October 2012
First project
meeting in Eeklo, Belgium
24th to
26th of October 2012
From October 24th to 26th
2012, 17 teachers from partner countries took part in the first meeting of the
Comenius project “Strong Health, hAppy PEople – SHAPE”, held in Eeklo, Belgium.
The aims of the first meeting were:
- Presentation of the project-team members
- Establishing the period of future project meetings
- Establishing the number of pupils participating in mobilities
from each country for each future meeting
- Presentation of activities made by each school
- Evaluation of the partnership progress
- Discussion of possible problems
- Decisions of the format of the next assignments
- Planning the next activities
- Comenius SHAPE products (website, mascot/logo, flag, song and
dance, first questionnaires results, presentations)
- Selection of the mascot/logo, flag, song and dance of the
partnership
- Presentation of the website of the partnership
- Decision of the dates of the 2nd meeting in Spain
The
participants arrived on the 23rd of October 2012. On 24th
of October 2012, in the morning, we walk to school. We were offered a visit
around the impressively big school, saw pupils during their classes, met some
of the teachers and the school management team. Then, together with our Belgian
hosts and guided by 4th year’s students, we participated in the
“Fit-o-meter”, a circuit around the school yard which included various
appliances for physical exercises.
In the
afternoon, the Comenius team had a work session with a focus on the following
issues:
- Rearranging the period of the
future meetings: Since our Greek partner didn’t receive funding, we had to
reestablish the meetings according to each school proposals and agenda.
There will be a meeting in each participating country during the 2 years
of the partnership.
- Establishing the exact number of
pupils participating in mobilities from each country in each meeting: We
filled in a table according to which each country will receive a number of
13-15 pupils during each meeting.
- Presenting the accomplished tasks:
Each school:
-applied the first questionnaires and sent the results
to the Romanian partner;
-created many variants of mascot/logo, flag, song and
dance, chose the best ones and brought the photos/recordings for the final
selection;
-The Romanian partner created the partnership’s website:
http://projectshape.blogspot.ro
4. Discussing the future activities: According to the
calendar of activities, the project coordinator made a detailed plan for each
activity (title, suggestions for their implementation, deadline, final products
and ways of making them). The detailed analyze of next assignments can be found
in “Decisions of the work session, Eeklo, 24-26th of October 2012”
document.
In the
evening we were offered a guided tour of Bruges, also known as the Venice of
the North. We saw the old historical city centre, the reason why UNESCO decided
to include it on the World Heritage list. We walked along the maze of winding
cobbled alleys and canals, going back in time to Middle Ages. The city’s beauty
and mystery was enhanced by the night and the charming city lighting.
On the 25th
of October we made a documentary visit to Oostende to an oyster farm and to
C-Power, an offshore wind farm situated in the Thornton Bank in the North Sea,
30 km from the Belgian coast line. Both visits were highly connected with
healthy lifestyle if we think about healthy nutrition (sea fruit is a very
healthy food) and environmental health (C-Power makes a valuable contribution
to the European and Belgian environmental objectives concerning renewable
energy and reduction of the CO2 emission). In the evening we were offered a
night sightseeing of Ghent which is a very intriguing mixture of an old
medieval town and of a new modern city. We walked along its streets and admired
both old and modern buildings, felt its pulse.
On the 26th
of October we walked to school where we participated in a Yoga session. Lead by
one of our hosts, we experienced memorable feelings of peace and relaxation. After
that we met in a 2nd work session on which occasion each delegation
presented its proposals for our partnership’s mascot/logo, flag, song and dance
final selection. The participants voted for the following products to represent
our partnership:
-mascot: “The Shape Family”; creator: Romania
-logo and flag: SHAPE; creator: Belgium
-song and dance: “Strong health, happy people”; creator:
Estonia.
In the
afternoon we participated in “Sing for the climate” school event which was
organized nationwide in order to raise people awareness upon environmental
protection. Considering the fact that environmental health is part of human
health, the activity was highly connected to our project. After that we
participated in a workshop on preserving our state of healthiness by using
herbs and medicinal plants. Under the guidance of a specialist, we prepared an
ointment for bruises and skin burns using bee wax, marigold, scented mayweed,
comfrey tincture and lavender oil.
In the
evening we participated in a Halloween outdoor walking tour in the Eeklo
region. The activity offered us the chance to experience the nature of the
country and the way local people celebrate their traditions.
The meeting’s
programme was highly connected with our project’s theme – healthy lifestyle,
was very well organized and offered us a good start for a successful
partnership.
Project Coordinator Hortensia Bogdan