Third Project Meeting 25 April – 02 May 2014 Corvo –Azores PORTUGAL
The third Project meeting was held in St Michael Island- Corvo . 13 teachers from different schools in this partnership participated in the meeting.The host school had the following activities scheduled:
On 25 April after the arrival on the St Michael Island the participants were the guests of a conference named “(Re)Constructing School Success” . At the beginning of the conference the Secretary of Education gave a brief summary about the improvements that have been achieved in Portugal at the last two decades. The recent situation in the Portuguese Education System was supported with relevant statistics.Later as the spokesman Prof.Roy Leitch had presented the project named “Reducing Early School Leaving Using Techology Enhanced Technology” by going deeper into the subject with the headlines stated as ;the purpose of the study,the theoretical framework, the objectives, the methodology,the process and the observations. This had been a a very beneficial experience for all of the participating teachers at the very first day on the island . On 26 April for the whole Comenius group a very marvellous whale watching tour was arranged.In the Azores they have the opportunity to observe 24 species of cetacens throughout the year.The activity was performed by an experienced team in a very safe boat. Before heading out to sea , a short briefing was held on Cetacean sighting methods,safety rules and code of ethics of Whale watching in the Azores.We had a very nice 4 hours time in the ocean by having the chance to see a group of dolphins and having a short glance to a whale. At the rest of the day we had a very nice tour of the western part of the island which included the amazing view of Carvao Lake ,Kings View and Miradouro Escalvado . Ferraria,which is a tourist attraction place of Azores, is famous for its natural hot water pool in the ocean . During the day our guide also showed us one of the first pineapple plantation on the island explaning the history and the growing conditions.We were lucky to taste the delicious jams and liqueurs specially made from pineapples.On 27 April we were shown the western part of the island .Our tour included the beautiful views of City of Lagoa, Village of Agua de Pau, Pisao Belvedere,City of Vila Franca do Campo and the Lady of Peace Church.Each place stands for its own natural beauty making the visitors to feel stunned.Before lunch time our final stop was the Furnas Lake which is formed after the volcanic eruption.Nearby the lake there are a lot of natural volcanic springs in which you can see the boiling water and the stinky steam.The place is popular fort he Traditional Stew cooked in the earth . After this gorgious lunch in order to spend our energy our next stop was the Terra Nostra Garden, which is without doubt a highlight of the Azores.The spa pool is special for its essential minerals it contains.On 28 April we departed from St Michael Island to fly to Corvo.After the check-in to our guest house ,we met at our host school EBS Mouzinho da Silveira. We were given a detailed and informative presentation about the education system in Portugal.As all partners we have decided that it is a nice idea that the host school makes a presentation about the Education system of the country.After meeting with the school staff, we had the chance to visit each class.The students were very shy but welcoming and polite.Moreover,it was a nice surprise to all partners to realize that each class has prepared a speacial corner for each country including visuals and necessary information. In the evening a traditional evening was organized with the traditional songs and dances of the countries.On 29 April we had a tour visit around the village with the guidance of the 5th,7th and 8th grade students.They had informed us about the places we visited and spent the whole day together. Unfortunately we hadn’t had the chance to see the Caldeirao as there was a lot of mist and fog around.In the evening we had our international dinner at school where all the partner schools brought with them the traditional food and drinks with them.It was very nice as at this meeting we met the island community most of whom were the parents and island people. The word “wonderful” was less for the Comenius Official Welcome as each class had presented a Show to each country with its most outstanding characteristic.At the end of the night,all the guests played the traditional dance of Corvo.On 30 April all the partners came together with the students at the gym and presented their short presentations about their schools.After lunch we visited the Major at the City Hall. We were very pleased and honoured as most of the time the Major took part at the Project meetings and tours.In the afternoon all the partner came together to decide on the next meeting program.With consensus we agreed that in Norway the work experiences of the students about enterpreneurship were going to be presented.Moreover, our Porteguese Coordinator Deolinda gave very useful information about how to edit the common website an deven explained the webquests to the partners.It was also noted down that in Norway all the countries were going to bring with them the Ongoing Report of the Project with them.In the afternoon most of our partners had the chance to go to a tour around the island and go fishing with the students.On 1 May we spent all the day at the island Flores which is the neighbour island 45 minutes away by boat. It is such a peaceful and green that you can observe the natural beauty at each corner of the island. In the evening we had a delicious barbeque prepared by the school staff .At the end of the evening we received our certificates and presents from our host school. On 2 May all the partner school departed from Corvo to Lisbon.This was a very productive experience because, through the debate and sharing of cultural experiences, we were able to absorb and import good methods to our school, share different working methodologies and understand how each school is organizing the project’s activities. The next project meeting will be held in the Norwegian school, between June, 4 and 8 .This kind of Project meetings enables the partner countries to compare and contrast the Educational Systems of each school and benefit form their different teaching-learning approaches and methodologies.