The 6th student exchange of the project took place in April 2018 in the Spanish partner school with the participation of 11 teachers and 16 students from four partner schools. (Unfortunately the representatives of the Turkish partner did not take part in the last student exchange.) During the mobility students stayed at host families therefore they got an insight into Spanish culture and way of life.
During the meeting the students visited lessons with their hosts, so they got acquainted with the Spanish educational system and had the opportunity to compare it with their own. The goal of this student exchange was to perform the play called Murder in Istanbul, which was written and dramatized by the students involved in the project. Prior to the meeting each country selected the students who acted in the play and they learnt their roles. The partner countries also selected the music, images and sound effects used in the play. Furthermore they designed the costumes of the characters. The Hungarian school’s responsibility was the choreography of the divertissement. Whereas the host school took care about the props and the setting. The rehearsal session started with the reading of the play. Then the students and their teachers began practicing the scenes in two groups to make the work more effective. The double cast of the play made this kind of work possible. Each day students spent some hours on learning the steps of the dance in the play as well. After each detail, movement and gesture had been discussed and practiced in the scenes the whole team worked together. Finally they had a dress rehearsal with all the props, images and music. On the fourth day the play was performed in a real theatre in Tomelloso in front of a real audience. What’s more the performance could be followed live on Facebook. We can say it was a great success and a good example of team work.
In the afternoons after the rehearsals the participants had an opportunity to develop as a team as they took part in various after-school activities with the host students and their families.
During the mobility some cultural programmes such as visiting the town hall of Tomelloso and a field trip to Cuenca were organized as well. Here the participants first visited the Science museum. Then they had a guided tour providing students with invaluable information on the town and Spanish history.
Parallel to students’ activities, the participating teachers also had opportunities to get an insight into Spanish educational system and the life of their partner school. Teachers visited school departments and facilities and got acquainted with different teaching methods, programmes and project activities that Spanish partners take part in.
During the mobility teachers also had a meeting with a view to planning the remaining activities of the last project year and duties till the very last teachers’ meeting. They agreed on deadlines and responsibilities for these activities and duties. Teachers also discussed issues related to project management and duties were distributed among project partners.
When participants returned to their schools they disseminated their findings to other project participants in the form of presentations, written reports and also by updating the “project corner” in their schools displaying their common work.
Events and experiences of the week have been published in the project blog, Twinspace, project website, the local newspaper and on the school website.
All in all it was an inspiring, informative, properly organized and enjoyable learning experience for both students and teachers.
The video made of the common performance: