Gdańsk, Poland

EXCHANGE

During the school week of 16 - 24 February 2018 three students from each partner school were shadowing the school life in Szkoła Podstawowa nr 77 (Gdańsk, Poland) to experience it in practice.

On the first welcome day, the host students introduced their country, the region and their town to their guests. The visitors learnt a lot about the history and the Polish culture not only on that morning, but during the whole week.

The students and the teachers observed classes in the morning. Each day after the shadowing, there was a short discussion in small international groups reflecting on the learning activity, evaluating the day and sharing new experience. They also discussed essential criteria and aspects of an ideal school.

In order to increase the students' cultural awareness, digital skills and language skills, the students worked in international teams on individual tasks during the exchange.

• Shooting a film covering most interesting aspects of school and free time the students during the exchange.
• Creating a souvenir with snapshots of the host town/city during the stay to create a photobook.
• Host school in images: a presentation about the host school with the photos of the school environment and its facilities put into a presentation shown to other students after returning from the exchange.

The accompanying persons (teachers) were monitoring all the activities, giving advice and helping the students with individual tasks. The teachers had a chance to talk to the staff of the host school, observing the school life and classes.

DISCOVERING THE AREA

There was also a field trip to learn about the culture and history of the region in an innovative way - a full-day trip to the Kashubia region. Kashubs are a Western Slavic people living on the shores of the Baltic Sea. They have their own unique language and traditions, having lived somewhat isolated for centuries from the common Polish population. The biggest city of the Kashubia region is Gdańsk (Gduńsk), the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. We visited Szymbark with its open-air museum of Kashubian homes and we learnt about the history, culture and language of the Kashubian people. One of the attractions was the Upside Down House:)  The view over the Kashubian region from the observation tower located at the top of the hill Wieżica was truly amazing.