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Location -> Milano, Gratosoglio and Stadera districts

Who it is aimed at

Il Piccolo Principe™ was created as a primary prevention project for minors and their families living on the outskirts of big cities. By means of a comprehensive consideration of the child, his personality, his resources and difficulties, his family, housing and academic context, Il Piccolo Principe™ sets up a series of interventions to improve the child´s well-being and his development programme.

Oliver´s role

The Foundation has thought up the project: from a needs analysis to discussions with the regional school; from the identification of the area of Gratosoglio as one on which to focus, to the identification of the schools; from the definition of the intervention model (and consequently the creation of the staff and the team), to the overall management of the intervention, including its financing and assessment.

What is it

Over two academic years (2006/7 and 2007/8), Il Piccolo Principe™ has worked with three primary schools, sustaining 860 children via 39 laboratories of music, singing, percussion and theatre; it has sustained 110 teachers thanks to the consultation service, meetings concerning learning difficulties, and the Punto Insieme (Together Point); it has created an interesting relationship with the children´s families, thanks to both the school and out-of-school laboratories, and the evening meetings regarding parenting. But Il Piccolo Principe™ can´t just be summed up in a collection of numbers: the greatest satisfaction derives not only from all people involved, who have enthusiastically requested that the initiative be continued, but also from the agreement drawn up between Il Piccolo Principe™, the families and the teachers, allowing complex challenges to be overcome. This intervention was fundamental in order to improve the relationship between the teacher, class and parents, to unblock sometimes violent relations between classmates, to increase the children´s self-esteem and academic progress and, not least, to facilitate integration between different cultures.  In the area of Stadera, together with CIAI, Oliver Twist has repeated Il Piccolo Principe™ in two primary schools and two nursery schools, offering eight laboratories, a consultation service and parenting meetings.

The involvement of Oliver Twist was very strong, not only in terms of funding (more than €305,000) but also in terms of projecting, managing and monitoring all the activities.

The Partners

Our partner for this project are the primary schools "Circolo Didattico Arcadia" and "Direzione Didattica Statale Cesare Battisti" of Milano, two public school very involved in tackling difficulties in the areas where they operate. Awarding the quality of the project and appreciating the concrete co-operation between a private funder and two public schools, the Comune of Milano - Assessorato Famiglia, Scuola e Politiche Sociali contributes to the project by funding it. CIAI is our partner in the activities proposed in Stadera area.

The future

After two years of teamwork, constant supervision by an educational consultant, and monitoring by the scientific committee, some professionals of Il Piccolo Principe™ (see the picture below) wanted to carry this experience forward and have set up the Piccolo Principe Association – a non-profit organisation. Thanks also to the support of Oliver Twist, this new body will guarantee the future intervention of public and private bodies.