Comenius project: GOEM in Brussels

On 3-4 May, the European Commission organised a conference dedicated to Comenius school partnerships in Brussels. 

12 Comenius school partnerships presented themselves in an exhibition at the conference and more projects served as examples in workshop discussions.

They explored the links between school projects and wider school policy developments in four thematic workshops looking at school co-operation in the light of current policy issues such as improving learning environments, teachers' competences, inclusive education and the internationalisation of schools.

In the 4^th theme, about supporting the internationalisation of schools, was our Comenius-GOEM project represented by the coordinator Ian Patterson, from Belfast.

More info at:

• http://comeniuspartnerships.teamwork.fr/en/information
• http://comeniuspartnerships.teamwork.fr/docs/partnerships.pdf
  

(THEME 4 Supporting the internationalisation of schools)

It means that we are doing a great job!  =)

GOEM: Go on and employ me!

FOURTH DAY

Today was sight-seeing day in Germany. To start the day, we started by waking up, and having breakfast with our families like everyday. Then, we went to the bus station to take a bus to go to different places in the region.

First, we went to Esslingen by bus. There, we visited Esslingen castle, and from there we walked to the centre for a short guided tour. We visited the Christmas and Medieval Market. When we were there, we got something to eat in the Market. Everything was delicious!

The second stop of the journey was in Sindelfingen. In this town, we visited the place where the Mercedes cars are produced. It was incredible! The factory was enormous (the biggest in Europe, and probably in the world), and it was really incredible to see the machines and workers working so fast. A recommended visit!

To finish our visit in the region, we went to Metzingen, a famous place for its factory outlets, to do some shopping. It was really amazing!

To finish the day, we returned to Nürtingen, and then we went to our partner's home. We were very tired.

ERIK RIOS SALAZAR

GOEM: Go on and employ me!

THIRD DAY

Today was the day. We started our day as everyday in Germany. We woke up early in the morning, and we had breakfast before we went to school. When we arrived to the school, we were very nervous, because it was the day of our presentations.

But first, we do some different things. We were divided into different groups, but in each group there was a minimum of one person from each country. Then, they told us that we had to create a new product, and all the things that people usually do when they create a new product. For example description of the product, name of the company, logo, designs, advertising, price... So, we spent half of the morning doing that job in different groups. It was strange, we were very nervous. We knew that the other presentation was waiting for us.

At 11:15 a.m. we started to present the slideshows we prepared in our countries. We were the last ones, after the people from Norway and Northern Ireland. The presentations of the other schools were very well designed. We were very nervous, but that sensation dissapeared when the presentation started. We felt better then.

After the presentations we went to have lunch at the school’s Cafeteria, and during the afternoon we spent the time finishing our product design project, and then making a presentation about them. It was really entertaining to see all the products that people can imagine!

When we finished, we started to prepare the ‘Comenius Party’. The party started at 18:30, and it finished at 23:00 p.m, It was time to go home, and relax for the next day.

ERIK RIOS SALAZAR

GOEM: Go on and employ me!

Second day: Albert Schäffle Schule

This was our first day at school. We arrived around 8 o'clock in the morning and we had the chance of meet all the students there. Northern irish, norwegian, german and basque students met all together at rooms 126/127.

At first, we met our pre-desginated partner to make an introduction about the other in front of the whole group.

After that, we divided the big group into small ones and played some games through the school before going to the city.

German students prepared for us a game. It consisted on some German students, distributed through the city centre, would ask us some questions and the groups had to try answering them correctly. The group that could answer all the questions would be the winner. We played it after the lunch break.

We finished the day having dinner all together in a local restaurant.

Xabi

GOEM: Go on and employ me!

First day: Arrival to Germany

Sunday morning, at 9 o'clock, we met at the bus station in San Sebastian. Our bus was leaving the city at this time. Our flight was taking off at 12:40 pm.
We arrived Stuttgart around 2 o'clock. Our host families were waiting for us at the terminal. They brought us to their hometowns and we spent the whole afternoon with them visiting each one's city, or watching films at home, etc.
We knew that irish students would arrive later in the afternoon. On the other hand, norwegians were arriving at night, but we did not meet them until next day. This was going to be our first day at the german school.

Xabier

WHAT IS COMENIUS FOR YOU?

Here you have the video of Comenius week. It is fantastic!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZxi_N6fOAs&feature=digest

We did different activities during the week. This is just a sumary of the event.

COMENIUS WEEK 2011

Our school takes part in different European projects. This week it is Comenius week and we have prepared an agenda to show our colleagues what we are talking about.