COMENIUS VIST TO POLAND OCTOBER 2011

My impression about the Comenius visit in my school.

Poland October 2011

Last week the Spanish and English Comenius friends came to our Secondary School in Stanin. They arrived in Poland on Monday 17^th October 2011. They slept one night in Warsaw and our first meeting was the next day!!! When we were waiting for them on the bus we couldn`t believe that it was happening. Although we were a bit afraid of the first meeting, all of us wanted to get to know them. When they got on the bus everybody was smiling to break the ice. In Warsaw we have seen a lot of interesting things and places which are important to Polish history and culture. At the beginning of our trip we were given brochures with some puzzles about Warsaw. We had to solve them during our sightseeing. (Jordan! You were the best). We started from The Royal Castle in Warsaw. Everybody was listening to a guide with great interest, we have learned a lot about the Polish history. After that, we were walking around the Old Town in Warsaw. We also walked down the beautiful Krakowskie Przedmiescie street. We passed St, Anne’s Church, University of Warsaw, Nicolaus Copernicus Monument. We saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We took a lot of nice pictures! During our free time, one of our Spanish friends was teaching us her national dance. She was really good at it! We got to know a very funny game, too. When we were playing it on the bus, everybody was laughing. It was really emotional day for everybody! By Karolina Koślacz

On Tuesday morning we went to school by bus with two of our Spanish friends called Elvira and Maha, who stayed at Ola`s and Marta`s . They were really nice. We talked to them a lot. At school there was a welcome ceremony that we prepared for our guests. The teachers and students from abroad were welcomed by our headteacher and the Mayor of our community in a traditional Polish way – with bread and salt. Then the school choir sang the anthem of our school and it was the beginning of the presentation of the participants of the Comenius Project. We gave a performance about friendship between us and our foreign friends. Polish students presented Spanish dances Flamenco, Pasodoble and our traditional dance Polonaise. Thunderous applause was a proof that the show was successful. After the ceremony we were playing the funny integrative games which developed students’ intellectual and mental skills. All teachers and students were divided into groups. There was a lot of fun and language barriers disappeared. In the evening we organized a disco. Spanish students turned out to be the really good dancers!!! By Karolina Koślacz, Karolina Cybul

On Thursday Spanish students attended our lessons. Most of them liked chemistry because the teacher was showing some experiments. Polish lessons were something new for them. They also found out something about the curriculum in our school. The vist of foreign teachers during our lesson was quite stressful but interesting. I talked to a teacher from Spain. She was really nice. She talked about her family and asked me about mine. Our new foreign friends are very nice and cheerful people. They are also very sociable and talkative. All the time we were talking about our intersts, families and our style of life. They told us about their countries and pointed differences and similarities between our cultures. After lessons we went to Cracow. It was a nice atmosphere on the bus and everyone had fun. We were playing the game "terodaktilo". By Karolina Koślacz, Marlena Ogrodnik, Natalia Sobiech

On Friday Morning we had breakfast at about 9.00 a.m. After breakfast we went sightseeing. We started from The Wawel`s Cathedral . At the begining, in every five minutes, we could hear one word- photo. Everybody wanted to take a photo with the whole group. As in Warsaw we were given brochures with some puzzles about Cracow. We had to solve them during our sightseeing.We have seen Sukiennice (Cloth Hall), St. Mary's Basilica with The Heynal, Collegium Maius. We have seen the Pope’s Window and his monument. We had free time to eat lunch and buy souvenirs.

About 4.30 p.m. we went to Wieliczka Salt Mine. Everyone touched and licked the walls at least once. After sightseeing, when we were waiting for the elewator some of us were playing the game "terodaktilo". It was funny because people who were sitting next to us didn’t know what was going on. Our Comenius meeting came to an end. When we said „goodbye” some of us were crying. We will always remember the meeting in Poland by Natalia Sobiech, Olga Cieślak

Opinions about the Comenius meeting by Polish students.

The visit was a really interesting and practical experience for all of us. These days seemed to be very short, but they gave me the opportunity to share a moment of international friendship. The most important for me was language which is essential for communication. The visit gave me the better chance to develope my skills. At the beginning , it wasn’t easy to communicate in a foreign language, but I had to speak and finally I learnt a lot about our partners` countries ! What the great days we had ! By Karolina Koślacz

I will keep these days in my mind for a lifetime. I hope we will see in the future :)By Natalia Sobiech

It was really nice time, thank you, friends! By Karolina Cybul

It was really positive and unforgettable experience. By Marlena Ogrodnik

Time goes by very quickly. I hope I will meet you next year! By Joanna Skwarek

This event will be kept in my mind for a long time. By Karolina Kazana

Our Memories are really, really nice. We are glad that we could meet such wonderful people. Together we have been learning not only the language but the friendship and love. We have lot of pictures and memories. Thank you. We will miss you. By Karolina Oskroba

We never forget this meeting. By Iza Skwarek

17th-22nd COMENIUS MEETING STANIN, POLAND

ALL POLISH WORDS

GUESS THE MEANING

NEW WORDS

ARE YOU READY FOR MORE WORDS

NEW WORDS TO LEARN

WORD GAME

If you want to improve your vocabulary before our next meeting in Poland, watch the videos and learn new words with us.

Discover the meaning of the Polish words, written on the sheet of paper, by using the context and send to us the English and Spanish translation.

Visit to Spain May 2011 - Diary from England

The Comenius visits to Spain and Poland

Spain

Day 1

On Monday 2nd May we went to Bristol airport. We had to leave Ivybridge at 2.30am and flew to Spain early in the morning. I was feeling excited and happy. When we arrived there we went on a coach to our hotel in Vera. Vera is a town on the Coasta Almeria in an area known as Andalucia. It is on the south coast of Spain and it has both snowy mountains and sandy beaches. The weather is generally hot and sunny. We met up with the Spanish teachers at our hotel.

We went to our rooms and unpacked our bags and then went to explore the area and find something to eat. I was very tired and sleepy because it had been a long day! The Polish teachers and students arrived very late, when we were asleep. We met them the next morning.

By Nola and Harvey

Day 2

On Tuesday 3rd May we got up early and met up with the Spanish and Polish teachers. We all went to visit El Palmeral School in Vera as part of the Comenius Project 'living Happily in my European House'.

Four children were selected to represent school - me (Harvey), Jack, Nola and Erin to take part in the Physical Room Activities.

We made a display of the winning models from the UK and were able to look at the winning models and from the other

schools.

We were very proud that an entry from our school was chosen as the winning logo and it was evident on posters, plaques and t-shirts around the school commemorating the project.

In the afternoon we went for a tour around Vera and saw the museums, the bull ring, the cathedral and met the Mayor in the town hall. He presented us with a special clay drinking cup, as a symbol of friendship. By Harvey

Day 3 Wednesday 4th May

This was one of the most nerve wracking and important days of the whole visit. We had to give our presentations to what seemed like, half of the school, not to mention the Mayor of the town, the Head Teacher, and the Chief of the Local Education Authority.

After being driven to the school, we swiftly gathered in the assembly hall with the Spanish and Polish students, who were a lot older and taller than us! Each of the important dignitaries gave a speech - which thankfully was translated from Spanish to English. Following on from that, Manor's representatives, Harvey, Nola, Erin and I had to give a Powerpoint Presentation about Manor school. Thankfully we were only given a few words to speak during this. Next we sat and watched the Polish and Spanish students give their presentations about their schools.

After that we gathered on the playground for some different national games such as skipping and rounders. These were the English games. The Spanish taught us how to play petanc which is similar to bowls. I played petanc and rounders while students in different groups played other traditional games.

After an hour playing in the hot sun, it was time for some relaxing relaxing yoga in their sports hall. In fact it ended up being anything but relaxing s we were encouraged to get ourselves into positions we had previously never dreamt of! Exhausted after over an hour of physical contortions, we welcomed the news that lunch was on its way - it was laready 2.30pm. The lunch was most interesting. It included the largest paella dish you could ever imagine. (Paella is a famous dish from Spain made of rice, stock,clams, fish and meat, it was really delicious!) The staff had kindly prepared starters, the Paella and ice-cream to follow all washed down with some wine!

Eventually we returned to our hotel and rushed out for a quick dip in the sea before meeting up with the other students for sports on the beach. The activities on offer were beach volleyball organised by the Spanish; 'Holes', an interesting game similar to dodgeball led by the Polish, and tag rugby led by me and Harvey. Another energetic couple of hours later, we retired exhausted but energised and ready for a good night's sleep.

By Jack

Day 4 Thursday 5th May

On Thursday we went to the Alhambra Palace in Granada. It took us two hours to get from our hotel to the palace but it was definately worthwhile. When we got to the Alhambra we were amazed because the palace was surrounded by snow capped mouintains and beautiful scenery. We all got ouir tickets then walked up to the palace. First we had a tour around the main building; we were all breathless when we saw the absolutely stunning walls and ceilings. They were all covered in carvings of lovely patterns and were painted in lots of different shades of black, brown and white. After we went to the main building we went up and had a walk around the gardens and went in the building. When we were having our tickets checked before we went in a girl fell into the little pond in the courtyard it was really funny and everyone laughed! After that we went down to the town of Granada and bought lunch in a little stall by the church. We went shopping after lunch and bought presents for all our families then walked to the coach park and drove back to the hotel to collect our suitcases. Unfortunately we had to leave for the airport ten minutes later so we said goodby to Carlos and all of the lovely people we had met and rushed to the minibus to get home. We got on the aeroplane at midnight so we were all very tired when we got home but it was really fun and I would love to do it again!

By Erin

Mrs. Harris and Mrs. Loveday had to remain for a final 'working meeting' the next day. In this meeting the teachers from the 3 schools met to evaluate the visit, plan the activities for the next part of the project and finalise arrangements for the next visit to Poland in October. This will be based on the 'Intellectual Room' in our European House. We agreed to put a diary of our visit to Spain on the Blog which we all contributed to and it appeared in the school newsletter and website. We have done an assembly to show the rest of the school all our exciting experiences in Vera! Weare all so pleased that we had a chance to go - thank you to all who made the visit so special!

Poland

Comenius project ‘Living Happpily in our European House’

Visit to Poland October 2011  by Nola and Jordan

We went to Poland with Mrs Harris, Mrs Babb, Mrs Solomon, Mrs Blair and Mrs Murray. We flew to Warsaw on Monday 17^th November.

          

On the Tuesday morning we met up with the Polish and Spanish teachers and students and then had a guided walk around Warsaw. Warsaw is a big city and we saw the old town which was very badly damaged in World War 2. Next we went to a big arched memorial with soldiers marching and a flame burning. There was also a waterfall. Later we went to look at some of the shops but they were like the ones in Plymouth. After lunch we travelled to Stanin . The journey took a few hours and we met the Head teacher of the school and lots of other people.

          

They took us for a meal in a restaurant and we had a traditional Polish meal. There were dumplings, pork, chicken, eggs and vegetables to eat followed by cheese cakes. Jordan thought it was lovely!

On Wednesday we were welcomed into the school with bread and salt.

        

We met the mayor of Stanin and then we went into the hall for a welcome  assembly. The children sang songs, played the violin and danced for us.

     

We then had to do our power point presentation to tell the Polish students all about our school. Nola was really nervous but it all went well, and then we played the games ….

       

We played lots of puzzle games and answer questions to test our general knowledge and also what we knew about our 3 countries. Some questions were difficult! There was game of trivial pursuits where you had to roll a dice, move your teams cone and answer questions like “What is the capital city of Poland?” and Nola answered, “Warsaw” Well done, Nola! In the end, Jordan’s team won the game, so well done Jordan, too!

     

On Thursday we went into the school to meet all the children and the staff. We looked around the school. It has lots of people from early years to secondary age. We went into the years 1 and 2 where the children sang and danced for us. We sat in on a language and a chemistry lesson too.

     

We found out a lot of things about going to school in Poland and had a great time at the school with lots of people.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES, GAMES AND SPORTS. IES EL PALMERAL, VERA, SPAIN

1. CALICHE

EQUIPMENT:

- Caliche: wooden cylinder about 20cm high y 3cm diameter, which is placed within a circle of 40 cm diameter.

- Moneda (Coin): round piece of metal of 2cm diameter. It is placed on top of the caliche.

- Pieza o moneo: 8-cm-long square piece of metal, which is thrown at the caliche. In case of not having one, a flat stone can be used instead.

- Pitch: Flat surface of about 20m long y 6m wide.

RULES:

The game consists of throwing the “pieza”at the caliche, so that the “moneda” or coin is knocked over and lies closer to the “pieza” than to the “caliche”.

The number of players can vary, but we can play with 2 teams of 2 players. Each player will throw 2 “piezas”or stones, so a total number of 8 “piezas will be thrown in each inning.

Each throw is made at a distance of 6 metres.

Points will be given for:

-Knocking over the caliche: 2 points.

-Leaving a pieza inside the circle where the caliche stands: 1 point.

-Once all the piezas have been thrown, the team whose pieza lies closer to the coin will score 2 more points.

The team that reaches 21 points first is the winner.

2. PETANCA

EQUIPMENT:

- Boliche: wooden ball of about 3cm diameter.

- Balls: balls made of metal (bronze or steel) of 7-8cm diameter, which weigh between 600 and 800 grams.

- Pitch: Any kind of flat ground (sand, grass, asphalt) of about 10m long y 4m wide.

RULES:

The game consists of throwing the balls and trying to place them as close as possible to the “boliche”.

The number of players can vary, but we can play with 2 teams of 3 players. Each player will throw 2 balls, so a total number of 12 balls will be thrown in each inning.

Each throw is made at a distance of 6 metres. It must be made by holding the ball with the palm of the hand looking down, and then swinging your arm straight backwards and then forward.

There are two types of throw: 1- the player tries to place his ball near the boliche; 2- the player tries to hit a ball from the other team, in order to move it away from the boliche.

At the end of each inning, the team that manages to get their balls closer to the boliche will obtain as many points as the number of balls that are closer to the boliche than the other team’s closest ball.

3. YOGA

The word Yoga means union. In the first place, union with oneself, the integration of our whole personal structure. And secondly, the conscious union of the individuals with the universe that surrounds them.

Carrying out a yoga session allows us to take a break from our busy daily life, to have the opportunity of reconnecting with our body, our mind and our spirit by means of postures (asanas), breathing exercises (pranayama), conscious relaxation (shavasana), concentration (dharana) and finally, meditation (dhyana).

Yoga is the art of finding a personal balance and spiritual harmony, being an ideal way to take care of our body and calm our mind; thus reaching a state of inner peace and deep self-knowledge.

ASANAS

During the practice of asanas we can establish a close and silent dialogue with our body, exploring and accepting our physical reality.

Through the asanas, we can understand how our body works and we are able to achieve stretching, flexibility, compactness, expansion, mobility, immobility, as well as expression. The postures are made in a soft and conscious way and they provide a balance between our body and mental energy, generating both physical and mental health.

4. BEACH VOLLEY

EQUIPMENT

-The ball: It is made of a flexible material (leather, synthetic leather, or similar). The colours are usually bright (such as orange, yellow, pink, white, etc.), the size slightly bigger than for indoor volleyball ( 17,5 cm diameter) and the weight 260 to 280 g.

-Net: The net can be placed at different heights, depending on the age and sex of the players. It can vary from 2.00 m for young players to 2.43 m for men.

-Playing court: The playing court is a rectangle measuring 16 x 8 m. The terrain must be composed of leveled sand, as flat and uniform as possible. Two sidelines and two end lines mark the playing court. Both side and end lines are placed inside the dimensions of the playing court. There is no center-line.

RULES

Beach volleyball is played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net. However, we can play with teams of up to 6, like in volleyball. The object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent. The team has three hits for returning the ball (including the block touch). The ball is put in play with a service: hit by the server over the net to the opponents. The rally continues until the ball is grounded on the playing court, goes “out” or a team fails to return it properly.

The team winning a rally scores a point. When the receiving team wins a rally, it gains a point and the right to serve. The serving player must be alternated every time this occurs.

The first team to score 21 points wins a set. Each match is played to the best of 3 sets.