The First Mobility

Split- Zagreb – London- Leicester.
We live in a small world. You wake up, hop on a plane, then a train...and before you know it....you're in England.

Our first impression upon meeting our fellow colleagues from 11 different countries was  wonderful. As the exchange of ideas and communication flowed freely, we immediately felt that our Comenius group had potential.

Thursday, November 7, 2014.
We spent our day at school- Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy. The excitement swelled around and stirred in the air settling amongst all that were present, the pupils and staff, ourselves included. The schoolchildren welcomed us with genuine warmth waving and shouting “Hello! Welcome!”

We brought with us our flag, posters of Split and placed some traditional Croatian food on the ‘International table.’ a table displaying traditional food from all the Comenius member countries participating in this project.

The Mayer of Leicester, representatives of the Board of Education and the Deputy Bishop attended the school concert that followed. Of course, the most important members that day  were the children of the hosting school. They represented their school splendidly….singing and dancing and showing fully their positive spirit, which caught our attention the most.

The school has a little over three hundred pupils of different nationalities and religious beliefs. Many of the pupils come from different parts of the country or a foreign country with social and economic problems. All the teachers everyday make a tremendous effort to make school  an enjoyable experience for all involved.

At the school concert the children of Bulgaria performed. Their cheerful and spontaneous performance endeared them to the audience, earning them a huge applause.

The most interesting part of our school visit was most definitely our tour of the classrooms. The classroom we visited and the warm greeting we received was truly inspiring. My colleague Mrs.Lada Pavelić presented a Power Point Presentation about our school in Split. The pupils showed an interest and asked many questions. They even tried saying some words in Croatian, the funny pronunciation causing everyone to break out in smiles and laughter.

After the “Croatian lesson” I handed out the presents my first graders prepared, posters, pictures and hand written messages.  Once again, the pupils were interested and asked many questions. However, they were slightly worried about our pupils having to carry books with them and doing homework- a task our pupils would be glad  to do away with!

Mrs. Antonela Petrić then showed everyone a collection of our plants. The olive and lavender plants drew the most attention. One girl from Zimbabwe exclaimed: “My mother uses olive oil!”

Friday, November 8, 2014.
The day started with a tour of the town Leicester. A tour guide and some pupils from school accompanied us. We visited the Cultural and historical sights, followed by a Comenius meeting at school where future projects and activities were discussed.

Saturday, November 9, 2014.
We visited the birthplace of one of the greatest writers and dramatists in English history, William Shakespeare in Stradford upon Avon. The tour of his home- turned museum was very interesting.

In the afternoon we attented another meeting, discussed the finer points of our visit and exchanged some more interesting ideas and we scheduled another meeting.

It truly is an incredible feeling sharing interesting moments and experiences with colleagues from different countries and sharing the experience of teaching in some far away school. What we should never forget is that a child is always a child and that no matter where we go, the role of the teacher is to guide all children on their journey to enlightenment and maturity.

Comenius coordinator
Nataša Hržić.