1. KA2 Strategic Partnerships Application advice – What the Assessor is looking for
Welcome and intros

2. Key Action 2 for schools
Key Action 2 – Strategic Partnerships = School Partnerships between 2 to 10 schools
They can last 2 or 3 years
Can focus on one specific field of education i.e. school education or…
Can promote cross-sectoral cooperation i.e. involve more than one field of education
Grant is not a lump sum for mobilities cf. Comenius but a mix of flat rates ( called unit costs) and real costs
Strategic partnerships are a new project type building on elements of the past. They bring together the features of both LLP and YiA to provide an integrated solution. They’re cultural a shift from Comenius School Partnerships.
A summary of the features…
up to a maximum of ten partner organisations from funded programme countries can be involved per SP (and more if including partner countries but funding changes)
We should stress key message is that mobility should add real value to projects. Strategic partnerships should go further than just supporting mobility.

3. 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 the applicant organisation holds the grant agreement with their National Agency and hence the funds and budget for the whole partnership
Coordinating NA is the NA in the country of the lead/coordinator school
The reason for individual grant agreements is because 70% of current decentralised budget for schools goes to school partnerships. It is the main action for schools. Most of the schools would not be capable of managing partnerships with large grants. Imagine trying to manage of budget of 300, 000 EUR!

4. 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
The eligibility check covers like KA1, for example, duration of project, deadline for submission, participating organisations etc…
All UK schools are eligible as participating organisations– that is, institutions providing general, vocational, or technical education at any level from pre-school to upper secondary education. Participating organisations must be based and registered in their programme country.
The exclusion criteria relates to EU Financial Regulations where applicants can be excluded from participating e.g. if they are bankrupt etc…
Through the selection criteria, the applicant's financial and operational capacity is checked
capacity to complete the proposed project.
Financial capacity as in KA2 . This doesn’t apply to public bodies i.e. schools.
Organisational capacity is where an organisation’s past history in the EU programmes can be checked, for example, where the results of previous monitoring or audits by the National Agency have revealed concerns in how well an organisation can manage a project.
Finally, through the award criteria, the quality of the proposed project is evaluated.
You will hear the outcome of you application within 4 months of the submission deadline.

5. Quality Assessment / Award Criteria
Each application is marked out of 100
Relevance of the project (30)
Quality of the project design and implementation (20)
Quality of the project team and the cooperation arrangements (20)
Impact and dissemination (30)
A project must score at least 60 to be considered, AND score at least 50% in each category
Full criteria breakdown on page of programme guide
As with KA1, it’s important to think about what the assessors will be looking for when assessing your application and therefore how you write it.
So it must score 15, 10, 10 and 15. Remember criteria scored below I/2 and whole project is scored weak and rejected. Not to frighten you but just to keep in mind!
There are 4 award criteria. 2 attract more points and hence more emphasis on them required. Relevance and Impact
1. Relevance: policy; needs; objectives; synergies between fields (if relevant); ‘innovative’ or ‘complementary’ to a previous project; for example it will produce something significantly new in terms of learning opportunities, skills development…AND/OR: if the application is based on a previous project, it demonstrates significant added value compared to the previous project results.
; added EU value through results that would not be attained by activities carried out in a single country.
2. Design and implementation : quality of work programme; consistency (between objectives and activities); realistic and appropriate methodology; evaluation throughout to ensure quality control i.e. high quality, completed in time and on budget (value for money); recognition of learning outcomes of participating pupils and school staff will be recognised/validated within the context of the school and the curriculum.
3. Quality of team and cooperation: appropriate mix of participating organisations ; appropriate distribution of tasks and responsibilities; effective mechanisms for coordination and communication -eTwinning?
4. Impact & dissemination: The evaluation methods proposed will make it possible to assess whether how well the project is producing the intended outcomes. ; the project is likely to have a substantial positive impact on the participating organisations and on their staff and/or learners and the potential to go further i.e. transferrable; the planned dissemination and exploitation activities will ensure an optimal use of the results; sustainability-The project is in a perspective that goes beyond the project period. Use of eTwinning? If relevant for the type of project, its results will be integrated in the management framework of the schools-school development plans/policies
When assessing applications against award criteria experts make a judgement on the extent to which applications meet the defined criteria. This judgement must be based on the information provided in the application. Experts cannot assume information that is not explicitly provided. Information relevant for a specific award criterion may appear in different parts of the application and experts take all of them into account when scoring the award criterion.

6. School priorities
Improving the attainment of young people, particularly those at risk of early school leaving (ESL)
Improving the attainment of young people with low basic skills in Maths, Science and Literacy
Developing high quality and accessible Early Childhood Education and Care services (ECEC)
Revising and strengthening the professional profile of the teaching professions
As seen with KA1.There are 4 school priorities. No one is more important than another. Numbered here for ease of reference They are linked to Europe 2020 strategy/Education & Training 2020 framework.
A proposed project will not be able to get a good score, particularly on the relevance criterion, if it does not properly address at least one of the priorities.
1. (ESL)(for EC Early School Leaving not UK English as Second Langaguge!
Projects may focus on:
Supporting schools to develop conducive, welcoming and supportive learning environments that focus on the needs of individual pupils
i.e. measures to improve the motivation and resilience of pupils (including through extracurricular and out-of-school activities); projects aimed at developing a positive classroom climate (including through preventing/ tackling bullying and improving school well-being); initiatives to make curricula more relevant and engaging.
Supporting cooperation in and around schools
i.e. This includes projects aimed at better involving parents and pupils in school decision-making; measures to empower families and parents to engage in and support their children’s education; measure to raise awareness of parents about ESL (recognising early signs of disengagement, academic difficulties, etc.); projects aimed at developing/reinforcing multi-professional approaches and teamwork within the school (including by involving professionals from outside the school).
Supporting schools to open-up and cooperate with external actors
i.e. other schools, local communities, local business, cultural organisations, guidance services, youth services and organisations, etc.. to create synergies in order to prevent/combat ESL. A special attention will be given to projects aimed at creating synergies between the formal and non-formal education sectors (including second chance schools, where they exist).
2. Basic Skills. Projects may focus on:
Helping to identify and monitor students in need of support for improving their attainment in basic skills
Helping to develop basic skills within a holistic approach to school education (e.g. across the curriculum)
Creating conditions for personalized teaching and learning in order to support each pupil in improving his/her basic skills
For maths and science:
Teaching maths and science (MST) in a broader context and with real-life relevance
Integrating the teaching of MST with other subjects in a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary manner
For literacy:
Creating a literate environment / Strengthening parental involvement / Integrating the teaching of literacy with other subjects / Increasing reading motivation
3. ECEC - Early Childhood Education and Care. Projects might:
Aim to develop a holistic and overarching age-appropriate curriculum or pedagogical framework
Promote a coherent vision on the early years
Facilitate transition from ECEC to primary school
Strengthen the professionalization of ECEC staff
Support wider access in an inclusive way to high-quality ECEC services
Support the establishment of comprehensive integrated services
Aim to establish quality assurance mechanisms
4. (CPD) Projects may focus on:
Developing effective initial and continuous professional learning of teaching staff
Helping teaching staff to keep on learning and developing
Including the school leaders in the continuous professional development of the teaching staff
Developing the capacity of the future and current schools staff to deal with ESL and improvements in basic skills

7. Education and training priorities
developing basic and transversal skills, such as entrepreneurship, digital skills and multilingualism
enhancing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) uptake in teaching and learning
promoting stronger coherence between different EU and national transparency and recognition tools
supporting the adjustment of funding and investment in education and training to new needs and the development of improved funding approaches for skills development
There are 4 horizontal education and training priorities relating to all fields of education training and youth in total however, these 2 have the most resonance for schools.
4 priorities in full-
developing basic and transversal skills, such as entrepreneurship, digital skills and multilingualism, using innovative and student-centred pedagogical approaches and developing appropriate assessment and certification methods based on learning outcomes;
enhancing ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) uptake in teaching and learning, through the support of learning and access to open educational resources (OER) in the education and training fields, supporting ICT-based teaching and assessment practices and by promoting the transparency of rights and obligations of users and producers of digitised content;
promoting stronger coherence between different EU and national transparency and recognition tools, so as to ensure that skills and qualifications can be easily recognised across borders.
supporting the adjustment of funding and investment in education and training to new needs and the development of improved funding approaches for skills development, in particular through partnerships and cost-sharing; stimulating debates on efficient and sustainable investment in education and training at European and national level involving all the relevant stakeholders.

8. The ‘proportionality principle’
There will be a fair and standard marking of applications, no matter their size or scope
The assessor will consider the size of the project and the experience of the school when assigning marks, and will adjust expectations accordingly
in practice this will mean that you are not disadvantaged by applying for a small project – the definition of ‘very good’ will be different
coherence of the grant request in relation to the activities and outputs proposed will be checked
Standard quality assessment forms are established by the European Commission and used in all Programme Countries in order to ensure a coherent assessment of applications across Programme Countries.
Assessors will consider the type of project, the scale of the activities and the grant request when analysing the grant applications. As projects may vary widely in terms of their size, complexity, experience of the participating organisations, whether they are more process or product oriented etc., experts have to integrate the ‘proportionality principle’ into the assessment of all award criteria. Therefore a small scale project won’t be disadvantaged.

9. Relevance of the project – 30 points
The assessor needs to see that the project :
matches the aims of Erasmus+, and the priorities for schools
is based on a genuine and adequate needs analysis;
has clearly defined objectives which are realistic and address issues relevant to the schools , their staff and pupils
is innovative and/or complementary to other initiatives already carried out by the schools
only has value and produces results because it is carried out with other international partners
The relevance criterion is worth 30 % of the points so needs significant attention. There’s a strong emphasis on linking EU policy and the programme.
As assessor will be looking for relevance to priorities as follows:
“one or more………………”

10. Quality of the project design & implementation – 20 points
The work programme should be clear, complete and of good quality
It must include appropriate phases for preparation, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and dissemination.
The project objectives and proposed activities must be consistent.
It must be cost-effective and allocate appropriate resources to each activity.
Where there are plans for training, teaching or learning activities, they must be appropriate to the aims and involve the appropriate number of participants.
Learning outcomes should be clearly assessed and validated.

11. Quality of the project team & cooperation arrangements – 20 points
The schools involved bring the right mix of experience and expertise to successfully deliver all aspects of the project.
All partners are active contributors and tasks/responsibilties are clearly assigned.
Where possible newcomers are involved.
It is clear what the channels of communication are for schools to coordinate the project.
If a ‘Partner Country’ is involved you must explain the necessity for their inclusion, if not the project will be rejected.
Partner country = outside the EC Participating countries

12. Impact and dissemination – 30 points
The Assessor will consider how the potential impact of the project is measured :
on participants and schools, during and after the project lifetime
at local, regional, national and/or European levels.
In addition:
The quality of the dissemination plan
The plans for ensuring the sustainability of the project after the project finishes.
If relevant, how the outcomes are made freely available. (opensource)

13. Applying
Before anything else….
Remember your PIC!
Start at
From Brian S
Making the bid – tips for schools which wish to think about applying under these actions. It would be good to touch briefly on the whole ECAS/PIC issue too.

14. The application eform 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 before starting
There have been some reports of corruption when using a USB stick with a .pdf application, so that should be avoided

15. It should look like this
If it doesn’t, you’ve opened the wrong one. – make sure it is the right application, as this part of the eligibility criteria, and you will be made ineligible for completing the wrong form.
Here is where you will confirm if the partnership is composed of only schools. i.e. individual grant agreements.
Grey is automatic – you can’t enter info
Red outline is mandatory
Combination of drop-down menus and free text boxes
Hover over boxes to find character maximums
Section-by-section guidance online
The KA2 application is long, but think of it as your project management document, a blueprint, for you to work from, over the duration of your project.

16. Basic form info Grey is automatic – you can’t enter info
Red outline is mandatory
Blue with black outline is optional
Combination of drop-down menus and free text boxes
Hover over boxes to find character maximums
Section-by-section guidance online

17. Budget Menu of different cost items
Most payments conditional on justification in application
Unit costs i.e. flat rates
Ceilings
2 cost items are common to any project:
Project management and implementation
Transnational project meetings
The budget section of the application form consists of a list of cost items that you can select from (a menu) based on the activities you wish to undertake, and the results you aim to achieve. The first 2 items, project management and implementation and transnational project meetings, are grant items that all partnerships will apply for, as it is meant to contribute to costs that any project will incur.
Some sections of the budget have fixed unit costs/flat rates, which means certain fields will fill automatically based on the information you provide in that particular section.
There is an overall ceiling for some budget lines in order to prevent disproportionate amounts of spending on one type of activity. Please see the Erasmus+ Programme Guide, pages 101 to 107 for further information.

18. Once you’ve completed the form, you should: Validate Print declaration
Application process
Once you’ve completed the form, you should:
Validate
Print declaration
Have it signed
Attach the declaration
Attach the time table of activities (Gantt chart)
Submit the application online
When you believe you have completed the form, click ‘validate’
The form will tell you if you’re missing something mandatory
You will not need to print the whole form, but you will need to print the declaration
The declaration, once printed, must be signed by the head, or someone who can legally represent the school. This is important, as the project will be considered ineligible in the first round without it.
The scan should then be attached to the application as an annex
The timetable of activities should also be attached, GANTT CHART
The partner mandate template should be signed by each partner if the project is not schools only re grant agreement
The form should then be ‘submitted’
It will tell you if it works. If it doesn’t, it may be a firewall issue with your school network, or it may be something else – either way, contact us

19. E-Twinning Great opportunity to find partner schools
Protected space to share ideas
Improved version coming soon
New E-twinning arriving in September/October – drag and drop feature – simplified
Looking for people currently using it to test the beta-version soon

20. Finding out more www.erasmusplus.org.uk For application guidance,
forms,
deadlines,
the programme guide,
Links and guidance for ECAS and PIC,
and everything to do with Erasmus+,
including more links
Finding out more
The Erasmus+ website is best, as it will have links to everything else

21. Stress the importance of the newsletter, and the twitter feed on the Erasmus+ website – as soon as we know something, applicants will know something!

22. Questions?