As part of the Erasmus+ project Our Cultures – Our Treasures, our school’s delegation consisting of Liina, Anu and Inga were staying at the Slovenian partner school in Rače from 11th October-15th October 2021. The children of teacher Anu and Inga’s class also took part in the project mission, who joined the activities online and participated virtually. Together we enjoyed the presentations of partner schools from Slovenia, Maribor and about Rače, and a real surprise was the Slovenian song in Estonian.

It can be seen on school’s Facebook page here: https://fb.watch/hwrRW-WeBY/

In addition to Estonia and Slovenia, elementary schools from Greece, Spain and the Portuguese Azores also participated. The aim of the project is to raise the cultural awareness of the participants, broaden their horizons and strengthen their sense of being a European citizen.

On the second day, the project week of the Erasmus+ project continued in a hybrid form: the teachers in Slovenia participated in a workshop with Slovenian students in the Ptuj museum, and the teacher Annika watched a play about the legend of how the city of Maribor was saved from the attack of the Turks through the computer in the English class with the 4th grade. The play was broadcast live and the actors were the students of the partner school in Slovenia.

The morning of 18.10.21 started differently than a normal school day in class 4.c. Class teacher Inga was back from an Erasmus+ project mobility in Slovenia and introduced the culture and customs of the country she visited to her class.
The children ate a typical Slovenian breakfast – butter bread with honey, an apple and drank milk on the side. We looked at pictures together.

Last week there were several video bridges between the 4th grade students of our school and the students of the Slovenian Race school. Our children gained a lot of new knowledge about the Slovenian land and people.

The children were taught Slovenian folk dance, read and translated the well-known fairy tale “The Sleeper Keeper Kitty”. This fairy tale is planned to be staged.

In the handicraft lesson, students of the 4th grade made shoes from paper and other recyclable materials. The idea comes from a well-known legend in Slovenia, how a poor shoemaker saved the city of Maribor.

PÄRNU KUNINGA KOOLI HÜBRIIDVORMIS LÄHETUSED

Pärnu Kuninga Street Basic School represented Estonia at Our Cultures-Our Treasures mobility in Spain, Ferrol at CEIP Cruceiro de Canido school from 3^rd-7^th October 2022. The part-takers were school headmistress Urve Krause, English teacher Silvi Raska and four students from 5^th and 6^th grade – Kerttu Aruoja, Mirt Matilda Sofi Kirss, Nora Reial ja Beatrice Šurõgin.

This project brought together representative partners (teachers and students) from Greece, Portugal and Slovenia.

Five days were filled with interesting presentations and cultural trips around Ferrol and Galicia.

A walk was organized for us in the Canido district of Ferrol, where the school we visited is also located. During this walk, we were introduced to the larger and more important wall paintings, which are called ´´Las Meninas´´ in Spanish. Its leader, artist Eduardo Hermida, started the project in 2008 to draw attention to the sadness and abandonment in this part of the city. There are now more than 300 of these murals in this part of the city. More are added during the annual festival, and Canido has become a popular destination for tourists.

We took a boat to Fort San Felipe, historically the most important military structure in the Bay of Ferrol. The construction of this fortress began already in 1557. We also had the opportunity to visit the Ferrol Arsenal, or naval base, and the shipbuilding museum located next to it. The naval base is still active and employs more than 1,000 people permanently. We saw several warships in the harbor, one of which had just returned from Estonia. At the same time, new ships are also being built and sold to, for example, the Australian Navy.

The most memorable was the visit to the city of Santiago de Compostela. We went to the cathedral where Jesus’ apostle James is buried. It is an important pilgrimage destination next to Rome and Jerusalem. We were also allowed on the roof of the cathedral, where the guide talked about the history of the region, the city and the cathedral.

On the last day we danced to local music. After that, all the participants wrote their names and good wishes to their friends on the drawn figure of Menina.

From May 30 to June 3, we hosted Erasmus+ project partners from Slovenia, Greece and the Portuguese Azores in our school. The goal of the project is to develop students’ cultural awareness and broaden their horizons, thereby strengthening the feeling of being a European citizen.

8 guest teachers, 10 guest students, 10 4th-6th graders from our school participated in the activities of the project week. class student and several teachers from our school.

During the project week, various activities were carried out with a focus on Estonian culture and nature. On Monday, the guests were greeted with a lively concert, workshops were held to introduce Estonia and the Estonian language, and the Red Tower Museum was visited.

On Tuesday, they participated in a study tour in Pernova and went hiking and had a picnic in the Tolkuse bog.

On Wednesday, we drove to Tartu, where, in addition to the city, we discovered the ERM and AHHAA research center. On Thursday, instrument, dance and art workshops took place at the School of Arts and a cultural evening at the Doberan.

On Friday, we drove to Tallinn, where we visited the puppet theater museum and explored Tallinn’s old town.

It was an educational and memorable week when many teachers and students made new friends! As part of the same project, the next assignment will take place in October in Spain, where three teachers and four students from our school will go.

Article from Õpetajate Leht (Teacher’s Newspaper) https://opleht.ee/2022/06/projektipartnerid-teie-lapsed-tunnevad-oma-rahvakultuuri/

In the last week of March, unti 2nd of April, we went to the Azores islands belonging to Portugal, specifically Terceira, which is located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

We were accompanied by teachers Anu and Silvi, parent Külli, school director Urve Krause and students Kervin, Inger Liis, Vaike, Hannah, Romi and Frode.

The trip was made possible thanks to the Erasmus+ program Our Cultures – Our Treasures. The aim of this project is to value European cultural heritage through education, lifelong learning, integration of formal and non-formal learning, development of social skills, broadening of cultural horizons and respect for diversity – i.e. the aim is to share our culture with other countries. So we packed our bags and set off for 4000 km.

The trip lasted a total of seven days. Every day we went to a local school where we did all kinds of fun things. For example, Estonian national food, which was kila sandwiches, mushroom salad and kama. In addition, we also tasted the national dishes of other countries participating in the program – Greece, Spain, Slovenia and Portugal. At the school, we were also shown the local martial art and some were able to try it. We danced the folk dances of our countries and sang our own songs. It was great to make different musical instruments and then later play together with them in the orchestra.

The production match between Portugal and Spain, which we played in front of the old fort, was exciting.

After school, we also went to the museum to learn about the history of the Azores. The nature of this island was beautiful. There were all kinds of different tropical flowers and plants. In addition, we saw a huge number of cows, which are so numerous that they have become the symbol of the Azores. One day we were also taken to the cave of Algar do Carvao – this is the only volcano in the world that you can enter on foot. Of course it is no longer active! It was a very powerful experience. The trip ended with a long and sunny walk in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.

The week passed very quickly. We met many nice people and were enriched by new knowledge and experiences. I definitely want to go back to this beautiful island in the future.

Inger Liis Savi
4th grade