In this blog you will find a procedure how to find out learning needs of your school using bottom-up approach. It will help you justifying your arguments in the Erasmus Accreditation application.
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Firstly, I will tell what NOT TO DO. Do not try to show your school’s learning needs in a different light because you want to get the Erasmus+ grant or accreditation. It seems to be a good strategy on a short run but on a long-run you will face difficulties with teachers’ motivation because they will not see the project as relevant to their needs. Bottom-up approach on the other hand, in which you give the voice to all teachers at your school to express their learning needs, is a good starting point for drafting your Internationalization Strategy and Erasmus Plan. Both documents are essential part of the Erasmus Accreditation application.

In this blog you will get some basic information about the Erasmus Accreditation 2021 - 2027. We will highlight the most important insights you have to be aware of in order to submit a high quality application.

Deadline: 29 October 2020 at 12:00 CET.
​Online applications: here.

Award of the Erasmus accreditation confirms that the applicant has set up a plan to implement high quality mobility activities as part of a wider effort to develop their organisation - Erasmus Plan.

Different applications:

• Erasmus accreditation for School Education,
• Erasmus accreditation for Vocational Education and Training,
• Erasmus accreditation for Adult Education,
• Erasmus accreditation for Youth.

Be careful with the eligibility criteria. If your organization is eligible for more than one field and you would like to apply for Erasmus+ funds in the future in different fields, you need to submit separate Erasmus accreditation applications.

Eligible criteria, rules, award criteria and other important information are available in the official Call for accreditation.

Erasmus+ KA1 project results across Europe. Check which organizations got the funding in 2020 and will be able to enhance their European added value with international trainings for teachers, staff and students.

EU countries:
Austria: all results
Belgium: YIA-BEDE, EPOS, AEF
Bulgaria: all results
Croatia: KA101, KA102, KA103, KA104
Cyprus: all results
Czech Republic: all results
Denmark: all projects
Estonia: all results
Finland: soon
France: all results
Germany: soon
Greece: soon
Hungary: all results
Ireland: soon
Italy: KA101, KA102, KA104
Latvia: all results
Lithuania: KA103
Luxembourg: all results
Malta: all results
Netherlands: soon
Poland: all results
Portugal: all results
Romania: soon
Slovakia: all results
Slovenia: all results
Spain: all results
Sweden: all results

For this summer we prepared a special selection of courses adapted to the COVID-19 with all the safety precautions:
July:
ICT in my Classroom, De Bono Thinking Tools in a Classroom, Science for Primary School Children, Teaching Thinking Tools, From Distance to Blended Learning Digital Competencies

August:
Peer coaching, Emotional Intelligence, Multiculturalism, From Distance to Blended Learning Digital Competencies

Welcome to join!

In this blog we offer you a concrete example of the difference between learning needs, goals, outcomes, activities and impact as it is used in all Erasmus+ mobility projects.

Drafting Erasmus+ KA1 mobility project might cause some difficulties in understanding terminology used by Erasmus+ programme guide. The same terminology as in Erasmus+ programme guide should be used by applicant in their application form.
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We explained the terminology and ideas for drafting arguments in different other blogs on our webpage www.erasmusbyprimerasupport.com. In this blog we only use a concrete example to explain the difference.

Who is going to participate in KA1 mobilities is a question which have different answers for different schools. In some schools there are too many teachers who would like to experience learning in another country. However, some schools are so overloaded with different projects that there are too few candidates willing to go. Also, some schools have the habit that only language teachers go abroad because of the language barriers. Since there are only few language teachers, also school runs out of candidates for mobilities soon.

Definitely BEFORE. There are several reasons why.

Mobilities are a key part of your project. By choosing the right course provider your project will have a good foundation for strong impact that you desire. Here are the most important advantages of contacting your course provider before applying to the Erasmus+ KA1 programme.

# Getting additional material and support from your course provider. Some course providers publish only course summary at their webpage. But you also need detailed programme, learning outcomes and competencies acquired during the training. Ask your course provider to send you that material so that writing application form will be easier for you.

# Finding information about the quality of your course provider. By contacting your course provider before application you will get the chance to see how reliable and responsive the course provider is. Ask your course provider different questions about the trainers, evaluation, monitoring, quality of the course, practical arrangement, enrollment process, your fees, any additional support the training provider offers, and you will see whether the provider assists you with good information on time. The questions may help you make the best choice in selecting a training provider. At this initial point you can easily change the provider if you are not satisfied with the outcomes of your communication. After you get confirmation from your national agency you can still change the course provider, but with additional complications. For instance, you have to include your national agency, ask them for permission if another course provider is in a different country. And maybe you will have to cover some costs by yourself if the provider is in more expensive country, because your national agency cannot give you a higher budget later.

# Write in the application form that you have already existing communication. By showing evaluators that you already have ongoing process with the course providers will give your application more credibility resulting in higher points. Write why do you think your course provider is suitable and how did you decide to apply to their course. Keep in mind also Erasmus+ priorities and write how the course provider addresses those priorities along with your learning needs. In some cases you might even attached the letter of intent provided by your course provider.

# By pre-registering to a certain course you ensure your place in the session. Some courses are very popular and quickly gets the maximum number of participants. So pre-registering will book a place for you. However, pre-registering have to be without any costs and obligations. It is better to choose different provider if a certain provider wants you to pay for pre-registration.

One of the biggest mistake you can do when writing Erasmus+ mobility project is that you choose your course by location. Imagine yourself as an evaluator reading KA1 application with courses at the most prominent touristic spots across Europe. It is hard not to think that the main goal of the application is to get funds for participants' touristic aspirations.

Evaluators will give you high points, if your selection of courses will reflect actual needs of your school aligned with the Erasmus+ programme priorities.

Yesterday I received a question in my inbox: Blanka, thank you for your e-book. Do you have a winning idea for the next KA1 deadline?

The winning idea has roots in your school needs. Always! However, it is important to communicate your idea in the KA1 application form using Erasmus+ language. In the process of writing your application see:
1. Erasmus+ programme priorities and
2. national priorities of your national agency.

Then think, how can you present your idea through the lens of those priorities.

Here are the 2020 Erasmus+ priorities for school education (from 2020 annual work programme, p. 43):

• Reinforcing the development of key competences: cross-curricular collaboration, creativity and innovative learning approaches and environments, cooperating with stakeholders in local communities and abroad, supporting teachers in delivering competence based teaching and developing assessment and validation of key competences.
• Strengthening the profile of the teaching professions, including teachers, school leaders and teacher educators, for example by: making careers more attractive and diverse; strengthening selection, recruitment and evaluations (models of staff appraisal, assessment and feedback); enhancing teachers’ initial education and continuous professional development and linking its different phases; facilitating and significantly increasing teacher mobility, including by overcoming remaining obstacles; supporting teachers in developing innovative teaching and assessment methods, especially to promote competence-oriented teaching and learning; strengthening leadership in education, including distributed leadership and teacher leadership.
• Promoting a comprehensive approach to language teaching and learning, building on the increasing linguistic diversity in schools, for example by: encouraging early language learning and awareness; developing bilingual teaching options, especially for border regions and/or in areas where inhabitants use more than one language; mainstreaming the use of new technologies to support language learning; supporting the integration of the language dimension across the curricula; focusing on reaching adequate competence levels by the end of compulsory education; promoting the creation of language aware schools.
• Increasing the levels of achievement and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM): promoting effective and innovative pedagogies and assessment; promoting the STE(A)M approach to education through interdisciplinary teaching of STEM in cultural, environmental, economic, design and other contexts, with the involvement of all academic disciplines. 
• Tackling early school leaving and disadvantage, enabling success for all learners, including children with a migrant background: strengthening collaboration among all actors within schools, as well as with families, and other external stakeholders; improving transitions between different stages of education; fostering preventive and early intervention approaches; supporting networking of schools which promote collaborative and holistic approaches to teaching and learning; improving evaluation and quality assurance. 
• Developing high quality early childhood education and care systems: supporting initial and continuing professional development of all staff involved in organising, leading and providing early childhood education and care.
• Building capacity for promoting and facilitating recognition of learning periods abroad. 
• Developing strong quality assurance systems to achieve high-quality inclusive education. 

European development plan is a strategic vision of internationalization and modernization of your school.

​From the Erasmus+ programme guide and from our blog Tips you need for valuable European development plan you know which areas should it cover. In this blog we prepared some questions that might help you think when preparing the European development plan.

Questions for European development plan in KA1 Erasmus+ mobility application:

• What our school needs?
• Where are the barriers?
• Where do we want to go and why?
• Do we want to attract new target groups? Do we want a different approach to existing target groups or stakeholders?
• In which areas we are competent? In which areas we need additional skills?
• Where are we now? Which goals do we want to achieve? By when?
• Who needs new knowledge? Who can share?

Plans for mobility:

• Where can we get missing competencies?
• Why in another country and not at home?
• How can we get missing competencies in another country? Which activities are the most suitable?
• Who in another country practices useful activities for our needs?
• In how many countries are those best practices?
• Which best practice is the most suitable for us?
• Which employees will go to another country, to which activity and why?

After mobility:

• How will you implement new knowledge and skills to your school?
• How exactly will the change look like?
• What will be the impact of teacher's mobility on students?
• In what ways will be the activities at your school better because of the mobility?
• How will you measure the change?
• How will you ensure the impact on teachers, stakeholders and broader environment?

Source: Cmepius, Slovene national agency

Project summary is the first thing evaluators read. The project summary therefore makes a first impression of a quality of your mobility project.

Read some good examples of project summaries from confirmed KA1 mobility applications.

KA1 mobility projects with high points:

• Out of the box (100 points)
• Constitutions – The new rules and tools for teachers (100 points)
• Step by step on the way to success (98 points)
• European Training for an Inclusive Education (95 points)

​Confirmed KA1 mobility projects with clear summaries, but we don't know how many points they received:

• PromETools - promoting educational tools
• Empowering Educators to Empower Students
• Learning with a personal touch
• Integration of multiculturalism in school

Advice: start writing project summary at the beginning of your process. At the beginning you have fresh mind and you are not fed up with all the details yet. At the beginning your ability of making good big picture is the highest. At the end people are usually drained out with all the details and they want to conclude as soon as possible which consequently leads to copy-paste summary from other parts of the application. Please, don't do that. Evaluators have to see the big picture clearly in order to get a positive impression about the quality of your mobility project.

Calculating your Erasmus+ grant for staff and teacher mobility is easy if you know the steps. Here is the simple guide helping you to calculate the maximum possible grant you receive for your mobility.

Brexit is expected to lead to many changes for Erasmus+. However, the outcome of the ongoing negotiations between the EU and the UK is not yet known. People keep asking us whether they can include mobilities to United Kingdom into their KA1 application.

​Success does not just happen. It is planned for. And it is the same with Erasmus+ mobility projects. Preparation of participants is one such key to success. In the application process your task is to convince evaluators that you will take care for your participants and not just leave things to go with the flow. Here are a few ideas for a systematic preparation that you can offer to your participants. Preparation covers several areas and is task-related, intercultural, linguistic, and risk-prevention.

​Dissemination is an opportunity to promote your work and the knowledge you received in Erasmus+ training abroad. So, do not take it as a pressure to put additional energy to your project but take it as a chance to facilitate lifelong learning in your community. Goals of dissemination are: raise awareness, extend the impact, engage stakeholders and target groups, share solutions and know how, influence policy and practice, develop new partnerships. Here are some ideas for different dissemination activities. Feel free to use them in your application.