News

Launching the SEN POWER project

Partners from Bulgaria, Portugal and Turkey have joined efforts to make a step forward to more inclusive schools by launching the SEN Power project.

Major target groups of the project are:

  • Target group 1  – students aged 6-11 with Specific Learning Difficulties, Autism Spectrum Disorders – mild cases and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Target group 2 – mainstream teachers in primary school.

With the SEN Power project we aim at supporting Target group 1 to achieve better attainment levels in Mathematics and Nature Studies and improve their development as members of the school community.

Project activities will also support primary school teachers to improve their skills and competences to support all students, but paying special attention to target group 1, to teach them how to design educational materials in Mathematics and Nature Studies considering the specifics of target group 1.

The SEN Power project will design support materials for mainstream primary school teachers and organize teacher trainings as follows:

  • design of a Methodology which teachers can use to make the educational process at primary school level correspond to the needs of target group 1 students;
  • design a teachers’ toolkit with 46 ready-to-use training resources on specific topics in Mathematics at primary school level which can be used in the classroom with all students with special attention being paid to target group 1 students;
  • design a teachers’ toolkit with 46 ready-to-use training resources on specific topics in Nature Studies at primary school level which can be used in the classroom with all students with special attention being paid to target group 1 students;
  • organize teacher training events for teaching professionals to make use of the Methodology and the toolkits in Mathematics and Nature Studies.

New Handboook for teaching special needs students in primary school

The SENPower project team created a methodological guidebook for teaching students with special educational needs in primary school. It is intended for primary teachers from general education schools. By using it the teachers:

• will achieve a better understanding of students’ needs:

  • students with specific learning difficulties;
  • students with autism spectrum disorders;
  • students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

• will improve their planning skills in order to provide support to all students in their learning and personal development;

• will upgrade their short-term goal-setting skills regarding students with specific learning difficulties, autism spectrum disorders and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders;

• will improve their skills for assessing student development.

 The guide is available here.

M4ALL and NS4ALL teacher’s toolkits – first editions

The first editions of the M4ALL and NS4ALL teacher’s toolkits are already available online. They comprise everything teachers need to present the topics to their students – lesson plans, handouts and e-resources.

In the M4ALL toolkit you can find the following topics:

Grade 1

  • Addition and subtraction
  • Programs; presenting data sets with pictograms
  • Number of objects in a collection of up to 20 object

Grade 2

  • Multiplication. Multiplier. Product.
  • Measurement and comparison of objects: weight measures
  • The commutative and associative property of addition
  • Problem with four operations

Grade 3

  • Parts of a whole: a half, a third, a fourth, a tenth
  • Figure operations; reflection
  • Exploring Whole, Half, and Quarter Fractions

Grade 4

  • Area of a rectangle
  • Data presentation and interpretation; probability
  • Geometric shapes
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Determining the value of the variable in an equation

Interdisciplinary Lessons

  • Water – Measuring rain
  • Water: Flooding in urban environment

In the NS4ALL toolkit you can find the following topics:

Grade 1

  • Healthy lifestyle
  • Diversity in Nature: living and non-living things
  • Changes in Nature According to the Seasons
  • The importance of the Sun

Grade 2

  • Domestic and wild animals. People and animals.
  • Biodiversity and responsible attitude towards Nature
  • The human body: Sensory organs of vision
  • Effect of the movement and shape of the Earth on human life

Grade 3

  • Living and non-living Nature
  • The influence of air, light, temperature, water, soil on the life of plants and animals
  • Functions of the tongue
  • Main organs of the human body and their functions

Grade 4

  • Human activities and their effect on the oceans
  • The secrets of water – the 3 states of water
  • Sound and light; sources and their effect on people’s life
  • Gravitational Force of Magnets

Interdisciplinary Lessons

  • Water – Measuring rain
  • Water: Flooding in urban environment

The teaching resources are being piloted by teachers in Bulgaria, Portugal and Turkey during school year 2023/24. Their feedback and recommendations for edits will be considered by the authors of the lessons and changes will be made to comply with teachers’ suggestions.

Teacher training event 1

Entroncamento – Portugal | September 4th – September 8th, 2023

The participants were 41 teaching professionals from schools from Yambol, Kardzhali and Sofia – Bulgaria, teachers and researchers from the partner organizations National Association of Resource Teachers, academics from Instituto Politecnico de Santarem, experts from Antalya Directorate of National Education, and, of course – teachers from EB Zona Verde  school (Agrupamento de Escolas Cidade do Entroncamento) – our wonderful hosts from Entroncamento who made us feel at home and provided excellent working conditions.

September 4th, 2023

We started Day 1 with the Hopes and Fears session and continued with presenting the project to the participants and the designed products:

The teachers also enjoyed participating the getting-to-know each other and team building activities.

September 5th, 2023

The second day was devoted to presenting the lesson plans in Mathematics for Grades 1 and 2. The sessions were practical showcasing how to teach the topics to the students making use of the designed lesson plans. The teachers stepped in the shoes of students and followed the instructions of the tutors. After each topic there was organized a brief discussion for sharing feedback.

September 6th, 2023

During the third day the teachers were presented to the lesson plans in Mathematics for Grades 3 and 4, and the interdisciplinary lessons in Mathematics and Nature studies designed by Instituto Politecnico de Santarem. The participants took part in the experiments as suggested in the lessons and discussed heatedly the practical implementation of the activities in their classrooms.

September 7th and September 8th

The last two days of the training were very busy. All 20 topics from the NS4ALL toolkit were presented to the teachers, and this was, once again, done in a practical way – the teachers did the tasks students were expected to do, and, even behaved like students – getting distracted, having fun and talking to friends. The simulations were good lessons for both parties: for the teachers who felt what it is like being sitted at a chair for a long time and how this impacts your concentration and attention to the learning process; and for the trainers – to check the level of difficulty and the duration of the described activities in the lesson plans.

We worked hard but also took part in numerous cultural activities – getting-to-know the people of Portugal and the region of Entroncamento, visited really impressive places and made new friends.

M4ALL and NS4ALL teacher’s toolkits – third editions

The third edited and expanded editions of the M4ALL and NS4ALL teacher’s toolkits are already available online. They comprise everything teachers need to present the topics to their students – lesson plans, handouts and e-resources.

The teaching resources from the 1st editions were piloted by teachers in Bulgaria, Portugal and Turkey during school year 2023/24. Their feedback and recommendations for edits were considered by the authors of the lessons and relevant changes were made to comply with the teachers’ suggestions. At the same time, the teachers gave ideas and suggested developing additional topics in the respective classes, which were designed and became part of the 3rd edition.

In the M4ALL toolkit you can find the following topics:

Grade 1

  • Addition and subtraction
  • Programs; presenting data sets with pictograms
  • Number of objects in a collection of up to 20 objects
  • Units and tens: Meaning of digits according to their position in the record of a number
  • DATA – Statistical questions, data collection and organisation
  • Measurement: Length
  • Geometrical shapes
  • Addition of natural numbers up to 20
  • Addition and subtraction of numbers up to 20 with carrying; word problems
  • Addition with carrying: Adding number 9 to a single digit number

Grade 2

  • Multiplication. Multiplier. Product.
  • Measurement and comparison of objects: weight measures
  • The commutative and associative property of addition
  • Problem with four operations
  • A two-digit number as the sum of tens and units
  • Order of units and order of tens in a two-digit number
  • Types of triangles based on the length of their sides; perimeter of a triangle.
  • Spatial Location
  • Numbers and Operations: Division
  • Units of measurement for length: decimetre and metre
  • Symmetrical shapes
  • Numeric pattern

Grade 3

  • Parts of a whole: a half, a third, a fourth, a tenth
  • Figure operations; reflection
  • Exploring Whole, Half, and Quarter fractions
  • Word problems: inverse variation (addition and subtraction)
  • Figure operations: Rotation
  • Mathematical Connections: External connections
  • Money: Uses of money
  • Problems with Division
  • Dividend – Quotient – Divisor – Remainder

Grade 4

  • Area of a rectangle
  • Data presentation and interpretation; probability
  • Geometric shapes
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Determining the value of the variable in an equation
  • Probability
  • Measuring and drawing angles
  • Geometric shapes – circle and circumference
  • Measurement: Problem Solving – money
  • Real-Life Math Challenge
  • Visualising Fractions: Art Gallery Maths
  • Multiplication of multi-digit number by 1-digit number without carrying
  • Word problems based on data from tables, diagrams, charts using multiplication of a multi-digit number by a two-digit number.

Interdisciplinary Lessons

  • Water – Measuring rain
  • Water: Flooding in urban environment
  • Measuring human footprints
  • Dinosaur locomotion

In the NS4ALL toolkit you can find the following topics:

Grade 1

  • Healthy lifestyle
  • Diversity in Nature: living and non-living things
  • Changes in Nature According to the Seasons
  • The importance of the Sun
  • Parts of a plant: root, stem, leaf, blossom, fruit
  • Body Security: Risk behaviours for individual and collective health and safety
  • Basic needs of the living beings – animals and plants
  • Recycling
  • Healthy foods and beverages
  • Reading tree rings; parts of plants
  • Classification of plants based on the structure of the stem: trees, shrubs and grasses. Deciduous and coniferous trees.

Grade 2

  • Domestic and wild animals. People and animals.
  • Biodiversity and responsible attitude towards Nature
  • The human body: Sensory organs of vision
  • Effect of the movement and shape of the Earth on human life
  • Means of transport. Pollution.
  • Plants
  • Growing healthy! Growing strong!
  • Balanced Nutrition
  • Let’s Keep Our Environment Clean
  • Exploring animal footprints

Grade 3

  • Living and non-living Nature
  • The influence of air, light, temperature, water, soil on the life of plants and animals
  • Functions of the tongue
  • Main organs of the human body and their functions
  • Man and healthy lifestyle – keeping oral hygiene and healthy teeth
  • How plants and animals survive
  • Water – properties, distribution, importance and uses
  • First Aid
  • States of matter: Reversible transformations
  • Types of movement
  • The Water Cycle: A Journey Through States of Matter
  • Classification of animals based on their food habits

Grade 4

  • Human activities and their effect on the oceans
  • The secrets of water – the 3 states of water
  • Sound and light; sources and their effect on people’s life
  • Gravitational Force of Magnets
  • Soil permeability
  • Orientation: the basics to find your way
  • Exploring Ecosystems: Habitats and Biodiversity
  • Magnificent Matter: Exploring States and Changes
  • Nutrition and respiration of plants
  • Classification of animals – invertebrates and vertebrates: fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals
  • Extinct animals

Interdisciplinary Lessons

  • Water – Measuring rain
  • Water: Flooding in urban environment
  • Measuring human footprints
  • Dinosaur locomotion

Teacher training event 2 – Antalya, Turkey

Day 1, Oct 21st, 2024

The third year of the SEN Power https://sen-power.eu/  project started with a teacher training event hosted by Antalya Provincial Directorate of National Education. Our hosts organized the training sessions to take place in a lovely spacious room branded and decorated to create a positive and inspiring atmosphere.

All training sessions were planned as simulations of the trainings the teachers would implement with their students during school year 2024/25 to pilot the resources from the two toolkits which were created by the consortium – the Mathematics for all toolkit (M4ALL) and the Nature Studies for all (NS4ALL) toolkit.

As suggested in the toolkits, we started with a Fears and Expectations session, and continued with warm-up activities meant to energize the participants, make them curious and eager to participate in the training sessions; there were activities aimed at getting-to-know each other and getting-to-know yourself, and team building activities.

Teacher training event 2 – Antalya, Turkey

Day 2, Oct 22nd, 2024

The second day of the training was about presenting the topics from the “Mathamatics for All”  and „Nature Studies for All” toolkits. But because students are expected to work collaboratively in the lessons, help each other and make the most of each other’s abilities and skills, we started the training with a couple of team building activities to enhance cooperation. The 3 international teams had the task to design the tallest tower made of plasticine and tooth picks. Some had issues with colapsing towers, rebuilt and tried to make them more stable, struggled with time management, etc., but finally, we had a winner: WELL DONE, TEAM 1!

Another activity the teachers were involved in was about developing skills to do pair work and have coordination within the pair – important life skills all people need.

It was a long working day with the following topics from the M4ALL and NS4ALL toolkits being presented too:

The day continued with visits to Perge and Aspendos. We dipped back in ancient Roman times and enjoyed every moment of the visits. It was a fabulous second day of the training! Thank you everybody for the active participation and a big thank you to Antalya Directorate of Education for the organization of the cultural programme.

It was a fabulous second day of the training! Thank you everybody for the active participation and a big thank you to Antalya Directorate of Education for the organization of the cultural programme.

Teacher training event 2 – Antalya, Turkey

Day 3, Oct 23rd, 2024

On the third day of the training teachers stepped in the shoes of students and participated in the presentation of topics from the “Mathamatics for All” tool kit.

The first topic was from the mathematicis curriculum for grade 2 “A two-digit number as the sum of tens and units” https://sen-power.eu/atividades/imp_act.php?reg=751&lingua=en&ene=32&rel=30 We started with mathematical jokes, and here is one for you to answer: Seven is an odd number. How can you do so that it is not an even number any more?

We worked with manipulatives to present 2-digit numbers in different ways as sums of tens and units and to learn the meaning of the position of a digit in a number.

All the suggested steps were practical and exlained the subject in a visual and easy-to-understand way.

The second topic also belonged to grade 2 Mathematics curriculum “Types of triangles based on the length of their sides; perimeter of a triangle.” https://sen-power.eu/atividades/imp_act.php?reg=753&lingua=en&ene=34&rel=31

We started with an energizer closely linked to the topic of the lesson. Have a look at the photos and make your guesses what we were instructed to do.

We were lucky to have the teacher who designed the lesson plan with us in Antalya. Thank you, Toni, for the creative activities you have designed and the well-structured lesson plan!

Our students were very diligent and smart and did all the tasks correctly

with  the support of the trainers, of course, following the routine of delivering a lesson in class.

We had fun learning about equilateral, isosceles and scalene triangles, but also learning from each other, as it happens in Erasmus+ project and cooperative teaching and learning.

Finally, here is a challenge for you: How can you know that the shape you have is an equilateral triangle without measuring its sides or angles?

The day continued with presentation of two topics developed by the Antalya provincial directorate of education for grade 4 students:

Thank you, Sema! Lots of practical ideas to use ith the students!

The last topic of this long, but interesting, working day, was presented by our Portuguese partners form Instituto Politecnico de Santarem. The lesson they developed is from the grade 3 curriculum in Mathematics in Portugal. You can read the lesson plan and the accompanying materials on the project website: Figure operations: Rotation https://sen-power.eu/atividades/imp_act.php?reg=759&lingua=en&ene=46&rel=41

Participants were involved in numerous hands-on activities taking them to the core idea of rotation as a figure operation – a topic which is rather difficult to teach and understand by most students, and, sometimes, for teachers. However, with the suggested activities it was easy to grasp it, and it was real fun!

Teacher training event 2 – Antalya, Turkey

Day 4, Oct 24th, 2024

Highlights for the working sessions in Day 4 of the training. All topics were interesting and real fun to do! We even learned to dance a Turkish national dance during the coffee break!

Teacher training event 2 – Antalya, Turkey

Day 5, Oct 25th, 2024

Highlights of the presentation of lesson plans during the last day of the training – there was something for everybody – some fun activities, even for teachers, and definitely for students, and some more challenging ones that needed more concentration. Lesson plans were from the Nature Studies for All and Mathematics for All toolkits.

The five days of the training event, unfortunately, passed by so quickly and we had to part. The final session was devoted to instructions about the following steps of the teams during school year 2024/25 – the implementation of the designed lesson plans from the two tool kits – Mathematics for all and Nature studies for all, each of them comprising 46 topics form the national curricula in the two subjects in Bulgaria, Portugal and Turkey.

Thank you, everybody, for the active participation in the sessions and good luck in the validation trainings during the school year.

M4ALL and NS4ALL teacher’s toolkits – final editions

The final edited and expanded editions of the M4ALL and NS4ALL teacher’s toolkits are already available online. They comprise everything teachers need to present the topics to their students – lesson plans, handouts and e-resources.

The teaching resources from the 1st editions were piloted by teachers in Bulgaria, Portugal and Turkey during school year 2023/24. Their feedback and recommendations for edits were considered by the authors of the lessons and relevant changes were made to comply with the teachers’ suggestions. At the same time, the teachers gave ideas and suggested developing additional topics in the respective classes, which were designed and became part of the 3rd edition.

During school year 2024/25 there had been organized validation training activities in some 45 classrooms making use of the educational materials from the 3rd editions of the two tool kits. Once again, teachers provided feedback on the educational materials, which was highly positive. Read more about the teachers’ evaluation on the project website.

In the final edition of the M4ALL toolkit you can find the following 48 topics:

Grade 1

  • Addition and subtraction
  • Programs; presenting data sets with pictograms
  • Number of objects in a collection of up to 20 objects
  • Units and tens: Meaning of digits according to their position in the record of a number
  • DATA – Statistical questions, data collection and organisation
  • Measurement: Length
  • Geometrical shapes
  • Addition of natural numbers up to 20
  • Addition and subtraction of numbers up to 20 with carrying; word problems
  • Addition with carrying: Adding number 9 to a single digit number

Grade 2

  • Multiplication. Multiplier. Product.
  • Measurement and comparison of objects: weight measures
  • The commutative and associative property of addition
  • Problem with four operations
  • A two-digit number as the sum of tens and units
  • Order of units and order of tens in a two-digit number
  • Types of triangles based on the length of their sides; perimeter of a triangle.
  • Spatial Location
  • Numbers and Operations: Division
  • Units of measurement for length: decimetre and metre
  • Symmetrical shapes
  • Numeric pattern

Grade 3

  • Parts of a whole: a half, a third, a fourth, a tenth
  • Figure operations; reflection
  • Exploring Whole, Half, and Quarter fractions
  • Word problems: inverse variation (addition and subtraction)
  • Figure operations: Rotation
  • Mathematical Connections: External connections
  • Money: Uses of money
  • Problems with Division
  • Dividend – Quotient – Divisor – Remainder

Grade 4

  • Area of a rectangle
  • Data presentation and interpretation; probability
  • Geometric shapes
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Determining the value of the variable in an equation
  • Probability
  • Measuring and drawing angles
  • Geometric shapes – circle and circumference
  • Measurement: Problem Solving – money
  • Real-Life Math Challenge
  • Visualising Fractions: Art Gallery Maths
  • Multiplication of multi-digit number by 1-digit number without carrying
  • Word problems based on data from tables, diagrams, charts using multiplication of a multi-digit number by a two-digit number.

Interdisciplinary Lessons

  • Water – Measuring rain
  • Water: Flooding in urban environment
  • Measuring human footprints
  • Dinosaur locomotion

In the final edition of the NS4ALL toolkit you can find the following topics:

Grade 1

  • Healthy lifestyle
  • Diversity in Nature: living and non-living things
  • Changes in Nature According to the Seasons
  • The importance of the Sun
  • Parts of a plant: root, stem, leaf, blossom, fruit
  • Body Security: Risk behaviours for individual and collective health and safety
  • Basic needs of the living beings – animals and plants
  • Recycling
  • Healthy foods and beverages
  • Reading tree rings; parts of plants
  • Classification of plants based on the structure of the stem: trees, shrubs and grasses. Deciduous and coniferous trees.

Grade 2

  • Domestic and wild animals. People and animals.
  • Biodiversity and responsible attitude towards Nature
  • The human body: Sensory organs of vision
  • Effect of the movement and shape of the Earth on human life
  • Means of transport. Pollution.
  • Plants
  • Growing healthy! Growing strong!
  • Balanced Nutrition
  • Let’s Keep Our Environment Clean
  • Exploring animal footprints

Grade 3

  • Living and non-living Nature
  • The influence of air, light, temperature, water, soil on the life of plants and animals
  • Functions of the tongue
  • Main organs of the human body and their functions
  • Man and healthy lifestyle – keeping oral hygiene and healthy teeth
  • How plants and animals survive
  • Water – properties, distribution, importance and uses
  • First Aid
  • States of matter: Reversible transformations
  • Types of movement
  • The Water Cycle: A Journey Through States of Matter
  • Classification of animals based on their food habits

Grade 4

  • Human activities and their effect on the oceans
  • The secrets of water – the 3 states of water
  • Sound and light; sources and their effect on people’s life
  • Gravitational Force of Magnets
  • Soil permeability
  • Orientation: the basics to find your way
  • Exploring Ecosystems: Habitats and Biodiversity
  • Magnificent Matter: Exploring States and Changes
  • Nutrition and respiration of plants
  • Classification of animals – invertebrates and vertebrates: fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals
  • Extinct animals

Interdisciplinary Lessons

  • Water – Measuring rain
  • Water: Flooding in urban environment
  • Measuring human footprints
  • Dinosaur locomotion

MULTIPLIER EVENT – TURKEY

May 22, 2025, Antalya

SENPower project- Empowering Teachers to Support Students with Educational Needs

Antalya Provincial Directorate of National Education is a partner of the European Union SEN Power project which is aimed at empowering teachers to support all students, but pay special attention to learners with Special Educational Needs when teaching Mathematics and Nature Studies at primary school level. The main purpose of the project is to support students’ achievements in STEM subjects and their overall development, especially students with specific learning difficulties, attention deficit/hyperactivity (diagnosed with ADHD) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Approximately 120 teachers from across Antalya participated in the event. The participants were introduced to the SEN Power Methodology – a detailed research paper meant to help teachers to identify their students’ difficulties, implement inclusive strategies in the classroom and be a guide with tools for monitoring students’ individual development. The methodology is both theoretical and practical.

The participants were also introduced to 2 manuals for teaching Maths (Mathematics for All) and Natural Sciences (Nature Studies for ALL) topics which had been adapted to the needs of the target group students. The topics comprise lesson plans, learning visual aids, hands-on activities and practical activities for students with assessment tools. The teachers attending the multiplier event were guided how to use these materials in their classrooms. Within the scope of the event, the official website of the project (https://sen-power.eu ) was also was introduced. Participants were informed about all project outputs and teaching materials, all translated in Turkish, and how to access the platform.

The website was designed to enable teachers to make use of the designed educational materials beyond the life cycle of the project in terms of sustainability.

At the end of the event, officials from Antalya Provincial Directorate of National Education encouraged the teachers to make use of the designed contents with their students to create a more inclusive environment in which they achieve better and learn how to act so that all students feel appreciated and happy to be part of the school community.

The attending teachers appreciated highly the multiplier event and the designed materials as a practical support which could be used in the classroom.

Multiplier Event – Bulgaria

Velingrad, Bulgaria

Day 1

Some 100 educational experts and teaching professionals form more than 30 towns and villages joined the final dissemination event of the SEN Power project in Velingrad, Bulgaria.

The first day of the event (June 10, 2025) started with a Hopes and Fears session to collect participants’ preliminary moods and setting – expected results and some surprises J

The day continued following the agenda with getting-to-know-each other and energizing activities – Molecules, Postman, Detective and Body parts. It was a good start of the day with loads of smiles and positive vibes.

The activities continued with presentations of the project idea and two of the final products – Methodology for teaching SEN students and the teacher’s toolkit Mathematics for all.

Since the multiplier event was meant to be an inspiration and a practical guide for the teachers to use the Mathematics for all and Nature Studies for all toolkits with their students, we held several practical sessions – simulations of real lessons following the lesson plans from the Mathematics for all toolkit.

Day 2, June 11, 2025

The second day of the multiplier event was devoted to presenting the Nature Studies for All toolkit and simulations of the lesson plans of topics “Classification of animals based on their food habits” and “Man and healthy lifestyle – keeping oral hygiene and healthy teeth” (grade 3).

At the end of the event there was a discussion of the future implementation of the educational materials in the participants’ schools and a final feedback session in which the teachers evaluated the presented tool kits as very useful and shared their plans to present them to the rest of their colleagues and make use of lesson plans during the following school years. In the project team we are so very happy that, so as to one of the the feeback form’s questions, the SEN Power project educational materials will be used with some 6300 students during school year 2025/2026.

Multiplier Event – Portugal

Entroncamento – Portugal
July, 9

SENPower Multiplier event EN-1Download
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