Christmas customs in European countries

Today was the last day of school before Christmas holidays, so we didn't have regular lessons. Our classrooms are decorated and Santa has already received all our letters (at least we hope so). So today our two teachers Petra Fošnarič and Stanka Veršič presented how Christmas is celebrated in Spain, Poland, Italy, Cyprus and Portugal. We have seen videos of choir boys dancing Los Seises in Seville, children calling out the winning numbers in Spanish Christmas national lottery, Zampognari playing bagpipes next to nativity scenes in Italy, Portuguese "janeiras" and Cypriot "kalandas". We listened to stories of Befana, Kallikantzaroi and the Three Wise Men. We sang Feliz Navidad and we had a Christmas auction where we checked our newly acquired knowledge of Christmas traditions in the countries of our partner schools.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Comenius Christmas tree

Christmas is getting closer and closer and we can already feel its spirit at our school. Namely, today we have set up our Christmas tree. But this isn't just another Christmas tree that you can see in every house. It's a very special Comenius Christmas tree! When decorating the tree, we thought of our friends at our partner schools in Spain, Poland, Portugal, Cyprus and Italy. In classes we made ornaments representing typical things from our friends' countries with the help of our teachers. We've learnt that in Spain, women used folding fans to keep themselves cool; in Poznan, Poland, there are two legendary goats that come out of a clock at midday everday at the main square; Portuguese eat a lot of fish, the Italian like pasta and in Cyprus the kolokoui was a homemade container for water or wine. We really enjoyed the creative atmosphere and had a lot of fun today.

Schools' meeting in Sevilla, Spain

Hola!

The 2nd meeting of schools in the Comenius partnership took place from 29th November to 3rd December. Our host was Colegio Antonio Gala in Dos Hermanas, which is about 15 kilometers from Sevilla. During this meeting we have learnt a lot about school life in Spain, we discussed our past activities and made plans for the coming activities until our next meeting. Each visiting school prepared and presented Christmas customs in their own country. Thus Spanish students learnt about Christmas in Slovenia, heard some Slovenian Christmas carols and even tried our traditional Christmas cake called potica.
During our visit to Spain we tried typical Spanish food and drinks. We also did some sightseeing in Sevilla and Ronda and thus learnt a little bit about their history and culture. Spanish students surprised us with their openness, curiosity and singing and dancing flamenco.
Ole!

Take a look at Slovenian Christmas ppt presentations, which were shown in Dos Hermanas.

Božič v Sloveniji

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Božič v Sloveniji

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Christmas in Slovenia - 5th class

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Christmas in Slovenia - 5th class

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Christmas in Leskovec

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Christmas in Leskovec

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Videoconference with the Sicilians

Today we had a videoconference with the Sicilian students. When we finnaly established the connection we were most curious to see who are the students on the other side of the videocamera. In the first part of the videoconference we introduced each other and then we started to talk about tolerance. This is a difficult topic in one's mother tongue and even more so in a foreign language! Well, they say that practice makes perfect, so we are already looking forward to our next videoconference.

Round table about tolerance and intolerance

On November 6th 2009 a round table discussion was organised at our school. Its title was All different, all equal – Round table about tolerance and intolerance. Representatives of classes 4 to 9 joined in the discussion about tolerance. Pupils thought about the reasons for intolerance and in what ways it appears in our school hallways and classrooms. Pupils and people in general are different but we have to respect that and not give way to bullying, isolation and insults, which are all part of intolerant behaviour. So, what can we do to prevent such negative behaviour? Pupils suggested and agreed that at any sign of intolerance one must try to imagine how it would feel to stand in the oppressed one’s shoes.
On this occasion pupils were also creative. The DREVO za kulturo strpnosti society (TREE for the culture of tolerance) invited us to help build their tree of tolerance. Everyone has contributed to the creation of a single leaf, which is symbolic of tolerance. Each pupil is different and has coloured a small piece of what in the end has become one single leaf consisting of many tiny colourful pieces. Although all different, we can coexist but we must be tolerant to each other.

Teacher's meeting in Poznan

Teachers from schools in the school partnership gathered in Poznan, Poland from the 7th to 10th October 2009. During our first meeting we discussed and planned our future activities. We have learnt a lot about Zespół Szkół z Oddziałami Sportowymi nr 1 school. We visited their classes and talked with their students. Polish students had the opportunity to learn more about our countries and schools during two lessons we held at their school.

All in all, this meeting was a pleasant and a great learning experience especially for the visiting teachers.