View of activities / results of project work / meetings

2004/2005

September/October 2004:

Designing “Crossing Borders” logo. Each school had a specified quarter of a circle and ran a competition within their schools to obtain the best possible drawing which could represent what each country means. The Polish quarter of the logo contained Polish symbols like a white eagle, a white and red flag, Polish zloty coin against a background of Polish scenery – mountains, forests, rivers and a seaside. All quarters were then posted on to partner schools and the completed circle logo became the centre piece of Crossing Borders displays. The Dutch logo also shows several national symbols like the red-white-blue flag, the queen, the monastery in Ter Apel and a circle of children to symbolise living and playing together. The French and Northern Irish quarters also included national and local symbols or logos.
At the end of September the Polish school organized first project meeting 28th Sept – 2nd October. Each school sent 2 teachers. The visitors experienced the Polish Education system as well as cultural and historical experiences such as visiting the town of Krakow and Auschwitz. A good part of the time was also spent planning the forthcoming programme and touching on next year’s project plans. It became clear that every participant was enthusiastic and felt very involved and responsible in the project.

The coordinator seems to be hungry, Krakov (Poland) 2004

November/December 2004:

We sent packages to our partner schools around the theme of Christmas which included work from all ages of pupils as, cards, crafts, sweets, CDs, tapes, and Christmas notes to other pupils. A variety of activities took place around the schools.
Polish school took part in “Targi Comeniusa 2005” 24th and 25th November – a big exhibition for teachers and pupils in the area; several Silesian schools presented their works – results of their school Comenius projects. The Polish school displayed works, shared materials and experiences from the previous and present Comenius projects; the Polish teachers gave any help and information to teachers who wanted to start Comenius projects in their schools.
The Dutch school also sent drawings, illustrations and songs from the feast of Sinterklaas. Not everybody abroad was aware that this holy person is not the same as Santa Claus in other parts of the world. So in some countries pupils sang Sinterklaas-songs with Christmas. Children and their parents were very impressed about the content of the packages. Most of it can be used next year as an example for own handicrafts or decorations.

Pre-school in Poland: toddlers half asleep, Raciborz 2004

January 2005:

Each school has been involved in creating 3 pages of a calendar for 2005. These pages include pictures of the children at school and some drawings/ written text on them. Each school was given their months of the year to design. The names of the days and months are written in the four languages of the partner schools, with their flags on every page.

February/March 2005:

7 and 8 year olds prepared pages A4 for “Show me your home” project. They wrote about their own homes or flats because most Polish pupils live in blocks of flats. They provided photographs of their rooms and drew pictures to describe what their home areas are like. French pupils sent booklets with pictures and ground plans of their homes with texts in French and English, whilst the pupils from Northern Ireland produced pieces made up of sketches and some photographs.
From the 27th of February to the 2nd of March, Mr Piet Tuinstra and his colleague Mr Bert Staal made a visit to the French school at Mondoubleau which gave the project a new impetus for the two schools concerned. Teachers now felt more involved in the project.
French and Dutch pupils of the age of 9 to 10 began to correspond to each other.

March/April 2005:

Pupils created a ‘Dutch Quartet Game’ cards based on the children’s homes, such as bedroom, garden, furniture, pets etc. They cut out the photos from the magazines, stuck them on the cards and write the names under them in their own language. The cards were then laminated. A phonetic pronunciation of Polish vocabulary was also provided due to its complex nature.
Dutch and Polish pupils of the age of 11 and 12 wrote letters to each other about school and home. In The Netherlands the pupils made information books about the four countries. They also used the library and internet to get information.

De Hoeksteen, Ter Apel (The Netherlands) summer 2005

May/June 2005:

The video film - 7 and 8 old children performed popular Polish songs, poems and dances. That programme was specially prepared for parents because of Mother and Father’s Day, which is a very important event in Polish schools.
In addition to the video which was produced, all the schools, while in Holland, exchanged tapes with songs on them. These would have been songs and rhymes which the young pupils would all be familiar with
Second project meeting in The Netherlands 30th May – 4th June. 4 teachers from France, 2 teachers from Northern Ireland and 4 from Poland visited the school in Ter Apel. They met De Hoeksteen teachers and pupils, they observed several lessons in different age groups and saw a great artistic performance of pupils - songs and dances divided in parts: French , N. Irish and Polish. The teachers also visited the monastery in Ter Apel, Bourtange fortress, Veenpark and Amsterdam (Anne Frank’s house, Van Gogh Museum). The local press in the North East of The Netherlands produced an article with a photograph on the front page
Crossing Borders Day’ – 12th and 13th June. First day “Crossing Borders” exhibition was a part of school festival when parents and other interested bodies were invited, also to the local press. Questionnaires about ‘CB’ project were distributed to parents and teachers. Next day more pupils could see the exhibition and older pupils took part in competition of knowledge about partner countries. In The Netherlands ‘CB’-day was very successful. Almost all invited parents were present and their reaction was very enthusiastic.
The French school did not organize a Crossing Borders Days in June because most of the classes were involved in a very important sport project. Only an exhibition has been realised. But the French Crossing Borders Day will take place on October, 14th. Like France the Northern Ireland School did not host a Crossing Borders Day. However, they have all the work displayed in the school hall. This has been viewed extensively by parents, representatives and the local community. There has also been information placed on the school’s website. The aim is to have a ‘Crossing Borders’ day early in the new year
The Polish pupils took also part in Art Competition for schools realizing Comenius projects. Pupils could choose one of those topics: “My town”, “My country” or “Countries of our partner schools” Five the best pictures from the school were sent to the Department of Education in Katowice.

Playground Wheatfield Primary School, Belfast.
All the e realized in good time with only a small delay of about a month in the second term of the school year because of the winter holidays the Polish school had in January. Children had problems with drawing ground plans of the houses from the photos (“Show me your home” project) so most of the pupils didn’t do it or they drew the plans of their own flats. The most interesting and pleasant task for pupils was preparing Christmas packages. Both project meetings were very successful. Teachers involved had a good contact with foreign colleagues and became more motivated in the project. It was good to take notice of each other’s school system. A problem is the participation of the pupils. Of course they enjoy getting letters, cards and packages from abroad but their knowledge of the English language is not enough to stay in contact, (except for the N. Irish pupils.) For that reason we have made arrangements about contact between classes of the same age for the second year of the project. We’ll try to make contacts between individual pupils to make it more interesting and rewarding for them.

Part of the buildings of the Wheatfield Primary School, Belfast

Final products 2004/2005:

Crossing Borders logo - "joint" project results)
Christmas package (cards, crafts, sweets, CDs, tapes, and Christmas notes)
Calendar 2005 - "joint" project results
Show me your home booklets
Letters
Dutch Quartet Game cards
Video films
CD – photo presentation
Crossing Borders Chronicle
Pictures (for Art Competition)
Website www.crossingborder2004-2007.nl

Final products were sent to all partner schools by post, or given during the project meetings. They were shown to pupils during lessons, displayed at schools in “Crossing Border” corners, during exhibition for teachers, pupils, their parents, local community and media (‘Crossing Borders Day’). There was information about the project in the Polish school

website www.rapi.pl/sp11
Dutch website: www.crossingborder2004-2007.nl

The Polish exhibition in Zory (“Targi Comeniusa 2005”) visited teachers and pupils from several local schools and from other Silesian towns and villages.

French pupils, working, Mondoubleau 2005

How effective was the collaboration between the participating institutions?

In the Dutch school arrangements were made for the whole first year. Teachers knew in which activities they were involved. The same organization was also found in the other countries. The partners kept in touch by email and post-packages. The language was English. Not every school starts English education at the same age, so not every pupil was able to write or talk in English. There was also a time-problem. In December it was especially difficult to finish what we promised to do. Teachers who did not visit partner schools did not feel as involved in the project. So the staff mobility activities were very important and motivating. Coordinating such a project takes a lot of time, much more than you think when you start. The good contacts between the teachers involved are a very positive feature of the project. Every school did a wonderful job finishing all tasks in time.

Teachers evaluated all activities during project meetings in Poland and The Netherlands. Most of the issues are already written in this form. We have made new arrangements for the next year. We agreed that what is important is the contact between classes with pupils of the same age. Therefore a contact from one pupil to another is possible. We expect more intensive contact leading to better motivation. We are all very enthusiastic to start the second year.

2005/2006

October 2005:

At the end of October 2005, all four schools met in Mondoubleau, France. Each school sent either 2 or 3 teachers. During their time there, all the teachers experienced the warm hospitality of the French and had a number of opportunities to engage in the French Education system. This included visiting a local Secondary school. The teachers also enjoyed a ‘Revue’ in which the whole school population was involved. In a wonderful show all countries involved in the project presented their knowledge about living and working there ‘with a smile and a tear’. Power Point was used and several special effects were in this show. The teachers also took part in the next planning stage of the Comenius project. It was a most worthwhile and educating experience. Staff also participated in an overnight stay in Paris. The meeting was a success, for personal contacts as well with regard to the project.

Results of an English lesson, Ter Apel, 2005
During this time the various schools exchanged parcels which had been developed by their children. This included a Pairs or a ‘Memory Game’. These games were then passed around the various classes. This encouraged the development of language skills from each of the partner countries and was made available to all age groups within school. Tapes helped with the pronunciation of the foreign words. Results were very nice and children played a lot with the games.
The first exchange of letters between specific classes also took place in France. It had been agreed in our project meeting in Holland in May, that certain classes would correspond with each other to give the contact more of a ‘personal’ touch. These letters were exchanged and the appropriate classes would then ‘choose’ a child whom they would like to write to. Letters include information such as names, family details, likes and hobbies. Classes participating were Year 3, 6 and 7. (age: 6, 10 and 11) Polish pupils writing letters were 9 -11 year old (classes 3 and 4). Letters helped for a better understanding between pupils of the same age and also brought the project closer to the teachers involved.

November/December 2005:

There were several activities taking place in the period leading up to Christmas. Firstly, the link between the Year 3s in Northern Ireland and France was strengthened as they worked together on the book entitled ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’. They exchanged materials such as children produced books, games around the text and photographs of each other. Polish children created the booklet entitled “The Very Quiet Garden” with a similar literary pattern to that of the hungry caterpillar. They sent the books to all partners. Children liked to experience that pupils in the partner countries are using the same books. Reading the well-known text in English, Polish or French brought great fun.

Dutch and Polish teachers observing a French lesson, Mondoubleau 2005
On 29th November the Polish school took part in “COMENIUS 2005” – a conference concerning Socrates programmes in the area and a big Comenius exhibition for teachers and pupils. Several Silesian schools presented their works – results of their school Comenius projects. The Polish school displayed works, shared materials and experiences from the previous and present Comenius projects.
The main activity for the Year 6 children was to produce a learning material on their area. Pupils took photographs of their local areas and sourced information from the internet. This information was then compiled and submitted in a booklet form to each school. Some arrived prior to Christmas and others arrived in the new school year. They formed a very interesting display in the schools and were a source of learning and information for all the pupils. Pupils learned about the environments at home, in school and the area of their partners. They could look at the pictures and talk about it with each other.
There was also the exchange of Christmas gifts between the partner schools. The boxes were made up of decorations which would be put on a ‘Crossing Borders’ Christmas tree. The decorations were a combination of children –made ones and ones bought in shops. Within the boxes schools also exchanged Christmas cards to one another

Teacher’s dinner, Mondoubleau 2005
Within those classes corresponding with each other, there was the exchange of some personal cards and Christmas greetings. The December activities were very popular with staff and pupils as they were all so varied.

January/February 2006

Introduction of ‘Boris the Travelling Bear’ as part of the ‘Time for Geography’ focus. The bear has started its journey with the younger children in Holland. It moved onto France and Northern Ireland and finally ended up in Poland in May. The diary of Boris, the travelling bear was written by pupils or their parents who had him staying in their homes. The pupils wrote in their own language about things that Boris saw and learned. Very often photos and drawings were added. Parents of the children and teachers translated these notes into English. Boris was a great success. Children loved him because they ‘trusted him and could share feelings and emotions’ with him. The diary is a rich source of pupils’ plays homes and family customs of the four countries.

March 2006

The ‘Time for Geography’ theme was expanded to look at the main parts of the countries and not just our local areas. Schools made a large map of each country which highlights of places of interest such as mountains, cities, rivers and notable places. All books includes photographs and appropriate information. This was realized by the 8-12 age groups. These books gave a wonderful view of interesting topics chosen by pupils.

April/May 2006

Pupils worked on the ‘Time for History’ project. Schools decided which classes participated in this activity. Each school chose their area for study. These studies included topics such as famous people, painters, musicians or events. The booklets produced were taken with the teachers to the project visit to Northern Ireland.

Presentation of project’s work, Belfast 2006
Project visit to Northern Ireland. The fourth project meeting was organized by the Wheatfield Primary School in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 15th – 20th May 2006. Each school sent 3 teachers. They visited the school building, observed several lessons and enjoyed a great artistic show in which all the pupils and all teachers were involved. Children presented a very rich and varied programme, among other things a French dance, a Polish poem, Dutch painters’ exhibition and Irish harp music. The teachers experienced culture and history of the area – they visited the most interesting places in Belfast, Harland and Wolff shipyard where the Titanic was built, the famous Giant’s Causeway on the north coast and they saw traditional dances. During the project meetings there was an evaluation of last year’s activities and we made a selection of the ideas for the next year project tasks. We planned to write a Christmas musical which seemed to be a very ambitious enterprise. We had a very useful and lovely stay in Belfast. All was organized very well. There were very good contacts between colleagues of the different countries. We notice we’re no longer strangers to each other.

French and Dutch teachers watching the Northern Irish presentation. Belfast 2006

Final products:

Travel guides of the area
Travel guides of the country
Memory Game’ cards
Christmas decorations
Letters
Story booklets
Diary of Boris, a travelling bear ("joint" project result)
CD – multimedia display
Time for History’ album
Crossing Borders Chronicle
Website www.crossingborder2004-2007.nl

Final products were sent to all partner schools by post or given to each other during project meetings. They were shown to pupils during lessons, displayed at schools in “Crossing Borders” corners, during exhibitions for teachers, pupils, their parents, local community and media (‘Crossing Borders Day’). There was information about the project in local newspapers of all four countries. Polish school also put messages about the project works in the school website: www.sp11.net and the town website: www.raciborz.com.pl

Teacher’s trip to the rocks of the ‘Giant’s Causeway’, Northern Ireland 2006

The Polish exhibition and conference in Laziska Gorne ( “Comenius 2005”) was visited by teachers and pupils from several local schools and from other Silesian towns and villages. Some of them were very enthusiastic and interested to start a Comenius project in their schools .

How effective was the collaboration between the participating institutions? Collaboration between the schools was very effective. Each school had a very enthusiastic coordinator. Teachers knew in which activities they were involved. The partners kept in touch by email and post packages. The language was English. Not every school starts English lessons at the same age, so not every pupil is able to write or talk in English at the same level. There was also a time problem, especially in December. For example, The Dutch school also has to celebrate the feast of ‘Sinterklaas’ at the beginning of the month. Teachers who did not visit partner schools did not feel as involved in the project. So the staff mobility activities were again very important and motivating. The good contacts between teachers and the good atmosphere in the whole project give a positive feature to the project. Teachers evaluated all activities during project meetings in France and Northern Ireland. New arrangements for the next year were made. There was satisfaction about the contacts made between classes with pupils of the same age. The contacts are better and so is the motivation. A new idea for the third year is to let prepare and teach some lessons by teachers who are visiting partner schools.

Presentation during project meeting, Belfast (Northern Ireland) 2006

2006/2007

October 2006

all schools started preparations for a Christmas-musical. It was our intention to celebrate this feast in the four countries in our own way but with a joint part in it: a musical. During this month however it became clear this was too complicated and the contribution of pupils would be nil. So we decided to exchange some songs, poems, cards and gifts and send each other a CD-rom with our own Christmas celebration. Afterwards some of the schools who celebrated Christmas with parents got enthusiastic reactions about the international parts of the Christmas celebration. They appreciated them very much and so did the pupils.

There also was contact between classes by E-mail, the intention being that children sent short greetings to each other

Travelling bear Boris started his second journey in The Netherlands. He was visiting the same children as last year so they and their parents could read about his adventures in other families and in the other countries. Boris was very popular again. It is clear he’s playing a role in the emotional life of children.

Kids are playing, De Hoeksteen, Ter Apel, Netherlands 2006

November 2006

all schools met in The Netherlands for the project meeting. All schools were represented by two or three teachers. Teachers visited several lessons in the Dutch partnerschool as well as in a Secondary School. The visiting teachers taught in the Dutch classes - music, about a children’s book and about a salt mine in Poland. During the meetings partners discussed the program for the last project year especially the plans for the Christmas celebration. There was time for contact with the staff and interested parents of the school. There was also a visit to the city of Groningen, a museum, a castle and a concert.

December 2006

all schools prepared the Christmas celebration, sent gifts, decorations and cards to each other and videoed the Christmas celebration.

January/ February/ March 2007

Boris bear was in France. Schools worked on the topic of freedom and liberty. Pupils of the highest levels discussed war and peace and described a chosen war somewhere in the world its causes and its effects. They discovered that wars never bring a solution but most of the time new problems. Pupils presented the FREEDOM topic in the context of the history and experiences of their countries. They introduced their discoveries to their classmates and to the partner schools. Finally they did drawings and wrote poems about the subject. ‘What’s connecting us?’ was the main topic. In the poems it became clear:- Everybody is longing for peace, love and happiness. Photos, literary works, drawings and poems collected from all partner schools were put together in one multilingual book entitled FREEDOM. Four chapters presented four different points of view in four languages (with translations into English).

April/ May/ June 2007

the highest levels worked on ‘The blessings of the European Union’. The younger children worked on books. Boris went to Poland. There was an exchange of children’s street games. Photographs were taken and sent to the partner schools with a description of the games. The last project meeting took place in Raciborz, Poland. It was a pity that France was only represented by one teacher. The school didn’t get permission to provide substitute teachers.

The coordinator shows a Power Point presentation about The Netherlands in Raciborz, Poland.

The program Poland arranged was very varied with excursions to a Secondary School in Czech Republic, a Brewery Museum in Zywiec and a very big brand-new shopping centre. In the new school lessons were seen and some lessons were taught by foreign teachers. There was a wonderful Crossing Borders-presentation which included an exhibition, a power point-presentation and performances by pupils.

Teacher’s dinner, Poland 2007

The meeting was emotional because not everybody agreed with the decision to finish the project. Besides every teacher involved realized this was the last meeting. We never shall be together under the same circumstances and with the same target.