The Hubs4Teens Project: A Path to Successful School Completion

In the HUBS4TEENS project, we believe that if we truly want to help young people grow and believe in themselves, we must first accurately understand the barriers holding them back. Early School Leaving (ESL) is not just a dry statistic about students who fail to enroll in the next school year. It is a complex life process that often begins long before a student actually walks out of the school gates for the last time. This is precisely why it is crucial for our project to have these professional definitions clearly established—they serve as the foundation upon which we build all our practical activities.

A professional perspective tells us that we must distinguish between formal and functional failure. While the law is concerned with whether a child has completed compulsory education, at Hubs4Teens, we are primarily interested in whether a young person leaves school prepared for life. If a student receives a certificate but lacks the skills, self-confidence, or motivation to succeed in adulthood, we speak of functional failure. Our project fills this gap by connecting school with non-formal education. In our "Hubs," students do not just learn facts; they develop social, emotional, and financial competencies that are critical in the modern world.

A key insight we build upon is the division of influences into so-called "push-out" and "pull-out" factors. Sometimes, a school unconsciously pushes a student out—for example, through overly strict rules, low teacher expectations, or a hostile classroom atmosphere. On the other hand, there are external factors that pull a student away from education, such as a difficult family situation or the need for immediate income. Because we conduct in-depth self-assessments of schools and communities in the first phase of the project, we can precisely identify these invisible forces in specific locations, such as Spišský Hrhov. Local action teams can then plan "tailor-made" activities that directly weaken these risks.

Furthermore, a unified language and precise definitions are essential prerequisites for our international cooperation. As the project brings together experts from six countries, we need common ground to stand on. The resulting practical toolkit we are creating within HUBS4TEENS is not just a random list of games or clubs. It is a comprehensive system of proven interventions based on scientific knowledge and years of experience working with disadvantaged communities. Clearly defining the problems allows us to identify warning signs in students much earlier, offering them encouragement and space to develop their talents instead of punishment. Only if we understand why young people lose interest in school can we, together with families and the community, create an environment where they will want to stay and fully develop their potential.

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This text was produced as part of the Hubs4Teens project, funded by the UniCredit Foundation through the Edu-Fund platform.

Partner Meeting in Zagreb: Inspiration, Collaboration and Festive Spirit

Erasmus+ Project: Soft Skills for High Quality Education
Published: December 2025

From December 3–5, 2025, project partners of Soft Skills for High Quality Education came together in Zagreb, Croatia for our latest transnational meeting. Hosted by our partner Korak po Korak, the gathering combined focused project work with warm exchanges and first-hand inspiration from local kindergartens.

What did we focus on?

? The three-day agenda included:

• sharing feedback from pilot trainings in each country,
• discussing upcoming dissemination and iPLC activities,
• collaborative planning on the final stages of the Toolbox,
• and visits to two Croatian kindergartens participating in the project.

Visits to Croatian kindergartens

The kindergartens warmly welcomed us with open doors and open hearts. We were deeply inspired by their child-centered practices, team dynamics, and dedication to creating inclusive and nurturing environments.

"We left Zagreb with new ideas, deep respect for our Croatian colleagues, and a strong sense of shared purpose."
— Participant from Estonia

What’s Next

As the project enters its final stretch, we look forward to:

• completing national trainings,
• finalising the Toolbox and supporting materials,
• preparing video case studies,
• and continuing peer learning through the international Professional Learning Community.

Thank you

A heartfelt thank you to Korak po Korak for hosting us with such care and attention—and for showing us how soft leadership can flourish in practice.

TOY4Participation Local Training

In December, the Local Training was provided for the Play Hubs, which will be involved in TOY4Participation Toolkit piloting in Slovakia. For this purpose, the Play Hubs in Spišská Nová Ves and Spišský Hrhov were selected.

The participants of the Local Training had the opportunity to increase their knowledge, competences and skills in promoting participatory practice in general, with particular focus on children up to 10 and their families, especially from vulnerable groups. The participants also learned how the TOY4Participation Toolkit is organised and how to use its parts. The training also focused on building the capacity of participants to support others (different stakeholders relevant for child participation) in a variety of different change-oriented learning events so that they can successfully promote child participation within their domain of influence.

Upon completion of this training the Play Hub staff with the mentoring support of Škola dokorán – Wide Open School is fully prepared to implement the TOY4Participation methodology and to pilot the TOY4Participation Toolkit (this phase will start in January 2026).

Press release: New international project will empower vulnerable students and support their active participation in school and community life

BRATISLAVA, November 24, 2025

The non-profit organization Škola dokorán – Wide Open School n.o. , in cooperation with UniCredit Foundation and international partners, is launching the Hubs4Teens project (Empowering Vulnerable Children through Community Learning Centers), aimed at supporting vulnerable students aged 11-15 who need greater motivation and opportunities to develop their skills both in and outside of school.

The three-year project, funded by UniCredit Foundation through the EduFund Platform with a total investment of €940,000, is developed in cooperation with partners from Croatia, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands and Slovakia.

The initiative aims to create an inclusive learning environment that connects formal and informal education, schools, families, and communities. The project strengthens children's social, emotional, and financial skills and helps them build resilience and self-confidence. At the same time, it creates an approach that can be applied in other schools and communities.

Silvia Cappellini, General Manager at UniCredit Foundation, said: “Hubs4Teens is a project that embodies the spirit of UniCredit Foundation: working side by side with schools, families and local communities to ensure that every young person has access to meaningful learning opportunities. It is a powerful example of how innovative, community-based education can transform the lives of vulnerable adolescents. Through the EduFund Platform, we are proud to support this initiative that strengthen students’ social, emotional and financial skills, helping them build confidence and resilience.”

Connecting schools and communities as the key to motivating children

The Hubs4Teens project builds on the successful model of Play Hubs community game rooms, which have been helping young children and families learn through playing since 2017. The new project extends this approach to older students and develops it into Hubs4Teens – spaces where learning, creativity, and community collaboration come together.

The innovation of the project lies in connecting schools and community centers in the spirit of the OECD's vision of "Schools as Learning Hubs" – schools as open educational centers for entire communities.

"This project offers an important solution that combines proven school practices with vibrant Hubs4Teens community centers. This comprehensively addresses not only the immediate but also the systemic causes of school dropout, giving vulnerable children a chance at lifelong success," said Miroslav Sklenka, director of the Wide Open School n.o. organization.

Three steps to meaningful learning

The project will be implemented in three phases:

1. Self-assessment of schools and communities – schools identify their needs using a proven diagnostic tool.
   
2. Joint planning – local action teams composed of teachers, representatives of informal centers, and community actors will be formed to prepare an activity plan tailored to local needs.
   
3. Implementation of modules – regular activities, tutoring, creative workshops, experiential learning, and child-led activities will take place in Hubs4Teens schools and centers.

One of the schools where the project will be implemented in Slovakia is the elementary school and kindergarten in Spišský Hrhov. The school's principal, Peter Strážik, adds: "Every day at our school, we encounter challenges that prevent vulnerable students from reaching their full potential. Thanks to Hubs4Teens, we can better understand what motivates students and focus on activities that support their education. We believe that our school will become an even safer and more inspiring center for the entire community."

Strong international partnership

The project, funded by UniCredit Foundation through the Edu-Fund platform , is being implemented by an international consortium of organizations from six countries:

• Lead partner: Škola dokorán – Wide Open School n.o., Slovakia.
• Implementation partners: Partners Hungary, Hungary; Educational Research Institute, Slovenia; Open Academy Step by Step, Croatia; APS Cubo Libro, Italy.
• External partner: ICDI/International Child Development Initiative, Netherlands.

Media Contact:

Erika Szabóová

Project Manager

eri.szaboova@gmail.com / 0907 405 956

Together for Quality Early Childhood Education: Partner Meeting and Study Visit in Spiš

Erasmus+ Project: Soft Skills for High Quality Education
Published: June 2025

📍 Levoča, May 2025 – A Meeting of Experts and Inspiration from Practice

At the end of May, we hosted the third project meeting of our international team working on the Soft Skills for High Quality Education. The meeting brought together partners from Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, and Estonia—and offered not only strategic discussions but also powerful learning moments from early education practice.

👶 Visiting Three Kindergartens: Where Soft Leadership Comes to Life

As part of the study visit, participants had the opportunity to visit three kindergartens that our organization has been working with long-term:

• Kindergarten Tehelná in Spišská Nová Ves
• Kindergarten in Spišský Hrhov
• Kindergarten Zelená in Smižany

Educators from these schools shared how they lead Teacher Support Learning Groups (TSLGs) and implement elements of soft leadership—such as active listening, reflective communication, and creating a psychologically safe space for peer learning.

“It was enriching to see how our Slovak colleagues work in their kindergartens. We really enjoyed it. You can tell that change is possible when you work with trust and openness.”
— Kindergarten teacher from Estonia

🧰 Toolbox in the Final Phase of Development

Alongside the school visits, an intensive project team meeting took place. The main focus was finalizing the content of the project’s key output: Toolbox —a practical set of tools for TSLG leaders, including:

• Facilitation techniques
• Reflective questions for group discussions
• Videos of real-life group situations
• Suggestions for building trust within teams

The Toolbox will be available in multiple languages and will serve as a major outcome of the project.

🌍 What’s Next

In the coming months, the project will focus on:

• Collecting feedback from educators participating in the pilot trainings
• Preparing final dissemination events
• Continuing the work of the international Professional Learning Community (iPLC)
• Publishing video stories showing soft skills in action in kindergartens

📸 View photos from the meeting

We thank all the kindergartens that welcomed us and our partners for the inspiring collaboration!
Together, we are creating a space where pedagogical leaders learn to listen, reflect, and grow.

Piloting Soft Skills Training in Kindergartens: First-Hand Stories

Erasmus+ Project: Soft Skills for High Quality Education
Published: October 2025

🎓 From theory to classrooms

After months of preparation, training of national trainers, and curriculum development, the piloting phase of our project has taken off in partner countries. Kindergarten teachers in Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, and Croatia are now testing the newly developed Soft Skills Toolbox and facilitating Teacher Support Learning Groups (TSLGs) in their local contexts.

The result? A rich collection of stories, lessons, and reflections from practice.

🧩 A closer look at the pilot phase

The pilot implementation focuses on real-life use of the project’s training materials, reflection techniques, and group facilitation tools. In each country, a cooperating kindergarten supports its staff to engage in peer learning, discussions, and experiential sessions to strengthen leadership, communication, empathy, and emotional awareness.

Key components being tested include:

• The structure of TSLG meetings
• Suggested session plans and reflection prompts
• Facilitation techniques for inclusive dialogue
• Tools for emotional literacy and professional self-awareness

💬 What are the teachers saying?

“It’s amazing how quickly trust builds when the group has space to share openly.”
— Participant from Croatia

“We’ve started using check-in and check-out activities in our team meetings. It’s such a simple way to see how everyone is really doing.”
— Kindergarten director, Slovakia

“We adapted the roleplay activity to our needs and it worked perfectly.”
— Estonian facilitator

The pilots also reveal how adaptable the toolbox is across diverse settings. Some teams follow the materials closely, while others use them as a base for co-creating sessions with their staff.

🧠 Learning from the ground up

Each piloting kindergarten serves as a mini-laboratory where we can observe what works, what needs adjusting, and what sparks genuine change. National coordinators collect feedback through observations, interviews, and short evaluation forms. This input will directly inform the final version of the toolbox, to be shared across Europe.

📸 Coming soon: Voices from the field

Over the coming months, we will publish short video case studies and teacher stories from the piloting schools. These resources will illustrate how soft leadership practices are making a difference in real kindergarten environments.

🌍 Next steps

• Continue national pilots until early 2026
• Gather and analyse feedback from all partner countries
• Prepare final version of the Toolbox and accompanying training materials
• Share outcomes at national and international dissemination events
• Feature best practices and case stories on our website and social media

🔔 Stay tuned for more insights and photos from our pilot kindergartens – and meet the inspiring teachers behind this journey.

From Instinct to Intention: A Parent’s Journey into Child Participation

When I first came across the term child participation, I felt a tangle of emotions: curiosity, confusion, even a little shame, alongside an instinct that it somehow made sense. I had never heard the phrase before, but it seemed to point to something important, something I might already know but hadn’t fully named.

Curious, I looked it up and found that Child participation is the right of children to express their views, be heard, and take part in decisions affecting them. This applies at home, in school, in healthcare, and in their communities, as an ongoing process for engaging a child from birth and evolves throughout a child’s development.¹ Moreover, this right is institutionalized by the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child.²

At first, I found myself defensive. No one loves or protects my children more than I do. How could this new terminology imply I hadn’t been respectful of them? I hadn’t heard about “child participation” during my pregnancies or early parenting years. The literature, though well-meaning, sometimes felt like a quiet reprimand. But as I read more, I began to see that the concept went deeper than just caring for your child or giving them occasional choices. It is about actively and continuously recognizing their agency, in age-appropriate ways, across all areas of life³.

As I continued reading, especially practical examples that described what participation looks like at different stages of development, something shifted. I realised this wasn’t a criticism. It was a framework. A language for things I had already been doing. And a reminder that I could have done them more consciously, more often.

When my first child, my son, was born, I attuned myself to his rhythms. I knew when he was hungry before he cried and prepared accordingly. I watched him play, studied his emerging skills, and introduced new activities to support the next stage of his development.

When my twin daughters came along, I learned their distinct signals, watched how they expressed preferences and needs, and adapted my responses accordingly. As all three children grew, I paid attention to their emotions, what frightened them, what angered them, and worked with them to make sense of their feelings and build healthy ways to respond.

As their language and reasoning developed, I learned to listen more deeply, ask open questions, and explain things in ways they could grasp. Today, with teens in the house, participation looks different. When they raise an issue with a teacher, we talk through perspectives and options, but it is up to them to write the email or make the call. When we visit the doctor, I make sure they are the ones addressed, that their understanding is checked, and that the final decision reflects their voice. At this stage, it can be tricky to know how much to step in and how much to step back—how to guide without overstepping, and support without taking over. But as with parenting from the very beginning, there is no instruction manual—I just do my best.

In short, I have been engaging in participation all along. I just didn’t know it had a name. And when I think about many of their teachers, I see they were practicing it too, even without the terminology. Of course, I also recognise that part of this came from our context. We live a middle-class life, with access to education, healthcare, and space to reflect. Much of it came from instinct. But I also know this: if I had known earlier what child participation was, and what it looks like across childhood, I could have done it even better.

That is why I am grateful to be part of the TOY for Participation project. We are helping early childhood practitioners and families understand how to support children’s participation from the very beginning, through daily interactions, developmentally appropriate dialogue, and real decision-making. Because when children grow up knowing their voices matter, they become adults who listen, reflect, and contribute to a more respectful world³.

Footnotes

1. Lansdown, G. (2010). The Realisation of Children’s Participation Rights: Critical Reflections. In Percy-Smith, B., & Thomas, N. (Eds.), A Handbook of Children and Young People’s Participation (pp. 11–23). Routledge.
2. United Nations (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child, Articles 12–13.
3. Thomas, N. (2007). Towards a theory of children’s participation. The International Journal of Children’s Rights, 15(2), 199–218.

About Toy for Participation

TOY for Participation is a European initiative co-funded by the European Commission and led by ICDI, working with partners across 8 countries to promote young children’s right to participate. Together, we’ve reached over 40,000 children and families through 40+ Play Hubs, with more to come. Learn more about the project and the partners on our website: https://www.reyn.eu/toy4inclusion/toy-for-participation/.