Gulkhas Aslanova represented Azerbaijan at "Developing your school with EU programme support. A conference for school leaders" held in Vilnius, Lithuania on October 11-12, 2013

The European Commission and the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council jointly organised this conference for school leaders to discuss how schools can best benefit from European co-operation by making it part of their school development strategy.

Conference participants explored the role of school leaders in European school co-operation and ways in which EU programmes such as Comenius can support schools in developing an international strategy. They also looked at how EU-supported projects and eTwinning can effectively contribute to tackling current challenges for schools.

Most participants of this conference were school leaders with an experience in Comenius partnerships or eTwinning. In thematic workshops participants looked at the possibilities for schools to work together with partners in Europe as part of their own strategic development. 12 Comenius projects presented themselves in an exhibition at the conference, also serving as examples in workshop discussions. During the workshops the participants focused on:

1. The role of the school leader
2. Teachers' professional development
3. The ways of motivating pupils
4. The profile and the community links of schools.

Azerbaijan was represented at this conference by Gulkhas Aslanova, a teacher from Lyceum named after Academician Zarifa Aliyeva. She shared with us her impressions from the conference and said it was a unique experience for her, giving her a chance to meet teachers and school leaders from Europe, get familiar wih EU-supported projects, such as Comenius and eTwinning and understand their role in developing international strategy of school. Gulkhas Aslanova mentioned: "I have come back from conference with great hopes for future successful collaboration with European schools and I believe that our teachers and pupils are able to implement and present quality label projects. I remember the words of my colleague from Netherlands Theo Van de Veerdonk who said that the only way to success is joint cooperation between schools, companies and local government with three important interrelated characteristics: Passion, Vision, Action!"