<< Background >>Our project will strengthen the foundation of happiness and improve the well-being of students in secondary schools.Reasoning for the projectStudents receive governmentally approved academic support as part of their compulsory education but insufficient supplementary services to respond to their social and emotional needs. The promotion of well-being in schools may sometimes appear to conflict with other priorities, such as academic standards. Unreasonably high expectations, a regime of constant testing or an overemphasis on the importance of academic performance may actually undermine their welfare. Students need additional non-academic services with a focus on happiness because these have the power to positively remodel all their perceptions for well-being: intellectual, emotional, social, professional, personal as well as their vision for the future.Mastering social-emotional skills has been proven to contribute to the development and use of cognitive functions. It has the potential to be an indispensable tool for teachers in boosting their students' academic performance, solving conflicts and improving their relationship with each other. This shift of focus on happiness will also be important in supporting students in the current crisis caused by Covid-19. They must quickly adapt to constantly changing learning conditions even though they are completely unprepared for them. Identified problem :The challenges in the EU schools have gone far beyond the academic results and the learning standards. Students go to school with different social and emotional burdens and they are showing vulnerability to physical and mental health risks. Insecurity, stress and depression, anxiety, social comparisons, low self-esteem and indifference can lead to deviation, imbalanced growth, the consequences of which should be alarming for our societies. “We as adults have designed educational & school systems for children. But how happy are children within these systems? This question requires us to consider the critical linkage between happiness and our current education system” (UNESCO, 2016). In our fast-moving world, we put great effort in achieving the best of everything but commonly forget about the happiness in our day-to-day life. Needs:Our project is focused on the needs of two target groups: students, aged 13-17 years and high school Teachers. Students receive governmentally approved academic support as part of their compulsory education, but insufficient supplementary services to respond to their social and emotional needs, as it has been proved in the analytical report “Strengthening Social and Emotional Education as a core curricular area across the EU”. Students need a curriculum focused on happiness as it will empower them to take control of all aspects of their lives. It will also aim them with the means to improve their chances for success in the future.Teachers need additional training and support to work effectively in the increasingly multicultural classrooms. Due to a specific mindset and the lack of specific education on the subject they usually focus only on the academic results of students and do not pay enough attention to the importance of their social and emotional skills. Including happiness training in their everyday work will be a valuable tool to help increase students' academic performance, to solve conflicts and other problems in the classroom and to improve their relationship with the children they are entrusted with.<< Objectives >>We expect the following results during the project and upon its completion:Outcomes of the project:- Positive impact on the awareness of teachers regarding the importance of students’ happiness. It has been proven that teachers at schools do not pay enough attention to the soft skills of the students due to different reasons, but the development of the social and emotional skills of the students brings tangible improvement of the academic results and overall well-being. Last recommendations of the European commission is wider attention on the topic from the school systems and improvements on the development of the social and emotional skills of the students as measures. - Improvement of students’ social and emotional skills as mindfulness, self-awareness and awareness about others, empathy towards others (including those who may have different backgrounds), and trustworthiness.- Students focusing on the positive aspects of life and their ability to control how they experience it.Tangible results of the project and their impact:- Happiness training content for students - Upon its completion students will have increased the level of their social and emotional skills. - Convenient and user-friendly materials for the teachers - A Booklet with good practices and Teachers’ Toolkit to support the training and the practical application of the acquired knowledge in teachers’ everyday work with students;- A tailor-made online educational system - Educational Resource with bite-size learning for the students along with digital tools for assessment and training materials for the teachers.Objectives:- A ready-to-use book with the existing good practices in Happiness training at the EU level, so the teachers could start to use some practices instantly- Development of an accessible Happiness training content for social and emotional skills focused on strengthening the foundations of happiness with established experts in the field to help students to acquire the needed skills- Development of a Teacher training toolkit, to be able to educate students on how to find happiness and intrinsic motivation in their day-to-day activities- Implementation of Students training in schools- Development of innovative and accessible Online learning resource<< Implementation >>We are going to implement the following activities:1:Research and gathering of good practices, available options and curricula under the topic of strategies, awareness and education about students well-being.2:Analysing the data collected, listing the key findings to form a consolidated report and analyze the identified gaps. 3:Based on the data collected, Developing structure of Happiness educational content, educational goals, and topics to form the base structure for the development of the program. 4:Cultural adaptation of the educational program is an answer to different needs in every country. 5:Development of Online educational resource.6: Development of Training toolkit.7:LTT:20 teachers will be educated on how to use a prepared training toolkit as well to test it, get feedback and improve it. 8:Pilot students training,800 pilot students to test all available tools and give feedback.9: Finalization of all project results.10: Final dissemination events in each country.<< Results >>We expect the following results during the project and upon its completion:Result 1 - Competence and Skills Matrix (CSM)Result 2 - Happiness training contentResult 3 - Online Educational Resource Result 4 - Teachers’ ToolkitOutcomes of the project:Positive impact on the awareness of teachers regarding the importance of students’ happiness. It has been proven that teachers at schools do not pay enough attention to the soft skills of the students due to different reasons, but the development of the social and emotional skills of the students brings tangible improvement of the academic results and overall well-being. Last recommendations of the European commission is wider attention on the topic from the school systems and improvements on the development of the social and emotional skills of the students as measures. Improvement of students’ social and emotional skills as mindfulness, self-awareness and awareness about others, empathy towards others (including those who may have different backgrounds), and trustworthiness.Students focusing on the positive aspects of life and their ability to control how they experience it.Tangible results of the project and their impact:Happiness training content for students - Upon its completion students will have increased the level of their social and emotional skills. They will also have gained a conscious perception of their happiness and the ways it can be preserved, regulated and improved;Convenient and user-friendly materials for the teachers - A Booklet with good practices and Teachers’ Toolkit to support the training and the practical application of the acquired knowledge in teachers’ everyday work with students;A tailor-made online educational system - Educational Resource with bite-size learning for the students along with digital tools for assessment and training materials for the teachers.