Gallery
Comenius Partnership
Our school is part of an European Union funded partnership. The Comenius scheme aims to bring together schools, teachers and pupils from within the European Union. We are in partnership with the following schools in Balvu, Latvia, in Kedzier-Kozle, Poland, in Samsun, Turkey and in Recanati, Italy. (Yes, I know that Turkey is not part of the EU)
The So Far But So Close project, as our Comenius programme is known, has its own website, where pupils can have contact to each other, share photos and videos and see the different results of the activities. If you are interested in seeing these results and getting impressions of the work.
Activities take place throughout the year, Christmas traditions and carols, traditional houses iand construction, horticultural callender and an international phrase book to name a few.
The participants from our school are from class 9. Some of the class went to Balvi, Latvia in May, 2010. They took part in high quality design, dressmaking and woodwork lessons. Balvi is an centre of excellence for design, dressmaking and woodwork. In October, 2010 there was a very successful visit to Turkey. We were the the Hosts in January, 2011 with pupils and Teachers from all the other schools except Turkey.
Here is an extract from our final Comenius report by Foppe Jellema, Scottish co-ordinator:
Our partnership has provided pupils and teachers with the opportunity to meet other students and colleagues from very different backgrounds and cultures. We saw some of the strengths and weaknesses of each culture. We have seen how history, climate and economic circumstances shape people's lives and futures.
We have experienced the marked contrast between the Turkish and Latvian ways of life and attitudes. To see how the Islamic faith can, in a healthy way, inform peoples lives was interesting and valuable in our understanding of the culture. The Latvians are so down to earth, lovely, practical, organised and very welcoming yet somehow found it difficult to really socialise with other groups. We saw the beauty of the Italian Renaissance in Recanati, Marche and the community spirit of the Polish people. It has been a great privilege for us to see, meet and greet all of these cultures. It has also provided us with the opportunity to reflect on our own culture here in the United Kingdom.
Find out about some of our adventures on the schools own Comenius blog:
http://comenius-edinburgh.blogspot.com
What is The Comenius Programme?
The Comenius Programme is named after Jan Amos Comenius, often considered the father of modern education. The two main objects of the programme are to develop knowledge and understanding among young people and education staff of the diversity of European cultures and languages, and the value of this diversity and to help young people to acquire basic life skills and competences for their personal development, for future employment and for active European citizenship.