Project Meeting - Almeirim, Portugal

Project Meeting, Almeirim, Portugal

From May 2nd to 9th 2009, the six partner countries (Austria, The Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Portugal and Turkey) of the Comenius project Different Bridges from School to Professions 2007 - 2009, attended the fourth and final meeting in Almeirim, in the Agrupamento de Escolas Febo Moniz – Almeirim, in Portugal.

The students started their project work by preparing posters for the professions chosen by the Comenius team. Since the meeting in Estonia students have been finding information about the different ways to achieve these professions.

The teachers’ team agreed on eight categories to compare the basis of education for the chosen professions. In addition to creating six posters, each team was also responsible for presenting one profession in a PowerPoint Presentation.

Then students sat together in six groups discussing and comparing the given categories and then filled in a chart for each profession in all the countries. So they got a wide overview of achieving these professions in the six involved countries. Bearing in mind The European Year of Creativity and Innovation students had the chance to transform their ideas about Different Bridges from school to Professions into paintings. These banners were put up in the school corridors.

On Wednesday the whole team visited Santarém, the capital city of the region and the vocational school Escola Profissional de Salvaterra de Magos. There we were acquainted with different ways of learning a profession in the tourist industry.

On the final day we held a seminar entitled Working and study in the EU – sharing good practices. Emma McCarroll, the English Assistant Teacher at the host school, shared her experiences, followed by two Erasmus students from Spain who have been studying Management at the Polytechnic in Santarém since October 2008. Afterwards the Comenius students presented the project work about the professions and spoke about their experiences concerning the project. Finally a Portuguese European Deputy, Jamila Madeira, gave a speech related to the theme of the seminar.

In the afternoon students and teachers wrote their reports about the week. The team organized a press conference with the local media.

On Sunday the Portuguese partner offered an excursion to the medieval town of Óbidos and the towns Peniche and Nazaré at the coast.
On Monday morning the host school organized a welcome reception with the students. The Portuguese students performed dances, traditional Portuguese music and a sketch about famous figures from the partner countries. The Portuguese host invited the partners and the audience to travel back to the previous project meetings using films. The headmaster of Agrupamento de Escolas Febo Moniz – Almeirim took us on a tour of the school facilities, culminating in the exhibition, which had been prepared by students and teachers from the host school.
After lunch (in the school canteen), we visited a local estate which is famous for its vineyards, Quinta da Alorna. While the adults tasted the different wines, the students watched an equestrian training session.
During the week we were also given a guided tour of Santarém, the capital of the region, and visited the Portuguese capital, Lisbon.

All the partners would like to say thank you for the warm welcome, generous hospitality and the perfect organization.