onsdag den 6. september 2017

torsdag den 22. juni 2017

Slovakia hosts - and the visit to Handlova

Students and teachers  from five countries visited the Grammar school of Ivan Bella in Handlová from 2.to -8.April 2017,. Our project Erasmus plus ,under the name Fair Trade, continues the second year .Young people from England, Germany, Italy ,Austria and Denmark came to discover the beauty and attractions of Slovakia and get to know new friends. 
  
The first day of the project we spent in Handlová. In the morning we went to the ceremonial hall  and we were  welcomed by  the Lord mayor,.Then our steps were directed to our school, where each country presented own country to the other partners through presentations. In the afternoon we were in the mining museum ,we did a workshop in the Carpathian Art gallery.Children could use their skills and made a presents for themselves or their friends.

On Tuesday, our journey has led to Trenčin, where after visiting the castle, the students in international groups  discovered the shops with Eco and Fair trade products and they competed to take the most original photoes with fair trade product.


 Wednesday we spent on the farm under Vtáčnik, where young people could  try milking the sheep., the production of cheese, the brave ones couldi ride a horse. In the nafternoon we moved to the Glass museum where we saw how the glassproducts are made and individuals could try it too.


 Bojnice castle and the ZOO were the focus of our fourth day.We are proud of our history and culture , so we wanted to show this place to our friends.In our Zoo we could find the signs of fair trade too.


 


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On Friday we went to Kremnica and we visited museum and mint, where coins for Slovakia and other countries are made. Students could see this proces . Afternoon we climbed to the tower of Kremnica castle where was a nice view to a historical town and nice nature.

The time of departure of our new friends came and gradually we said goodbye to them i. For the next school year, we are looking  forward to visiting our new friends in Italy and Austria

søndag den 21. maj 2017

Austrian Feedbacks of the project week in Peterborough

The trip to England was really amazing in my opinion. It was not only a lot of fun but we also learned a lot about the production of different products and why you should buy Fairtrade products instead of others. When we arrived in England we got picked up by our host families. My host family was really nice and whenever I needed something, they tried their best to help me, so I am really glad I got such an awesome host family. On the first two days of the project we did lots of activities based around Fairtrade. I really liked the activity where we had to build our own football out of newspapers, plastic bags and small ropes. But Thursday was probably my favorite day because we went to Harry Potter World. Harry Potter World is basically a Warner Bros. Studio in Watford, where they display all the different places and the equipment used to film Harry Potter. But the other days also were a lot of fun, especially the trip to “Bounce”, which is a trampoline park near Peterborough and the trip to Cambridge, where I bought lots of awesome souvenirs. I also really enjoyed the trip because I got the chance to practice my English-speaking skills and I made lots of new friends, who I am still in contact with now. I am already looking forward to hopefully meeting some of them again at the meeting in Austria. (Harry Semmelrock)

Wonderful week in the UK
On Sunday January the 22th my friends and I went to Peterborough, which is a nice place to the north of London. The journey took us about 7 hours and when we came there our host families came to pick us up. My host and his mother were very nice friendly Portuguese people and welcomed me friendly. On Monday they showed us the TDA, which stands for Thomas Deacon Academy and they also have the slogan Trust Discipline Aspiration.On Tuesday we went to see the Cathedral of Peterborough, which is a huge church in the centre of Peterborough. Our guide had such an impressive voice, that it got very thrilling and I liked it a lot. The next day we made a fair trade workshop and went afterwards to Bounce. Bounce is basically a place with many trampolines. It was so funny and my friends and I had lots of fun there, even though it was so exhausting.On Thursday we went to the Harry Potter World. We saw so many original props, which were used in the film. It was very impressive and so interesting. Afterwards everyone bought something at the Harry Potter Shop. On Friday we made a trip to Cambridge. We made a boat tour and we saw the University of Cambridge from the outside. The boatman told us some very interesting things, even though it wasn’t that easy to understand him, because he had an accent.The next day was our departure. It was a sad day and my friends and I would have liked to stay longer because we had a great time and we really enjoyed it. (Oscar Kozeschnig)

Our journey to Peterborough
Last week my friends and me were in England, Peterborough. We went there on the 23 of January and came back on the next Saturday. In England we stayed at host families, who were all completely different. Peterborough is a multicultural town, some English, some pakistani, arabic,  muslims,......I didn't think I would be hosted by such a friendly family. I felt very comfortable there. Also the food was sooooooo good.
The most time I spent with my Austrian friends and my host called Noor. She was the youngest child of my host family, which had 4 children. Noor is such a nice and  lovely person. On Wednesday we went to „Bounce“, which is an indoor trampoline park in England. We all looked forward to go there. It was amazing because at „Bounce“,  you can try different tricks for example flips. But it was so exhausting.
The next day we went to "The making of Harry Potter". It was so great. We saw so many original props, which were used in the films. At Harry Potter World we all spent a lot of money, because everyone bought something. In the evenings we were in town shopping or drinking something. We were at Starbucks, Tamu, Creams, Boots, JD and things like that.
I made a lot of new friends and it was very funny. (Julia Sifrar)

On the 23rd of January our group travelled to Peterborough, England. The first day started at 9 o’clock in the Exam Hall. This is a hall of the Thomas Deacon Academy (TDA) which is used for presentations and exams. On the first und the second day we made different FAIR-TRADE-workshops. The Wednesday started with a FAIR-TRADE-football-presentation and we had to made a football with newspaper, plastic bags and strings. Our team (students from Denmark, Slovakia and Austria) won this competition and I think our team was the best one. After lunch we drove by bus to ,,Bounce” . This is a big hall with many different trampolines. It was so nice, but the time wasn’t long enough. In the evening our Austrian group went with some Italian and English students to town and ate desserts at Creams. The Thursday was the best day. We travelled to Harry Potter world. It was sooooo nice. Every Harry Potter fan has to see this.On the Friday we visited Cambridge and went punting.  After this day our Austrian group and the hosts went to Tamu and ate desserts.A big thank you goes to my hosts, the Hibberts. It was so nice to stay with this family. It was a great experience and it was cool to make new friends. (Stefan Vanzou)




The highlights of the Fairtrade project were the visits of the Harry Potter world, the bounce land and the university of Cambridge. At Harry Potter's world, we looked at all requisites and all technical parts, how the movies were done. We saw all famous requisites, rooms, monsters and the clothes of the actors. It was fantastic. At the Cambridge university, we took a boat ride around it. We learned a few things about the university and took beautiful memories with us. At the bounce land, we bounced around, until we were out of breath. It was a really nice time on the trampolines. At the way to the Cambridge university, we stopped at Hotel Chocolat to see and buy some chocolate. The host family was very nice to me all of the time and had everything perfectly organized. It was an unforgettable experience, the highlights made it a wonderful trip. (Wiktor Rauter)

onsdag den 10. maj 2017

Danish Student in Handlova, Slovakia 2017



A greeting to my host from

Christina Ploug Hansen


It has been such a nice week. I have experienced so many new things. Slovakia might not be the country I had thought I would be visiting, but now I am happy that I have had the opportunity to visit such an exciting country as Slovakia. First I want to say a “thank you” to my host, Dominika. I am blessed for having had the opportunity to know her. From the first step, I took into her apartment, it felt like home. She was very attentive and asked me many times if I wanted something or if I was okay.

I think the day on the farm was so much fun. I rode on a tall horse, even though I am a bit scared of horses. I held a lamb in my arms. It was a cute little lamb. We also got to experience how the Slovakians make cheese. I know that they love cheese, so of course it was part of the schedule. We have also seen the very beautiful country side in Slovakia -the high mountains and hills. It is not something we are used to in Denmark. I am happy that I have some new friends from Slovakia now. I am definitely going to visit their country and my host again. I miss them and it already.


Hello Vickie! A greeting from

Signe Skou Terp



I just wanna say thank you very much for such a nice week. Your family is lovely, and you made me feel welcome. Before we arrived in Slovakia, we didn’t really know what to expect. But whatever expectations we might have had, you guys managed to exceed them all. Your nature is beautiful, and you were all so kind to us. If we had problems paying for our food at a restaurant, one of you would come up and help us translate before we even asked.

We saw many beautiful castles,



and I had a lot of fun when we were visiting the farm in the mountains. The sheep were so sweet, and it was a very idyllic place. The zoo in Bojnice was a very nice as well, even though we could not see all the animals.

I really enjoyed my stay, and I hope to return again soon!



Hugs from Signe

Danish Students in Peterborough 24 januar 2017

Fair Trade journey to PeterboroughA greeting to LucySarah Eline Fuchs



 Hello Lucy
It's almost half a year since we visited you, and I would like to send you a greeting. I had such a good time visiting you. You and your family took such good care of us. Besides all the delicious food your mother made us (especially the roast dinner and the cream eggs), one of the advantages of living with you was that we got to know your culture very quickly. I have so many great memories from our visit. I think one of my favourite days, was when your parents drove us to Wagamama and we ate the most delicious meals. Afterward, Poppy, Hattie drove back to your house with us, where I tried cream eggs for the first time, what a revelation, I wish I had bought some. One of the other best memories is going to Harry Potter world, I could live there! As if Harry Potter world was not wild enough, we had to wait in the queue in the worst and coldest bus I have ever been in, for more than 5 hours. When we finally got home, your mother made everything so much better with a hot cup of tea.

Thank you so much for letting Thea and I stay at your place. You have been an excellent host
Best regards Sarah
xx

I have added some pictures below, I thought you might enjoy




 A greeting from Denmark -

Thea Lehmann

The trip to Peterborough was excellent, and we experienced many memorable things together with our hospitable hosts that made us feel very welcome. There were many different things on the program, but I especially enjoyed the trip to Cambridge, where we went punting. Our hosts showed us around in the idyllic city and we ate pancakes at a local café to get the heat back in our cold feet. The trip to Cambridge was just one out of many wonderful experiences, and although it was a busy week, we would not be without any of the experiences we had.
We used our English every day, and it was hard to return to only speaking Danish again. We got a good impression of Peterborough and visited the beautiful cathedral among other things. Our hosts took us out for dinner, and they also introduced us to roast dinner and other delicious English food. It was really a pleasure to feel so comfortable in a foreign country and get such a good relationship to the other students involved in this Fair-Trade project. Thank you very much for a lovely week!

Fair Trade - 

A greeting from Denmark - 

Leonida

 Hi Jada 

I want to thank you and your family for giving me a place to stay. I really liked being there. You were all very hospitable from the first day. Say hi to your Mother and sister from me.

The Engagement to England was really great. The school system was very different from ours – Your school system is much stricter than ours and that was interesting to experience. Otherwise the things were very well planned.

I loved the trip to Harry Potter land, because it’s something we all know about it, but never experienced. Besides this, your churches were really beautiful and it was interesting to be in Cambridge. You were all very hospitable and I would definitely like to come back.

Peterborough visit - a greeting from 

Nadia


On the 22nd of January I went to Peterborough. I went with seven of my classmates from Denmark, and we were all very excited. We had a warm welcome on Sunday evening at a local hotel, where the teachers were staying. My host was Poppy, whom I knew from when she visited Denmark. We drove home and she showed me her house. Her family were all so nice, and the experience just got better and better throughout the week. I became good friends with her dog Jimmy, whom I still miss very much.
Poppy and I spent a lot of our spare time with the other Danish students. We went shopping, we ate at Wagamamma and watched movies together. I also learned how to play SHED by her family. I couldn’t have wished for a better host family.
We also did some exciting Fairtrade related stuff. We played a game which was meant to illustrate how unfair the conditions of the farmers are. It was about creating oranges for a company to buy them. We also came up with an idea for our own company; the idea of my group was to create sandals made of recycled material. Among other exciting things we went to see the local cathedral which was really nice. On Friday we went to Cambridge to see the city. We saw the university and went punting on the river Cam.

Fairtrade Peterborough- a greeting from


Maria Tveen Rindalsholt, Sønderborg Statsskole, 2.d

I was very happy to visit Peterborough in January 2017. We experienced the many differences there are between England and Denmark both culturally but especially in the way the school systems differ - school uniforms, the buildings and the system itself. It was nice that the programme was so closely related to Fairtrade - almost every day we did something directly connected to the theme. Some of the great things (not directly connected to Fairtrade) we went to see with the whole group was ‘Harry Potter World’ and Cambridge. Cambridge was a very beautiful city and even though we had a very cold punting trip, there was so much to see that it didn’t really matter.

My hosts were Flo and her mother Pip. I stayed at their place with another Danish girl. They were both extremely friendly, for instance Pip had done some research on typical Danish breakfast to make sure that we liked the food. We both felt very welcome. Flo was really good at taking us out to experience different things; we went out to eat, walked around the city and visited some of the other English students. The week gave us some great memories to remember 😃

Peterborough - a greeting from

Cecilie Pallumblad, 2.d  Sønderborg Statsskole

The trip to Peterborough was very good. One of the best things was that the host families were so sweet and kind to us, as they made us feel welcome in their homes throughout the whole week, and they always made sure that we weren’t short of anything. During the week, we spent in Peterborough almost every night the host families had organized something for all of us from Denmark and some other countries. One night we went out to eat at a restaurant which was very good and we all got to talk to each other.

It’s was very exciting to be with so many young people from so many different countries and make new friendships. The school in Peterborough did an amazing job organizing activities for us all, and the whole week was full of fun and educational activities about Fair Trade and about the city of Peterborough. It was a very good trip and I am definitely going back. 😃

Visiting England – Fair Trade - a greeting from

Julie Sand Christensen

It was a pleasure visiting England and experiencing all the differences between the Danish culture and the culture in England. For example, it was interesting how the school in England was compared to the schools we have in Denmark. Also, the school system is quite different.

During our trip to England, we had a lot of memorable experiences. The one, I liked the most, was the last day, when we visited Cambridge. On our way to Cambridge we first visited a chocolate store, where all the chocolate was Fair Trade.

When we arrived in Cambridge, we went for a paddle trip ( called punting) on The Cam river. This was one of the many good experiences in England. It was a good way to see the city while relaxing. Unfortunately, it was pretty cold the day we visited Cambridge, and therefore the boat trip felt very cold, because we weren’t walking around or being active in other ways. Afterwards we walked around Cambridge and it was once again proven, that it is a great place.

The only sad thing about this day was that we, the Danish girls, were leaving for the airport and returning to Denmark in the evening.









Fairtrade greeting from

Anne Katrine Oksbjerg



I had a wonderful trip to Peterborough back in January. I stayed at Hattie’s place with her and her lovely family. They were so nice to me and they took a big part in giving me such a good experience in England. I can’t thank them enough for their kindness and for hosting me. I think, they were very hostable to open their home for me. It gives another and better view of the culture in another country when you stay with a host family instead of staying at a hotel.


The English hosts of this trip had made a great week program for us. The activities varied from serious working with Fairtrade to be only for pleasure. We worked mainly with Fairtrade in the school for example we tried to recycle a coffee bean pack into a new product and we took part in an orange farmer game, where we tried to be a Fairtrade farmer. Beyond that, we visited Bounce, a trampoline world, and we visited Cambridge University. There were so many beautiful buildings in Cambridge and the nature around was entirely idyllic.

 I think, the best part of our trip was our visit in Harry Potter World. It was amazing to see the place where the movies have been filmed and the properties they have been used. In our spare time, the Danish students and their hosts spent a lot of time together. One evening, we at Wagamama. The food tasted really good and I can sincerely recommend the place. The week have been very good and instructive. I hope, we can keep the contact and I can come back one day and visit you all again.


lørdag den 29. april 2017

Erasmus+ Fair Trade Slovakia, April 2017



In April 2017 two members of staff and five students made the journey from Peterborough, England to Handlova, Slovakia for the next stage of the Fair Trade project.
After a very early start and a long, but comfortable journey, the English team arrived in Handlova where the students were met by their host families. One by one, the remaining partner schools arrived from Italy, Germany, Denmark and Austria.

On the morning of day one the project teams met at the Town Hall for a welcome presentation from the Mayor of Handlova. After a brief presentation the Mayor invited everyone up in person to present them with a gift bag from the people of Handlova and the opportunity to sign the Handlova Town guest book.
Our next stop was the Gymnasium Ivana Bellu, our Slovakian partner school. During our visit to the school we received a tour of the building and watched the student presentations.

After enjoying lunch at the school we made our way to mining museum to learn about the heritage and history of Handlova, before moving on to the art gallery for a spot of creativity, sewing felt hearts, which we were able to keep as a reminder of the day.
Day two saw us travelling by coach by the town of Trencin for a tour of the castle and the opportunity to climb the tower. The castle was situated high above Trencin providing fantastic views of the town, river and surrounding countryside. Climbing to the top of the tower only served to make the views even more stunning!
After some fun and games with the stocks and a picnic lunch in the castle grounds the students were split into groups and set the challenge of producing the most imaginative Fair Trade photograph. With two hours to capture the winning pose the students made their way around the town of Trencin.





Day three was a real treat. Once again, we travelled by coach but this time up to the mountains to a remote livestock farm. Upon arrival, the group was split in two, with group one visiting the sheep barn and group two learning how to make the traditional Slovakian cheese, Korbáčiky. The students loved being around the animals, particularly milking the sheep and holding the lambs who were more than happy to have a cuddle or two.
After swapping activities, the groups came together to watch the farmers cook a mountain side lunch of Bryndzove halushky - potato dumplings, sheep cheese and roasted bacon, followed by dessert of berries with cream cheese.
After lunch the students were given free time to explore the farm while they waited for the arrival of the horses. As the horses made their way over the hills, it was clear to see that this was going to be the highlight for our students. One by one the students were given the opportunity to ride the horses, guided by one of the farmers. As predicted the English students went back for more, enjoying a second ride around the hill. This was a lovely experience for our students.   
On the journey back to Handlova we stopped at a small, purpose built glass workshop. During our visit we were able to watch how glass is heated, manipulated and blown to create beautiful glassworks. After learning the basics, the students were invited to have a go at glass blowing themselves. We didn’t have quite as many volunteers as with the horses but we are pleased to say that Luke, one of the English students, was up for the challenge.  
Day four was the one we had all been looking forward to, the beautiful, fairytale castle of Bojnice. We travelled by coach to the town of Bojnice which did not disappoint with its tree lined main street leading up the castle. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t on our side, but that didn’t dampen our spirits (just our hair!).
After receiving a very informative tour of the castle, with lots of photo opportunities, we made our way to one of the local restaurants for lunch where we treated to some traditional Slovak cuisine. After a delicious lunch, the winners of the photography competition were announced. We are proud to say that our students were in the groups that placed 2nd and 3rd.
After lunch we walked back up the hill to Bojnice Zoo, which is situated opposite the castle. The students enjoyed seeing the animals and the stunning views from the tree top view point.
It was difficult to believe that day five had come round so quickly. With our bags packed, the English group boarded the coach for the final time as we prepared to depart at lunchtime. Before our journey home there was just enough time for one more visit, this time to the town of Kreminca and home of the Mint.
It was another chilly day and on our approach to Kremnica we could see snow on top of the mountains….in April! (we don’t get much snow in England).
Our itinerary for the morning was a tour of the Mint factory where the coins are produced in their thousands and the Mint museum which had its own secret mine! After the tours, and with just an hour to spare, the students were given some free time to explore the pretty town of Kremnica and of course, make snowballs out of the huge snow block covering the town square! After our time in Kremnica, it was time to say good bye.

Farewell Slovakia, we had a blast!