SLOVAKIA 

Spojená škola 

Spojená škola is located in the eastern part of Slovakia. It consists of a primary and secondary school with students aged 6 - 20. The school offers not only basic education but students can continue their studies in hotel or business field - Business Academy (4 years) and Hotel Academy (5 years).

The school has nearly 350 students from which 130 study at business and hotel academy. 47 teachers and other staff are employed at the school. Most of the students are from the town of Svidník or the nearby towns and villages and they belong to various social classes (mainly lower). We have special needs students (maily with ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dysorthografy, with bahavioral/emotional problems and a psysically disabled student). We don't have immigrants at our school and the religion of the students is mostly Catholic, Greek-Catholic or Orthodox.

Approximately two-thirds of students at Spojená škola come from families with low income, many parents are unemployed, or they live in a one-parent family. They have low aspirations due to the fact that they don't have enough economic support from their families and they live in a region with fewer possibilities. For that reason, through this project we will pay increased attention to students from disadvantaged backgrounds to look for optimal conditions for their integration into international activities.

The school has been involved for several years in the national program "Green School - Zelená škola" which mission is to develop the next generation of environmental leaders through education, project-based learning and community service.

The school is also involved in the program The Duke of Edinburgh Award. The Award is available to all 14-24 year olds and equips young people for life regardless of their background, culture, physical ability, skills and interests. Doing the Award is a personal challenge and not a competition against others; it pushes young people to their personal limits and recognises their achievements.

Our school has been involved in a big national project called "Modern school". The main activity was to create innovative materials for students to boost their motivation for learning English.

Our school has an eTwinning project label for Global problems and human rights - ID 110914. 5 schools were involved. Labelled 9.12.2014. Students were familiarised with global problems, human rights, fair-trade etc. in unconventional education.