Day 3 Erasmus Volos Greece

Today was a busy day in school. When the students arrived, they were  in lessons and then we all met to read our stories of equality.

 

 From Stantonbury, Mr Berwick and Ms Devlin worked on the stories in lessons which were then read by our visiting students here in Greece. Our project is collaborative. Not only are the objectives met while abroad but they are disseminated and produced across the school in lessons so that all students are included and have an opportunity to share their experiences and contribute.

 We spent much of the day working on the discussion of the project as teachers while the students were in lessons but we did take time to participate in the National remembrance day of the fall of the dictatorship which took place on July 23 1974 and it is remembered today for the uprising on this day in 1973. On Wednesday 14th of November at noon students protested and were gathering around the Technical University of Athens. The protests were against the Junta of Colonels which had imposed a dictatorship regime from April 21, 1967. Thus the event we watched today celebrated the fall of the dictatorship but also remembered the lives lost in the street around the University on this day. The Ceremony in School began with a speech from the Headmaster and other students, one who was a poet and read one of his originals.

 The boy who writes poetry. It was very well read and written.

We then heard the band and were invited as an Erasmus group to sing "What a Wonderful World" together.

 Views of the school. Classrooms and the school grounds. The School is one of the oldest in Volos.

 Receiving our Certificates from the Headmaster. All students and teachers will receive Erasmus+ certificates of participation.

 We returned to discuss in more meetings but then were invited to attend a sports introduction for students with disabilities. The centre is run by former Olympians and they now work with students with disabilities in sports and arts and crafts. The sports are introduced to students with both mild and severe disabilities and they are proud to show the success of the students who made it to the finals in the 2012 Paralympic games. We were treated to a beautiful piece of ceramic memorabilia made by the students of the centre and also to some refreshments.

 At the Sports Centre for the disabled.

 

Our school message.

 Volos Beach

 Spanish and English students together.

Following the visit to the sports centre, we returned to attend more meetings and the students went back to host families. We finished in the school with a wonderful experience and are looking forward to our visits to the villages nearby tomorrow and Sunday. A wonderful day full of great memories.

From our Students:

Zoha :

 

Yesterday Nov 14th :

Firstly, we visited a Greek lesson. The lesson was about the growing environment. What Disadvantages there is with that and how we can find a solution to those problems. Later on we took part in a treasure hunt. We basically had different colour teams who were assigned different countries. The aim of the hunt was to find the country flag around the school and whoever found all the countries and reached the staff office first, won. We then went to a museum and learnt all about bricks.

 

Today Nov 15th Our day started of with going to a remembrance assembly. It was to honour 40 college students who were killed because they stood and protested against dictatorship in Greece. Greek children read poems, sang Greek songs, all the teachers were given a rose and candles were lit just like every year on the  17th of November. After that, we got to see some countries presentations. We saw videos of their school, things that make their countries unique... Eg: We learnt that the Czech Republic school was in the middle of an island that was surrounded by a famous lake that led all the way to Poland. Finally, we went over to a Paralympics centre where we learnt about a bowl game some people their play. There was a person who threw a white ball in the square. Different teams had different colour balls and had to try and throw the ball as close to the white ball as possible without moving the white ball. Whoever’s ball is closest, wins the game.

Maisie: Today we stared the day by reading stories. It was nice to see  what people had made up or found out about equality or told as true stories. Then we had a assembly in the hall about that it was a special day as it was a anniversary of a very important day in Greek history and at the end we all stood up and sang what a wonderful world. Then we walked to the Sports centre for disabled students and they taught us how to play a Greek traditional game.Then we went home for lunch and that was today. We were all together and it was very fun.

Cassidy:

Today was a special day in Greece, an Anniversary! On the 17th November 1873, a group of college students protested against the dictatorship in Greece. But sadly, the Dictator (G. Papadopoulos) responded by sending officers to shoot them all. In total, 40 students died that day, but this started a revolution! People began to think ‘Is this really the guy we want to be lead by’ and little by little, Greece was freed from dictatorship. Nowadays, about 150 years later, the people of Greece celebrate the beginning of their freedom, while still mourning the students who died for the cause. In the school we went to, we entered an assembly and listened to poems honouring the students and sang songs about freedom! We sang songs like ‘What a wonderful world ‘ by Louis Armstrong and sung the Greek Anthem (which is the longest in the world!). It was very interesting to see how other countries remember their past and honour is as a part of their lives today.