Student motivation and engagement is a vital component in reducing school drop-out, which is identified as one of the key targets of the EU growth strategy for 2010-20. ARTPAD aims to support the engagement and resilience of participants from disadvantaged backgrounds in formal and non–formal education to help prevent early school leaving. The 5 project partners will work co-operatively to disseminate, develop and extend the expertise and international reach of their practice. The programme will cover 3 complimentary aspects: 1. Understanding resilience and children’s development and behaviour through Play. 2. Drama techniques for engagement with learning 3. Drama and Play to build social understanding and behaviour ARTPAD will: 1. Enable understanding between partners and to identify best practice in their delivery of drama techniques and children’s play facilitation 2. Create learning resources to inform, inspire and enable leaders of schools and youth projects to deliver the above practice and training for educators. 3. Place emphasis on developing the practice for disadvantaged children and young people to aid the building of resilience and engagement for learning. The project aims to reach 1,125 people in total: 50 new trainers trained to enable pilots to take place in each partner country; 100 via 5 training events, 20 teachers and youth workers per country to test out the materials; 100 children and young people via the changing practices within the school and youth settings 75 Educators and leaders via 5 localised engagement events, one per country with 15 delegates at each; 150 Educators and leaders via a localised dissemination event, one per country with 30 at each 50 Educators and leaders via a National Conference to be held at the end of the project; 600 Educators and leaders via online access to the website and social media and the reach of articles and lobbying activities. The project will run for 36 months from 1st September 2015 and is split into 7 work areas on the Project Timetable including project management, 3 intellectual outputs, transnational meetings, multiplier events and training activities. The partners are given individual areas to lead or co-lead based on experience and expertise. For each of the intellectual outputs, transnational meetings and activities, the number of days each partner is allocated will vary depending on their roles. Overseeing the work is the project management and implementation. Three Intellectual Outcome packages of work then follow; as a result of a thorough research phase, partners develop a best practice guide for leaders of settings, subsequently the new course will be developed and produced prior to piloting in each partner country. Following the piloting and associated feedback, the materials will be finalised and the work will be disseminated through articles and other lobbying activity. Running alongside this activity is project evaluation to support the recommendations at the end of the project. Dissemination will commence at the start of the project and continue throughout. Localised engagement/ dissemination activities will ensure an effective opportunity to spread the learning from the project. Results include: 1/ A Best Practice guide utilising the expertise of all partners, detailing existing best practice in regards to play and drama techniques for the building of resilience in participants in schools and youth settings. 2/ A certificated course for teachers/ youth workers in drama techniques and play facilitation to support engagement with learning, resilience and behaviour. 3/ An evaluation report with recommendations for lobbying and to influence of policy. 4/ Delivery of the training detailed above via staff and student training and exchange of best practice ideas. 5/ Dissemination of the project via: a) Communication during the developmental process of the project through visits and social media and the web. b) Localised dissemination through events with stakeholders c) An end of project conference, as well as day to day project communication The expected impact on the educators participating in the pilots is that they will have an improved understanding and skills in drama and play techniques and their application within their work. The aim is to give them tools to support participants from disadvantaged backgrounds in engagement in formal and non–formal education. This will ultimately enable them to perform at a higher level in their teaching through gaining greater knowledge and confidence to maximise the potential offered by drama and play for learning both inside and outside the classroom, thereby improving the whole-school environment for pupils. Longer term, the project will generate insights into educational delivery and learning environments. The impact for institutions and teachers is that the project will lead to better, more efficacious learning opportunities for children and young people.