The title of our project is, "On the way to a healthier lifestyle with our European friends." We have been interested in a project like this for a long time now. For a number of years we have personally and professionally engaged with the themes of healthy eating, movement and sport, and we have now tried to tie this in with our interest in student exchanges. Thanks to this opportunity presented by Erasmus, we have been able to put together a long-term project with specific goals and planned outcomes. There are four intertwined themes in this project:- multicultural education towards the elimination of racism and xenophobia- the development of language skills as a way to break down barriers between people- the discovery of healthy eating habits as a way to live a more healthy lifestyle- the enjoyment of sport and movementWe have been able to find two schools with a similar orientation to our school. Both of them have experience with such projects, and they would both like to accompany us on this journey towards a healthy lifestyle and tolerance within the European community. The French and Czech schools, due to their small size, will be able to allow all pupils to participate in the project. The Polish school will select 150 pupils in the age range of our pupils. The Polish school has a lot of experience with projects similar to the aims of this project. The ability to travel to the schools enriches the project immensely, and adds a unique and valuable element. The activities in the project are directed to achieving four different goals:- The use of English as a common language amongst the pupils during the meetings and through electronic communication.- The acquaintance with new cultures and cultural traditions from other European countries, with the goal of building friendships between the pupils and the teachers- To present the principles of healthy eating, both at school and at home, with the help of questionnaires about this subject, a self produced and self distributed healthy cookbook, and the actual preparation of various healthy dishes. - The mutual exchange of various movement games (favorites from each culture) as well as the measurement of the physical abilities of the pupils in each country before, during, and after the planned meetings. Also, there will be the creation of a collection of movement games from the various countries. We assume that the following will take place in the course of the project:- The pupils and their parents will become more open to accepting other nationals as they are, without judgment.- English will be appreciated for its importance in international communication, based on its actual usefulness for communication within the partner schools.- All participants will increase their knowledge of the importance of a healthy diet, as well as some specific dishes they can prepare for eating healthfully.- The pupils will discover many new ways to do sport and engage in movement games, and will thus be inspired to spend more free time in movement.- The younger pupils who take part will benefit greatly from the project, because the principles of the project will help form them and influence them for many years to come, if not for their whole life. We expect that the parents of the children, as well as any peripheral individuals who will also be come in contact with the project, will be positively affected.- The international healthy cookbook which we plan on producing will surely be an original inspiration towards healthy cooking and eating. - The methods introduced by the collection of movement games will benefit other teachers who want to enrich their PE and after school lessons.If this project proves to be beneficial, we hope to be able to repeat it with a different group of pupils in the future.
The title of our project is, "On the way to a healthier lifestyle with our European friends." We have been interested in a project like this for a long time now. For a number of years we have personally and professionally engaged with the themes of healthy eating, movement and sport, and we have now tried to tie this in with our interest in student exchanges. Thanks to this opportunity presented by Erasmus, we have been able to put together a long-term project with specific goals and planned outcomes. There are four intertwined themes in this project: - multicultural education towards the elimination of racism and xenophobia - the development of language skills as a way to break down barriers between people - the discovery of healthy eating habits as a way to live a more healthy lifestyle - the enjoyment of sport and movement We managed to cooperate with similarly oriented schools in France and Poland, both of which already had experience with projects. The Polish school undertook many projects which are in line with our goals. Activities: - Creating a project logo – the logo was designed by the children; its final improvements were done by a teacher; the Polish school prepared the graphics. - Videoconference – Various conferences on a previously agreed topic; the children prepared their reports (in English) as part of their English lessons. - Mail – The children created Christmas and Easter greetings, and sent postcards from their summer holiday destinations. - The Czech Lion Cup Competition (medals and cups) - We created an obstacle course with specific stations and tasks and prepared a list of necessary sport equipment which was then purchased by the partners. The partner schools received medals from the coordinator and a cup for their own activities. - Project presentation for parents and directors of small schools – A preparation of the meals listed in the project cookbook, with the children presenting the project activities in a power point presentation. There was also a dissemination of the information in the local newspaper. - Herb garden - T-shirts were created with a project logo. - We created a project magazine with the children´s texts. - Cookbook – we gathered favorite recipes from all the partners and videotaped the preparation in English and took pictures. The final design and graphics were done by a local graphics secondary school. - Picture dictionary for the cookbook – the children drew pictures for words relevant to the selected recipes; a teacher prepared the format of the dictionary. - Methods for movement games – we gathered different games from all partners and prepared instructions how to play them in English. The impact of the project on the children: - An increase in detailed knowledge about certain specifics of culture for two EU countries - A respect for the culture of these two EU countries - An increase in knowledge of EU geography - An improvement in IT and media skills - A use of modern communication technologies - The development of personal and social skills - An improvement of cooperation on group tasks - More experience in communicating with people from different countries - The children realized the necessity of learning foreign languages. - The children are more motivated to learn English. - The children were directed towards healthy eating habits. - All the children participated in sport and movement activities. Even less “sporty” children experienced success (Czech Lion Cup Competition – all children who completed the obstacle course repeatedly got a medal which supported their participation in sport activities). - The project activities fulfilled elements of the school curriculum and increased the competencies of the children. Project impact on the teachers: - An increase in motivation to work as a teacher in the future - An improvement of relationships within the team of teachers (we held regular project meetings during the project period) - The teachers gained experience with cooperating with international schools, as well as a clear picture of the life in the respective EU countries. - New experience with running an Erasmus+ project was gained - The meeting of new international colleagues Project impact on the parents: - The parents became more willing to participate in a EU project and realized the value of speaking foreign languages. - The parents overcame their fear to let their children travel within the EU. - They have a more open attitude towards healthy eating, as well as active movement and sport activities in families. Project impact on the coordinator and partners: - Cooperation of the coordinating school with partners was very useful because of age differences and the opportunities for the children’s development. The participating schools differ from each other, as do their geographical placement, cultural output, social conditions and expectations. These differences enriched us and moved us further regarding respect and tolerance.