Comenius Project Lousada – Portugal

Activity 1 Video “This is our school”This is our school Students and teachers organized and directed a little documentary about EB23 de Lousada in Portugal. Students between 12 and 15 years-old showed their school to other students in Europe. The result was fantastic because apart from enjoying the activity of filming (building the script and directing the sketches), the students looked at their school in a different way. They also adored watching the videos of the partners schools. Problems viewing?

Activity 2 Comenius board A board with updated information, including the site of our blog with actual material, was placed in the staffroom in order to inform school teachers about the Comenius activities developed. In the students pavilion there was also a Comenius information window/sideboard for students. The students enjoyed seeing the presents coming from all Europe.board with updated informationour blog Comenius activitiesinformation window/sideboard

Activity 3: Binational communication Portuguese students from Lousada exchanged letters with partner students from Spain (students between 11 and 2 years-old), Germany (13 years-old students) and Turkey (14/15 years-old students) introducing themselves and greeting Comenius partners for Christmas time. Students became very anxious and happy for sending and receiving news from their European friends. letters

Activity 4 Questionnaire: How healthy is your lifestyle? Students between 5/12 and 15 years-old filled in a questionnaire and revealed their habits for a healthy lifestyle. The conclusion was that our students lead a good lifestyle, anyway. In classes, teachers and students analyzed and discussed how to change some less appropriate habits.questionnaire

Activity 5 Meeting in Berlin, Germany (2 mobilities) This meeting aimed at organizing the work for the entire project and for introducing the teachers and countries that were part of it. Portuguese teachers came back to Portugal with enthusiasm and lots of creative ideas to implement in our school.

Activity 6-Booklet: special food at festivities This activity was developed with groups of students between 12 and 15 years old. They chose three traditional recipes they would like to share with their European friends and translate them. They loved sending them to the other countries in a booklet. In EB23 de Lousada, teachers also explored the partners’ booklets with the students and they adored knowing about other traditional food traditions at Christmas.traditional recipes

Activity 7: Hitlist of favourite food. This activity was performed by students between 12 and 15 years old of our school. They made a reflection on what they usually eat at meals. Students discovered that they eat lots of food they shouldn´t (sweets, fast food) but they also discovered that Portugal is one of the countries where healthy food is eaten (fruit and vegetables) daily. Class presentation here.activityhealthy food is eaten here

Activity 8: Meeting in Spain (3 mobilities) Teachers went to Pontevedra in Spain and spent 4 days visiting the schools of the municipality and contacting with other Spanish teachers/ students and culture. It was a wonderful professional and personal experience.

Activity 9: Let´s get fit. Portugal was the responsible for this activity. Physical education teachers built a program with suggestions of activities and physical exercises to help students to keep fit. This was sent to the 7 partners who should run it in their institutions. After this, a special application was suggested by Portuguese teachers to evaluate the results. In conclusion, the program was effective but the team decided to implement it till the end of the project in order to get more reliable results.program with suggestions

Activity 10: Let´s relax Our students answered to some questions about the use of their free time after the daily responsibilities. In general, Portuguese students practice sports and some other artistic activities but a big part of them spend too much time at the computer or watching TV.free time

Activity 11: Meeting in Turkey 2 mobilities Our representatives learnt a lot about the Turkish educational system and appreciated knowing other pedagogical practices. They also learnt a lot about Turkish culture.

Activity 12: School rulesSchool rules Our teachers brought from all the countries they visited new ideas about how to improve their teaching performance and some ideas for fighting bullying. Although bullying is not a big problem in Lousada, we contributed with some suggestions to others partners that struggle against this troubling phenomenon: psychologist’s support at school, parent´s responsibility on their sons’ behavior, teachers’ intervention in classes in order to promote solidarity and social equality. Still, we keep a close watch on suspicious behaviour.

Activity 13: Fair play Each country gave examples of their practices. Portugal suggested some forms used to guaranty fair play in school: the sms system (teachers send an sms directly to parents communicating student´s problems); tutorship; co-teaching; the student’s register (it is mandatory to carry their register so that teachers can communicate with parents, and vice-versa), extra school activities (related to sports and clubs created in schools for students). Go to

Activity 14: Meeting in PortugalMeeting in Portugal (18 teachers from 7 European countries) Teachers from the partner countries had a general view of what is and how the Portuguese educational system works. Everyone also had the opportunity to visit some historic places in and around Lousada. The community was pleased to welcome the guests. Pre-primary, primary and secondary schools were visited.educational system historic places The community

Activity 15: Healthy but tasty Students selected 3 healthy and tasty recipes from the best of Portuguese gastronomy and translated them. The recipes were exchanged with Spain. The recipes were also sent to the other countries. All of them appreciated them as students enjoyed knowing other recipes from other cultures. It was a tasty experience.The recipes

Activity 16: Meeting in Italy 3 mobilities Teachers from Portugal, once more, enjoyed professionally this wonderful experience. They met the Italian school system and the way it works in the region of Imola. Fantastic results. Teachers defined the general guidelines of the final booklet.

Other activities Using activities 12 and 13 as a framework, teachers of a problem class have promoted the use of some rules, as suggested by our German partners, adapted to specific age of students.1213 It has been a positive experience because the class made efforts to follow what they had agreed upon.

Cross country Day Students ages 10 to 15, participate in the traditional school’s cross country day. There are no classes during the day and students have the chance to qualify for further stages of the discipline, which occur on a regional level.further stages

Projects and Clubs Day This day coincides with the end of the spring term. There are no classes during the day The different clubs and projects design specific activities for this day. Our Comenius Project takes the chance and shows the work that has been done. shows the work