The POLAR STAR Summer School is designed to promote collaboration among teachers and engage them in inspiring interactive sessions.

Participating teachers will be invited to work in small groups and complete a set of workshops. During the sessions, they will be encouraged discuss ideas and exchange experiences. Through these workshop participating teachers will be introduced to STEAM and Interdisciplinary Learning approaches while they will also get acquainted with methods and techniques that will allow them to introduce these concepts in their class gradually and at their own pace without having to step too much outside their comfort zone.  They will learn how to take the best of many worlds, use high quality learning tools and organize them under a methodological plan that designates how the tools can be apt for use in a complementary way as different elements of one seamless methodology. This way, they will optimise the use of each of these tools, ensure that they obtain a deeper understanding of the capabilities, functions and added value of each of them and that they are in position to decide and choose the best tool to be used depending on the needs of their class at any given point.

The course will last for 5 days, consisting of 23 hours of hands-on workshops and lectures.

Certain sessions of the summer school will be dedicated to analyzing the challenges participating teachers face in their schools and on building future collaboration between participants. Finally, special attention will be given to collecting feedback from participants through discussion and reflection activities.

The PLATON Summer School is designed so as to promote collaboration among teachers and engage them in inspiring interactive sessions.

Participating teachers will be invited to work in small groups and complete a set of workshops. During the sessions, they will be encouraged discuss ideas and exchange experiences. Through these workshop participating teachers will be introduced to STEAM and Interdisciplinary Learning approaches while they will also get acquainted with methods and techniques that will allow them to introduce these concepts in their class gradually and at their own pace without having to step too much outside their comfort zone.  They will learn how to take the best of many worlds, use high quality learning tools and organize them under a methodological plan that designates how the tools can be apt for use in a complementary way as different elements of one seamless methodology. This way, they will optimise the use of each of these tools, ensure that they obtain a deeper understanding of the capabilities, functions and added value of each of them and that they are in position to decide and choose the best tool to be used depending on the needs of their class at any given point.

The course will last for 5 days, consisting of 15 hours in total plus another 8 hours of optional hands-on sessions.

Certain sessions of the summer school will be dedicated into analyzing the challenges the teachers will participate in and on building future collaboration between participants. Finally, special attention will be given to collecting feedback from participants through discussion and reflection activities.

This website will act as a main hub of communication and for sharing and distributing preparatory material with the participants. Participants will have a common workspace for uploading and downloading educational materials.

Participants will have to get acquainted with the training topics as well as the course methodology by accessing the materials and tools which will be available in advance through the website.

Before attending the summer school, participants will be asked to review some materials relative to the topic of the summer school and the methodologies that will be discussed. More specifically, they will need to familiarize themselves with educational materials that will be provided about learning-design and inquiry-based science education;

As a follow-up to the training course, the participants will be asked to make use of the activities they worked on during the summer school and share their work with the community of teachers.

As members of our community of science teachers, participants will be constantly informed about new initiatives they can participate in, as well as new activities they can choose to use. They have access to support provided by the training team, and they will be able to communicate their work and ideas with other science teachers in European countries and beyond, who have a common interest.

In order to assess the impact of the course, participants will have to answer, during and at the end of the course, a set of relevant questionnaires that will be provided by the course providers. The results of the questionnaires/survey or a so-called evaluation report will be available to all participants of the course.

Course fee

The course fee for all ESIA Summer Schools is 480€ (80€/per day) and fully within the funding opportunities of the Erasmus+ Programme.

The course fee covers:

• Expert lecturers for lectures, seminars and workshops
• All materials and equipment needed for the course
• Participation in the social programme & excursions (e.g. Sunset and dinner at Cape Sounio, excursion to the Acropolis and visit to the Acropolis Museum and dinner in downtown Athens, traditional night and farewell dinner, etc.)

Subsistence & accommodation

The Summer School will be held at Golden Coast Hotel & Bungalows, an A-class/ 4-star sea-side hotel which stretches on the golden, sandy beach of the Marathon Bay, near the historic location of Marathon, at the outskirts of Athens.

ESIA has made special arrangement with the hotel and are happy to offer to all participants a single or double room with all-inclusive services (i.e. breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks and free of charge services for outdoors sports and recreational activities).

The costs for subsistence are also within the ceilings of the Erasmus+ programme for KA1 mobility actions.

The Summer School will be held at Golden Coast Hotel & Bungalows, an A-class/ 4-star sea-side hotel which stretches on the golden, sandy beach of the Marathon Bay, near the historic location of Marathon, at the outskirts of Athens.

It is the area of Marathon, that has hosted since the times of myths when Theseus killed the terrible bull of Marathon, to the times of the Persian wars and the Battle of Marathon, further on to our days and the marathon race and Marathon Run, the emblematic symbol of man’s quest for freedom and the will to defend his most noble deeds which constitute the foundations of the Human civilization. The plethora of natural, historical sites and museums of the area reveal in all details this unique historical voyage.

Participants are expected to arrive through the Athens International Airport, approximately 25 km (15,53 miles) distance from the hotel.

Learn More…

School Heads and Teachers participation in the summer courses can be funded by the ERASMUS+ Programme.

In case your school or organization does not have the funds to cover the costs of your participation in the Summer School, there is another option: you can apply to be funded by by the ERASMUS+ Programme.

Please note that the Erasmus+ KA1 application can only be submitted by the school or the organization – no individual applications can be submitted.

The deadline for application is 23 February 2022.

What is ERASMUS+?

Erasmus+ is the European Commission’s Programme for education, training, youth, and sport for the period 2021-2027. As an integrated programme, Erasmus+ offers more opportunities for the mobility of learners and staff and cooperation across the education, training, and youth sectors and is easier to access than its predecessors, with simplified funding rules and a structure that aims to streamline the administration of the programme.

Erasmus+ Key Action 1 (KA1) provides a unique opportunity for teachers, headmasters, trainers, and other staff of educational institutions to participate in international training courses in different European countries. Schools, universities, vocational education and training, and adult education organizations are all eligible to receive full funding to attend courses under a KA1 mobility grant. The Erasmus+ KA1 grant covers all the costs to attend teacher training courses: including travel, subsistence, and course fee.

For up-to-date information about Erasmus+ please check the Programme’s website. Your school will need to apply to your country’s National Agency, who is also the one who will evaluate the proposal. Therefore, your National Agency is also a very good point to start for more information.

Don’t forget to go through the the New Programme Guide and you will have all you need to know.

The steps to apply for an Erasmus+ KA1 School Education Staff Mobility grant are:

1. Fill in the registration form to our Summer School with your details. This is an individual registration form, so if there are more than one participant from the same school, each one will have to submit a separate registration form. This way you have reserved a slot in the course in case your application for Erasmus+ funding is successful!
2. Register your school/organization here: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-esc/index/ , if not already registered.
3. Check the compliance with the programme criteria
4. Check the financial conditions
5. Fill in and submit the application form
6. Respect the deadline
7. Do not forget to inform us as soon as you get notified from your National Agency whether your grant application is accepted or rejected.

You can find all related information about submitting an Erasmus+ Application HERE.

We will be happy to guide you through the process.