Our pupils wish you a Merry Christmas

Second cycle students of ESO have sung these carols in different languages for us and you'll be able to see how well did they do in the following links. Oh! We also would like to thank Alicia from here, because without her voice and enthusiams this wouldn't have been possible and Yaiza as well, whose voice and experience made this little thing a bit easier.

German:
Melanie wishing: frohe Weihnachten
 

English: Yaiza wishing you a Merry Christmas

Jingle Bells


Auld Lang Syne With this song we want to wish you all the best for 2013 !  

French: Petit Papa Nöel
 

Latin: Adeste fideles
 

Galician: Panxoliña. With this carol written by our Galician teacher, we want to wish you all in our language BO NADAL.

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas!!!!

Video about Galicia

Two pupils from 4th ESO, Irene Pastor and Sara Seijo have done the following video in order to introduce Galicia to us in a very different way and from here, we'd like to congratulate them for their wonderful work.

Greetings from the Czech Republic

Our Czech friends wanted to wish us a Merry Christmas through this Christmas stamp. We also wish them a Merry Christmas!

Meeting in Lędziny (Poland)

It took place in November 2012 the second teacher’s meeting in Poland. It was celebrated from 12th -15th November in Lędziny (Poland).

These are the people who took part on it:
- Susanna Vallochio and Rossana Zoni (Liceo classico G.D Romagnosi, Parma (Italy).
- Radoslav Skvor and Jana Hrbatschova ( Gymnazium Jablonec nad Nisou, Jablonec nad Nisou (Czech Republic)
- Dorota Malinowskaand Lucyna Patalag  ( Janusza Korczaka, Lędziny (Poland)
- Tania del Campo López and Isaura Villarino Ares (Colegio Hijas de Cristo Rey,Oleiros, A Coruña (Spain)

Monday 12th November 
About   9.00 am we were officially welcome by the school headmaster,
Mr Józef Domaradzki, it was a short meeting in the Headmaster´s office. We were given a book as a reminder of the meeting   we held the previous year in Parma (Italy). 

 After it there was a short tour round the school,and we meet the students that took part in last year meeting in Parma.

After it we started working on the project. We gave our opinions about the work we have been doing so far and we all were happy about it. We all thought it has been a positive experience.
This was our very first time working with our Italian colleagues, because our previous coordinator, Miss Marzia Rossi had to give it up because of personal reasons. There was no problem at all and it seemed as if we had been working together for a long time.
For this reason and until the end of the present proyect (2013), the coordinator will be Susanna Vallocchio.
On the other hand we were speaking about the meeting that was celebrated in A Coruña (Spain) in September 2012. Just the Czech pupils attended it and both Italians and Polish regretted not having been over here. They said that it has been a very positive experienced and they appreciated the way they had been treated and welcome in A Coruña. That was important for us because it had been our very first experience organizing a European meeting.
Finally we started working   on the project goals for this year: activities and products to be performed, and organization of the next Meeting in Jablonec nad Nasou next March.

Tuesday, 13th November
Since the early morning, 8.45 am, we were working on the new project. We went also to visit Blogoslawio na Karolina, a centre for disabled people, with which our host school in Poland collaborates.

 After having lunch, we  met the Town Mayor in the Town Hall. He gave us a warm welcome to his Town Hall and he seemed to be interested in all the different educational systems of the partner schools.

In the early evening, we visited  the Tyskie Brewery Museum.

 

Wednesday 14th, November

This was a day of coexistence among teachers, together we all   visited Krakow, which gave us the opportunity to know each other better and go on reflecting on the project in a more informal way.

 

Thursday, 15th November

From the early morning we were working on the Project again. We made a summary of what we had been doing during the previous days.

Friday 16th,November

Leaving day, due to the adverse weather conditions our flights were cancelled and we had to stay at Krakow and Katowice airports for more than 24 hours.

Meeting in Oleiros: the farewell, on the 29th

Saturday wasn’t really part of the meeting but it was a day to pick up and go for some last walks around the city. We all met at the beginning of the evening at the train station so say bye to our visitants. It was a really nice and warm time where there was laugher, tears, hugs… from here we’d like to say to all of our friends ‘see you soon’.

Meeting in Oleiros: Visit to Santiago, on the 28th

Friday was the last day of our meeting so we decided to go on a little trip to Santiago as many of our Czech friends had never been there yet. A group of 35 Spanish and Czech people left really early in the morning. We spent all morning visiting different places and during the afternoon we walked freely along the city.
One of the most important places we were to in the morning was the Cathedral, place where we went after having started our visit in Plaza del Obradoiro, and after that we went to some other places such as Gelmírez Palace, the Royal Hospital, Rajoy’s Palace and Fonseca School. From the last one mentioned we went to all the different squares which are placed in the surroundings of the Cathedral to finally make a stop in Pórtico de la Gloria. To end up with the visit, we went for a walk till the Alameda, for our Czech friends to get to know the centre of the city better.
After this organised visit we went for lunch, we went shopping and went for a walk to eventually come back to Coruña.

Meeting in Oleiros: Visiting A Coruña, on the 27th

We spent all Thursday day visiting Coruña city. In the first hours of the morning, we went to the tower of Hércules. A guide walked us explaining the whole history about this well-known monument of ours, and even though getting to the upper part of the tower was hard work, the views of the city we got from up there were absolutely worth it. Straight after, we went to Casa de los Peces (‘The Fish House’, which is an aquarium), where we visited all its facilities. We all were astonished by the seals’ show and the Nautilus, and more concretely, our Czech friends; they loved every bit of it!

We left again and walked to  the centre of the city where we spent pretty much a lot of time to have lunch. We re-started the visit at 16:00. In this occasion, Mª Luisa Fernández, one of our history teachers and to whom we’d like to say thank you from here, guided us through the city telling us about its history and curiosities. From the Obelisco, we walked along the Dársena and we visited the Ciudad Vieja (‘Old City’, the old part of town). Our day got to its end by last seeing Puerta Real. It was 18:30 and we all were exhausted.

Meeting in Oleiros: Music Festival, on the 26th

On Wednesday we celebrated our little meeting, it was the day of the Festival ‘Acercamiento a través de la música popular’ (Approaching through traditional music). During the first part of the morning the rehearsal took place: little ones, older ones, guest students… they all spent a lot of time rehearsing.
 

After the break time, the party got started and the headmistress launched the festival, which was followed by the so diverse performances:
- A group of Primaria students sang: ‘Muñeira de Alén’ and the maneo ‘Foliada de Nadela’ directed by the teacher Felipe Sar.

- A group of ESO students performed: ‘Compañeiro’ by Fuxan os Ventos  and ‘Pandeirada de Tella’ directed by the teacher Arantxa Concheiro.

- The Czech quire performed: ‘Komáři se ženili’, ‘Já jsem muzikant’, ‘Černé oči’ and ‘Proměny’ directed by the teacher Radek.

- And the cultural group of A'meda do Castro (Sada).

The Festival allowed us to create a place where through the music, different cultures, peoples and languages got mixed.
After the festival the guest students, their ‘siblings’, some more pupils and some teachers went and had something to eat at the guests dining room. From here, we’d like to thank all those who worked hard to make this meal as special as it was.
After having eaten we started the afternoon programme, we visited the cultural centre A Fábrica, where the educational councillor, Sandra Fernández, welcomed us to Oleiros Town Hall. Before we left A Fábrica, we could visit the Photo Exhibition of our project, which was placed there.

After that we took a route that would lead us from Santa Cristina to Santa Cruz, getting to see different emblematic spots of our Town Hall. From here, we’d like to thank the responsible for European Projects, of Senior University of  A Coruña, Francisco Ascón, for having been our guide during that route.
.This walk allowed us to talk, get to know each other, have fun… there was a good climate of coexistence. We finished our route in Santa Cruz’s Castle, after a brief walk.

Comenius Meeting in Oleiros

Last September, as you all know, we held a Comenius meeting in our school. There were 9 Czech pupils and two of their teachers, who lived with us for almost a week. Here begins a series of posts about the experience.

Meeting in Oleiros: The arrival, on 25th
Our friends arrived on the first morning train from Madrid. We went to look for them and share with them a good breakfast. 

They were very tired but also very excited about coming over to our school, as well as getting the meeting started. When they got to our school, all of them were welcomed by our headmistress, who told them about our school and asked them about theirs and their country.

Then we went with four of our pupils to see the school. A little while before the break time the big moment arrived: they met their host siblings. It was a very special moment as the pupils had only met each other online and meeting face-to-face was special. This was followed by the presentations and the visits of the centre accompanied by many nerves and laughter.
Late in the morning we went back to class. Then we divided the pupils into several groups. The Czech ones attended a Spanish language lesson with pupils of the first year of high school .The Czech teachers went to teach 4th ESO, Jana tried to teach English and Radek tried to teach French. We genuinely believe that the experience was amazing for everyone.
After finishing the school time, foster parents came for the host pupils. Everyone went home to rest from the long trip, but we also gave them time to go for a walk.

Welcome

to our friends from the Czech Republic !!
Another academic year has just begun and with it our Comenius project starts again. We would like to welcome  our friends from  the Czech Republic, who will  arrive on Tuesday, September 25th, in the morning and will be with us throughout the week.
Welcome ... and  hopefully you all will enjoy this experience.

Photo exhibition in Oleiros Town Hall

From the 20th to 28th September you will be able to visit the exhibition of the photography contest 'Tales for Peace' carried out during the academic year 2011-2012 at Centro Cultural A Fábrica. You must not forget that the contestants taking part in the competition are pupils of ESO and Bachillerato from our school and being the topic intercultural coexistence.
From here, we would like to thank Oleiros Town Hall their great response towards this work.
Hope you come visit it!.

Activity: Language workshops

Laura Sesar, Carolina Rodríguez, Daniel Valiña and Patricia Pérez have recorded  this video at A Coruña airport, as an assignment for her French teacher, Alicia Vázquez Alvarez.
These pupils will start   4th ESO  next September, which is the level joining the Comenius Project 2012-13.We hope you all enjoy it !

Activity: Language workshops

Robin Walker is a freelance teacher, teacher trainer and materials writer. A former Vice-president of TESOL-SPAIN, he is a member of the IATEFL ESP Special Interest Group, and is the Newsletter editor of the Pronunciation Special Interest Group.
Today, Wednesday 23rd May, he is giving a lecture  to our students in the 3rd and 4th year on Australia and New Zealand.

Welcome Robin, thanks for being with us!

Activity: Language workshops

On Wednesday 23rd May, Robin Walker (from Newcastle Upon Tyne) will give our students in the 3rd and 4th year of ESO, a lecture on Australia and New Zealand. We are trying our students to learn more about different cultures and we hope this to help them improve their English!

Activity: Information on the EU

This week we have been  visited  by two specialists in the EU to give  a lecture to our  students in grades 4 ESO. They were two girls of the Europe Direct service of the Provincial Council of A Coruña.
Through the lecture, students were able to reflect on their rights as citizens of the union and the consequences that derive from them.
The approach has been very dynamic and that through a presentation with a quiz, kids have been learning more of what European citizenship means.
The talks have taken place in English in order to continue working on the multilingualism of students.

May day

May day, in medieval and modern Europe, holiday (May 1st) for the celebration of the return of spring.The observance probably originated in ancient agricultural rituals, and the Greeks and Romans held such festivals. Although later practices varied widely, the celebrations came to include the gathering of wildflowers and green branches, the weaving of floral garlands, the crowning of a May king and queen, and the setting up of a decorated May tree, or Maypole, around which people danced such rites originally may have been intended to ensure fertility for crops and, by extension, for livestock and humans. In the 20th century, traditional May Day celebrations declined in many countries as May 1st became associated with the international holiday honouring workers and the labour movement.

Activity: Dialogue between generations about Europe

Last Thursday  a meeting-coffee  took place in our school, among students involved in our Comenius project  and senior students of the Senior University of A Coruña who also participate in European programs of lifelong learning.
Based on the experience of both groups participating in international meetings , a debate concerning  the concept of Europe took place, the possible influence of such programs in the consciousness of European citizenship, the future of Europe ...
This activity is part of our little celebration on April 29th as the European Day of Solidarity between Generations.
We would like to thank Senior University for having encouraged to visit us, and we encourage you to visit one of their current European project on the blog of the European Workshop "More than Neighbours!".

Activity: Return from our meeting in Parma

We are back from our very first Comenius festival. We came back filled with dreams and projects to keep on working, but before proceeding we need to thank everyone who has made ​​this project possible.

 From here, we thank:

• Our headmistress ,Rosario, for supporting such an ambitious project. 
• All the teachers of our school who have been helping us, but especially Ana - for her Italian lessons, Arantxa - for her patience with our songs, and Alicia for always being available for us. 
• The students of 4th ESO for their awsome reception of the project, and especially Beatriz, Mayte, David, Sergio and Luis who have made us feel very proud, because of their behaviour in Italy, their companionship and their capacity for empathy, and with whom we have shared unforgettable moments that we will keep forever in our hearts. In this sense, we can not forget their parents who have trusted us in this our very first European experience. 
• All the people we met in Italy and who have given us all of their support and caring: 
• Marzia, our European coordinator, because without her, this project wouldn't have been possible.She has worked very hard and has always been open to any requests that we made. 
• The headmaster of the Lyceum Romagnosi in Parma (Italy), Mr. Guido Campanini, for making us feel at home at his school. 
• All the Italian teachers who have supported and helped us every day: Susanna, Rosanna, Gabriela and Mr.Morini . 
• The other Comenius teachers (from Poland and the Czeck Republic) Jana, Dorota, Lucyna and Radek because without their attending the meeting would not have been as special as it was. 
• All the Italian families who welcomed us. They made our kids feel really at home and tried their best at everything, setting a good example for us to follow. Thank you to all of you for this unforgettable experience !!!!

Activity: Language Workshops

Our English teacher has prepared a mini English-Spanish guide for those pupils visiting Spain in a close future and who have no knowledge of our language. It is a survival kit with words and expressions to be used in their daily life. It is dedicated to all our Comenius partners from Italy, the Czech Republic and Poland. We hope it helps them. English Spanish Guide

Activity: Short Story Competition

First of all, we would like to thank all the students who chose to participate in this contest. Getting encouraged to convey the importance of intercultural coexistence as a positive value through a story requires a great effort, and they have done it. The contest winner was Eva Pampín Caneda with his story "New and Large Meetings" and we want to congratulate her on her great work. We also congratulate other two contestants: Alexander Sánchez Campaña on "Salhim" and Denise Gómez Dans on "A day in a teenagers life." You can read their stories below: Eva Pampin Caneda Denise Gomez Dans Alexandre Sanchez Campaña

Activity: Language Workshops

Our English teacher, Isaura, has made us a mini survival kit to be used when we travel abroad and we need English as the language of communication. It teaches us all kinds of expressions from the most basic ones, like asking where the toilette is , to more complicated ones such as ordering a prescription at the chemist´s .
You can view this "survival kit ", clicking on the link below:
Very useful when you are abroad

Very Useful When We Are Abroad

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to all of you !

Activity: Language Workshops

The coexistence of cultures reveals the simulitudes and differences between them. Today we set out the differences, particularly in what onamatopoeias used in different languages. Here you can see the correspondence between the main onamatopoeias in Italian, Czech, Polish, German, English and Spanish.

Onamatopeyas

Comenius Festival in Parma

Our COMENIUS FESTIVAL will take place in Parma next week - all the groups are arriving to Parma on the 25th of March.

Roll on Parma !!!!

Here we go !!!!!

Activity: Photo Contest

On Tuesday, March 20th , the awards of our photo contest "Tales for peace" have been given. Our headmisstress, María del Rosario Gomez Garcia has given the gift certificates, provided by the APA of the school, to Carla Vidal and Beatriz Lopez.  She has  congratulated them for their work and  has also encouraged them to keep on being  involved.

Activity: Prizes for the photo contest.

Firstly, we would like to thank all those who participated in the contest by encouraging to collaborate in this project. Their contributions have enabled us to discover future talents of photography that we hope to have news in  future.

It has been very difficult to choose the winning photos, each one has some feature that makes it deserving of the award, but could only choose two. Finally the award-winning have been:

First Prize: Carla Vidal Carballo with her series "You are beautiful"

Second Prize: Beatriz López Bernal ,with her photo "A look, a smile".

Congratulations to the award-winning, on Monday, 19 March, they will be given their awards.

We want to thank the APA for their cooperation, and to the teacher, Noelia Casal for the  photos that she has brought  to us and her  irreplaceable technical support.

 We want to encourage you to see all the photos, clicking on the link bellow:
Photo Contest - Intercultural Coexistence

Photo contest

Please don't forget that you can send your photos to talesforpeace.cristorey@gmail.com until Sunday, 4th March at midnight. Good luck!

Activity: Language Workshops

We have recently finished our Italian workshop. We have acquired the basics to avoid getting lost in Italy, or at least to know how to come back home !. Thanks to the teacher Ana Rifón for her patience and time. Now we have moved on to English. This week we have started another workshop, this time in conversational English. It will last about three weeks and we hope it to allow us to refresh our conversational English. On this occasion Isaura Villarino is the teacher leading this activity. Thanks for your help

Photo contest: Intercultural Coexistence .

We  have just  launched a new project activity: A photo contest. This activity is open to all the oldest pupils in this school, from  the 1 st  year of  Secundary education ( ESO) on .
The pupils should take  photographs that somehow represent the idea of coexistence between cultures as something positive ,and  enriching.
Make your mind up and  submit your photos, you can read the rules below:

Bases Concurso Fotografia

Link to the project website Tales for Peace

From now on we will offer you the link to the project page so you can learn about the activities to be  developed in  the different countries in relation to our project.
Make your mind up to visit the site !

http://www.talesforpeace.euweb.cz/

Short Story Competition

We have just launched a short story contest for students in 4th year of college. The kids have to write a short story about intercultural education, the winners will get their stories published in a small book of Tales for Peace. Those of you interested in participating can read the database below:

Short stories contest for 4 th ESO pupils
1. Open to all 4th year students of the school.
2. The work presented will have a maximum of 3 pages, typed double-spaced on one side. Font Size "Times New Roman" 12.
3. The work should be unpublished, it can be written in Spanish or Galician.
4. The theme of the work will be intercultural education. It's about creating a story that somehow raises the coexistence of cultures and enrichment that this entails.
5. The jury will be made up for the headmistress, the Spanish language teachers, the English teacher of 4th ESO and the educational guidance.
6. The delivery period starts on January 31st and ends on February 15th. The work will be delivered on paper to the corresponding language teacher and emailed to:

7. The works submitted will become property of "Tales for Peace", which reserves the right to publish them.
8. The prize will be publishing the best works in a small book with different works related to this subject, and in general with the project "Tales for Peace"
9. Participation in this competition implies acceptance of all its bases.

Activity: English Workshop

Next Tuesday 24th January, an Erasmus student studying at University of Ulster ( Northern Ireland) is coming to talk to our students about the differences between our way of living and the way young people do it in the UK, These differences refer to every aspect of life, culture, religion and so on. Our pupils should try to make as many questions as possible, trying to improve their English and learn about another culture and other races. It is a Comenius activity. We hope you enjoy it!

Activity: Italian Workshop

Activity: Italian workshop. Last Friday, students travelling to Parma in March started a small Italian workshop . There will be four classes during which the teacher, Sister Ana M ª Rifón, will try to provide them with a basic knowledge to manage in everyday life in Italy. Although the project activities will be in English,the daily living with families will be in Italian and therefore they need a minimum to handle. From here we want to thank Sister Ana for the time we are taking up from her and for being such a hard work .

Tales for Peace: Project Presentation

And now a general presentation about the Comenius Learning Partnership "Tales for Peace". We hope it  to serve you to know the basics of the project and the activities that we intend to perform, and know a little more about the partner schools.

2011-12 Best presentations.

After a hard deliberation we have decided to declare two winners in the contest: powerpoints about the school, they are the following groups:

• Group I: Ivan Rollón, Beatriz Lopez, Sergio Palmeiro Insua and Mayte
• Group II: Maria Fernanda Cozzolino, Carla Vidal, Lucia Rodriguez and Maria Conde.

Congratulations to both groups, we want also to thank you all for your work, cooperation and effort, it has been really hard for us to make our minds up.Congrats !