Poland – Transnational Meeting

On Tuesday the project coordinators and teachers from partner schools had the opportunity to see our school, classrooms equipped with whiteboards, special decorations in the corridors related to the topic of the project and the newly created playroom for our pupils. According to the schedule of the day our guests observed the lesson ‘Games in the corridor’. Class III a played different corridor games under the supervision of Mrs Jolanta Sajdak. We also invited our guests to participate in the celebrations of the Independence Day in our school prepared by both teachers and students.

During workshops the project group discussed the specific tasks in the three- year project. The analysis began with the presentation of the project evaluation carried out by experts, discussing its strengths and weaknesses. We also made an initial evaluation of the project. We talked in detail about activities that will take place in the first year of the project. We discussed partner schools key

responsibilities and tasks. In addition, we established criteria for the international competition for logo design and we set the date for the international meeting in Cyprus. Another important part of our meeting was devoted to project financing, promotion, evaluation and dissemination. To standardize the layout and content of project documentation – in digital version and in paper, we prepared models documents; rules and regulations for participation in the project, schedule of activities in the first year of the project, declarations for students and the model report.

An official meeting with the mayor of Krosno Piotr Przytocki and the city authorities took place in the meeting room of the City Council. During this visit we presented the main aims and objectives of the project. In the evening, we organized “Polish dinner” forp project participants. Teaching staff of our school had the opportunity to meet the teachers from Turkey, Italy, Cyprus and Spain. We talked about the project and exchanged our personal experience.

An important part of the day was an interview. Local TV station ‘Lens’ made an interview with Mrs Alice Szepelak, Mrs Matilda Gronicka, Mrs Agnieszka Kmon and the headmaster of the Sicilian school Mrs Rita La Tona. Our goal was to promote the idea and topic of the project in the local community.

Another day of the visit fell on the national holiday, therefore, we planned to explore the market square in Krosno and a trip to the Carpathian Troy. Our foreign guests visited the entire complex of the Carpathian Troy consisting of land settlements and the archaeological park. They saw reconstructions of Ottoman village from the early Bronze Age and Slavic – from the early Middle Ages. In the modern pavilion our project partners saw the exhibition hall and didactic multimedia presentation.

In the afternoon, our guests took part in the celebrations of national holiday in Krosno. The main Independence Day celebrations were held in the market square near the monument of Marshal Józef Piłsudski. We participated in the mass in the Basilica Minor “Fara”. After the mass, we took part in the march and laying flowers at the monument of Marshal Józef Piłsudski. The public ceremony was attended by soldiers of 5th Battalion of Highland Fusiliers. For our partners this was undoubtedly a unique opportunity to see and learn about the history of our
country.

On Thursday we talked about the project aims and objectives. Moreover, in the morning teachers observed the history lesson “Didactic games” in class VI d under the direction of Mrs Renata Dumanowska- a history teacher. Another important part of this day was a video-conference with schools from Italy and Cyprus. We had a chance to meet our colleagues. A number of actions were taken to make some arrangements and decisions concerning the project schedule, tasks and expected results. We also discussed the qualitative and quantitative study of the project, activities related to the Europass mobility, eTwinning and promotion of the project. Compared to Comenius, Erasmus + puts more emphasis on virtual mobility of pupils or their interaction with the use of ITC technology. Therefore, we decided that our students will keep in touch with the students from partner schools via the Internet and the eTwinning platform.

We decided on the terms of further cooperation between schools and the main objectives of the project. All the conclusions and findings were gathered in a report, which was signed by the teachers who participated in the international meeting.
In the afternoon we organized for our European partners a trip to the Glass Heritage Centre. Our guests had the opportunity to see the production of glass and learn the history of glass industry in Poland. In addition, they saw a beautifully displayed collection of contemporary glass art made by local artists and glass designers.
In the evening we organised a farewell dinner as the teachers from Cyprus had booked a flight on Friday. It was a very important meeting, summarizing the first international assembly. During the meeting teachers from the partner school got the certificates confirming their participation in the international visit in Krosno

On the last day of the visit we planned and discussed in detail project activities. In addition, we organised a trip to Łańcut for teachers from Italy, Spain and Turkey. Castle Museum in Łańcut is one of the most beautiful aristocratic residences in Poland. It is famous for its excellent interiors and an extraordinarily collection of horse-drawn vehicles. In comparison to other aristocratic mansions in Poland castle in Łańcut has an impressive park, gardens and residential buildings.
The international meeting of teachers was a great occasion to show not only our school but also our city and region. The meeting contributed to getting to know one another better, broadening participants’ minds and the exchange of professional experience. Our students and teachers will participate in short-term visits in our project partners. They will travel to Cyprus, Turkey, Spain and Italy.