We chose the topic „Europa vámonos” in order to put Europe and the EU into the spotlight at both schools. Furthermore, the language class at the Gymnasium Hartberg will be renamed as “Europaklasse” and a new subject “Europa erFAHREN” (experiencing Europe) will be introduced in year 11. The IES Doña Jimena already has a lot of experience when it comes to European projects, which makes it the perfect school partner. On the one hand, it is the aim of this project to emphasise the Europhile idea. On the other hand, the students will be given the opportunity to improve their language skills through getting to know the language and culture of the target country better and learning to understand differences and similarities between the two cultures. All that leads to a better global understanding and lets them see that it is not all about the individual countries, but about a united Europe. When the project starts the students are in year 9 and have been learning Spanish or German for the third year. 30 students of each school will take part and the project language is Spanish. (Note: Not all Spanish students learn German). The project is going to start in September 2019 with getting to know each other through the platform etwinning. The teachers are going to open a twinspace and add all the participants. Then the students create their profile and present their school. In September/ October 2019 both schools work on a common concept for Erasmus day. Moreover, the German language course “alemán por ti” will start, so that the Spanish students who do not speak German yet have enough time to acquire some basic German language skills. The students slowly get to know each other via etwinning so that the ones with the same interests can find each other for the exchange. The exchange in Austria should have a language, sportive and also cultural focus, which means that we will organise a skiing day and a day at a thermal spa for the students. In general, they will spend their mornings taking part in the classes at the Gymnasium Hartberg, where there will also be a special EU workshop. The following months are going to be used to create songs and a film together. Before visiting Spain, the students prepare suitable topics about the Spanish history and culture. In Spain the students are going to live with host families, like the Spanish students do in Austria, and go to school in the mornings. The emphasis will be put on the language skills there, whereas in the afternoon the students are going to do sports (for example surfing). Moreover, the students should also be able to experience the capital and its cultural offer, the same way the Spanish students are going to do during their stay in Austria. There will be some parents’ evenings and the public will be informed about our project using different types of media. The third year of the project should be used for a longer individual stay. Five students from Austria and accordingly from Spain are given the opportunity to stay in Austria for two months in order to really get to know the mentality and the daily life of the people there. The students will go to school with their hosts. The IES Doña Jimena prefers to keep the individual stay to two months, so that the fear of going abroad for a longer period of time can be overcome and in order to make the exchange more attractive to the students. After all, it is their first stay abroad for a longer period of time. Both schools expect the outcome of the projects to be meaningful and sustainable, which the students can also identify with. In addition, the language progress of the students should be significant. The projects of the students should also be presented on the homepage and in the local press, so that the public can read and see more about the positive experiences of the students and their Erasmus project. Both schools expect higher numbers of students; The Gymnasium Hartberg would like to have more students for their future Europe classes and the IES Doña Jimena would like to have higher numbers of students learning German as a second foreign language.
the topic "Europa vámonos" was chosen because Europe and the European Union should be brought to the fore in both schools. At the Gymnasium Hartberg, the name of the language class was also changed to "Europe class" and a separate subject "EUropa erFAHREN" was introduced in the 7th grade. Like the Gymnasium Hartberg, the IES Doña Jimena had previous experience with European projects. The aim of the project was on the one hand to promote the pro-European idea and on the other hand to improve the language skills of the students. The students should get to know the language and the culture of the target country better and understand both similarities and differences. All this led to a global understanding and to the realization: it is not only about the individual countries, but about the togetherness in Europe!!! When applying for the project, both schools wanted to include only one class. In the course of the first year of the project, however, everyone realized that implementation could only be guaranteed if the planned students of the 9th grade (3rd year Spanish or German) were joined by additional students. Thus, more than 30 students participated in each school and the project language was Spanish. (Note: not all Spanish students were learning German). In September 2019, the project started with the presentation on the eTwinning platform. The teachers opened a Twinspace and created the participants. After that, the pupils* designed their profile and introduced their respective school. In September/October 2019, both schools thought about a concept for the Erasmus Day. As a result, the German course "German by students for students - alemán por ti" should also be started, so that the Spanish students who did not speak German had enough time to learn basic knowledge of the German language. Unfortunately, this was not implemented. However, during their mobility to Austria, the Spanish students attended a German course at the school. Prior to this mobility, Mrs. Canal and Mrs. Greimel communicated several times regarding common interests of the students so that suitable host families could be found. The Austrian exchange was to include a linguistic, sporting and cultural focus. This means that a ski day and an afternoon at the thermal baths were organized for the students. They spent the morning in class at the high school and a polka danse course was organized as a closing event. The following months turned out to be difficult, as both schools were out of session due to the Corona pandemic. The planned mobility to Spain had to be postponed and communication in the second project year was rare. The mobility was then spontaneously carried out at the beginning of school in 2021, which meant that no topics could be prepared. Nevertheless, the stay was very well planned and the students were able to improve their Spanish skills and enrich themselves culturally. The students stayed with host families, as they did during their stay in Austria. In the mornings they went to school, while in the afternoons they all continued their cultural education. Already at the beginning of the third project year, the schools discussed the possibility of implementing the Long-Term-Mobilities. Due to the uncertainty caused by Corona, both schools did not know for sure if this would be possible. In April, four students from Spain came to Austria for two months. Unfortunately, the five Austrian students could only go to Gijón for two weeks. Nevertheless, all of them got to know the mentality of the people better and could experience the everyday life. The students went to school together with their host students. The schools expected a meaningful and sustainable result from the products. The students improved their language skills and were also able to further their cultural education. Everyone was informed about the Erasmus+ project in information for parents and in reports on the homepage or in local newspapers. At conferences and in smaller team meetings, the teachers exchanged information on an ongoing basis. At the Gymnasium Hartberg, the Eramus+ projects have been positively received by the students, which has led to an increase in the number of students in the European class. IES Dona Jimena would also like to apply for further Erasmus+ projects.