4o Dimotiko Sholio Edessas-Greece represented by the coordinators of the project Mrs. Maria Siolou and Mr. Sotirios Galipis, as well as the  students of 6^th grade: Evangelia Chouliara and Ioanna Kotsopoulou, participated in the 4th transnational meeting of the European project Erasmus plus entitled: “Our cultures-our treasures ”.held at the CEIP Cruceiro de Canido school, in the city of Ferrol, Spain, from 3rd to 7th October 2022.

This meeting was also attended by teachers and students from the partner schools of Slovenia, Portugal and Estonia, which participate in the project.

The Principal Concepcion Requejo Domínguez and all the teachers of the host school, made sure that all the visiting partner teachers and students from Greece, Slovenia, Portugal and Estonia, got in touch and knew the culture of the city of Ferrol and the wider Spanish geographical department of Galicia and had a very creative and beautiful week in their school and city.

The hospitality started with a warm welcome in the school event hall from the principal, the teachers of the school and the local traditional group Rondalla, who presented music and songs of the city of Ferrol and the geographical division of Galicia/Spain.

During the week of the meeting, the visiting students and teachers of the partners’ schools, visited the Spanish school and met the students and teachers of the school .Visits to the neighborhoods of the city that are adorned with the wonderful Meninas frescoes,were also organised.

There were also visits to the defensive castle of San Felipe, the military shipyard and the maritime museum of Ferrol. Also, during a day trip to the city of Santiago de Compostela, visitors were guided to its Catholic cathedral and the city’s picturesque streets and parks.

In general, the experience of the meeting week for the students of all the participating schools was particularly important, since they got to know the culture and civilization of the region of Galicia that hosted them and exchanged experiences, opinions, ideas and reflections on the subject of the Project.

The next and final meeting of the Project was decided to take place next May in Edessa -Greece.

Highlights of the meeting in the following photos:

4o Dimotiko Sholio Edessas-Greece represented by the coordinators of the project Mrs. Maria Siolou and Mr. Sotirios Galipis as well as the  students of 6^th grade: Martha Nikolaidou, Efthymia Miskou and Angeliki Papantoni, participated in the 3rd transnational meeting of the European project Erasmus plus entitled: “Our cultures-our treasures ”.

The meeting was hosted by Parnu Kuninga Tanava Pohikool school in Parnu, Estonia, from 30th May to 3rd June 2022. The meeting was also attended from teachers and students from the partner schools of Slovenia, Portugal and Spain.

Mrs Urve Krause,the headteacher  and all the teachers of the host school Parnu Kuninga Tanava Pohikool, made sure that all the partners from Slovenia, Greece and Portugal live a very creative and beautiful week. The hospitality started with the warm welcome from the school headteacher and with presentations and workshops related to Estonia, the city of Parnu, the hosting school and the Estonian language, which was attended by teachers and students of the host Estonian and the partner schools that visited it.

During the meeting week, the visiting students and teachers , attended presentations of local musical instruments and music events, by students of the Estonian school and got acquainted with the music culture of Estonia.

They also visited the Pernova Nature House and the Tolkuse bog, where the visiting teachers and students got in touch with the biodiversity of the Estonian fauna and walked in the wildlife of Estonia.

Also, during a day trip to the city of Tartu, visitors were given a tour of the Estonian National Museum and learned about Estonia’s short history.

In general, the experience of the meeting week for the students of all participating schools was very important, as they got to know the culture and civilization of the country and the region that hosted them and exchanged experiences, views, ideas and reflections on the subject of the Plan.

The next meeting for the project is scheduled to take place next October at the CEIP CRUCEIRO DE CANIDO corporate school in Ferrol, Galicia, Spain.

The 4th Primary School of Edessa going through the second year of the European program Erasmus + KA229 Partnerships for exchanges between schools, entitled “Our cultures-our treasures” and code: 2020-21-SI01-KA229-075865_6, approved by the National Erasmus Agency of Slovenia and from the Hellenic Foundation for State Scholarships ,participated with three teachers in the first transnational meeting hosted by the OsnovnašolaRače school in the town of Rače in Slovenia from 11^th  to 15^th  October 2021.

“OsnovnašolaRače” was the meeting point  of 12 teachers from Greece, Spain, Estonia and Portugal. The teachers who represented our school were the headteacher Mr. Piperas Konstantinos and the coordinators of the Project Mrs Siolou Maria and Mr Galipis Sotiris. The teachers from all countries had the opportunity to discuss and evaluate the overall progress of the Project so far, as well as to plan in detail the activities of the second year of implementation of the Project. The colleagues of the school “OsnovnašolaRače” welcomed all the partners very warmly. They prepared an excellent program that covered all our needs and gave us the opportunity to get to know elements of their culture and history at the same time. Admittedly the atmosphere among the participants during the meeting was excellent. The team of all fellow partners was so strong and in a giving mood that very quickly we developed friendships with all.

The headteacher Mr Ronaldo Lašič, the coordinator of the Project Mrs Sabina Hovnik and their team had a perfect organization and were very warm and friendly with all of us as they responded perfectly and implemented all the activities of the project  in all its phases. During the meeting, a warm welcome party was held in the school event hall, followed by a guided tour of the school premises by students, during which we had the opportunity to learn about the structure of the Slovenian education system and the operation of the school. The participating teachers had the opportunity to attend and participate in learning and training activities. Also, during our stay, the host school organized online activities / workshops in which the 6th grade students of our school participated. All the children found this activity very creative, as it gave them the opportunity to see, even from a distance,  students of the same age ,to get acquainted with the culture of Slovenia and to practice the English language in real conditions of communication with other students from abroad.

Participating teachers had the opportunity to use their time constructively both inside the school and in organized activities outside it. As part of the extracurricular activities, we gained a lot of interesting experiences. We visited the Puppet museum, Castle Rače, Nature park Rače, eco farm, Postojna Cave, Ptuj, the oldest recorded city in Slovenia and had the opportunity to tour the cities of Maribor and Ljubljana.

We strongly believe that this visit fulfilled the educational purposes of the Erasmus + project and helped us  understand the importance of intercultural communication in order to get acquainted with other cultures. A common finding was the substantial interaction and fruitful cooperation between the participants, in a context of mutual appreciation and respect.

The next step is to disseminate and exchange the good practices gained during the mobility to all the other teachers, which will help to strengthen the skills of the school teaching staff so as to make teaching and learning more constructive and act as an added value towards achieving our goal of being an attractive and enjoyable school that children will love and parents will trust.

Finally, the next meeting is scheduled to take place in Estonia in April 2022.