Urspringschule



Newsletter Nr.1 November 2008

Make a Difference – European Footprint on Our World

Comenius project 2008-2010

With the beginning of the academic year 2008/2009 we have started a new Comenius Project with eight schools from all over Europe.

The following schools will take part in our project:

• Urspringschule Schelklingen, Germany (coordinating school)

• Heilig Harthandelsinstituut Waregem, Belgium

• Sykkylven vidaregaande skule, Sykkylven, Norway

• St. Margaret’s School Bushey, England

• Xántus János School Budapest, Hungary

• IT IS “E.Fermi” Francavilla Fontana, Italy

• Gimnazija Novo Mesto, Novo Mesto, Slovenia

• Escola Secundaria do Restelo Lisboa, Portugal

Unfortunately our Slovenian and Portuguese partners have not received the approval of their national Comenius agencies, we are all ready to involve them into the project as much as possible. They will engage in the international project works and we will keep each other updated throughout the whole project cycle.

The location of our schools can be seen on this European map. We put in the flags at our first coordinators meeting in Schelklingen. The meeting took place from 24th to 28th September 2008. There the coordinators discussed the main aims and the actions of this project as well as the exchange visits and student meetings that will be held during this project.

This is the logo of our project for the next two years. You will also find it on our common website (enius.urspringschule.de ). There is also more information about the previous projects we did together to be found.

In our application form for the project we gave the following summary to our Comenius Agencies:

“The higher standard of living enjoyed by European countries has been accompanied by more congestion, pollution and global warming. This creates problems and opportunities in an increasingly globalised world. The main aim of this project will be to raise student awareness of the consequences of their actions on the environment, and encourage them to explore the effects of modifying their behaviour.

Students will collect data on their “carbon footprint” over the period of the project with the aim of reducing it. This will culminate in a “Charter of Environmental Responsibility” signed by all school communities.

The wider effects of climate change and environmental damage on society, business and governments will be considered. Policy responses and the possible implications of these will be investigated by partner schools. Students will be encouraged to explore the issues raised in a multidisciplinary context using a variety of practical and creative methods. The experience gained should help generate a long term interest and commitment to the environment as highlighted in the charter.”

Events organized so far in the project year 2008/2009

Coordinators’ Meeting in Schelklingen 24-28 September 2008

To reach our aims we have planned a number of activities for all schools taking part in this project:

• “Carbon Footprint”:

- There will be a questionnaire on the carbon footprint of each school which we will measure trice during the project in order to minimize it at every school , as we want to minimize our impact on the climate of the world

- Each student and teacher will get the opportunity to measure their own carbon footprint and we want to provide everyone with ideas how to minimize their footprint

- The data collected in the schools will be send to the Norwegian school for processing them

• We will collect current weather data in all schools and we want to compare them with weather patterns in the past.

- A data logger will measure temperature and humidity on a daily basis.

- Once a month we will collect a full set of weather data in all schools at the same day.

- The agreed dates are: 3rd October 2008, 7th November2008, 5th December 2008, 9th January 2009, 6th February 2009, 6th March 2009, 3rd April 2009, 8th May 2009, 5th June 2009, 3rd July 2009

- These data will also be send to the Norwegian school for processing them

|[pic] |[pic] |

• All schools will do research work on consequences and impacts of weather patterns and the problems caused by climate change. They will specialize on different areas:

- Belgium: economic impact

- Slovenia: insects and food production

- Hungary: impact on society and people’s behavior, agriculture

- Italy: olive trees and olive oil production

- Portugal: impact on tourism and forestry

- England: sea level rising and flooding

- Germany: impact on agriculture and forestry

• The German, English, Italian, Belgium and Norwegian schools will also do research work on the effects of increasing carbon dioxide emissions on housing, transport and tourism and government response to these challenges in order to produce some case studies for the different sectors for the other participants at the final meeting and they will compare their findings.

They will also do research work on environmentally friendly technologies.

• The Hungarian, Slovenian and Portuguese schools will research historic reports on unusual weather patterns or events and compare them to recent events in order to find out if they are related to climate change.

• We want to offer to all students and teachers the possibility to contribute texts (poems, short stories, etc) and illustrations (photographs, drawings, etc) for a book on “Weather and Climate in Changing Times”. This book will be presented at the final project meeting in 2010 in Belgium.

• There will also be a photographic exhibition on weather phenomena at this meeting with contributions from each school.

• Reports about all activities should be send to the German school so they can be a part of our common website. Please send texts in Word and pictures as jpg to the following email address: inge.banholzer@web.de

• The planned “Charter of Environmental Responsibility” which is to be signed by the head and a students’ representative of each school has to be designed and we are looking forward to suggestions about the text from each school.

• We have also planned to create a “Simulation Game on Climate Change” and need ideas and suggestions for that as well. All coordinators will collect information on that issue.

• The final dates for the exchange visits will be agreed between the coordinators of the respective schools and can be found at the Comenius Board of each school.

Between all the discussions the coordinators got the chance to see the German partner school and the surroundings. They were guided by some students who showed them the old and new buildings and told them about the special concept of the school.

The pictures on the following page show you the dormitory (boarding area), the new sports centre and the newly renovated Mädchenhaus and Hellhaus (both hosting boarders and offices as well as the flat of the headmistress)

[pic]

[pic]

We also wanted to discover possibilities of carbon free energy in the area and so we visited a solar park and a wind farm near Laichingen, a small town, about 20 km from Urspring. By using renewable energies from sources owned privately the town is nearly independent from the local energy producer.

After the successful ending of the planning meeting we went for a sightseeing trip to Ulm, where we also had the opportunity to do some shopping – as some of us wanted to bring some presents to their families.

[pic] [pic]

Ulm cathedral Sightseeing in the fishermen’s quarter

[pic]

At the Danube bank

[pic]

Ulm townhall

The coordinators had a pleasant time working together to bring the project under way and we hope everything will work out well.

Inge Banholzer, Schelklingen, Germany 4.10.2008

The first student exchange and project meeting in the project year

Waregem, Belgium 1-8 November 2008

From 3rd Nov till 8th Nov 2008 some 55 students met in Waregem to discuss a number of topics related to their ecological footprint and the CO² emission that generates their lifestyles. The participants came from Vaasa (Finland), Xantus Janos (Budapest), H.Harthandelsinstituut (Waregem). It was the first Project meeting to be organised in the context of the new Comenius School Project “ Make a difference…. “

And , yes, again, the meeting was fruitful. Who should think else?

Hugo Delbeke, who is coordinator in the Flemish school, gave a general introduction on the problem topic. He compared the Planet Earth with a greenhouse where there is a very delicate balance among the 6 gases . Yet the balance is disturbed , mainly due to human activity, let us say the industrialisation . The average temperature in Belgium has risen since 1900 from 15°C to 16,1°. Moreover the ten hottest years are all situated after 1989.

In the west and central part of Europe, this leads mainly to flooding, and/ or a rising sea-level. Half of Flanders and 60% of The Netherlands could disappear under sea level by 2050, supposed there is a rise of 35 cm of the sea-level.

Something should be done, because the point of no return will be reached in 20 years! The aim of the meeting was to create awareness among young people, as they will be confronted with all aspects of the global climate problem. Therefore they split into 10 workshops , that all analysed one specific aspect of the global warming and …. What to do against it ! The workshops dealt with the CO² behaviour of non-profit companies, profit-making companies, new CO² poor investments, the students’ private lifestyles…..

Here they are:

1. Calculate the carbon footprint  H Hartcollege Waregem

2. Reducing CO2 level: Case Linopan / Belgium

3. Reducing CO2 level: Case Spano / Belgium

4. Reducing CO2 level : Case Hospital Waregem

5. Visit to the waste recycling plant Harelbeke

6. Sightseeing local CO2 –poor projects. Bike tour around Waregem.

7. Consequences of climate changes in life style habits.

Questionnaire by Hungarian students to be carried out in host families

8. Visit to an energy-poor house ( a “ passive house”)

9. An eco rental car company : Profile

10 Calculate your own carbon footprint

After the company visit all students had to make a PowerPoint presentation ; moreover they had to brief the results to 18 different class groups. Some 3 presentations were also shown at the Farewell Party, so that hosts and the school’s staff could enjoy the result of the work week.

Next to the serious work, the teachers involved ( some 10 ! ) had a welcome help from the school’s Parents’ Association. The parents organised a bowling night with hosts and guests, the shuttle service to the airport, and even a chicken barbecue with folk dance on Thursday night.

This way, a new dimension in the European Exchange programme of the school, where some 45% of all final year’s students participate, has started .

Hugo Delbeke, Waregem, Belgium

10 November, 2008

How we prepared for the Waregem student exchange...

Preparations in Hungary had to be started well in advance: the first student exchange was organized in November.

The Hungarian students prepared themselves as a group (13 students were selected to take part in the mobility) and they also did some work in smaller teams.

Here are the topics our students did research on:

• The facts of CO2 - impacts on the environment )USA, China, Belgium, Hungary

• The effects of CO2 emission (a summary of possible effects)

• Results of a survey: how much CO2 do Hungarian families emit?

• Possible solutions to reduce our CO2 emission: passive houses, zero energy houses

• Introduction of the questionnaire compiled by our students (they did the

questionnaire with their own families at home and they prepared one for their host families to interview their Belgian hosts in Waregem)

Most students prepared a power point presentation for the exchange and we rehearsed them before the trip.

Every student was also to present some information about our school (it was done in a power point presentation) to familiarize their Belgian hosts with the education system and traditions of our school.

Anita Grabant, Budapest, Hungary 11 November, 2008

Belgium is Fascinating!

Belgium is fascinating! – that was my impression during the whole trip to this country full of amazing cities, smaller and friendly towns, and quiet and peaceful communities.

I had the fortune to get to know such friendly and honest people.

We have seen the Belgian coast, have been to the huge city of Brussels, the marvellous and picturesque town of Brugge, have tried the famous Belgian beer, chocolate and French fries, and last, but not least we did project works and presentations together, which were also a great experience.

The task of my team was to visit a company and ask questions to the leader of it about the operation and the environmentally-conscious methods, as the company, called Linopan, produced chipboards and flexboards from recycled wood. So we had a long discussion and afterwards a guided tour through the whole factory, where we were shown how the production was going. Then we made a presentation about what we had seen and heard and presented it to different classes at the school. The last day we could see the three best presentations.

In the evenings we had exciting programmes, organised by the parents of the exchange students. Already on the first day we went to the birthday-party of a Belgian exchange student, whom I was really happy to meet, besides, there was also a karaoke-party, a chicken night with Celtic folk dances and camp fire, bowling, and of course, we went to a lot of parties in the local pubs.

My exchange student was a really friendly and caring boy, and finally I felt as if he had been my brother. (Actually, we looked very funny standing next to each other, because he was 2 metres tall, but I’m only 1,63…)

The family of my exchange student was very helpful and generous, what’s more, we could also talk a lot. I was glad to be with them for a week.

So I got a lot of new friends, beside the great experience and good practice.

In addition to this, I’m really looking forward to seeing again my, and also the other exchange students within a few months.

Anita Pásztor, Budapest, Hungary

20 November 2008

A Week In Waregem

After our airplane landed in Charleroi , we were taken with 3 cars from there to Waregem, to the school, where our own exchange students were waiting for us.

After we got home my host showed her house and my room, but after that we immediately left home, to have a dinner. We weren’t alone, because we met some other exchange-students and we went together. In the restaurant we tried some special Belgian dishes. The mood was very good there and I got to know a lot of new people. After finishing the dinner we went to a pub named Piet L’air, and we had really good time there and I was introduced to a lot of people. When we got home that day, everyone went to bed, because that was a long day and we were very exhausted.

The next morning I went to buy some breakfast with my host and we had breakfast. In the morning we talked a lot about ourselves and our countries. In the afternoon her parents got home, because they hadn’t been at home until that time. After we had got to know each other we had lunch in a restaurant, where I met a lot of new people again. At night we wanted to go to a club, but some of us were not 17 years old yet , so we couldn’t get in, but we found a good pub near that place and we had a good night.

The next day we started a weekday, so we had to go to school. In the school I met the other Hungarians and we told each other about our experiences about the weekend, because there were two classes of Belgians and they didn’t really know each other and that’s why they usually made different free-time activities. We went to the auditorium and everybody showed their own presentation about their nation, school or history and we were navigated in the school and informed about our projects.

After school we went somewhere every day, for example we went to a pub, a chocolate bar, a restaurant or a party and we went bowling and carting. On Tuesday we went to Brussels and we made our tasks about the city and we went sight-seeing and shopping. I really liked that city, it has got a nice feeling with the little old houses and a huge sky-scraper between them.

On Wednesday we went to school again and started to do our projects. We had to go to factories to see how they make their products. Our project was about a company that rents cars which use natural-gas for their working. We saw the cars and we were on a small trip with the cars. In the afternoon we had to do the presentations about the projects.

The next day we went to Brugge. Brugge has the atmosphere as I had been in a medieval city with the horses and the old brick-houses. We had some tasks there again about the city, we could do it easily so we had some free-time after that. We bought some Belgian chocolate and went sight-seeing in the city.

On Friday we had to show our presentation to two classes of the school , and after that the three best were chosen, and those three were presented to the parents, and after it a fare-well reception was given to us. The last day I just had to pack my case and we went to the airport. All in all I had a very great week there, with a plenty of new knowledge and a lot of new friends.

20 November,2008 Gyula Hódosi, Budapest, Hungary

Introduction of the schools that participate in our Comenius project

Since this is the first newsletter of our Comenius project, we thought it might be useful if all participating partners could get to know each other through a brief introduction on the following pages. We hope to raise interest in discovering more about each other’s schools in the future.

1.

St. Margaret’s School

Bushey, England

St Margaret’s School, located in Bushey, Hertfordshire, has 450 pupils in our infant, preparatory and senior schools.

The school is set in over 70 acres of beautiful countryside, whilst still being only 20 minutes from the centre of London and close to 4 major airports.

Founded in 1749, we are a forward-thinking school, proud of our 260 year history, and committed to developing the young women of tomorrow. St Margaret’s School educates girls from the age of 4 to 18 in a secure and caring environment.

We welcome boarding pupils, both from the UK and overseas, from age 11. The boarding students are an integral part of life at St Margaret’s, helping to create a family environment, as well as contributing to the international dimension of the school.

The school has a dedicated staff who ensure that each girl achieves her academic potential as evidenced by excellent examination results at both GCSE and A-Level. The vast majority of students go on to study at a wide range of UK universities.

We firmly believe in developing much more than the academic side of our pupils and the girls can take advantage of many extra-curricular activities.

Girls take part in choirs, orchestras, speech and drama, art, sport, dance, The Model United Nations, The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, World Challenge and many other clubs and societies.

Our modern sports centre enables our girls to experience and excel at many sports and physical activities both during the week and at the weekends.

The School has taken an active part in the Comenius project for many years now and our students and staff enjoy their involvement in exchange visits with our partner schools across Europe.

[pic]

2.

Sykkylven vidaregåande skule, Sykkylven, Norway

Sykkylven upper secondary school was started in 1974, but the main buildings are from 1977. Since then the school has extended its facilities and range of courses. This year we have 220 students attending the school, the majority in academic courses. But we also offer vocational courses like health and social studies, arts and crafts studies and technical studies.

[pic]

Location

"Sykkylven is, perhaps the loveliest of all Sunnmøre's landscapes. What makes it so is not easy to say - it is not the fjords, not the mountains, not the glaciers, not the valley, but a blend of all these.... Nothing is allowed to thrust itself to the fore at the expense of the others".

Kr. Randers (1890)

Sykkylven is a fjord side district where the friendly, varied scenery of Sunnmøre merges to form a harmonious whole. The narrowness of the innermost recesses of the fjord gives way to the flat and fertile floor of the Velledal valley, its tiny rural communities dwarfed by the mountain ramparts hemming them in, ramparts that become higher, wilder and more imposing the further inland one goes. Best know of the peaks that make up this mountain realm, a paradise for all with its ice-blue glaciers, crystal-clear lakes and lofty crags and pinnacles, are Trollkyrkja, Råna and Blåbretindane. At the head of Sykkylvsfjord lies the little village of Straumgjerde, with the majestic bulk of Mt. Straumshorn looming large to the east. Linking Lake Fetvatn with the fjord is the fast flowing Straumen river, "the shortest salmon river in the world". In summer its banks are lined with fishermen eager to try their luck, but all the local rivers and lakes, like the fjord itself, offer good fishing. Sandwiched between the Velledal and Ramstaddal valleys is Fjellseter, an expanse of countryside that embraces Lake Nysetervatn and which offers abundant opportunities for outdoor pursuits summer and winter alike. Gentle, open and varied, this area provides something for everyone. In winter a ski tow takes skiers up to an altitude of 750 meters to enjoy the thrills of the slalom course and piste, but there are miles of gentler slopes and rolling mountain moorland, covered by a web of well maintained trails, to delight the touring and cross country skier. The population of Sykkylven is about 7,500, with light industry, the service trades and farming providing the principal means of livelihood. Furniture making is the main industrial occupation and both in Norway and abroad the local factories are noted for the quality and attractive design of their products. Aure, seat of local government, is the urban centre and offers banking and postal facilities, a travel agency, a hotel, a natural history museum and a wide range of shops.

Welcome to Sykkylven

3.

Urspringschule Schelkingen, Germany

Our school was founded in 1930 by Bernhard Hell and is situated in an old monastery complex near the city of Ulm, about 100 km west of Munich in a beautiful countryside area. The campus consists of old but now renovated monastery buildings as well as a number of modern buildings all located around our own well, called Urspringtopf. The waters of the little river join the Danube in Ulm.

Two of the old buildings (Mädchenhaus and Hellhaus)

Urspring is a private boarding school with 280 students. We start with year 3 of the primary school and the secondary education finishes with the “Abitur”in year 13. There are about 140 boarding students and about the same number of day students. The school day starts at 7.45 in the morning and finishes at 15.35 for year 3 – 11 and at 17.35 for years 12 and 13.

We offer our students the opportunity to learn a profession additional to the normal education. More than 60 students do an apprenticeship in one of the four offered professions (carpenter, tailoring, mechanics and Kautschuk technology).

Urspringtopf and school buildings in the background

Urspring is also a centre for basketball and more than 25 students play in different leagues, depending on their age group. They have won several championships over the last years.

We started Comenius Projects together with the English and Hungarian partners in 1998 and have continued since. So far we had three projects together with our first partners and over the years we have added several members to our group and these projects are a very important part in our school and the school curriculum.

4.

ITIS “FERMI” Francavilla Fontana, Italy

The technical industrial school “E. Fermi” was born in 1960 belonging to the technical industrial school “Giorgi” of Brindisi. At first it was located in a monastery.

In the year 1974 it became autonomous and moved to the present building purchased by the municipality of Francavilla Fontana. At first it had only the specialization of Mechanics, then, in 1984 it was added that of Electrotechnics. In 1991 was admitted also the specialization of Electronics and Telecommunications and from 2004 that one of Information Technology. From this year the new specialization of Aeronautical constructions is present as well.

During the years it has been enlarged several times. Other buildings have been added to the first main one to host other laboratories and other classrooms as the students have grown more and more. It is located in the centre of Francavilla Fontana and has one main building and other two secondary ones, one of them hosts the first two grades and the other one some classrooms and laboratories of the triennio.

At the present time the school counts more than 1000 students and about 100 teachers. There are several well furnished laboratories, one of them obtained with European funds, an indoor and an outdoor gym and a library. There is also a projection hall with a video projector, a video recorder, a DVD player and a TV.

IT IS “Fermi” is now a reference point for several students coming from the towns nearby who reach Francavilla Fontana by train, or by bus.

The school boasts of a band that has taken part in several events and a group of flag-wavers well known in the province.

5.

Xántus János Secondary School, Budapest, Hungary

Xántus János Secondary School for Tourism and Hotel Management was established 17 years ago – a small school with only one class per grade at that time. By now we have over 800 students and a full-time staff of over 100 teachers.

The redbrick building that houses the school now is an elegant construction that was built between 1883 and 1886. The school building is located in the heart of Budapest, in the close neighbourhood of our fabulous Parliament.

The educational philosophy of the school is based on respect for its students. The purpose of our curriculum is to train young people to meet their entry requirements for higher education as well as develop the skills needed by future professionals in international tourism. Consequently, by the end of their studies, students need to reach a high level of proficiency and negotiating ability in two foreign languages – both in writing and speaking – as well as improve their awareness of Hungarian and International culture. We expect our students to take responsibility for the development of tourism. Our students have five years to meet the above requirements and fulfil their aims. As we are a vocational school specialized in tourism and hotel management, practical training is a must at our school. Finishing grade 11, students are placed at top Budapest hotels for a month (at least) to try themselves in as many jobs as possible starting with the HK, ending with the Reception. After grade 12 students are placed at travel agencies to gain a deeper insight to the tourism industry (alternatively students may work in catering or as hosts, hostesses).

Organization and arrangement of tours and study trips are all closely related to vocational training offered by the school: 9th grade students travel to Western-Transdanubia, 10th graders explore North and North-Eastern Hungary, 11th year students travel to Greece or Italy, 12th graders to Southern-Transdanubia, and the school leavers go to the Southern Hungarian Great Plain.

The programmes of the European Union have long played an important role in the formation and evolution of our international relations. We have fruitful and long-running relationships with schools in England, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Portugal, Belgium, Iceland, Poland, Romania, Italy which are manifested in a successful series of Comenius projects in the past 10 years.

Student life is colourful at our school and we are proud of our cultural traditions.

6.

Heilig-Harthandelsinstituut, Waregem, Belgium

The H Harthandelsinstituut Waregem is situated in the west of Belgium, some 75 km from Brussels, and half-way between the medieval city centres of Brugge and Gent. The school started with European exchanges in 1993 . European cooperation has in the meantime become one of the cornerstones of the educational project of the school. Nowadays, exchanges with some 6 European schools are scheduled each school year. Fully 45 % of all last year students 17-18 years old ) participate in international exchanges.

The H Harthandelsinstituut is a school of the Roman Catholic denomination. In fact there are two schools in one : the H Hartcollege is a gymnasium, whereas the H Harthandelsinstituut is a commercial school. It is a secondary school, which means in Flanders that students in the age bracket 12 – 18 get their education there. Total number of studens : 1645. The upper –secondary level ( 15-18) has some 720 students.

Originally the school was a boy-school. In 1994 the lawmaker made all schools open to as well boys as girls. Since the number o girl has grown to 34 % of the total school population.

There are some particularities in the school :

1. The boarding house . Some 100 students are boarders. They check in at school on Monday morning and stay during the work week at school. They go home on Friday afternoon. The boarding school is highly subsidized by the Flemish government. Cost price per student : € 2 500 / school year.

2. Restaurant facility. The school has a fully –equipped kitchen and serves some 1350 meals per day. They are all fresh cooked in the school kitchen. Parents appreciate the menus “ like home “

3. The study halls. All students can attend the study time after teaching hours. Daily 1,5 hour study time is organised. For the younger students, study time is mandatory, for the senior students, it is optional.

4. young teaching staff. Visitors are surprised by the young teaching staff. There are several reasons for this : The school’s student number has grown 25 % since 2003, which made an input extra personnel on all levels necessary. On the other hand, teacher can go on a pre-retirement status at age 58, which is done by most !

25 % of the teaching staff is in the age bracket 20-30, and only 21,6 % in the age bracket 50-60 . And of course , 50% are female teachers. Nearly all newcomers are female.

The H Hartcollege – H Harthandelsinstituut has an “ International team “ : a group of some 10 teachers join to work out the European dimension at school. Two project meetings per school year are held at school, with some 60 students participating each time. This requires a lot of energy, but thanks to the fact that this is a teamwork, it can be successfully realized.

7.

Gimnazija Novo Mesto, Slovenia

8.

Escola Secundaria do Restelo, Lisboa, Portugal

-----------------------

Comenius Project 2008 – 2010

Make a Difference –

European Footprint on our World

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download