TRAINING ACTIVITIES

Training Activities in Greece, Spain, Turkey, Ireland, and Poland consisted of short-term joint staff training events as well as large scale international training courses (Multiplier Events) in Spain and Greece. Selected experts, educational methods specialists, and teachers, all members of the project consortium, were trained on:

the use of the MOVING STARS Training Material as well as the educational scenarios and games developed,
the use of the MOVING STARS interactive sensory-motion video game,
networking and connecting with other schools and stakeholders that were invited to present their best practices,
the use of the eTwinning Platform capabilities and on how to adapt, use and disseminate the MOVING STARS Toolkit,
disseminating the MOVING STARS approach through its web site and social media.

TRAIN-THE-TRAINERS - PHASE 1

The 3 first Training Activities took place in Athens (Greece), Terrassa (Spain), and Kildare (Ireland). The main objective was to pre-test and evaluate the games developed through Intellectual Outputs 2 and 3. The results of the pretesting evaluation were used to finalize the Moving STARS Toolkit (Teacher’s Manual and supporting material).

Athens, Greece - September 2021

The first training activity was organized by RSI “Panos Mylonas”, in Athens. During the training, the participants played the Moving STARS games – focusing on movement games for early school years – and evaluated them.

During this training, the MOVING STARS Video Game was also presented for the first time by OMEGA Technology, receiving comments for further development and improvements. RSI presented a best practice from Greece, the educational programme “In Traffic with Safety” that runs into Greek primary schools since 2009 and deals with pedestrian safety.

Furthermore, a guest from the Greek Association of Dance Therapists presented a one-hour session of movement exercises concerning space and body awareness, focus and concentration, effort awareness, as well as body music.

The 3-day training concluded with a visit at the historical center of Athens and Filopappou hill where the participants played the games in an open area with a view of Acropolis!

Terrassa (Barcelona), Spain - October 2021

The second training activity was organized by Escola ‘Sant Josep’ Primary School, in Terrassa, Barcelona.

The participants were trained on the activities of the manual, focusing on the exercises promoting movement development and active mobility – cycling & scootering.

Among the guest experts were the Urban Mobility unit of the Terrassa Municipality who presented the initiatives for promoting sustainable and active mobility as well as the Traffic Police who presented the educational programmes for primary school students.

The participants visited the Terrassa Cycling Circuit where the local Traffic Police implements the practical training for students on safe cycling and scootering.

Kildare, Ireland - November 2021

The 3rd and final training activity of the 1st Phase was hosted by the Kildare Town ‘Educate Together’ National School and was mainly focused into exercises for older students of primary and secondary education.

At this training event, we had the opportunity to pretest the Moving STARS video game with the school’s students, observe them play, receive feedback, and suggest improvements.

Among the guest experts were the local Traffic Police as well as the Road Safety Authority (RSA) who presented initiatives concerning the protection of students during their daily travels to and from school as well as educational programmes for the prevention of road crashes.

1st MULTIPLIER EVENT IN SPAIN

The receivers of the three training activities became “MOVING STARS Agents” and a team of them delivered trainings during the 1st International Training Course (Multiplier Event) in Spain, on May 2022. The event took place at the Centre Cívic President Macià in Terrassa, Barcelona, and was organized by Escola ‘Sant Josep’ in collaboration with RSI “Panos Mylonas”, project coordinator of MOVING STARS.

The event was attended by post-graduate students from the departments of Pedagogical Studies of the University of Catalunya, teachers from neighboring schools, traffic policemen, and road safety experts.

Guest presentations included best practice examples in educational programmes by ADEVIC, First Aids & Post Crash Response by First Aids Instructors, and the Protocol for pedestrians and scooters initiative by Terrassa Police.

TRAIN-THE-TRAINERS - PHASE 2

The second phase of the train-the-trainers activities took place between October – December 2022 and was mainly focused on the dissemination of the project results. Visits to Traffic Safety and Mobility Education Organizations and training centers (e.g. Traffic parks, cycling training and examination centers) also took place, giving to the participants a first-hand experience on road safety educational programmes for students. Schools from the STARS HUB Pilot Network were also invited to present their road safety projects and initiatives, providing ideas to all partners on how to animate the network of schools in their countries.

Istanbul, Turkey - October 2022

A 3-days train-the-trainers event full of activities took place in Istanbul, Turkey, at the historical building of the Greek Minority School “Zographeion Lyceum”.

Teachers, Road Safety Experts, and Trainers were trained on the updated Moving STARS Games and toolkit material. In addition to the above, students of Zographeion school participated to the training activities, presenting their own road projects, as well as played the Moving Stars Games.

The STARS team visited the Istanbul Traffic Control Center and one of the three Traffic Parks. External guest speakers included the Belgian VSV who presented their initiative on "Grand Pedestrian Test" certificate that takes place in the region of Flanders and is concerning students’ pedestrian skills.

The Music School of Arta, member of the STARS pilot network, presented their projects on safe cycling online.

Students of the two schools had the chance to discuss and exchange views concerning the traffic safety situation of both countries.

Warsaw, Poland - December 2022

The 4th training event took place in Warsaw and was organized by the Transport Motor Institute (Instytut Transportu Samochodowego).

The training was hosted by WORD Warszawa and the participants from Greece, Ireland, Spain, and Turkey had the chance to learn about the driving license examinations in Poland as well as the cycling certificate for primary school students that runs since 1998.

Furthermore, schools from the MOVING STARS pilot network from Greece (91st Kindergarten of Athens and Special Vocational Secondary School of Egaleo) presented the activities that are currently taking place in their classes concerning the MOVING STARS project.

During the second day, participants visited the Tor Modlin and attended the training activities for primary schoolers on safe cycling and scootering.

Members of the Moving STARS team also participated as trainers using the STARS Videogame to teach the students!

2^nd MULTIPLIER EVENT IN GREECE

The 2^nd International Training Activity will take place on January 2023 in Athens, Greece. More details to be announced soon!

NATIONAL EVENTS

National Teachers Training Workshops and open events are also taking place throughout Europe and beyond:

In Greece, RSI “Panos Mylonas”, in collaboration with the Municipality of Larissa and the Regional Education Office, coordinated a teacher training on September 2021 and an online webinar on September 2022. Moreover, the MOVING STARS applications (training mats, videogame and selected games) were presented to open events such as the Volunteerism festival in Patra, Western Greece (September 2022), Kallithea Municipality children’s’ Festival (September 2022) and the Awards Ceremony of the 5th Panhellenic Student Contest on Digital Creation for Road Safety at the National Library of Greece in Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre.

In Spain, Escola ‘Sant-Josep’ organized an open day for neighboring schools’ teachers. Moreover, teachers of the school travelled to Zambia and trained the Simoonga school teachers to include the MOVING STARS games to their training activities!

In Poland, during the visit in Modling, students and teachers had the chance to get trained on the videogame application.