Application advice session for schools: KA2 Strategic Partnerships

What is Key Action 2? Key Action 2 will focus on sharing, developing and transferring innovative practices in education, training and youth provision between participating countries

How? Through Strategic Partnerships (SPs) UK organisations can apply for funding to run collaborative projects which address: • EU policy objectives and priorities Challenges (within school) Needs of one or more specific field of education

Summary of basic features • Can last 2 or 3 years Can focus on one education specific field of education eg school • Can promote cross-sectoral cooperation i.e. involve than one field of education Grant is not a simple lump sum for mobilities (as more • Comenius) but a mix of lump sum (unit costs) and real costs

can apply Who can apply/participate? • Any organisation from the list of Programme can apply Countries • Organisations from Partner Countries (wider world) can take part as project partners (not as applicants) and only if they add value to the project

Programme countries

Number and profile of partner organisations • Minimum of two partner schools from two programme countries Up to a max. of ten partner organisations from funded programme countries can be involved per SP •

• Acronyms galore: ECAS, URF, PIC • • ECAS URF PIC Start at • Before applying, all schools will need a Personal Identification Code (PIC) … … to get a PIC, a school must use the Unique Registration Facility (URF) … …and to access the URF, a school must register with the European Commission Authentication Service (ECAS) ECAS URF PIC Start at http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/onlineservices/pador/register_en.htm • • •

Selection and grant agreements • One application per project, assessed by coordinating National Agency School to school only SPs = individual Grant Agreements as per current Comenius partnerships If schools partner with other organisations (eg Local Authority), the applicant organisation holds the grant agreement with their National Agency and hence the funds for the whole partnership • •

What happens when you apply? • a formal check is made to verify against the eligibility and exclusion criteria a quality assessment evaluates how well the participating organisations meet the selection criteria and the project meets the award criteria Notification of result of application is within 4 months of the submission deadline (30 April 2014) • •

Each application is scored out of 100 points Award Criteria- Each application is scored out of 100 points • Relevance of Quality of the the project (30) project design and implementation project team and the cooperation (20) arrangements (20) Impact and dissemination (30) • A project must score at least 60 to be considered AND score at least 50% in each category

Relevance of the project (30 points) Relevance of the proposed project to: • one of more of the EU policy priorities for education & training • and/or the school education priorities Education and training priorities: developing basic and transversal skills, e.g. entrepreneurship, digital skills, multilingualism enhancing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) uptake in teaching and learning

School priorities • Improving the attainment of those at risk of early school young people, particularly leaving (ESL) young people with low basic • skills in Maths, Science and Literacy Developing high quality and accessible Early Childhood Education and Care services Revising and strengthening the professional profile of the teaching professions • •

The application eform • Completed on-line only (no paper) http://www.erasmusplus.org.uk/key-action-2/strategic-partnerships-for-schools • Completed on-line only (no paper) You’ll need the most up-to-date version of Adobe Reader • To submit and complete in full, you will need to be connected to the internet It must be saved to your desktop (not USB!) before starting

Application process Complete form Validate Print declaration Have it signed (by Headteacher) Attach the declaration (electronically) Attach the time table of activities (Gantt chart) Submit the application online

You must also upload the following documents in the Participant Portal: • the Legal Entity form as proof of legal status (this form can be downloaded from the European Commission’s website at: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contrac ts/legal_entities/legal_entities_en.cfm); the Financial Identification form. This form can be downloaded at: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contrac ts/financial_id/financial_id_en.cfm) • • •

It should look like this

The application form content overview • Context: background Participating organisations: basic information Description of the project: rationale for project and partnership, objectives • Preparation and project management: including m&e; • Project activities: details of all outputs and activities

The application form content overview • Follow-up: dissemination, use of results, sustainability Budget: management and activities Project summary Formal aspects: data protection, sign off

Context and participating organisations • Basic information Applicant organisation cf. coordinator in Comenius Details fill in automatically when ‘PIC’ input Partners – as above

Description of the project, objectives • Rationale, issues and needs ie why this project? Innovative or complementary: how does it fit with other activity/ies? Partners: how chosen? skills, knowledge, experience? New partners? EU added value Communication and meetings, partners and stakeholders Relevant Priorities - drop down Relevant Topics - drop down Results: outputs, products, changes • •

Preparation and project management • Preparation: analyses, planning, building engagement, possibly before funding starts; • Budget and timelines: management and monitoring budget between partners, monitoring timelines, rectifying • Quality of activities: monitoring quality of delivery; how, when? who, • Risks: internal and external, how monitored and mitigated Assessing achievement: qualitative and quantitative indicators and activities (outputs, results, objectives)

Implementation • Organisation of activities: coordinated, timings? who, what, where, how • Target groups: who? cf. “needs”, above Participants with fewer opportunities: number; proportion participants support for them why is participation difficult? of •

Project activities (and outputs) • Menu caters for a range scale Divided into types: of projects in terms of in type and • Intellectual outputs Multiplier events Learning/Teaching/Training Activities

Mobilities Transnational Project Meetings – no minimum stay; Learning, Teaching and Training Activities: Short term staff training events (5 days – 2 months) Short term pupil visits (5 days – 2 months) Both must clearly contribute to overall objectives of project

Follow up - impact • Impact (effects, results, changes) on participating individuals and organisations, systems and practices and other stakeholders Impact beyond the project; local, regional, national, European Measurement – who, what, how? • •

Follow up – dissemination & sustainability • Important in Erasmus+ - added value of EU funding, wider reach and impact • Communicating successes and results widely: for use into by the others including other sectors; to influence future Measureable, realistic objectives (timetable) Resource planning Involvement of target groups if possible policy; •

Budget • Menu of different cost items: different funding levels and structures • Most payments conditional on justification Unit costs/flat rates (with maximums) Two cost items are common to any project: in application Project management and implementation Transnational project meetings

Project management and implementation • 500 EUR per month to the coordinator, and 250 EUR per month to each other partner project management e.g. contribution to tasks such as planning, managing finances, coordination, communication, promotion and dissemination Virtual cooperation and local activities Information/promo/dissemination (e.g. production and dissemination of brochures, web info…) • •

Transnational project meetings • Travel and subsistence costs for project meetings between partners, hosted by one of the participating organisations Distance bands as crow flies, - use European • Commission 100km – 2,000km distance calculator 1,999km = 575 EUR per participant and above = 760 EUR per participant • Maximum 23,000 EUR per year in total (for all partners)

Optional cost items linked to activities Transnational learning/teaching/training activities: Travel by distance (275 EUR/360 EUR) Subsistence per pupil (55 EUR) and staff (100 EUR) per day for first 14 days

Special needs (optional) • Additional actual costs incurred to support participants with special needs. Please enter actual costs as far as you know • them, it funding has not request may not be possible to provide extra for participants with special needs which been included in your original budget

Exceptional costs (optional) • 75% actuals , subcontracted goods and services which partners cannot provide Office equipment or other equipment normally used by partners will not be funded •

Project Summary • Synopsis: to be used for publicity, uploaded to EC dissemination Context Objectives Participants Activities Methodology platform • Results, impact, longer term benefits Summary of participating organisations and budget

between schools Example of a Strategic Partnership • Three schools in 3 programme countries developing learning materials together interest pupils in the subjects of Maths creative and appealing way. on how to and Science in a • The expected output is the creation of a number of learning materials to be used in Maths and Science classes The activities would involve the direct cooperation of pupils in those classes both virtually (e.g. using eTwinning) and live for a project week. •

apply for a grant covering: For a two-year project the schools would apply for a grant covering: • Project management and implementation: a unit cost/flat rate grant per Transnational mobilities school project meetings: 4 meetings including 24 • • learning/training activity: a joint project week for which a group of 15 pupils each from two of the schools would travel to together during a week exhibition open to local of the hosting school. the third school and work with the materials, closed by an schools and the local community

Finding out more • www.erasmusplus.org.uk – Application guidance, Forms, Deadline (11am UK time on 30th April), Programme guide, Links and guidance for ECAS and PIC, Everything else to do with Erasmus+ erasmusplus.enquiries@britishcouncil.org 0161 957 7755 •