Whitehouse Common Primary -

Our travel guides!

In preparation for the meeting in Spain, children in Y5 and Y6 worked together to create some handwritten and illustrated travel guides to sites of interest in our town - Sutton Coldfield; our city - Birmingham; our capital city - London; and also in the rest of our country - England.

The actual guides will be added to our Erasmus+ display but we're taken photos of them all so that we can share them with you, and made them into two videos, one local and one national.

Enjoy!

Erasmus+ logo competition - winner announced!

Prior to the project meeting in Spain, pupils at all five schools were invited to some create a logo for the project. Each school then had to choose 5 from which to choose their winner. Each school's winner went forward to the final that took place during the project meeting to decide the ultimate winner that will appear on all the project publicity and documentation. 

We had lots of brilliant entries from our pupils, many using the flags of the countries as their theme. The brief was to celebrate the culture of the five participating countries and there were entries that did this by identifying iconic buildings, people and other indicators of culture and incorporating those into their design. Some were incredibly intricate and detailed, others bold and bright. As many designs as we can will be displayed on the Erasmus+ noticeboard, but below is a video that showcases all of them. 

All those who participated will receive a certificate and 5 house points! The top five received a special pen and the winner, a gift from Spain!

To help Señora Stevens in the task of choosing, 6AB gave their opinion, and then the Language Leaders had a secret vote that narrowed it down to the top 5 (below).

Some of the staff including Mrs Edwards then decided on a winner: congratulations to Jesnu whose design went forward to the final. 

The five finalists are featured below, representing Austria (top left) Greece (top right) Spain (centre) UK (bottom left) and Turkey (bottom right). 

Some really lovely ideas including the Sutton Coldfield Town Hall clock on the Greek entry! Señora Stevens particularly liked the Spanish entry with a Spanish sevillanas dress, Austrian leiderhosen, a Greek toga, an English monocle and a Turkish fez - but ti wasn't just up to her!  After a tight vote by all the project partners attending the meeting, the final choice was...

Austria!

And, after a little edit, here's the final logo!

PS a couple of logo designs didn't quite fit the brief for the Erasmus+ project but caught Señora Stevens' eye so will be used in future for our international projects. Watch out for them in future posts!

The "Hello" Song - Erasmus+ project song

One of the Greek teachers at the Erasmus+ "Let's Get Cultural" Spanish meeting was their music specialist. Teacher Dimitris Andronis wrote a song for the project, and children from 5th and 6th grade at the Greek school, 10th Primary School of Elefsina, sang it to send a message of love to their classmates in Spain, Turkey, Austria and England.

It's very catchy (Señora Stevens can't stop singing it!) and has a very special message. It has been sung on several bus journeys, on a landtrain, multiple times at CEP Antonio de Ulloa, in restaurants and even down a mine. The 'official' version has just been released on Youtube so here it is! Other versions may well follow...

Day 5 Erasmus+ project meeting - Spain

The last day of the first project meeting for Let's Go Cultural!

It was 5A's go to consider British symbols this morning which they did with enthusiasm. Señora Stevens and Mrs Harding enthused about our country and hope that the children learned a bit more about England and Great Britain beyond London!

There wasn't much time this morning as we were going on a trip but Señora Stevens sneaked into 1B to see the youngest children working and concentrating hard on their work. It was a privilege to see their brilliant teacher working with them, carefully guiding them in their learning.

And then the trip! 5A and 5B accompanied the teachers to the Agrupa Vicenta Mine in La Unión whereeveryone climbed aboard the land train to take us up the hill. As on all good excusrsions, there was singing on the way, with Mrs Harding and Señora Stevens leading The Wheels on the Train go round and round. There may even be video evidence...

Before entering the mine everyone had to don a paper cap and a safety helmet - very stylish! Everyone then headed underground and learned about pyrite mining. It was a little claustrophobic at first but the tunnel soon widened and the guide was excellent explaining well in English how the mine worked. Towards the end we all sat down for a photo and then sang the project song underground which was very special.

Then it was time to return to school. Sadly all the children had already gone home but that did spare everyone the pain of saying goodbye.

Mrs Harding and Señora Stevens are going to miss being celebrities but will be glad to come home to our families.

They have had a wonderful albeit very busy time and have lots to share when they get back. And we have lots of planning to do as the next meeting is at Whitehouse Common!

¡Hasta la semana que viene!

Sra S and Mrs H xx

Day 4 Erasmus+ project meeting - Spain

Thursday in Cartagena started with class 5B and Teacher Lola, talking about what they considered to be symbols of being British. They worked in pairs to find 32 symbols in a picture that they then discussed as a class, then they sorted some symbol cards to decide on the 5 that they felt typified British to them. There were lots of votes for the Union Flag, the Royal Family and tea, but very few for bad weather which was a relief!

After that, 5A and B tried to talk via Skype with children in Elefsina in Greece. The connection wasn't very good but they managed to talk to each other and we could see each other. At breaktime Señora Stevens and Mrs Harding went out into the playground to see the children playing traditional games including El Pañuelo. And after break, Señora Stevens sneaked into 2B to see them playing some clapping games which she videoed. She'll share them when she gets back to the UK. And Mrs harding had a go at using a potter's wheel.

All the teachers shared something about their school after that. Señora Stevens talked about how defining being British is tricky as we all have different ideas of what it means and feels like, shared how we have no outsiders at our school, valuing diversity and explained that whilst we talk about 'British values' they shouldreally be universal values. Mrs Harding talked about how we do this using examples from our Class Learning Journeys which really interested the other teachers.

After a teachers' meeting at which the teachers planned the next phase of the project, they all went to Murcia where they looked around the town, attended a concert in an amazingly opulent room, then had dinner in the very exclusive, very stylish and very posh Real Casino. It was a very full day and a very late night!

Day 3 Erasmus+ project meeting - Spain

Day 3 saw our travelling teachers feeling tired but excited as they travelled to CEP Antonio de Ulloa once more. Mrs Harding and Señora Stevens started the day by sharing the work done by Y5 and 6 about places of interest in the United Kingdom, both local and national, as well as powerpoints that they had prepared on the subject to class 6B. The class were very interested in the information they were given and proceeded to work in three groups to complete a travel brochure about the UK.

There was an interesting session about the history of Cartagena delivered in the school hall before Señora Stevens was lured outside by the promise of some pottery making! Guided by a very patient potter, Señora Stevens threw her own 'Roman' vase with which she was very pleased. Mrs Harding hopes to have her turn tomorrow but for today she took photos as proof that Señora Stevens really made the vase and also that she pulls very funny faces when she is concentrating!

The morning activity then moved to the centre where the group had chocolate y churros in the square before visiting the Ayuntamiento or Town Hall. This was a privilege as you need special permission to visit. The group had an appointment to meet the Councillor in charge of education in Cartagena who was charming. Without any prior warning, Señora Stevens was asked if she would translate for the Councillor so that everyone could understand. There were people taking lots of pictures taken and also someone videoing it - and Mrs Harding wasn't going to let the moment go unrecorded either! A great honour to be asked but also a bit nervewracking. The Ayuntamiento is beautiful with very grand decoration and furniture, and a spectacular staircase. 

After lunch by the sea, the group headed to La Manga which is a strip of land between Mar Menor and Mar Mayor to visit the Cabo de Palos lighthouse. Some of the group climbed to the top and the view was spectacular. And even for those who didn't, the sight of the calm sea as the sun went down was very peaceful and calming. It was lovely to spend more time together as a group of teachers, finding out about each others' countries; we even had an international singsong on the bus on the way back from the lighthouse!

Tomorrow, Mrs Harding and Señora Stevens are going to find out what 5B know about Britain and being British, and are going to Skype the children in Greece.

¡Hasta el jueves!

Day 2 Erasmus+ project meeting - Spain

Today has been another busy day in Cartagena, with two main themes - food and history.

Food first of all. At breaktime this morning Señora Stevens and Mrs Harding were treated to La Castañera, the festival of the chestnut which similar to harvest festival for us but involve eating roasted chestnuts (as in the Christmas song!) The Parent's Association had set up in the school playground with special pans and lots of chestnuts, and the younger children had dressed up too in special aprons, headscarfs and berets. They looked great, and everyone got to eat the castañas. Both Señora Stevens and Mrs Harding were rather fond of them and managed to get a second helping too! 

Lunch and dinner both featured traditional dishes like caldero, a rice dish made with fish and tortilla con trufa, a Spanish omelette made with truffles. Both delicious dishes and both served by lovely attentive staff who were interested in finding out about our project.

On to history. The older children started the day by working with the visitors, explaining the festival of the Romans and Carthaginians. Some of them had dressed up and paraded through the school patio. Some very impressive costumes and marching! CEP Antonio de Ulloa are fortunate enough to be a five minute walk from the Museo Arqueológico where there are artefacts from all through history discovered in and around Cartagena including fossilised bones, Greek, Roman and Carthaginian urns and vases, and mosaics, ceramics, metal work and implements used in day to day life. Later in the day the group visited another two museums where they learned about the Roman buildings found in Cartagena including the Roman baths, the forum, houses, a temple and lots of mosaics. Finally there was the visit to the Roman ampitheatre which was very impressive. 

Apart from this, there has been a project meeting at which everyone voted for a logo from the winning entries. This will be revealed when Señora Stevens and Mrs Harding return from Spain. And there was also a SKype call with a class at VS Wildbach who sang songs and played the accordion. 

Here are some photos of the day. There are more on Twitter too.

¡Hasta el miércoles!

Day 1 Erasmus+ project meeting - Spain

Señora Stevens and Mrs Harding have just returned to their rooms in the hotel that they left 14 hours ago after a very full day in Cartagena.

After breakfast they went to CEP Antonio de Ulloa, the host school where they were greeted by the headteacher and staff. Along with the teachers from VS Wildbach (Austria), 10th Primary School of Elefsina (Greece) and Bahattin Ozyadici Ilkokulu (Turkey) they were led into the playground where the school were all lined up waving flags to greet us. Following speeches from the Headteacher, Rocío, a representative of the Ayuntamiento (town hall) and a representative from Europe Direct as well as Gonzalo and Irene, pupils at the school. Then the children sang a welcome song in Spanish and English and cheered a lot. All the visitors went and danced with the children, and were thronged by them. 

Inside the school Señora Stevens and Mrs Harding visited a maths class, looked at typical crafts from the area (bobbin lace making and pottery) and shared typical snacks from the partner countries. At breaktime they went out to play with the chilren in their very big playground that goes right around the school. After break, they had a project meeting at which each school shared a presentation of their school as well as a little about themselves. The Whitehouse Common presentation was very well received; the teachers loved the photos of the school and thought that Aine Alys and Lily were excellent guides and ambassadors who showed great passion for their school. The teachers were also treated to singing from a very talented young man called Miguel, and they all snag a song in five languages written by one of the Greek teachers, accompanied by some marvelllous chime bar playing by Señora Stevens!

Lunch was at a typical local restaurant in the middle of nowhere, and was huge! The meal wasn't over until 5pm and there was then a visit to a windmill which was followed by a game of Bolos, a typical game only played in Cartagena. Mrs Harding was better than Señora Stevens but what they lacked in technique they made up for in style and grace! More food at 730pm was followed by a visit to the Casa Folclórica where local culture is preserved by enthusiasts who rebuilt a cultural building and teach traditional arts such as music dance and storytelling to preserve it for future generations. It was fascinating! 

A very full and very busy day, and both Señora Stevens and Mrs Harding are now very tired. 

There are some photos below and more on Twitter. More photos will follow soon but it's very late and there are so many of them...

Watch Twitter for more updates tomorrow. ¡Hasta mañana!

Erasmus+ project Let's get Cultural

Over the next two years, Whitehouse Common Primary will be working with four schools from Greece, Austria, Turkey and Spain on a project entitled Let's get Cultural.

This project is funded by Erasmus+ and will see each school hosting a meeting to explore and discuss culture - what it is, how we express it and how we can share and celebrate it.

There will be two meetings this academic year; in Spain in November and at Whitehouse Common in March, then three next year, culminating in the final meeting in Greece as they are the project leads.

It looks to be an exciting two years that we will document on this blog. 

Waxth this space for more news soon!