HOLY FAMILY SECONDARY SCHOOL

Holy Family Secondary School Comenius Project

MAY 2014

We have embarked on an exciting project, the Comenius Project, in a bid to improve our Transition Year students’ understanding of their place within the greater EU community context. It is also anticipated that the whole school community will benefit from the educational ripple-effects of this project, as our school becomes more EU aware. 

The Comenius Project aims to make students aware of different realities within different countries and provide them with some “virtual luggage” (knowledge) young European citizens should take into account when travelling to any of the countries involved in the project or even others. We would also seek to motivate students to study languages and strengthen their use of ICT, as that will be the main way to communicate among school partners and their peers in our partner schools in France and the Netherlands. Thus, we will provide students with most suitable 21st century skills so they will be ready not only to face their present but also their future. 

The work is already underway with an art logo competition and video link messages between our HFSS students and the students of Lycée GT Edouard Bélin, in Vesoul, France and students from Hofstad Lyceum, in Den Haag, Netherlands. Over the next two years, our students will build on these bonds to create an ‘App’ that they will be able to download. It is envisaged that this mobile application will help students understand aspects of each other’s cultures and countries. 

The French and Dutch students will now travel to Newbridge in October 2014. When the students travel, they will stay with HFSS students’ host families. We will end this Comenius project task with a visit to the Netherlands in March 2015.

Our Comenius Partners:

  Holy Family Secondary School, Newbridge, Ireland          

   Lycée GT Edouard Bélin, Vesoul, France                                  

  Hofstad Lyceum, Den Haag, Netherland HFSS COMENIUS 2013-2015

Below is an article by two of our Comeius participants from Holy  Family Secondary School; Saoirse Crowley and Wiktoria Wnek 

PHASE  I               Travelling to France to meet our Comenius School  Partners           February 2014

The next step, travelling to France?  EUROMOVE

Before we departed for France, the entire Transition Year  group had to collect specific information about Ireland for the app we are making; information covering all aspects of life and society in Ireland. The primary aim of our app is to help young people engage with Ireland in a way that is relevant and fun for them. Too much of the content in guides is not accessible for our age group.

Ms Navarro and Ms Lloyd collated all the information and Mr Gary Monaghan is helping us to produce our app. 

Before we went we also had to create some pictures representing different aspects of the Irish culture. This would be used as a part of a collage task that would represent the participating countries. Eight students from HFSS were travelling and we had to homestay with a French family that we had never met before. Two of the girls stayed in the school as borders. We discovered that the language barrier was the most difficult part of the whole trip.  

During our trip we explored Vesoul, Champlitte and Beascon. We visited a vineyard, the citadel on the mountain and couple of the local museums. On the second last day all of the Comenius participants got together to present the information that we gathered. We presented the information in English, French and Spanish. On the last night the Irish and Dutch visitors gathered together in the school along with their correspondents for a ‘cheese dinner’.  

We got a chance to try different types of food, especially cheese.  

We also got a chance to get to know our teachers better. Ms. Carr, Ms. Lloyd and Ms. Navarro travelled with us for the week and we are very grateful for their support and for giving up their own time to allow us to experience France.

Funny points:

• The French students came up with a way for all of us to bond by doing the ‘Cup Song’.

• We also had a mascot which all of us named ‘Com Com’, another bonding experience..

• We each made a memorable video with our correspondents which will be up on the Comenius website.

• The French wrote a song about each of the countries involved in Comenius. Our verse was about leprechauns and the green island on the sea!

The highlight of the trip for all of us was the view from the top of the tower in Beascon. Sharing that breath-taking view. However just as significant was the fact that we made new friends, French and Dutch. We will definitely be keeping in touch and we’re really looking forward to seeing them in Newbridge in October.

 Time for the ‘Cup Song’ as Gaeilge! 

Saoirse Crowley & Wiktoria Wnek TY 2013-14