Project

Comenius project from 2013 till 2015


5^th meeting: SPAIN, Úbeda
14th - 17th April 2015

 Evaluation Ubeda – students

Students who were in Ubeda answer the questionnaire about the visit.

Thirty five students filled the questionnaire. Large majority of the students have had opportunity of speaking English with other people, 77,15% claim that it was enough for them and some of them 25,71 % (9 students) claim they have had the opportunity but not too much None of the students were too ashamed to speak with other people or haven’t had opportunity of speaking English.

Students have found out a lot of information. They have learnt about the culture (77,15%), they have tasted the traditional dishes (74,3%). Large majority of the students have learnt new words in Spanish language (80%!!!) it is more students than in any other visit !!!. Students  learnt about history (34,3%) and monuments (48,5%). Less than a half (40%) have found out the tradition of other countries. Few students have found out about the educational system (22,8%) and famous people (11,4%).

Like always the most important thing for the students during mobility was to make friends with other teenagers (91,4%!!!), for a half of them the most important thing was to get to know new country (51,4%) and for one third 34,3% it was important to taste new dishes.

Large majority of the students (80%) found the stay in Ubeda as a very satisfying experience. Staying in Ubeda was stressful at the beginning for 20% of students. It was probably because the stayed at the host families for the first time. Only one student did not like staying in Ubeda but he/she was glad she/he could come.

Most of the students are going to keep in touch with their new friends (85,7%), Only 11,42% are not sure about it. Any student is not interested in keeping in touch with new friends. One of them aren’t sure and said “maybe”

The students like both sightseeing Ubeda more than team – work  54,3% and 71,43%, three students answered that it was something else but they didn’t explain.

Large majority of the  students think that they have improved their English (74,3 %), because they  :

·         talked to other people

·         Spoke a lot

·         Talked to other teenagers from the project

·         Had the chance to speak  English to other people

·         Used English in practice

·         Talked a lot

·         Learnt thousand of different accents

·         Spoke English all the time with friends

Some of the students 20% think they didn’t improve they English because they:

·         Can speak English

·         Didn’t learn new words

·         Use a lot English at school

·         Talked with only few students

Some of the students have added comments. They think that:

·         He/she wanted to eat with less olive oil

·         Everybody should have eaten together

·         She/he could have had more free time and more time to sleep but she/he had a great time in Spain

·         We had a great time

·         She/he had best week of her/his life

·         This week was a once in a life time experience and he/she is glad he/she could be there

·         She/he made so many friends, Spanish people are very nice and friendly, he/she hopes to come back

·         She/he had a lot of fun and it was nice to visit other country and talked to people from different countries,

·         She/he wish the trip had been longer

·         She/he learnt to speak a little Spanish, made a lot of new friends. All the people were friendly and spoke English well

·         She/he thinks it was an amazing trip, he/she met a lot of people and made a lot of friends. The school has an interesting design and he/she liked it a lot

·         It was a nice experience in Spain and she/he hopes to came back to Spain again

·         The trip was a great experience and she/he liked the Spanish people

·         Everybody was so friendly, everybody wanted to help

·         Thank you for everything

 

4^th meeting: Bulgaria, Plovdiv
 23rd - 27th March 2015  

Evaluation Plovdiv – students

Thirty three students who have been in Plovdiv filled in the questionnaire. More than a half of the students have had opportunity of speaking English with other people, 54,55% claim that it was enough for them, 33,3% students have had the opportunity but not too much, One the students was too ashamed to speak with other people or and three students think they haven’t had any opportunity of speaking English.

Students have found out a lot of information. They have learnt the most about the traditions of other countries  (78,79%), because of the topic of the meeting they have found out about the culture (69,7%) tasted the traditional dishes (48,48%). More than  half of the students have learnt new words in Bulgarian language (54,55%). One third have learnt about history (33,33%) and monuments (24,24%). A few of the students have found out about the educational system (12,12%) and famous people (15,15%).

The most important thing for the students during mobility was to get to know new country (78,79%) and on the second place make friends with other teenagers (66,67%), for 33,33% it was important to taste new dishes.

Most of the students (72,73%) found the stay in Bulgaria as a very satisfying experience, for some of them 21,21% it was stressful at the beginning but they were content to be there. Three students did not like the stay in Bulgaria but they were glad they could come.

Most of the students are going to keep in touch with their new friends (78,79%), 21,21% are not sure about it. Any student is not interested in keeping in touch with new friends.

The students like sightseeing Bulgaria most (69,7%) and more than a half (51,52%) like team work most, 24,24% of students like other things the most. They didn’t mention what it was.

A large majority of the students (81,82 % ) think they have improved their English, but 18,18% students don’t think so.

Many students have add comments. They think that:

·         She/he wants to come back to Plovdiv

·         She/he will miss Bulgaria

·         It was a very beautiful place and she/he wants to come there again

·         All things were fantastic

·         She/he made new friends and she/he loved staying there

·         The mobility was perfect

·         It was a very fun experience and she/he wish she would be able to come again without the stress concerning with introducing new people

·         The people were very friendly, she/he made many friends

·         It was a beautiful experience

·         The people were very friendly and she/he wants to have more experiences like that

·         It was  wonderful

·         She/he liked everything

·         This experience was very interesting and wonderful

·         Bulgaria is a beautiful country

·         She/he liked a black swan

·         She/he didn’t find the supermarket near the hotel

·         She/he liked the rose oil factory

·         Bulgaria is an unique country and she/he liked mosque

·         The food prices are low

 

Evaluation of our 3^rd meeting in Turkey

Students in Izmir

Students who were in Izmir answered the questionnaire about the visit.

Forty two students filled in the questionnaire. More than  half of the students have had the opportunity of speaking English with other people, 33,33% claim that it was enough for them. None of the students was too ashamed to speak with other people or hasn’t had opportunity of speaking English.

Students have found out a lot of information. They have learnt about the culture (66,67%), they have tasted the traditional dishes (52,38%). A large majority of the students have learnt new words in Turkish (69,05%) it is much more than in any other visit. The reason might be that all of the students stayed in host families. Students  learnt about history (38,1%) and monuments (21,43%). Less than a half (35,71%) have found out about traditions of other countries. Few students have found out about the educational system (14,28%) and famous people (9,52%). One student mentioned that he learned something about Turkish personality.

Like always the most important thing for the students during mobility was to make friends with other teenagers (73,81%), for more than a half of them the most important thing was to get to know a new country (59,52%) and for one third (38,1%) it was important to taste new dishes. One student added that the most important was to get to know about the culture.

Most of the students (57,14%) found the stay in Turkey as a very satisfying experience. Staying in Izmir was stressful at the beginning for one third of students. It was probably because the stayed in host families for the first time. Nevertheless they thought it was worth staying in host families. Only 4,76% of them did not like the stay in Izmir but they were glad they could have come.

Students added that they liked Turkey a lot and found out that people were nice. Another student wrote that he/she had been scared at the beginning, but later he wished to stay longer there, one student added that it had been really nice.

Most of the students are going to keep in touch with their new friends (71,43%), 28,57% are not sure about it. Any student is not interested in keeping in touch with new friends.

The students liked both sightseeing Izmir and team working  47,62% and 42,68%, eight students added that they liked making friends the most.

More than half of the students think that they have improved their English (57,14 %), because :

• They had to speak English all the time
• They spoke a lot in English
• They learned new words
• Some students from Finland know English very well, so the others improved their English speaking with them
• They had to talk about different things in many ways
• They had to speak with many different people in the way they could understand

One third of the students (33,3%) think they didn’t improve their English, as a reason for that they wrote:

• They already know English very well, so they don’t need it
• They spoke in Turkish because they know it
• They didn’t speak with other people

 Some of the students have added comments. They think that:

• He/she learned a lot about the culture by staying with a family
• He/she ate good food
• They laughed a lot
• He/she think it was very funny
• The mobility and the people were great
• Although the people in Turkey don’t know English very well they are wonderful people, very kind and he/she wishes to see them again
• He/she loves Turkey and Izmir. He/she likes all those people there. He/she will visit Turkey again
• Huge love
• The people were nice and it was funny
• The people were kind and it was funny to speak another language

The programme for the visit in Turkey is ready: 

We created an etwinning project. Have a look:    TwinSpace 



Evaluation of the 2^nd meeting in Romania

Parents' and local community members' viewpoint

The visit has been discussed in detail with family members, relatives, friends and neighbours. According to them, the students have been strongly impressed and influenced by what they experienced – crossing borders, the extremely warm and well-organised reception, the good relationships among partners, the interesting and meaningful events and activities. The general conclusion is that students' participation in international projects is of great benefit.

Students' opinions

 All the students are extremely satisfied that they have succeeded in dealing with unusual situations alone, taking responsibility, “handling themselves”, that they have learned to work with people from other cultures, ethnic groups and religions, people with different viewpoints and way of life. They have also learned to respect differences, to be more tolerant and work in international teams.

Most of them answered that they have practised all the skills mentioned in the questionnaire, namely English, communicative and artistic, as well as athletic ones. They all find the visit Beneficial, Exciting and touching and unforgettable. They liked all the events and would like to participate in other activities like that.

Teachers' viewpoint

 Teachers' opinion coincides with that of students and their parents and friends. Despite the workload and many responsibilities, they have also improved communicative and IT skills, exchanged useful experience with colleagues from other countries and education systems. Relationships with their students improved, moving on to higher, more productive levels and they are convinced in the benefits of such projects.

Discussion points:

1. The date for our visit in Spain was changed. New: 12th April 2015 - 17th April 2015  (because of the exams in the different countries.)

2. Bulgary started creating the comic. The following countries are: Greece, Germany, Turkey, Poland, Finland, Romania and the last one  is Spain. 

The storyline: Comenix comes from space and "collects" characters from the different countries in order to build a new nation on his planet. He gets to know about the environmental problems. In the end he sees that there is no need to union the countries because of the EU :-)

The exact storyline has to be send to the previous country during the working process. Each country has one month to continue the comic.

3. Communication among the students has to be improved! A twinspace has been created by Germany.  http://new-twinspace.etwinning.net/web/p103956.

2^nd meeting: Romania, Bucharest   
23^rd March till 28^th March 2014

Here's the programme:

SUNDAY, March 23

The Guests’ arrival. Meeting at Henry Coanda airport.  Accomodation at Ibis Hotel.

MONDAY, March 24

9:00 The welcome meeting – Ibis Conference Hall (teachers and students)

10:00 School visit

11:00 Snack break

11:30 Training for the teams that are involved in the program – the school gymnasium.  The chess players’ meeting – CDI(Information and Documentation Center). (I)

13:30 Lunch- Hello Restaurant

15:30 Training for the teams that are involved in the program – the school gymnasium.  The chess players’ meeting – CDI(Information and Documentation Center). (II)

19:00 Dinner- Ibis Hotel

TUESDAY, March 25

9:30 The opening of Comenix Tournament. The matches will be scheduled in accordance with the preliminary registration for different sports

13:30 Lunch Hello Restaurant

15:00 The Comenix Tournament (II)

17:00 Awards Ceremony

18:30 Romanian evening (school)

WEDNESDAY, March 26

9:00 Bucharest Bus Tour

·       The Palace of Parliament

·       Bucharest historic center

·       Lunch

·       A visit at the Command center of Bucharest subway

15:30  Free time spent with Romanian friends / families

THURSDAY, March 27

9:30 Departure at The Children National Palace

10:00-20:00 The International Symposium “Our future in Europe. Join In!”. Activities.

• Visual Arts Exhibition: “A piece of heaven in Europe”
• Written presentations “Comenius, our friend”
• Multicultural show “ Young in old Europe”
• Carnival party
• An Astronomy Lesson at the Astronomy Observatory from The Children National Palace
• Workshop “Knowing others, you will know yourself”
• Romanian folk dances – workshop
• Lunch and dinner – “Empaty Santorini” Restaurant 

 FRIDAY, March 28

Departure of the partners

Evaluation of the 1st meeting

The first full project meeting was held at Kesämäenrinteen koulu in Finland from October 7^th-11^th 2013.

  There were teams from all eight partner countries present and, as this was the first time that all partners were together, time was spent on introductions and group-building exercises.

   The formal agenda items and discussion centred on organization of the project over the next two years. The proposed project structure was reviewed and amended to maximize student mobilities within the limits of the budget. Another issue raised was the importance of travelling students having the possibility to stay with host families in order to deepen the educational/cultural experience. The project website was established at www.youthineurope.webs.com and each partner country agreed to make their own national blog which would be linked to this website.

   In the discussions, Poland and Bulgaria said that they would have problems finding enough host families, while Romania asked to be included in the programme of visits. The Finnish team said that it would make a maximum of three visits because of its extra travelling costs (Northern location!)

   Effectively, Romania took the activities connected to the cancelled visit to Poland, while Poland took the activities previously allocated to Romania. Specific dates were made for the first three mobilities.

                  Romania  24.03 - 28.03.14

                  Greece    05.05 - 09.05.14

                  Turkey     29.09 - 03.10.14

and provisional dates for the last two  

                   Bulgaria  23.03 - 27.03.15

                   Spain      04.05 - 08.05.15

It was agreed that the host country would chair the respective project meetings.

    The overall atmosphere of discussion and joint decision making was very positive.

Our Comenius project     2013 - 2015

Summary
The project aims are presenting the EU in a positive light to the youth and encouraging their active involvement in EU issues. We hope to strengthen international cooperation and knowledge of partners' languages and cultures. We will use IT to encourage communication and youth-friendly materials and activities to motivate their interest.
In the course of the project  students will have the opportunity to learn more about the European Union and its member countries, about other cultures and ways of life and  to make sure that people from various cultural backgrounds are able to work together to promote European values. Knowledge of different cultures should combat discrimination and racism. Participation in different activities will enhance communication and interaction skills and teach them how to live in a multicultural Europe.
We believe that entrepreneurship, creativity, innovation and adaptation to the rapidly changing world of work is very significant for  the future of the youth. All in all involving  youth in European issues will help them get rid of their prejudice towards EU countries , make them willing to be active citizens and qualified workers of the EU  and also motivate them to continue their studies,  preventing them from  early school leaving.

Rationale

Many experts say that this period is perhaps the most critical for the future of EU. The future of Europe is its youth. For this it is necessary to help young people so that they undertake the continuity of the EU. 

This project has as its main goal to present the EU in a positive way to the youth. Through the activities of the project the teachers will encourage and urge their students to strengthen intra-European cooperation. Simultaneously through experiential learning mode students will gain the belief that different languages and cultures do not divide the European peoples, but rather are elements that complete the puzzle of EU. They will also realize that the use of foreign languages and familiarity with other cultures do not place tension in relations of people who have a different origin. Instead they offer solutions to people's problems and social and economic impasse.

There are short term and long term reasons based on which we chose this project:

Short term reasons:

All schools which are participating in the project have culture, nationality, tribe or social heterogeneity in their school population. But most teenagers want to become exactly similar to each other as this diversity makes them feel uncomfortable and in some cases creates problems in their relationships. This project aims to mitigate discrimination arising from diversity and to make them obtain a critical attitude towards such issues. 

Long term reasons:

Our students are the future European citizens and employees. They should get to know other cultures and gain experiences. Maybe some of them need to migrate to another country for economic or other social reasons. Others may need to host in their own country those who are forced to migrate. The activities we chose aim at preparing them from this early age to be ready to make or accept such changes in their lives, because in this way they can have a better and more peaceful life . To enable someone to live in modern Europe, it is important to have them acquire these attitudes, beliefs and perceptions which will help address the EU in a positive light . Participating in international cooperation activities, gaining knowledge of foreign languages and cultures and being able to fight xenophobia, discrimination and racism undoubtedly means active involvement in EU issues.

Our students all speak English, and many of them speak another or more foreign languages (French, German, etc). They also handle IT from a very good to an excellent level. These are efforts which will be used in our project. 

Our project also aims at making pupils and teachers aware of the need of European cooperation, comparing and exchanging information about positive and negative aspect of the EU.

Pupils and teachers from the schools will work together to achieve the objectives. Firstly, there will be established project teams for both pupils and teachers who will be given tasks regarding the organization, dissemination and evaluation of the project. End products will be realised during the project meetings by the pupils from all the countries as well as during the whole period of the project. 

For all the above reasons, we strongly believe that this project will become for them another effort for their future life in EU.