Diary of the visit to Poland

Comenius project ‘Living Happily in our European House’

Visit to Poland October 2011 by Nola and Jordan

A group of 8 teachers, governors and pupils from Manor Primary school visited the secondary and primary school in Stanin, Poland, as part of our Comenius Project ‘Living Happily in my European house’. We are Jordan and Nola and we were selected to take part in the second of the ‘Mental or Intellectual Room’ activities. 

Teachers and students from the school in Spain were also present, though the students were older and stayed with Polish families.

On the first day of our visit we were met in Warsaw and taken for a tour of the Royal Palace and old town square. We learned much about the history of the city, and were made aware of Poland’s history which was very interesting. Later that day we travelled to Stanin and then were shown to our hotel. In the evening we were taken out for a traditional Polish meal and had a chance to meet the staff from the school, the mayor, local officials and people from the community. 

 The next day we went in to school on the school coach. We were made very welcome by both the staff and children of the secondary school who gave us a traditional welcome to their school, with a clapping avenue of students, and bread and salt to symbolise welcome. 
 
 

They had put up a display of famous people from the 3 countries representing the 4 aspects of the ‘European house of 4 rooms’. 

We were entertained by music, dance and songs from the Polish students and the students from each school did a powerpoint presentation about their own school.

 

  

As the coordinating school, we went first and were very nervous! The activities then began and they were fun. We were in mixed groups of children from all 3 countries competed against each other in the games we had prepared for them. Some of the questions in the Trivial Pursuits game would have definitely puzzled the teachers , let alone us! Jordan's team did really well!

In the evening there was a disco for the students and a meal ,dancing and singing for the rest of us – they certainly made sure that we didn’t go hungry on our visit and we had lots of good things to eat! Again many people from the community as well as members of staff were there to socialise with us, making it a friendly evening.

On the third day, Thursday, back in school again, we were given a tour. We were shown around the classes with children from the earliest years (foundation) welcoming us with songs, dances and flowers. We were given toys and things to eat! 
 We also visited a chemistry and Polish lesson with older children. Back in the library the teachers had a meeting and talked about the last visit to England, where we will cover the artistic/emotional and spiritual rooms. They agreed on the activities, then we all got on a coach that was going to take us to Krakow-a journey of over 6 hours, arriving late in the evening! What a varied and busy day!
 

Friday was a day to find out about Krakow – a very attractive city, again steeped in history and accounts of Poland’s troubled past. We visited the beautiful cathedrals and markets, before travelling to the salt mine at Wvielenska, an extraordinary monument full of km of chambers, tunnels, statues and chapels all deep under ground. On returning to the city of Krakow we had sadly to say goodbye and prepare for our return journey to England early the next morning.

Once again the whole visit was not just a ‘getting to know you’ experience but a statement of a commitment to working together with schools form different countries, which is the main aim of Comenius Projects. This diary will also appear in the school newsletter. 
 

The teachers and students will share their experiences with the rest of the school in an assembly and show some of the photos and videos of our experiences.

The 3^rd and final visit of this project will be in Ivybridge, from 30^th April - 4^th May 2012.  The activities will be based on the artistic and spiritual rooms.