Final Transnational Meeting

June 2018 brought the last meeting of the Embracing Everyone project. The coordinators from each country and another member of staff met in Kirkbymoorside, England, where it all began back in November 2016. 

Time was spent in school, visiting classes, talking to the children and observing lots of music and singing! In the photograph above, the children are carrying out traditional May Pole dancing which the Erasmus teachers participated in! 

We collated our results and discussed the impact of our project. 

The Erasmus partners took part in an Autism workshop, presented by a specialist in communication and language difficulties.

We also celebrated our time together and the success of our project!

We had a fantastic, but tiring week!

Promoting a Healthy Lifestyle

Each school involved in the project has different and interesting ways of promoting a healthy lifestyle among their students and staff. We collated our practice into a book which can be used by other schools. 

Please find a copy of the book on the link below. 

https://1drv.ms/w/s!Aiq6GqH3p6F6ggrZ10oDycCbq2Bj

Five Strategies

Over the duration of the Embracing Everyone project, we have worked hard to research innovative methods of teaching, observe them and put them into practice within our schools. A book displaying key information about the five main strategies has been published and paper copies have been distributed to schools and the local community. 

Here is an electronic copy of the book. 

https://1drv.ms/b/s!Aiq6GqH3p6F6ggwN3nX6AocP6Z3V

Istanbul

In April, our Embracing Everyone team met in Istanbul where we were warmly welcomed by Gulcin and the children and colleagues at her school. 

We spent a lot of time in school where the children participated in many wonderful workshops. Pupils from the school were extremely friendly and were confident in saying hello and asking us some questions. They performed some fantastic songs and dances and it was wonderful to see such fantastic, brightly coloured costumes. It was interesting to see the school's 'Dream Room' and take part in some mindfulness activities. 

Art and craft seemed to be important to the Turkish culture and we had the chance to have a go at Ebru (marbling), pottery, traditional Turkish calligraphy and glass art. We brought lots of nice things home with us to show people at school!

We took some trips out of school and visited some of Istanbul's interesting tourist attractions. The boat trip on the Bosphorus was wonderful and the guide explained so much about the massive city. It was a great experience to have the Asian continent on one side of the river and Europe on the other. The children had a fantastic time on the boat trip and enjoyed dancing to music with their friends. 

We visited a Toy Museum which has a huge wooden giraffe and toy soldier outside and pupils and adults from the different countries noticed how toys from the past are similar in each country. The children took part in a really nice wooden toy workshop where they got to paint something wooden, related to buildings in each of the partner countries. 

On the last day of the working week, we took a bus to a place called 'Permacamp'. This is somewhere that children who live in the very urban city of Istanbul can go and learn about nature, be outside, cook their own food and enjoy the outdoors. This place was fantastic and it was obvious how much the children enjoyed being there. 

The staff from different countries enjoyed finding out more about the provision of Special Needs children in Turkey and we were able to listen to an inspirational lady with Cerebral Palsy who spoke about her passion for teaching children to accept the differences of others. She explained about the Reggio Emilia approach to education and how she has combined this with her disability to give children appropriate and important experiences.

We also visited a Special School which is for older children and were able to walk around and see what the students attending this school were learning. It was fantastic to see them engaging with classes that teach them about life skills, such as housekeeping, office work and, cooking and using computers for various purposes. 

There is so much we could say about our visit to Istanbul, 

but all in all, we had a superb week. We learned about education in Turkey, the practise of Special Educational Needs, we were warmly welcomed and looked after from the minute we arrived to when we left and were given lots of delicious food. We danced a lot and enjoyed the company of our Erasmus+ friends. Thank you!

Stop Motion - Embracing Everyone

On the most recent transnational visit to Istanbul,

the children participated in a wonderful

Stop Motion workshop and created this video. 

Romania Visit

Romanian Visit - by Vicky Harper (Teacher from England)

In November 2017, children and teachers from the partner schools met in Pitesti, Romania. We were all welcomed with beautiful flowers and it was wonderful to see everyone and meet some new faces.

We drove through some stunning scenery in the Carpathian Mountains with windy, twisty roads, snow covered peaks and horses and cattle roaming free, until we came to our destination, Bran Castle. What a fantastic building!

We loved hearing the stories of Dracula. Having the opportunity to visit the Houses of Parliament was a truly spectacular experience. The chandeliers and marble fours were phenomenal!

There were some amazing activities occurring at school. The children were so excited and passionate about looking after our environment. The 5 partner schools all worked together to learn the names of soil, sun, tree, squirrel and water in all native languages. The RE lesson, about world peace, was inspirational. The teachers and children all created verses on doves about peace, which later followed with a spectacular release of balloons and doves outside!

It was wonderful to experience an evening’s entertainment of traditional Romanian singing, dancing and food. The children had worked incredibly hard to learn their songs, dances and prepare the food. The children, including the visiting children, also performed two fantastic dances, which they learned during their time at the school. The entertainment, however, did not stop there. Our final night hosted a whole range of surprises. The children all had a party, arranged by the Romanian teachers, and teachers were treated to an exquisite three-course meal with traditional Romanian entertainment, including Irish river dancing. 

Experiences of Slovenia 2

This is another article written by a student participant of 'Embracing Everyone'. This student is from Romania and writes about his visit to Velenje in Slovenia. 

MY TRAVEL DIARY

I had the opportunity to participate in the Embracing the Erasmus+ program. For the beginning I have to say only one word “WOW”.

I arrived to Velenje on Sunday evening and I met my host family, a kind and welcoming family. They were nice and polite and I felt like I was at home.

On the first day I was pleased to represent my Country, Romania, to the representatives of the other countries (Italy, England, Slovenia and Turkey). I spoke proudly and I have had a lot of emotions. Then we went to the welcome party where we learnt how to survive in the forest. There I  met friendly and sociable people and I was excited about the new adventure in Slovenia. What continued was fantastic. We learnt English in a host school’s classroom  by playing games and learning about each country . 

We visited the Velenje castle and the Velenje Coal Mine. There was wonderful. We have learnt how to dance a Slovenian Folk Dance.

The last day was the most emotional one because we loved that place and we were used waking up in a sunny day meeting new people and talking a lot. In the last day we visited Ljubljana, the capital city and the Postojna Cave, the biggest in Europe. It was perfect…

The most beautiful experience in my life was ending there.  I met new people and I will not forget this week. I hope I will arrive in Slovenia again soon. Erasmus changes your LIFE.

by Mihai RÎPEANU

Experiences of the Slovenia Visit

This piece is written by one of the Italian students who made the visit toe Velenje as part of the 'Embracing Everyone' project. 

A WEEK IN VELENJE

This year I was one of the student chosen to live the experience of Erasmus: our destination was Slovenia.

The trip was long and hard, with unexpected events too, but, when we passed the border between Italy and Slovenia, we were happy because shortly we would see again our foreign friend: my friend was Nela. I knew Nela because I hosted her when she came in Italy with her school and I was very excited to stay with her again.

The day after we met all the other delegations from the participating countries. We visited the school of Velenje and each class had prepared a song or an activity to show us. In the afternoon we were free to go to shopping. The day was not over yet: there was the “Welcome party”. We had a lot of fun since we simulated camping: we even roasted the dough on the fire!

On Tuesday we danced typical dances that were fun but even tiring. We went to dance on a staircase on the river Paka and we also participated to a “dance competition”.

Subsequently we went to visit the coal mine: we wore miners’ clothes to live the real life of miners. It was certainly an experience to remember!

The day after we visited a museum and furthermore we participated, together with the other delegations, to a beautiful and funny show in which each participating country presented his performance.

On Thursday our hosts showed us some art drawings and they let us contribute to their new cooperative of ECOLAN, by painting some shoes.

Furthermore, we were divided into groups to perform various activities: cooking typical cakes and crepes, planting little plants in the painted shoes, packaging cherries. 

On Friday we visited the largest caves in Europe and the Predjama Castle. Then we went to visit Ljubljana, the quietest and greenest city in Slovenia.

During this week I walked a lot, I visited a lot of new places, I knew a lot of girls and boys from different European countries. I also appreciated the quiet of the place, the organization of the school, and the beauty of the local nature. Nela and I became great friends and I hope to see her again and live another beautiful adventure. It was the most beautiful experience that I could ever have!

by Martina Di Filippo

Slovenia Visit

In May 2017, children and teachers from the partner schools met in Velenje in Slovenia. The sun shone and it was lovely to see everyone again! 

We were able to spend a lot of time outside and enjoy workshops based on the schools brilliant kitchen garden and visit the local castle. The community had made a brilliant effort to welcome us and we enjoyed a wonderful evening with Scouts who showed us how to light fires and build shelters. 

The children loved visiting the mine in Velenje, were able to dress up as a miner and learn about life down the mines.

The end of the week was very exciting, we visited the Postojna Cave which was beautiful and see a creature that lives there called the 'Human Fish'.

Thank you for a super week!

Experiences of the Italy Visit

This piece is written by one of the students who visited Italy as part of the 'Embracing Everyone' project. 

SPECIAL DAYS IN ITALY

The week in Italy was great. 

If I had an opportunity, I would do it again.

The experience and the knowledge we got in that one week is irreplaceable.

We made many friends, not just from Italy but from Romania, too and we still talk to each other. That one week of staying with Italian families taught us about a life style of some Italian people. They shared a piece of their lives with us, took time for taking care of another kid in their family, they invited a stranger into their home and cared for  her for a whole week. Sometimes we found some barriers in language but we defeated them with a body language or translator. But in the end we all got what we wanted.

We didn’t just meet new people we also got to know some of the history of their town and neighbouring cities. They told us about the past of their town, taught us some words in Italian, showed us how to make pasta, and how to dance zumba.

I am so grateful for the week we had. I wish more people had the chance to do that. But the week wouldn’t be so great without our two teachers and teachers from other counties, who helped us if we had any problems with the language or plans.

I don’t think this trip would be possible without good spirit and people who were open to the new experience.     

by Jona Zamrnik

Italy Visit

In March, children and teachers from the Romanian School, Slovenian School, Turkish School and English School visited Fossacesia in Italy.  

The meeting in Italy was focused on one of the five strategies promoted by the project- Peer Tutoring. Children learned from each other while being in a friendly environment, they bonded and learnt how to help each other. The pupils joined maths and language lessons at the Italian School and they taught each other traditional playground games.  

Workshops were organized, one of which was "Handmade paper" at the ANFFAS organization from Ortona, where children learned how to make paper.

The group of adults and children also visited tourist attractions from the Abruzzo region, St.John Abbey , Golfo di Venere, Costa dei Trabocchi.

One of the best parts about the Italian visit was learning how to make real Italian pasta.

Christmas Greetings

After the initial teacher meeting in November 2016, the children from each partner school posted Christmas cards to introduce themselves and send Winter wishes.