Merry Christmas & a happy New Year!

We wish you a
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Feliz Navidad y próspero año nuevo!
Buon natale e un felice anno nuovo!
Priecigus Ziemassvetkus!
Linksmu sventu Kaledu ir Laimingu Nauju Metu!
Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia i szczesliwego Nowego Roku!
Feliz Natal e propero Ano Novo!
Frohe Weihnachten und ein glückliches Neues Jahr!

Greetings from Austria - Grüße aus Österreich

Peter and the all the others from the project group
of the BG Babenbergerring (Wiener Neustadt, Austria)

Best Wishes

Hi all

Just a quick note to wish you all a Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year. Today is the last day we have lessons in Malta and as from tommorow we will be having school Christmas activities. Our vacations will start on the 22nd December and we will be back in early January.

Regards
The Malta Team

Associated Partners

Associated partners are organisations such as associations, local or regional authorities, companies etc which will play an active role in the Partnership and will be involved in mobility activities.
You may take associated partners into the project. These partners get the same state like the schools in the Partnership. E.g. represantetives of these associatiations may take part on mobility activities and get granted.

Please think about possible associated partners and compile a list for your application including the information like follows:

• Full legal name
• Legal address (Street - number)
• Postcode (ZIP code) and City
• Nature of the organisation and its involvement in the Partnership

If there is more than one associated partner, you have to repeat this for every provided associated partner.

Keep this information in a document - you will need it for YOUR (our) application form.

AEV - EV 2,3 de Vialonga | Here we are...

Vialonga Group of Schools – EB 2,3

This group of schools (AEV) consists of three nursery schools (children from 3 to 5 years old), six primary schools (children from 6 to 10 years old) and a secondary school (young people from 11 to 16 years old).

The main school of this cluster – EB 2,3 - has almost 1000 pupils - 130 teachers, and was built in the late 80’s, and, by that time, welcomed many pupils coming from former Portuguese colonies (most of them in Africa). Currently, with the new European reality, this school has been also receiving many pupils from Western Europe countries like Ukraine, Romania, Moldavia or Russia (with complete families coming to Portugal). It's a regular peripheral school.

The school is located 15 km north from Lisbon, Portuguese capital city, in a special social and economic environment with several problems related to that. Some of these problems are school abandon and unfruitful learning. Considering that, school has been challenged by the creation of diversified professional courses which may prepare young people with little or no interest in school to be active citizens.

The needs of these pupils’ families and the necessity of their total integration led, in 1996, the Ministry of Education to establish that our schools formed a Território Educativo de Intervenção Prioritária - TEIP, which means a group of schools with special needs due to social, economic and cultural problems of the local resident population.

The involvement in European Projects started six years ago and nowadays is an excellent opportunity to change students' perspective of school, showing different (European) horizons, helping them to grow and be more interested in knowledge and learning.

At the present time AEV - EB 2,3 is involved in two LLP European partnerships – Comenius : CATRi (MLP - 2008.2010) and ARS LONGA, FILM BREVIS (MLP - 2007.2009). Both related to ICT and video learning.

The CHIEF guidelines, as far as we understood them, offer a whole lot of learning opportunities for students and teachers. We are willing to participate! The idea of having another school from Portugal involved is also very interesting and... new!

http://projectos.ese.ips.pt/vialonga/

SAFA San Luis: Pictures

Here you have some pictures of our school in El Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz - Spain).
For more infor: http://www.safasanluis.es/.

Welcome Miguel!

I want to welcome Miguel (ARMILLAS GOMEZ) from "ESCUELAS PROFESIONALES SAGRADA FAMILIA" (SAFA) in El Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz (Spain) - I'm very glad to have you in our team!
As I worked together with another SAFA school in Sevilla I'm looking forward to an interesting and successfull partnership!

Europe in the classroom (Comenius Projects - Priorities)

Part of the Lifelong Learning Programme, Comenius seeks to develop knowledge and understanding among young people and educational staff of the diversity of European cultures , languages and values. It helps young people acquire the basic life skills and competences necessary for their personal development, for future employment and for active citizenship.

Objectives
Comenius has the following goals:

• To improve and increase the mobility of pupils and educational staff in different Member States


• To enhance and increase partnerships between schools in different Member States, with at least three million pupils taking part in joint educational activities by 2010


• To encourage language learning, innovative ICT-based content, services and better teaching techniques and practices


• To enhance the quality and European dimension of teacher training


• To improve pedagogical approaches and school management

Current priorities
The Comenius programme focuses on the following priority areas:

• Motivation for learning and learning-to-learn skills


• Key competences: improving language learning; greater literacy; making science more attractive; supporting entrepreneurship; and reinforcing creativity and innovation


• Digital educational content and services


• School management


• Addressing socio-economic disadvantages and reducing early school leaving


• Participation in sports


• Teaching diverse groups of pupils


• Early and pre-primary learning

Comment:

Please have a look at the subjects mentioned above. We should integrate as mauch as possible into our project plan. That will be important at the evaluation of the application (and bring points to get granted).

Further Information (European Commission):

Comenius - How to participate?
What are Comenius actions?
Comenius Actions - Multilateral school partnerships (That's what we plan)

Hello from Malta

Hello friends,

Greetings from Malta. Our school is a new public school for boys aged 11-14. We look forward to work in the project. Our website is under construction so we will be posting more information and pictures of our school at a later date.

Regards from the Malta team!

Bundesgymnasium Babenbergerring in Wiener Neustadt

Bundesgymnasium Babenbergerring: Main entrance

The BG Babenbergerring has a more than 300 years old tradition. About 770 pupils attend the school and are taught by about 70 teachers.
The Bundesgymnasium is a state-run public school and covers a range of age beginning with 10 years up to 18 years. Lessons are organized in 28 classes, there exist 8 forms. The first four school years are equal to all students. There is English as a first foreign language, followed by Latin in the third form. English is used in every class as language of instruction in one subject (this is CLIL in this specific subject).

Starting with the 5th form the students have to focus on special subjects (as a kind of specialization) to set an emphasis of education:

• There is a humanistic orientation, where ancient Greek as a third (not living language) is taught.


• As a second language French is taught.


• In an experimental stadium the emphasis is laid on Computer Science. Besides the living foreign language English Computer Science and the subject “Presentation Technology and Computer Science” are taught (in place of a further foreign language). This school type is called "Department of Computer Science".

There exists a broad range of additional educational offer to be chosen voluntarily by the students as singing in the school choir, an English drama group, volleyball, soccer, baseball and softball (thanks to Steve!) and some other non standard subjects.

The school runs an after-school care club for students younger than 14 years old to join up (it's not free - you have to pay for it). The pupils get lunch and special care by teachers (assistance for home exercises or during learning phases).

The school is well equipped with four computer labs, two gyms und special labs for chemistry, physics and biology.

There is a big assembly/celebration hall for about 300 students (well equipped with sound and light systems).

Students at the buffet at school - here you get snacks from "Elfi" (most popular person in school). She prepares lunch too.

Contact:
Headmistress Mag. Maria Kornfeld
Babenbergerring 10, A-2700 Wiener Neustadt
Telefon: +43/2622/22380; Fax: +43/2622/22390/80 (direct line)
Mail: direktor@bg-bab.ac.at, Homepage: www.bg-bab.ac.at

Mundão School- Portugal

Hi Friends :)
Here you can have a look at our school. It's a small school 5 km away from the city centre - VISEU

We are also running a Comenius project : a partnership with Hungary and Turkey. Have a look in this blog .

Hi!

Welcome to participate at that COMENIUS activity - let's start to plan the new project!
It's a good idea to introduce yourself.

C.H.I.E.F.

This is the new project in the frame of COMENIUS (LLP Long Life Learning Programme).
C.H.I.E.F. stands for Celebrating Happiness In European Families.
I want to invite all future participants at that project to post articles and to comment them. I think it's a good possibility to develop the project.