Olympic Spirit Uniting Europe
20th-23rd February 2013 - First teacher meeting
The project kicked off with a teacher visit between the 20th and the 23rd February 2013. Teachers from partner schools in Germany and the UK met in Malta with the coordinating teachers of the Maltese school, with the aim of visiting the facilities that the school and Malta as a country have to offer, as well as to work on a revised work plan, due to the redistribution of tasks and activities between the participating countries.
The next teacher visit is to take place in Poland at the end of May 2013, with the aim of evaluating how the first three months of the project have been proceeding.
26th-29th May 2013 - Second teacher meeting
Between the 26th and the 29th May, a second meeting was organised in Bialystok, Poland. The purpose of this meeting was to evaluate the progress that each particular school is making in the project programme and discuss the way forward. During the meeting, the dates for teacher/student mobility dates were decided upon. Some activities to be carried out during the mobilities were also added to the official programme.
During the stay, teachers from each country, that is, Germany, the UK and Malta gave a lesson to students of the school about their own schools and the town/city in which it is situated, as well as the country in general. Apart from this, teachers were also invited to participate in the opening of a new football pitch at the school. The mayor and other important personalities from the city were also present for the event. Teachers also participated in a commemorative football match.
During the mobility, a visit of the charming city of Bialystok was organised. Teachers from Germany, Malta and the UK were also treated to some Polish traditional food. A very entertaining experience took place at Gracjan's (P.E. teacher) dance studio in Poland, where all teachers participated in a dancing lesson.
19-23rd June 2013 - Third teacher meeting - Poland to Malta
Three teachers from Poland attended a teacher meeting in Malta between the 19th and the 23rd June 2013. During this visit, the final end of year report was drafted and finalised. Apart from this, the official Comenius T-shirt was also designed. This T-shirt shall be used during Comenius mobilities.
18th -21st November 2013 - Malta student mobility to Poland
Between the 18th and the 21st November 2013 our school hosted students and teachers from Malta. We've spent a wonderful time playing, learning and sightseeing.
The first day turned out to be difficult because of cold weather. In Malta the sun was still shining but in Poland, well it was a typical November.
Our guests walked round the school and took part in warming up games. After that they attended a meeting with players from our local football team, Jagielonia. In the afternoon the visitors went for a walk in the city centre to do some sightseeing, namely touring the city attractions.
On Tuesday we visited Bialowieza National Park - the museum and primeval forest were a real attraction for the Maltese guests. Bisons, deer and our flora are very different from that which is to be found in Malta.
The third day was dedicated to sport activities and constructing a shared dictionary of basic words in both languages.
The visit was an important event in our school life and helped us to gain a lot of new experience.
Student Mobility to Malta:
27th to the 31st October 2014.
The first student mobility took place in Malta between the 27th and the 31st October 2013. Students from Poland, Germany and the UK, together with the student steering group from Malta participated in various activities in the morning at school or other areas and in the evening. On Monday, a sports quiz was held in the school hall and this was followed by a presentation about disability sport by John Xuereb and a basketball match. In the evening, students had a treasure hunt in Mdina.
Tuesday, all groups took to the national swimming pool, where swimming coaches tutored students and also had them participate in team building activities. Later, in the evening, all students and their teachers went on a tour of Valletta.
The weather was wonderful on Wednesday, so it was just perfect for beach games organised for the group at Golden Bay. The students even enjoyed a swim before starting the games. A walk on the Sliema front was recommended in the evening.
On Thursday, only the UK team was left in Malta as delegations from Germany and Poland had left on the previous days. Therefore, the UK team enjoyed a repeat of the sports quiz and the treasure hunt which they had missed since they had only arrived on Monday evening!
This first mobility was a great opportunity for our students to establish links and get to know each other through working and playing together!
One of the major aims of this mobility was to create a dictionary of common basic words from all the four countries, i.e. in English, Maltese, Polish and German. Below are presentations of the work created by students. Simply click on the icons to view the presentations:
17th -21st March 2014 - Student mobility to UK
“This week, our Year 9 and 10 students who have participated in previous exchanges to Malta and Poland are welcoming, and working alongside, our European partner school students from 18th to 20th March. The Comenius Project is a two year collaboration with European partner schools for which we receive funding for travel and resources from the British Council. As part of this collaboration, Idsall students have already visited the Maltese and Polish schools. More Idsall students who study GCSE German are due to visit the German school in May half term. Departments involved in these exchanges are Humanities, Music, PE and Modern Foreign Languages. The overarching theme for the Project is ‘Olympic Spirit Uniting Europe’. This week, our students are participating in sports teambuilding day and musical workshops. The main tangible outcome is the joint composition of an Olympic anthem for our group, of which the final product will be available to hear on our school website. Our visitors will also be part of the Idsall’s Got Talent competition preliminary rounds. Their three day visit is being rounded off with a sightseeing day to Shrewsbury to look at the heritage of our County town and on to Blists Hill Victorian Town Museum in Ironbridge as we seek to promote our area’s industrial heritage like nations do in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics and Paralympic Games. Above all else, Idsall is keen to expand community links far and wide. We aspire to continue developing our students’ experiences beyond the classroom, make friends with young people living in different European countries and to foster an understanding of their futures as global citizens”.
Miss Hollins
Comenius Project Co-ordinator
One of the major aims of this mobility was to create an anthem, musical production representing our project. The work created by students from all countries is uploaded below. Simply click on each button to play the audio files:
17th -19th February 2014 - UK and Germany to Poland
From 17th to 19th February Polish school has hosted students and teachers from Comenius partner schools in Great Britain and Germany.On the first day students have completed share dictionaries of common words is English, Polish, Maltese and German. The dictionaries were made as a PowerPoint Presentations. After the hard work the visitors went to sightsee Bialystok. They found Orthodox Churches and the traditions of our region the most interesting. They asked many questions about the Orthodox religion as it’s not so common in other countries.On Tuesday the group went to Bialowieza National Park. They visited Nature and Forest Museum and walked in the park surrounding the museum. Students enjoyed playing in the snow which was still present in the park. The last part of the trip was visiting the Bison Show Reserve. At the end of the day students and teachers from England went back to Warsaw.On Wednesday the visitors from Germany accompanied by Polish students went bowling. After they came back to school they attended a lesson of German language. That was a very interesting experience for students from both countries.We hope that the students and teachers from Germany and England thoroughly enjoyed the visit.
Between the 26th and the 30th May 2014, students and teachers from Malta, Poland and the UK participated in a mobility to Max Planck Gymnasium in Goettingen Germany. The programme was varied and students and teachers had the opportunity to collaborate and work together while participating in sport and historical activities, at the same time experiencing German culture. On Monday, students and teachers were given a tour of the school by the German Comenius student steering group and teachers. Next, students were invited to play a game of speed ball in the school indoor gym. This proved to be a very enjoyable game for everyone. For some, it was a completely new game. Next, students were split into groups and were sent to do a short treasure hunt in the small town of Goettingen. In the afternoon, a post-war history workshop was organised and students in different groups wrote down their thoughts and reflections on how they imagined life would be living in a divided Germany in the post-war period. Later on, in the evening a welcome barbecue was organised at the school. Everyone had the opportunity to taste some delicious Bratwurst and salads and then dessert! :) The Head of School also gave a welcoming speech at the barbecue.
On Tuesday, an excursion to the Teistungen Border Museum was organised. It was indeed an interesting experience for all to be able to see exactly where the ''iron curtain'' used to exist and how it divided East and West Germany. After this visit, everyone had some time to visit the old medieval city of Duderstadt, which was indeed a sight to behold. On Wednesday, some fun sport activities and games were organised at Goettingen's indoor pool. All had a wonderful time. In the afternoon, everyone was free to roam about in the town of Goettingen and maybe do some shopping. Poland and the UK returned to their respective countries on Thursday but the Maltese group stayed on for another day. A surprise awaited the Maltese students, as they were invited to play a game of canoe polo on the Kiessee. The weather was cold and so was the lake but all students and teachers enjoyed this new experience thoroughly. As may well be imagined, this was indeed a very enriching experience for all. The stories on post-war reflections are published hereunder.