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’
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 17th 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.