Project backgroundIn our school we are driven by a desire to come as close as possible to the needs of modern learning community and to equip our students with the best possible competence for adaptation and competitiveness in the labour market. In order to meet these challenges, we first need to train our teachers, particularly in upgrading their professional and language competence, intercultural dialogue and project management as key elements of open schools of the future. We wish to establish an effective Educational Centre at our school, which will serve as the central institution of the vertical links between the providers of formal and informal education and the labour market, with a special emphasis on students of kindergarten pedagogics, early language education and mathematical skills. Thru obligatory practical training of the students our school has a large network of kindergartens where we see a strong impact of our project. It is of particular importance that this kind of knowledge is obtained by structured courses (Germany, Great Britain, Finland), job shadowing of colleagues from abroad (Poland, Iceland), that being the case of experimental learning in intercultural dialogue during the project and after its completion, since we want to maintain contacts for future projects (mobility of students, job shadowing, eTwinning ...). Such qualified personnel can successfully transmit new competencies through a multiplicative effect within the Educational Centre to colleagues, students and external professionals that we work with.The project objectives- to establish an effective project team of the Educational Centre that will be related to the professional field of early childhood education as well as link various parties of educational vertical (kindergarten/primary and secondary educatio / higher education), - to upgrade the linguistic competencies of the participants,- to adopt, transmit and imply innovative and proven examples of pedagogical practices to students/participants of the Educational Centre, present them with opportunities for professional development, - to improve the link between formal and informal education and to contribute to greater competitiveness and proficiency of our students/participants on the labour market,- to raise awareness of teachers/students/participants of understanding of other cultures and countries and to achieve the establishment of a wide network of international contacts in the field of education.All the nine participants are from the younger generation of teachers (math, foreign languages, pedagogics and psychology) and are prepared to participate in a project abroad, want to upgrade their language skills and to share the European idea among colleagues and students, intend to integrate the EU dimension in their work, will spread the acquired skills and competences to entire school (teachers and students) and within the Education Center - the multiplicative goal, will transfer the acquired knowledge in teaching and extracurricular work, will integrate the project into school’s strategic objectives. Description of activities- preparation of project participants for attendance in a courses and job shadowing (+ all travel arrangements),- implementation of the project - active participation in structured courses and job shadowing abroad,- sharing experiences and knowledge with other teachers after the completion of individual stages of the project,- transferring the acquired knowledge to teaching and working with students,- project evaluation,- dissemination and reporting.The project methodologyBy using a project approach we want to plan all the activities – participation in structured courses abroad, job shadowing and preparing to it, monitoring the progress of the project, an interim and final evaluation, and dissemination using workshops and presentations. We believe that by active participation and monitoring where various methods with an emphasis on the acquisition of language, professional and international competences are used, teachers will institutionalize the acquired knowledge and make it become an important part of school and extracurricular activities. Description of expected results, impact, long-term effectsExperience gained thru project activities will result in raising motivation for work, upgrading professional and linguistic competence, and readiness for future intercultural cooperation for the participants and the entire teaching staff. Consequently, an increase in international, linguistic and social skills of our students and participants of the Educational Center, who will be included in future EU projects, is also expected. By that our students will be better prepared for future life, and the requirements of the labour market, while the school will be recognisable in the field of international cooperation and as an organisation trying to implement new trends and good practices in its educational work.