It has been a good practice over the years to share what has been learned from ongoing training and additional qualifications in the teaching staff.

Our teachers are constantly learning and improving their qualification, using the following resources and training:

• the official channels of the Ministry of Education and Science, RWB, and other training organizations
• individual interests of colleagues who are looking for a certain type of training
• the opportunities for lifelong learning offered by the Erasmus + program

The school conducts a preliminary study of qualification needs and funds interested teachers.

After each completed course and received additional qualifications, everyone presents and shares with colleagues what they have learned through a lecture, presentation, video or workshop.

These events are documented digitally and distributed on the school's website or Facebook pages.

As a result of these trainings:

• we have published a collection of good practices
• participation in writing textbooks
• workbooks for students
• videos from the National Television with lessons of our teachers
• National conference for science teachers was held
• the quality of teaching and the motivation of teachers have increased
• a positive microclimate in the team and opportunities for development were created

• training
• school team

In the school life of 51^st school the parent is an active partner. We have been running the Parent-Teacher for a Day initiative for almost five years. The parents of the students from the three educational stages are included as lecturers in different classes, according to a pre-announced topic and schedule. Most often, parents present their profession in order to provide vocational guidance to students. Interesting and useful practice, because in this way a relationship of mutual respect and trust between the school and the family is built. Apart from the professional orientation of the students, these classes help the parent to be informed about the life and successes of their children at school. The initiative adds to the interactions between parents and children, increases the level of trust and the trust in the parents comes to the fore.

 Our successful cooperation with parents is the Working Academy for Successful Parenting - AURA. For the implementation of this initiative we give parents the opportunity to take part in various activities related to school life - art therapy, presentation of personal experiences, and participation in games.

 51^st school is working towards building a parent-teacher association for the three educational stages, in which at least one parent from the class, the class teacher and the class teachers take part. The meetings of the association are held throughout the school year. In a friendly spirit, they discuss topics and activities related to school life. Through this initiative we make parents more empathetic, more responsible and more active in the problems of students.

• active parents
• school community

In order for a school to be defined as "digitalized", it must have the following elements:

- Very good internet connectivity - In 51 SU there are two internet providers to ensure the possible shutdown of one network. In each room the equipment is connected to wired internet, and in the whole school, including the adjacent buildings (sports halls, dining room, yard) there is a wi-fi network. The latter is divided into 2 channels, one is free to use by all, and the second is locked with a password and is used only for educational purposes. Network security is extremely high and access to dangerous and unacceptable sites is banned centrally.

- Available technical equipment in each classroom and devices for each teacher - In the last 10 years, each classroom in 51 SU has been equipped with a desktop teacher's computer and TV and / or projector. For the past three years, each teacher has been provided with a laptop or Chromebook that can be easily connected to any screen in the school via a good Wi-Fi network and a Chromecast device that allows connection and presentation from any mobile device. All these benefits are aimed at both facilitating teaching and quickly placing students at the center of the educational process.

We have been implementing the "1 to 1" project for 2 years. So far, all eighth and ninth grades are included, in which each student has their own Chromebook device, through which they have access to electronic textbooks and electronic resources created by each teacher.

At the beginning of the 2020/2021 school year, 51 Sofia University equips each classroom with a special camera and microphone, through which students who are at home can watch the lessons in real time. They also helped in the case of quarantined teachers who, if they felt well, could very successfully teach their students at the school.

- Unified cloud platform - For 5 years the school has been using the cloud platform Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals (so far G-suite for education) on its own domain. All teachers and students have their own accounts, through which they access many of Google's applications, including Google classroom. The team disks provided by the platform are used by the school extremely successfully for administrative purposes.

- Digitally trained teachers - All teachers have undergone various trainings related to the Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals platform, and about 20% of them have successfully passed the exam for certified Google trainers (first level). Over the years, in order to maintain good digital skills, teachers have undergone many trainings in the country and abroad, and many of them are personally selected by each teacher according to his interests and abilities.

Lesson and Material Sharing Platform (Google Classroom)

 For 5 years, the school has been using the Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals cloud platform (so far G-suite for education) on its own domain. All teachers and students have their own accounts, through which they access many of Google's applications, including Google classroom.

The platform has created classrooms by all teachers for each class, in which homework, projects, tests and additional materials are set. Classrooms are reserved for the period of classroom instruction and thus the progress of each student can be easily tracked.

There are also classrooms for specific cases for each class, in which all teachers teaching in the class have access. Their goal is to easily conduct online lessons without unnecessarily entering the personal profiles of the teachers of the desktops in the rooms, as well as to easily hold parent-teacher meetings or meetings of the personal support teams.

For the administrative needs of the school, a classroom "teacher's" room has been created, in which the school councils are currently held and the necessary materials are uploaded. Team discs are also actively used. A separate one is created for each school year, as well as for the school's innovations. There are uploaded documents, references, reports, schedules, declarations, forms, plans, distributions, reports, portfolios and other documentation, as well as photos, videos and information from lessons of colleagues related to the two innovations of the school - problem-based learning and building virtues. In this way, a bank of lessons is created, to which every teacher has access and can look for inspiration and ideas. If necessary, a specific lesson can be shared with an external organization.

• digitalization
• teachers training
• LMS
• KMS

In this center they are promoting internationalization, through the Erasmus program and E-twinning, which opens up training opportunities for both students and teachers.  Programs for learning in bilingual environments, the exchange of innovative practices and the establishment of links with other schools throughout Europe are promoted. 

Students paint walls, choose colours, design and plant garden, pick fruit and veg, see that rubbish can be recycled as toys. Having a say in the physical conditions of the school improves student motivation and responsibility. They have participative budgets involving students and the educative community.

Teachers observe best practices and are observed by other teachers in the same and other schools. The Project is set up by the local government and each school can observe and be observed by up to 5 other schools. This was first set up during the pandemic when classes were all online and an observer was perhaps less ‘intrusive’ and observation was probably easier to organise logistically.

There appears to be a lack of opportunity for feedback or dialogue after the event, which would make this an even more interesting best practice.

The existing documentation refers only to logistic and legal aspects, rather than academic.

Give new teachers a mentor – a more experienced teacher to help with all aspects of school life.

More experienced teachers can, for example, give weekly training by experienced teachers for new teachers about any relevant aspects of school life: methodologies, procedures, systems, events. A new teacher could 'shadow' a more esxperienced teacher to learn about how the school functions. Make sure to plan this into both teachers' timetables.

Retired teachers could also possibly help with new teachers and different activities.

Online programmes have also been set up to provide advice and training for teachers in an informal manner.

Do Project work by joining subjects that share similar competences. (Maths and art, for example. In this way you can promote co-teaching and new methodologies.)