TRAINING MEETING IN TENERIFE
(November 13-17)
The programme
Our endemic tree...The Dragon Tree
Dowload pictures of the meeting
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Meeting in Tenerife
Tenerife – Training meeting
13th November – 17th November 2017
Day 1 – As the partners arrived, the pupils lined the playgrounds and sang to the partners. The youngest children from the school performed dances with some of the children and staff wearing traditional costumes from the Canary Islands. Partners were presented with a gift from the host school (a ceramic tile).
All partners and students were welcomed to the school for a welcome ceremony performed by the pupils of the primary school. Partners watched traditional dancing, a drama performance about the history of the Tenerife (The Dragon tree), listened to a choir singing ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon while a dancer performed a dance linked to the devastation of terrorism and listened to music created by musical instruments created out of recyclable materials.
Partners were given a tour of the school with some classes presenting handmade gifts and others presenting projects created for the visit. Recently improved outside areas were highlighted by Jose (ideas had been shared during previous visits).
Partners were able to spend time in classrooms watching lessons and talking with the pupils.
Children from UK and Bulgaria took part in an outside Zumba class during this time.
Lunch was provided by the school and was a feast of traditional food from Tenerife.
During the afternoon, the UK teachers (Martin and Rebecca) gave a presentation to all partners and teaching staff from the school. The presentation explained how Withernsea Primary School plan and teach without books using themes. Planning examples were shared with the staff.
Children from UK and Bulgaria were taught how to create musical instruments from recycled materials.
Day 2 – Partners were taken to the environmental complex of Tenerife (CAT). Partners and children listened to a presentation about the issues with waste on the island. Partners then went on a tour of the facilities of the complex which followed the treatment of the waste. A visit to the Ewaste was also included in the trip. Partners watched a presentation on the Ewaste and visited the facilities.
Lunch was provided by the school which was another delicious traditional meal.
When the partners arrived back at the school, the children were bringing out all the bottle tops they had collected. This was a way of making children aware of the need for recycling and a way to help local charities.
During the afternoon, the partners visited the Teacher Training Centre to study the use of ICT in outdoor activities. Partners were provided with a list of different apps and websites to use to aid learning. Playpostit was discussed which is a website which enables you to put reflection questions in between sections of a video. Partners discussed how this could be used in the outdoor environment (such as a visit to a museum). The second website that was discussed was ? which was a website which allowed the teacher to create quizzes for the pupils that can then be answered by the pupils on iPads.
During the evening, the partners and children visited Playa de Las Americas to see the tourist side of Tenerife.
Day 3 – Partners held the first project meeting led by Pino.
Books were exchanged by the partners and discussed.
Tenerife – a historical story of the island involving the slavery which occurred.
Italy – 4 books were created by four different classes focusing on native trees in the local area of the city.
Romania - a competition was held and the favourite book was chosen and created.
UK - the book was written by a group of students (global representatives from years 5 and 6) and is a story of an oak tree which is a native tree to the UK.
Lithuania - the whole community was involved in the creation of the book including parents, teachers and pupils. This will be published in Lithuanian and given out to other kindergartens in the country.
Bulgaria - there was a competition held to research trees and create a book. Many examples were shown to partners and all books were very different in their presentation. Rosetta explained that a movie, explaining how the books were created, would be inserted on etwinning.
Belgium - the book is written about the sweet chestnut tree. Different classes focused on different activities including researching the tree and cooking the fruit.
Pino reminded partners to upload books onto etwinning twinspace before Christmas. Lithuania had
already completed this task. Partners were also reminded about internet safety when using other
platforms such as Facebook.
Next task
A short movie needs to be created by each partner school to show how the training has impacted
the students. The movie should be 3 – 5 minutes long and can be recorded on any platform or
programme. Jose offered to collate all the videos into one large video which will be shown at the
next meeting. The videos must be sent to Jose by 15th March at the latest. More than one video can
be sent if needed. The video must include an interview in mother tongue and translated into English.
This could include how much the children have enjoyed the activities. Mascots should also be
included in the activities as it was stated in the original form.
A new page will be set up on etwinning linked to recycling so that ideas and projects can be posted.
Trip to Bulgaria
The trip to Bulgaria was discussed and it was explained that this was to include 2 working days. It
was agreed that as it was a working trip, ‘big visits’ were not necessary. Dates were agreed:
Monday 5th February Travel day
Tuesday 6th February and Wednesday 7th February Work days
Thursday 8th February Travel day
Rosita explained that partners could travel to the hotel on the underground (subway) as taxis from
the airport are very expensive. The subway should cost 50 cents to the hotel. Rosita will inform
partners of the hotel as she is in discussion with two different hotels for the accommodation. One
to two staff members from each country will be attending. Claire will write the agenda and send to
the different partners which they can then add to and send back to Claire.
Interim Reports
The interim reports were discussed
Tenerife – no report feedback at the time of the meeting.
Bulgaria - no report feedback at the time of the meeting.
Belgium -the project is working well but how do you assess that the project is effective for the children?
Lithuania trip
Pino suggested using the video questioning on the visit to Lithuania (learned during the previous
day’s training). Irina explained that she would ask back at school but she would prefer to work on
recycling as it would be more applicable to the age range of her school. This would be agreed at a
later date after discussions in school.
Etwinning
Pino reminded partners about the importance of using etwinning. Jose suggested using smaller
photos as some of the photos are too big. Partners were reminded to add photos with mascots.
Rosita explained that the mascots were leaving a huge impression on her pupils and shared posters
her pupils had made with the appropriate partners.
Etwinning carol concert
Pino discussed the use of Skype and other video links. It was agreed that a concert link would be
created with each partner school singing a Christmas song in their national language. Pino to book a
practice session one evening to test that it will work (an email will be sent before 1st December).
15th December 9am is when the concert will take place to fit in with all time zones.
Belgium meeting
As it tends to get dark early in Belgium from November, Pino felt that it would be better to organise the Belgium meeting towards the end of October. Dates were discussed:
21st October Travel day
22nd October – 26th October Visit and work days
27th October Travel day
Lithuania meeting
Dates were discussed:
22nd April – 28th April were agreed as possible dates. Irina will check at school and email partners to confirm.
Partners were then taught by the visiting pupils from the UK and Bulgaria. They were shown how to make a musical instrument out of a plastic bottle and rice.
Partners were then taken to the town hall to meet the mayor and learn about the history of the area. Gifts were presented to the partner schools by the mayor.
Lunch was once again provided by the school.
During the afternoon, the partners visited La Laguna which is the ancient capital of Tenerife to learn more about the history of the island.
Day 4
Partners attended a presentation about the Spanish Educational System and projects carried out in the school led by 3 teachers from host school.
A visit to the National Park Teide, taught the partners about the volcanic origin of the Canary Islands with a presentational video shown at the visitors centre. This was followed by a visit to La Orotava for lunch.
Day 5 – An evaluation meeting was held at the school.
Mascots were shared:
Bulgaria -> Belgium
Italy -> UK
UK -> Romania
Tenerife -> Lithuania
Lithuania -> Tenerife
Belgium -> Bulgaria
Romania -> Italy
Rosita showed a video of her school.
Pino showed how to video conference on etwinning.
It was suggested that the questions for the children should happen at the beginning and the end of
every year to ensure partners can provide evidence that the project is having an impact. Results of
questionnaires to be sent to Pino before the beginning of April so that he can present the
information at the Lithuania meeting. A second questionnaire folder to be created on etwinning by
Pino. The teacher questionnaire also needs to be completed and sent to Pino by April too.
Partners were reminded to check dates for interim reports. Partners were also asked to share any
feedback given so that reports can be improved.
Evaluations were completed by partners and children and were sent back to the UK for Claire to evaluate. Payments were made and certificates of attendance were presented. Europasses were also presented.
Partners and children from the UK and Bulgaria were then taken to the beach to take part in outdoor activities at the beach. Staff from the host school shared with the partners a number of adaptable beach games which were linked to other subjects. These games included a version of ‘Twister’ and some team games.
The training meeting was complete.