The last mobility of our project is behind us. This time we explored Greece. Our hosts from the primary school 4o Dimotiko Schoolio from Edessa made sure that we felt comfortable and very welcome throughout the whole mobility.

This time the teachers of the Slovenian Erasmus+ team invited the girls from 7th grade to the mobility, who have taken great care of our project from the very beginning. They were happy to do the tasks and had great ideas on how to improve the final product. 

Our departure day was on May 21st, 2023 and we flew from Vienna in Austria to Thessaloniki, Greece.

The first night was spent there, so we had the opportunity to see the second-largest Greek city, which has around one million inhabitants. On Monday, we met with teachers Maria and Sotiris, who are the coordinators of the Erasmus+ project “Our Cultures – Our Treasures” in Greece. They took us around Thessaloniki and taught us about the history of this city.

We visited the White Tower museum and saw a lot of objects from the ancient period. The girls were most attracted to the coins. The time passed by quickly and we had to go to Edessa. The part of the country where this city is located is called Macedonia.

On the way to our final destination, we stopped at the Pella Archaeological Museum, which is located near the site of the ancient Macedonian palace. Mosaics, statuettes, furniture, and clothes took us into the history of Central Macedonia. Upon arrival, we saw an important exhibit – the marble head of Alexander the Great, which is considered his portrait. A very important part of this museum is the floor mosaics from the houses of Dionysus. After visiting the museum, we had a better idea about ​​ancient public life.

Finally, we arrived in Edessa. The town is known for its waterfalls, which were created after a great earthquake in the 14th century. They are one of the most powerful and largest in the Balkans. The Edessaios River, which has several deltas, flows through the city. People took advantage of the spring water and built several mills. During the mobility, we had the opportunity to visit the mill museum.

On Tuesday, Greek students welcomed us to school. We were very surprised when we heard the Slovenian national anthem, and then the Greek boys even sang our folk song Marko skače. They had extremely good pronunciation and our girls were thrilled.

Greek students honored each country with their national anthem and folk song.

We also learned about the Greek school system. When children are 4 years old, they must attend kindergarten. We found out that primary school is attended by students aged 6-12. After that, they go to high school, which lasts three years. When they turn 15, their compulsory schooling ends. Pupils can enroll in general secondary school, technical vocational schools or opt for vocational training. After finishing high school, they can choose to study at various universities.

During the mobility, we learned to prepare their simple traditional dishes with feta cheese and vegetables at the cooking workshop, danced traditional dances, and got acquainted with their music. On Thursday, representatives of local folklore groups danced for us.

We were also interested in their fairy tales. The 4th-grade students played the folk tale The Ant and the Cricket for us, which has a deeper message: prepare today so that you will not be hungry tomorrow.

On Wednesday, we were taken to explore one of the most important Greek archaeological museums in Vergina. The tombs of several Macedonian kings were discovered here in 1977, including the tomb of Philip II, the father of King Alexander the Great, and the tomb of his son, Alexander IV. The museum was built over the tombs to keep them in their original position.

When we think of Greece, the first association for many people is the sea. Although the Edessa is not placed on the coast, our hosts took us once to the Paralia Katerinis, where we swam in the Aegean Sea. We also had a chance to swim in the thermal springs in Pozar.

During each mobility, we explored the cuisine of the individual host country. The Greeks surprised us because they prepare different types of salads as an appetizer.

The most famous of them is the Greek salad with feta cheese and tzatziki (a dish with squeezed cucumber, Greek yogurt, and garlic). Of course, they don’t know pumpkin oil, which is typical for our part of Slovenia, instead, they season all salads with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Olive oil is also the basis for their extremely sweet desserts. During our mobility, the parents of the Greek students surprised us by preparing Greek dishes.

On the last working day of our mobility, we drove to Meteora, which is located near the town of Kalabaka and is under UNESCO protection. On the smooth sandstone rocks, for which scientists are still not entirely sure how they were formed, reign the monasteries that were built in the 14th century for protection against Turkish invasions. Because of their location, they were safe from attacks, as monks and nuns could only enter them via a rope and a basket, which they dragged to the monastery. We visited two of the six monasteries that are preserved today. Monks live in one, and nuns in the other. We had to dress appropriately to enter. Men had to wear long pants and sleeves, and women had to wear ankle-length skirts and long sleeves. Skirts were prepared at the entrance to the monastery for the “improperly” dressed guests.

Unfortunately, the days passed too quickly and our mobility came to an end on Saturday, May 29, 2023. Since it was the last mobility in our project, we said goodbye to our hosts and other participating teachers and students. This was even more difficult for us because we become good friends.

Our project lasted from September 2020 and the students grew with it for three years. It offered them many new experiences and lifelong knowledge. Students learned how to use a computer and some new applications that can make their work easier. They researched local history, dances, music, and architecture, as well as legends, fairy tales, and, last but not least, cuisine. They shared their knowledge with students from foreign countries and thus improved their knowledge of the English language. In this way, we wanted to encourage the social inclusion of our students, promote diversity and equality, support the disadvantaged, and increase the social and educational value of European cultural heritage. Teachers were able to share examples of good practices with each other and incorporate their new knowledge into their learning activities.

Although the project was carried out during the challenging time of the corona virus, we are happy that we were able to realize all the goals we set.

Many thanks to the Greek team for the wonderful mobility and to all our friends for the unforgettable moments of laughter and joy.

In the first week of October, the Slovenian team went on a third mobility in 2022. Students Eva, Sara, Jan, and Bor, accompanied by four teachers spent an interesting week in Spain, where we researched the culture of Galicia.

On Monday we visited a school in the city of Ferrol and played various games with the Spanish students.

We had a chance to listen to a concert of Galician music.

Then we were introduced to street art, which impressed everyone. The Meninas de Canido festival is organized several times in Ferrol. Artists paint works of art on the facades of houses or blocks to beautify the appearance of the entire city.

On Tuesday we went to the city of Santiago de Compostela. We toured this beautiful city and admired its architecture. We spent a lot of time visiting the cathedral. It was a special feeling because they take us to the cathedral’s roof and we had a wonderful view of the landscape.

The apostle James is buried in this cathedral and we had the opportunity to see his coffin. Santiago de Compostela is the destination of the world-famous pilgrimage route “Camino”. The word Camino means “the path”, and there are several that lead to Santiago. The most popular is the route that starts in France, lasts about a month, and is 800 kilometers long.

A new day followed and we experienced new adventures. We were taken by boat to San Felipe Castle, which is the most important military building in Ferrol. Together with the neighboring castles of La Palma and San Martiño, it formed a triangle of fire that no enemy force dared to attack. We were all surprised by its design, as well as by the beautiful views of the sea. After returning to school, we had the opportunity to develop our artistic streak. Each of us made our own Meninas – pendants.

Thursday was devoted to a tour of the military arsenal, which is important to the city, employing more than 1,000 people. We also saw the shipyard. The visit to the shipbuilding museum was particularly interesting, where they showed us the wreckage of the Magdalena frigate.

In the afternoon we went to the teacher training center. The students assembled robots, and the teachers listened to a lecture about the school system in Spain.

Pupils start school at the age of six and attend primary school until the age of twelve. After that, they go to lower secondary school, and when they turn sixteen, they go to upper secondary school. They complete the latter when they turn eighteen. If they wish, they can, of course, enroll in a university or get a job.

A primary school can have a maximum of 25 children in a class. School starts every day at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 2:00 p.m. – regardless of the age of the children. Every school organizes additional school activities once a week, which last from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm.

Along with all this, we must also mention the cuisine. The food was good, but above all, there was plenty of it. It is typical for this part of Spain that every lunch has an appetizer and two main courses. For Spaniards, lunch is the most important meal of the day, so they have a two-hour break daily for it. Even if the school can offer lunches, it is customary for children to eat this meal at home together with their families. Many schools do not have their own kitchen, so they use external catering.

Our friends said goodbye to us with a concert on Friday. The local ensemble played some Galician songs for us on the bagpipes, their national instrument. The students joined in the dance as they wished, and soon there was no one left to stand by and just listen. It was an interesting experience, especially different from our way of listening to concerts.

All the students and teachers who took part in the mobility to Spain left a very good impression on the remaining members of the mobility. New acquaintances were made, which will remain in the memory for a lifetime.

HERE you can watch a video about mobility to Spain.

Impressions from the mobility in Portugal have not yet subsided and we have already left for Estonia. This time we took a team of three aspiring students Nej, Sofia, and Klara to northeastern Europe, to a country near the Baltic Sea.

The hosting school Pärnu Kuninga Tänava Põhikool is located in the larger city of Pärnu in the north-western part of the country, about 130 km from the capital Tallinn.

The mobility took place from 30 May to 3 June 2022 and was attended by other project’s partner schools: Greece, Portugal, and Spain. Due to the Corona and Ukrainian crises, Spain has participated in mobility virtually.

We were kindly received by the school principal Mrs. Urve Krause, the principal Liina Omblus and the coordinator of the Estonian Erasmus + project “Our cultures – our treasures” Liis Raal – Virks and other Estonian teachers, who participated in the project. Everyone made sure we felt comfortable throughout the mobility and everything went smoothly. Overall, the whole mobility was very well organized and our hosts proved to be extremely hospitable and warm people.

Despite its historical appearance, the school building itself gives the impression of modernity, comfort, and warmth. The students are calmly playful and smiling all the time. On the first day of our mobility, important exams for final grade students were held at the school, similar to our national knowledge tests.

Nevertheless, they prepared a rich cultural program for us. 4th graders sang songs in our languages ​​and all members of the Slovenian team were moved when we heard our song “Abraham ‘has seven sons”.

Immediately after the cultural program, the students had the opportunity to socialize with each other. Klara, Sofija, and Nej bravely stepped among the other children and quickly made contact.

Later we had the opportunity to learn some Estonian expressions greetings, presentations, numbers up to 5…) and dance their folk dance. Estonian teachers wore their national costumes. It is a custom that women wear those costumes at major events and holidays. The teachers also sang a beautiful Estonian song.

Throughout the week, the mobility participants had the opportunity to get to know local instruments and watch musical events and thus get acquainted with the music culture of Estonia. Nej bravely tackled the Estonian accordion, which is different from both the piano accordion and the fretboard. Following the introductory instructions in Estonian and English, Nej was able to play a simple song on the accordion, while the rest of the participants sang an Estonian song.

We also got to know the nature of this beautiful country. After visiting the Natural History Museum in Pernova, where we saw their various animals, we visited the national park of the Tolkuse god, where we had the opportunity to learn about plant biodiversity.

During the visit to the city of Tärtu, we visited the Estonian National Museum, where we were introduced to their history, as well as the characteristic architecture of this city.

A visit to the capital Tallinn followed on Friday. We went to the puppet museum, where we were able to try out some of them. Of particular interest was the tallest puppet, 7 meters high, which was used in the game Gulliver’s Travels. We watched snippets of puppet shows that have delighted children in the past.

The curator of the museum highly praised our Ljubljana Puppet Museum, which can be seen at Ljubljana Castle, and to be honest, we were very happy about it. Partner schools were able to visit this museum during their mobility to Slovenia.

Tallinn is an extremely beautiful medieval city with well-preserved walls with as many as seven towers. In general, it has beautiful and interesting architecture and we would recommend everyone to visit it if they have the opportunity.

Unfortunately, the time has passed too quickly, as always, when one is having fun. The children said goodbye to each other in the evening, some with tears in their eyes. Beautiful friendships have been forged and will continue through a variety of social networks.

We returned home with the awareness that Estonia is a beautiful country and its people are friendly and warm. We were surprised by the fact that quite a few Estonians have already visited Slovenia and had fond memories of it.

Our three students were also aware of this, singing the Slovenian song “Slovenia, where did your beauty come from” several times during their mobility, which they learned in class a few days before coming to Estonia.

At the end of March, five students from the 5th and 6th grades, accompanied by teachers, went on a mobility to Portugal.

After a long journey we arrived at our final destination – to the Azores. It is an archipelago of nine islands of volcanic origin. The island of Terceira is located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean about 1600 km from Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.

We were warmly welcomed at the airport by friendly teachers from EBI Francisco Ferreira Drummond. Since we already knew them from mobility to Slovenia, our meeting was even more cheerful. They took us on a tour around the whole island and we marveled at how green their nature is.

We were thrilled with the coast in Biscoitos. It is spreading at the foot of a wide lava stream and is the most important agricultural town on the north coast. We were amazed by the high waves of the Atlantic Ocean crashing into the rocks.

Our next stop was a forest.  Watching the tall trees, a pond and moss-covered ground, we had the feeling that we had stepped into a fairytale land. We gathered strength by a small stream and of course posed for photos with laughter.

Jaka was enthusiastic about discovering ferns – we have never seen such big ones.

We visited the farm, where – in the traditional way – the best cheeses on the island are made. We tasted them. On the farm, however, they showed us a  video of typical island bullfights. Bulls run through the streets and men run in front of them to prove their manhood. They try to grab the horns without damaging the bulls. Women observe the event and encourage men. After the fights, the bulls leave the event angry but unharmed – which cannot be said for all the men in the video.

After a short night, the first day of school and the first contact with the Portuguese students were ahead of us.

The Portugal team prepared a varied cultural program for us and we were very happy when we heard the Slovenian national anthem. This was followed by fun ice breaking activities.

Our project task is to spread our culture among students and teachers of the participating countries while learning about the characteristics of their traditions. Our students prepared a short choreography of folk dances and after they taught all the participants how to dance the Slovenian folk dance called “rašpla”. It was nice to see the whole hall jumping to the beat of our music and having fun. We also had the opportunity to learn folk dances from the Azores, Spain, Greece, and Estonia.

On Tuesday we explored a piece of Azorean history, and after examining a written source, we had to prepare a dramatization of the Battle of Salga. The method “learning by doing” was used, that way we acquired more knowledge.

Our hosts also showed us their traditional “Yoga do Pau” stick fighting game, in which some students were able to try their skills. In the Medieval time, it was a martial art and its purpose was primarily self-defense. It was also used to settle arguments and matters of honor between individuals, families, and even villages.  

A music workshop was held under the supervision of teacher Grinoalda Ávila. We made instruments from scrap material and then played Azores music.

We were all looking forward to Wednesday as the gastronomic workshop took place that day. Each country presented its own dish; we baked cracklings pie. Our dish went to everyone’s delight and the plate was quickly empty.

In the afternoon we went to see the volcano, named “Algar do Carvão”. The name means “coal mine” as the cave walls are formed of dark lava. This extinct volcano is one of three on earth where you can see the chimney and chambers from inside without being cooked alive. What stands out as unique in the world are the stalactites and stalagmites formed by amorphous silica – Alvar do Carvão actually has the highest concentration in one place.

What stands out as unique in the world are the stalactites and stalagmites formed by amorphous silica – Alvar do Carvão actually has the highest concentration in one place.

Before the tour around the volcano the Portuguese sixth-graders prepared a concert. The event was something special, as the gentle Portuguese song, played by Portuguese students on flutes accompanied by a traditional Azores guitar, touched everyone’s hearts.

On Thursday we took a walk through the streets of Angra to Heroismo, the city where we stayed. We visited the museum, got acquainted with the typical Portuguese patterns that adorn their houses and made bookmarks in the workshop.

At the São João Batista fortress, we staged the battle for Salgo, which we were preparing for on Tuesday. It was an instructive event with a lot of laughter and fun.

In the evening we visited a typical Azore homestead and its costumes. Julia and Izak took courage and danced the basic steps of the Portugal traditional dance to Azores music under the guidance of Portuguese teachers.

Sadly, the last day came. We went to school with a heavy heart, because we knew we would have to say goodbye. In groups, we prepared a video with the help of the InShot application. In those videos students captured all the important moments of this mobility.

Each student gave their feedback about the mobility to Portugal in a special activity. Their feedbacks were posted on the school bulletin board.

Saying goodbye to our new friends was not an easy thing to do. A tour of some of the important cultural monuments in the city followed.

Mobility was a unique way for our students to get to know Azorean culture and nature. We were all excited about our new adventures and acquired knowledge, which we will be happy to spread among the students of our school. Mobility was also invaluable for the teachers. We gained new experiences and learned about different teaching methods, which we will definitely try in practice.

You can see a video about mobility to Portugal HERE.

Monday, 11th October 2021

The students of Primary School Rače were eagerly awaiting teachers from the partner countries. Upon arrival, our guests were warmly received by the principal Rolando Lašič. Our students prepared a welcome program for them and sang children’s songs in partners’ languages. ​​

The project’s coordinator presented the course on mobility in Slovenia. Guesting teachers got acquainted with the school system.

Later we introduced them to the interdisciplinary integration of two afterschool activities “Drama” and “eTwinning”. We carried out this kind of activity within the framework of our Erasmus+ project. The video about the dramatization of the legend The Shoemakers was a product of this activity and it was presented to our partners.

We introduced our guests to a special feature of the Slovenian curriculum – activity days, so we organized a technical day for younger students aged 6–9 years. After watching a puppet show, the pupils got acquainted with the puppets and made their own. The technical day was performed by the Fru-Fru Puppet Theatre.

We took the teachers on a tour around our municipality Rače–Fram and stopped at Fram Oil Mill, where we degusted a specialty of Slovenian cuisine – pumpkin seed oil.

The tasting of Slovenian cuisine continued at the Tourist Farm Baron, which has a long tradition. Our guests met representatives of local authorities – Mayor Branko Ledinek and his close associates, who presented some of the characteristics of our municipality.

After lunch, we headed back towards the village Rače, where we saw the local architecture and visited Rače Castle.

Tuesday, 12th October 2021

We invited our guests to Ptuj Castle. Our aim was to introduce them to the museum pedagogical workshops for children.

We also wanted to show how we integrate museum education into the school curriculum. The third-graders of our school also joined us and so the teachers were able to see the implementation of various museum activities for students.

We took the guests around the oldest Slovenian city Ptuj and, while visiting the sights, we also introduced them to how we carry out excursions to this town with our students.

Teachers were offered to taste typical Slovenian “Sunday” lunch, which we prepared at our school. Sixth-graders presented our culinary specialty with the help of a poster.

In the afternoon we took a tour around Maribor. Teachers saw important monuments, Maribor Castle, churches, and architecture in general. We explained to them how we wanted to carry out the dramatization of The Shoemaker, but due to the coronavirus, we had to give up this activity and make a video instead.

Wednesday, 13th October 2021

The partners were taken to visit our Capital City Ljubljana. We took a look at the architecture, introduced them to the legends of the dragon, and invited them to Ljubljana Castle.

At the Puppet Museum, we presented the content of two of the most beautiful Slovenian puppet games: Zvezdica Zaspanka and Žogica Nogica.

While driving along the River Ljubljanica with a boat, we introduced partners to the old part of Ljubljana and showed them architecturally and historically important buildings. We took teachers to the old restaurant with a long tradition (typical Slovenian dishes are served here) and they had the opportunity to try Kranjska sausage and sauerkraut.

Due to the announced demonstrations, we had to cancel our visit to the School Museum. We decided to show the guests Predjama Castle, the largest cave castle in the world and take them to the village of Predjama. At the end, we stopped visited Postojna Cave, which has a greater natural than cultural significance for us.

Thursday, 14th October 2021

On Thursday, the teachers were presented the special feature of our curriculum – the cultural day. The Association of Cultural Societies Maribor and the youth section of the cultural and artistic association KUD Študent taught all our students (and by means of a video connection also students from abroad), how to dance Slovenian folk dances. We organized workshops for students, where they learned how to sing folk songs and got familiar with Slovenian folk games.

Afterwards we took our guests on a tour of the school and kindergarten. The 9th-grade students together with their English teacher Ksenija Pečnik prepared the presentation of the history of education in the municipality of Rače – Fram.

Of course, we also tried some Slovene dishes that day. The fifth and sixth graders presented Slovenian traditional dishes, which were on the menu that day. They had prepared wonderful posters during their Food and Technology class and used them to introduce Slovene cuisine to our guests.

The 6th-grade students, under the mentorship of teacher Sara Kupnik, prepared a guided tour of the Nature Park Rače, where they told the guests how Rače ponds influenced the formation of our village and community.

Our school has 4 choirs, in which children of all ages are included. The choirs, in cooperation with the local vocal group A Cappella and the tamburitza group the Bos.si, prepared a concert.

A representative of the Institute of Education, Mr. Primož Krašna, a consultant for fine arts, greeted our guests. He said he was especially proud that the project was being implemented at a time when the culture was pushed to the sidelines due to the corona situation.

All of the choirs sang Slovenian folk songs. As part of the Erasmus+ project, a teachers’ choir was formed under the leadership of teacher Petra Efremov, and on this occasion, they presented themselves with their singing for the first time. We managed to surprise both, our guests and parents, and we were rewarded with great applause for our efforts.

After the performance, we invited the guests to the castle yard, where they had the opportunity to chat with parents and students of our school over roasted chestnuts and juice.

Friday, 15th October 2021

The day started with the traditional Slovenian breakfast. The guests could learn about the project which has been running in Slovenia for 12 years. We also invited students from abroad to have breakfast at the same time and with the same ingredients as we enjoyed ours.

After a working meeting on the project, we opened the doors of our classrooms to visiting teachers. Thus, they saw the lessons of fine arts in the 3rd grade, the lesson of the Slovene language in the 1st grade, which was created in cooperation with the class teacher and a school librarian, the lessons of teaching English in small study groups in the 8th grade, FIT active break, and music in the 5th grade. Teacher Petra Efremov prepared a music workshop and our guests played musical pipes together with the students.

A farewell cultural program followed. Kurent took our guests to the gym, where the children sang Slovenian songs, which they learned on the cultural day.

The school folklore group also danced and presented folk dances and counting games. In the end, the teachers’ choir said goodbye to the most beautiful Slovenian Eurovision song entitled Love Day.

In the afternoon, we took the teachers to the House of the Old Vine Museum in Maribor, as we wanted to show them the biggest attraction of our area. While visiting the largest floor mosaic in Slovenia, the teachers got to know a part of important moments in Slovenian history. In the end, they had a chance to hear the story of the old vine using virtual glasses.

Mobility to Slovenia was marked by the coronavirus, which required the organizers to change the program and adapt to new conditions. Nevertheless, we carried out the mobility in such a way that all partners were satisfied.

We made new friends in that short time – but it was time to say goodbye. We hope we were able to present to them our culture as our biggest pride.

You can see a video about Mobility to Slovenia HERE.