Claddagh National School from Galway in Ireland is committed to improving learning opportunities for children of various backgrounds. It is attended by children on the autistic spectrum, children with many different types of special and additional learning and developmental needs, children from linguistic and cultural minorities and refugees and asylum seekers. To allow for better integration of the aforementioned groups, the school coordinates a wide range of activities, including international mobilities through the Erasmus+ programme. In order for its teachers to gain more practical experience and improve their work with pupils from linguistically diverse backgrounds, the school organised staff mobilities to Slovenia, Malta, Croatia and Spain. During their mobilities teachers explored the topic of multiculturality, adopted innovative approaches and developed new resources that helped them improve their work with children with special and additional needs. They also shared their experiences with their colleagues from both Claddagh National School and other schools in Galway through a series of workshops that were organised upon their return.

“Erasmus+ has been an enriching and enlightening experience for all of us and I would encourage all teachers to take part”, underlined Annie Asgard, school’s Erasmus+ coordinator and teacher of English as an additional language.

You can find out more about the project in a video that was created by the Irish Erasmus+ national agency (Leargas).