Transnational Meeting in UK - 09 - 13/03/2020

Let's Go Cultural! at Whitehouse Common Primary School: Welcome and Day 1

Day 1 of the Let's Go Cultural! transnational meeting at Whitehouse Common. 

Our guests arrived at school and were welcomed by flags, bunting and lots of smiling faces. Find out what happened next in the two videos that follow. 

Firstly the amazing welcome given by our staff and pupils as well as our special guests, Mr Andrew Mitchell (MP for Sutton Coldfield), Mr David Allen (Mayor of Sutton Coldfield) and governors including Mr Crossan, Mrs Burton and Mr Philpott. 

And in the second, what happened after that when our visitors went on a tour of the school, met some of the pupils and were then taken by Señora Stevens to explore Sutton Coldfield Park and Nature Reserve - in the rain!

Let's Go Cultural! at Whitehouse Common Primary School: Day 2

Day 2 of the Let's Go Cultural! transnational meeting at Whitehouse Common starting with a Skype call to Greece. This was followed by visits to Year 2 and Year 6 to find out about their work on London landmarks and their visit to Howtown respectively. Mrs Allen also explained the English education system, especially how the primary curriculum works. In the afternoon, there was a visit to New Hall Hotel to find out about the history of the building and its importance in the area followed by a very English afternoon tea!

Here's a video of the highlights!

Let's Go Cultural! at Whitehouse Common Primary School: Day 3

Day 3 of the Let's Go Cultural! transnational meeting at Whitehouse Common was supposed to start with a Skype call to our Turkish partner but unfortunately that was not possible so we went straight to 3CC to explain then play the culture game that we'd devised called Guess Who? (Important Britons). Year 4 and Year 1 then learned about Austrian and Spanish culture before our visitors went with Señora Stevens to the Black Country Museum. There, they were taken back in time to find out what life was like over a hundred years ago including going to school where some of our visitors ended up in trouble with the teacher! Can you work out why? After traditional fish and chips for lunch, the day ended with another British favourite - a curry!

Let's Go Cultural! at Whitehouse Common Primary School: Day 4

Day 4 of our Let's Go Cultural! transnational meeting began with dancing for both Reception and Year 3. Reception enjoyed singing and dancing with our Austrian friends whilst Year 3 found out about Don Quijote and danced La Macarena. The rest of the day was spent in Birmingham, initially at a reception with the Lord Mayor of Birmingham Councillor Mohammed Azim who welcomed our project for showing the importance of collaboration and appreciating others' cultures. A tour of the Council House followed with everyone having a go at being the leader of the chamber and ringing the 'Order!' bell as well as marvelling at the beauty and splendour of the surroundings. After lunch in the BMAG, our guests went off exploring on their own before meeting for dinner by the canal, another important part of our Birmingham heritage.

Here's a video of the highlights!

Let's Go Cultural! at Whitehouse Common Primary School: Day 5 and Farewell Assembly

Day 5, the final day of our Let's Go Cultural! transnational meeting began with our visitors in Years 2 and 5. Year 2 worked with Lola, Esperanza and Rocío to learn about the rooms in the house in Spanish before dancing the (by now famous across the whole school!) Macarena. Year 5 found out about important places of cultural interest in Austria with Sylvia, Manuela and Janine, making fact files to show their learning. After a quick break, our visitors walked with Year 4 to Holy Trinity Parish Church where they were treated to a range of activities linked to Bishop Vesey, an important man in the history of our town. They had fun, dressing up as people might have dressed in Bishop Vesey's time, exploring the pews, gallery and other features of the church, looking at the exterior and imagining what life was like in his day, and also visiting the part of the church where he is buried. Back to school for Pizza Friday and then a quick meeting to discuss the week; a great success in spite of all the complications and circumstances.

In the afternoon, it was back to the Acorns Hall for a farewell assembly with the younger children who reflected on their learning and presented our visitors with cards before sending them off to the Oaks Hall with enthusiastic singing of the Hello song accompanied by passionate flagwaving! In the oaks, the older children were ready with their own reflections on the week as well as another rendition of the Hello song complete with glockenspiel accompaniment by 6AB, and also our special Million Dreams at Whitehouse Common song written by Mrs Duckers.

And there the week finished with banners, flags and smiles, and the hope that we will meet again in the future in Austria, possibly not in October 2020 as planned but as soon as possible!

Here's a video of the highlights of the day as well as a video of the Farewell assemblies including a full version of the song we sang.

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The Greek school worked from November 2019 until March 2020 on activities regarding the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the partner countries. The working agenda of the activities as well as the dissemination events and practices carried out in the Greek school are depicted in the presentation below.

(Despite the preparations for the transnational meeting in the UK the Greek delegates were unable to participate due to COVID-19 restrictions of their country)

 

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 GOOD PRACTISES 
AT CEP “ANTONIO DE ULLOA”