BVC- Breaking Vicious Cycle

The JACS is a comprehensive school with 550 students (240 girls and 310 boys) who are between 11 and 16 years old. Our school is open to all children and adolescents. We engage both high-performance and under-performing students. The teaching of values such as tolerance, freedom, human dignity, is also an important part of our school life. We aim to strengthen the personality and social learning of the students to become critical thinkers and active citizens. The school employs 45 teachers. In addition, the school has a transition manager, 2 social workers and a person from the local labour market authorities supporting to support the students. In a Joint statement by the school, parents and students of the school, the JACS states that it will: - Ensure the well-being and safety of the children; - Provide a diversified, balanced learning program; - Integrate children into a rich and interesting school life to further develop and promote their opportunities for social communication; - Keep the parents up to date about their child's learning status and general school life; and - Be there for the parents and provide opportunities to engage in school life. 

The JACS provides a differentiated course model combined with elective education that meets the different performance profiles of the students.The school strives to strengthen the personality and social learning of the students. In fact the lessons are designed to strengthen basic skills, independent learning and science-oriented work. Ultimately we want to improve young people’s social skills as well as to support them in identifying their strengths and weaknesses, so that they can take better decisions with regard to their continuing education. We expect an improvement of the personal and social skills of the pupils. Motivation to join this project: The cooperation between the different schools, countries and cultures will strengthen pupils' skills. Intercultural learning will enable pupils with low basic skills to improve their self-competence, i.e. they will be able to make better use of their strengths and to compensate their weaknesses in a more sustainable way. Key people: Mr. Christoph Kuech; Mr. Torben Richter; and Mrs. Susanne Reichert. If the key persons leave their post in the future, the below individuals will take over their role: Mrs. Carole Fruneau; Mr. Simon Apel; and Mr. Jens Ahrend. Specific Experience or Expertise: Our school has ample experience when it comes to dealing with pupils that possess different abilities. The JACS in fact caters for both highperformance and under-performing students. This flexibility in approach has made our school very capable of adapting to different situations. We are able to help pupils make the best out of their life experiences and we will definitely help them do so through their participation in this project.