Get your professional development funded by Europe!

Your participation in our professional development activities can be funded through the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission, as part of mobility projects for school education staff under Key Action 1 ‘Learning Mobility of Individuals’, covering all travel, accommodation costs and tuition fees. Apply through your school (not individually!) for this to the National Agency in your country (deadline: 17th March for projects starting as of 1st July of the same year; NOTE: for 2014 the deadline has been extended to 24th March 2014).

What is new and different in Erasmus+?

Erasmus+, the brand-new EU programme for Education, Training, Youth, and Sport (2014-2020), has a special focus on teachers’ professional development. Up to last year, Comenius Training grants offered some good opportunities for individual teachers to attend training courses such as our summer school in Crete in July 2013. The new Programme really multiplies these opportunities. Never before has there been so much EU support available for teachers' professional development through mobility in Europe.

There is a big difference from now on, however: Applications are not submitted by individual teachers anymore. They are submitted by schools. Another new aspect is that you can re-apply this year even if you have applied and been funded for Comenius Training in the past!

So, your school needs to apply for you, as well as for any other of your colleagues, by including in its 'European Development Plan' your interest in training in creativity and the use of games in education. Note that your school will need to submit one application for all its professional development activities abroad for the next one or two years. You need to make sure that your interest in training in creativity and games in education through a training activity in Greece, is included in the application of the school. Note also that your school will submit its application to your country's National Agency, who is also the one who will evaluate it. Therefore, your National Agency is always a very good point for more information and advice.

In the Programme Guide of Erasmus+, for information on 'School education staff mobility' under 'KA1 - Learning Mobility of Individuals', go to pages 55-59 and 221-223. There you will find all you need to know.

We will be happy to help you and your school with your staff mobility projects.

We want to offer valuable learning experiences that will bring positive and long-lasting effects on the participants of our training activities, and through them, on their schools and wider educational systems. Acting as a ‘receiving organisation’, we are here to support you and your school before, during, and after your training, throughout the preparation, implementation and follow-up stages of your project. Being ourselves a school, we know what it takes to run a successful Erasmus+ mobility project in the field of education. Meeting your professional development needs and helping you successfully implement your European Development Plan is important to us.

Practical guidelines for applying for an Erasmus+ school education staff mobility grant:

1. First contact us to express your interest in one of our training activities and let us know if you need assistance with the application procedure. At the same time, we will reserve places for your school on the training activities of your interest. 
2. Register your school/organisation on the European Commission Authentication Service (ECAS), if not already registered.
3. Log in to the Participant Portal with your ECAS account details and register your organisation on the Unique Registration Facility (URF) to obtain your unique Participant Identification Code (PIC), if not already registered. The European Commission has produced a Participant Portal User Manual to help guide you through the process of registering on the portal. You may seek further assistance on this by contacting your National Agency.
4. Download the application form for 'School education staff mobility' of the Erasmus+ Programme from the website of your National Agency.
5. Fill in your school's application, remembering to include your own interest in training in creativity and games in education through a training activity in Greece. You may find parts of the description of our activities in the present website useful. Also, do feel free to ask us for any further information or advice you may need there. Remember that there is very useful information on 'school education staff mobility' in the Programme Guide of Erasmus+, on pages 55-59 and 221-223.
6. Submit the application form to your National Agency. The deadline is on 17th March, at 12:00 Brussels time, each year, for mobility projects starting on 1st July of that year. For 2014, the deadline has been extended to 24th March 2014.
7. Do not forget to inform us as soon as you get notified about the result of your application. If you are succesful we will start immediately to prepare together your training in Greece!