Background information:The Deutschhaus-Gymnasium (DHG) is a grammar school specializing in modern languages and sciences/ technologies and currently has about 1.100 students. There are three main educational areas the school development focuses on:1. the promotion of talent/giftedness (derived from the program of the enhancement of the very skilled students)2. the enhancement of competitive athletes3. ITC in the classroomDue to its innovative methods the DHG has been reviewed by the University of Wuerzburg and other universities for more than a decade. Moreover, it has continuously provided the opportunity for teachers to sit in on classes, which has been done by colleagues from German schools and from abroad. Currently the DHG is being turned into a centre of competence for the enhancement of the highly-gifted, and will then be responsible for the entire administrative district of Lower Franconia in that respect. The school is part of a broad network of other innovative schools and institutions that possess particular competences in a specific or in various of the areas mentioned above, and it will join these competences in this project. The school cooperates closely with universities, companies and organisations in the educational field. The aims of the project:The core idea is to improve the school’s quality through the development of teaching. By offering the opportunity of mutual visits of teachers and the chance of teaching in partner schools, including feedback from partner to partner and by sending teachers to particular workshops, there will be an intensive mutual process of improvement. Another goal is to enhance the European dimension of the school (though student contacts as well) and to lower the rate of school drop-outs. The required skills for the centre of competence are to be systematically established. The number and profile of participants:The tasks for the participants will be defined in the staff teams responsible for the different school development fields. The participants have profound experiences in teaching their subjects and are exceptionally qualified in this respect. There is an adequate number of them who will be able not only to establish the skills gained in this project in their respective school development field but in the whole school and thoughout the administrative district as well. Description of the activities:Sitting in on lessons within the framework of job shadowing (first and second year of the project) will cover a wide scope. After thorough preparations the participants will collect specific information on the underlying conditions and the arrangement of the school’s development of the institution being visited. They will exchange views with the staff of the partner school at a large scale. Colleagues of the partner school in return will be invited to participate in job shadowing at the DHG and pass on their experiences to their own school. There will be two teachers at three schools (including summer academy), with which there are already closer contacts on staff level, who will teach there for one week (predominantly in the second year of the project).In addition, further vocational training as part of seminars will interdisciplinarily enhance language skills. There will be an additional exchange with the partner school in this respect.Proceedings of the project implementationThe school administration will coordinate the entire project in close agreement with the project partners. It will supervise the preparations of the participants and the evaluation and distribution of the results of the project. The counseling of europafels will ensure the intercultural scale of the agreements with the partner institutions. There are no language barriers as all the participants in all of the institutions can communicate competently in German or English. Intended results and effects and intended long-term benefits:By getting to know and critically evaluating other forms of open and distance learning, project work and new media/ digital skills the teachers involved in this project should reflect their own teaching methods and share their views with teachers of the partner schools. The professional contacts between the members of staff in the different partner schools should lead to the establishment of a long-term network, enhanced by interdisciplinary projects reaching beyond one’s own school and thus support the European dimension of the DHG. The results of the project will be continuously evaluated within the framework of vocational training at the school and will be profoundly established in ordinary lessons. Due to the fact that the school as a centre of competence for the enhancement of the very gifted students is responsible for the counseling and training of the staff of other schools. The results also are feeding into the training program of eVOCATIOn in Germany and Austria as well as into the project work of europafels.