secure Future and Entrepreneurial Education in Italy-10 days Each participant in the mobility will become a trainer, capable to transfer European models of good practices in the field of formal, non-formal and informal education, thus contributing to a more dynamic teaching practice in Romanian education. The expected results following the project development are: At the institutional and inter-institutional levels: The teachers in the applicant school will benefit by the knowledge and skills acquired by the direct participants, through the transfer and the valorization of the results obtained during mobilities, will learn new teaching methods and techniques, will train/develop practical vocational skills during traineeships organized at the institution level. Improvement of the teachers’ skills from other schools in Bucharest and the country, by organizing traineeships to transfer the professional acquisitions of the mobility participants at municipal and national conferences, the European Club, and by publishing a Good Practice Guidebook, multiplied and distributed on/offline Curriculum diversification for practical skill training in students, in order to optimize the process of social-professional insertion, by organizing an international conference Ready for the Future, where relevant papers will be presented on the subject of European good practices Promotion of the school’s image and of European values, by publishing articles in specialized reviews, distributing brochures presenting the results following project development, publishing information on the school’s site and the webpage, as well as by organizing exhibitions displaying products made by the children An increase in the number of parents who are engaged in their children’s education by participating in workshops where the project and its results will be presented The number of children enrolled in this school will increase by 20%, following the delivery of quality education and a diversified curriculum; an increase of 10% the hearing-impaired graduates will be getting employment due to their acquisition of practical vocational skills.

"Starting from the issue of equal opportunities given to high potential children – who are children with special educational needs and high social risk - a scientific study carried out in Great Britain in 2010 (in which took part Robert Plomin, a professor of behavioral genetics at King’s College, London, and one of the experts involved in the present project) reports that only 3% of the high potential children do succeed in life according to social norms.Given these problems and needs identified, the project is to increase the effectiveness of social and educational integration of children with high potential, especially those with special educational needs and disabilities, in order to fully capitalize their resources through a program of evaluation and specialized training, including the use of information technology.The project activities performed were:- Monitoring and evaluation of project performance, considering the following tracking indicators: number of beneficiaries for target activities, number of promotional events, number of informative / promotional forms completed, number of items in online promotion sites and specialized sites and social networks.- Implementation: In the first year of the project implementation, the numerous study and work visits, development of the modules and their correlation with the software information/applications for tablets and smartphones. In the second year, the constituted work teams negociated, via the members appointed to keep in touch with the IT company, with the educational software development company, on the subject of gadgets and the e-learning platform. During these two years we performed activities of dissemination, promotion and valorisation of the project's results and the e-learning platform. Following the purchases we made, the beneficiaryschool set up a media center for testing high ability students with or without hearing, vision or Asperger deficiencies. At this center the students have been tested for free, by means of the evaluation tests purchased: Raven, WISC, Torrance, and Holland; then, according to their age and type of deficiency, they have been oriented towards one or more of the modules developed at the end of the project. These educational modules can be also used as an optional curriculum by the beneficiary schools, as well as in other schools from mainstream or special education in Romania.The project's outcome and achievements were presented at the multiplier event- the International ""Gifted for all Conference"" on the 8-10th June, 2016, at the Bucharest Children's Palace. The project's objectives were:O1: Develop and implement curriculum ""gifted"" children with high potential, especially for those with special educational needs and disabilitiesO2: Development of educational software for children with hearing, blind, asperger who obtained values after testing that them include in children ""gifted""The direct target group addressed comprised: • 30 Romanian volunteers • 1 sign language interpreter • 1 experts’ team in disabilities: - 2 specialists of School for Deaf Children of Plovdiv- 1 specialist in hearing deficiencies- therapists, kinetotherapists, psychological therapy for skilled children with impairments (hearing, vision, autism, Asperger) • 1 expert's team in gifted education: - 4 specialits of University of Plovdiv( PU): educational sciences, special pedagogy and clinical psychology- 2 specialists in gifted education from Romania- 1 specialists in vocational counseling - 2 specialists in psychological evaluation - 1 specialist in online communication- 1 specialist in the methodology of the training cycle- 1 specialist in clinical psychology- 1 specialist in educational evaluation- 1 coach specialist- 1 specialist in ESPERE method • 80 selected children: - 20 students tested in the pilot stage, from the asperger group - 20 students tested in the pilot stage, from the hearing-impaired - 20 students tested in the pilot stage, from the visually-impaired- 20 students tested in the pilot stage, from those without impairmentsThe indirect target group was:• mass-media• direct competitors• close community of children, teachers and parents beneficiaries of the project• decision-makers attending: school inspectorates, APL representatives, NGOs, representatives of city councils and local/county councils, parents’ councils"

Aim: creation of digital learning resources for mobile devices to improve the educational integration of disadvantaged learners in the educational system (retention of Roma children in schools, better utilization of learning material in the training of students with special educational needs, the opportunity for better integration of disadvantaged students in the existing educational system and possible inclusion of isolated people due to socio-economic reasons in the system). Outputs: development and adaptation of training modules, improvement of qualification of teachers dealing with students at risk, new teaching methods with the use of mobile technologies and devices. Impact to policy making: mRIDGE concept is positioned to constitute an important step towards promoting a broader approach to risk group inclusion and is focused on achieving more comprehensive and coherent policies for the broader social inclusion of vulnerable people. The educational outcomes of the project alongside with the participation of European and national stakeholders and representatives of the local and national authorities, responsible for the provision of integrated support education, is a guarantee, that the project will provoke acknowledgement of this inclusion challenge and will put in place strategies to overcome and prevent further exclusion of disadvantaged young people. The dissemination and exploitation activities and the transnational co-operation measures, embedded in the project work plan, will guarantee European level of visibility of the project results. Following this strategy, the project will contribute to improvement of the present policy measures and good practices and will reinforce the development of new policies and practices in the fields of disadvantaged groups and Roma young people education at the EU member states. By following this strategy it will have a direct impact on European policy making in the fields of education and training.

"The main objective of the proposed mobility action is to improve the quality of vocational training in secondary special school for children with hearing impairments (SSUDUS) ""Prof. St. Belinov "" - Plovdiv. For achieving this within the project three mobilities for training will be organized for five teachers and thirty students in two partner organizations in Belgium and Italy.First mobility will involve 15 students from specialty ""Operator in the sewing industry"" who will l participate in practical training in company DUVATEKS in the town of Viche, West Flanders, Belgium. The second group of 15 students of specialty ""Culinary"" will be trained in the Regional Center for Vocational Training CESIE in Palermo in a separate module ""Pasta in Mediterranean cuisine"". Five vocational teachers in the professions included in the program of SSUDUS - ""Culinary"", ""Operator in the Sewing Industry"" and ""Operator in the Furniture Industry” will take part in training at VET methodology department of CESIE. Instruction is in English and includes presentation of ECVET elements, visits to small and medium companies with which CESIE partner for practical training. Teachers will attend the module “Entrepreneurial Teaching”.As a result of the participation in the project we expect our students to enhance their employability and help them to overcome barriers in communication and social exclusion. Teacher training will improve and diversify methods of teaching and learning in VET classes. Understanding of the principles and elements of ECVET and their subsequent application to curricula will increase the transparency and confidence in the training and qualification provided by SSUDUS. The school will become even more attractive place for training of young people with impaired hearing. As a result the SSUDUS will become part of the largest international network of CESIE of training providers and business organizations and this will increase the chances for mobility of students and teachers across Europe. In next year the team of SSUDUS will be ready to host teachers and students from schools for deaf children from abroad."