4th MEETING IN SANTERAMO OCTOBER 18th – 23rd 2010
Comenius Project
“EUROPEANS: IDENTICAL AIMS DIFFERENT WAYS, IDENTICAL
HEARTS DIFFERENT FEELINGS”
From October 18th until 23rd 2010 the Secondo Circolo Didattico of Santeramo was the host for
the 4th meeting of the Comenius Project “Europeans: Identical Aims Different Ways, Identical
Hearts Different Feelings”. The participants amounted to 23 people, included two schoolgirls
of 13, coming from Poland, Spain, Lithuania and Turkey.
On October 18th our partners arrived in Santeramo, and a preliminary meeting was held by
Dirigente Scolastico Maria Digirolamo and the working team was held to warmly welcome
them to Italy, at 7.30 p.m. During dinner we handed out the weekly plan of the activities we
would carry out.
On Tuesday 19th at 8 a.m. we went to Bari for a tour accompanied by a guide. We visited the
exterior of the Castello Svevo, symbol of the city of Bari, a massive fortress located at the
margins of the old city centre. Our partners were very interested by the visit to the Basilica of
San Basilio and the Cathedral of San Nicola, in the heart of the old city, one of the highest
examples of Puglia’s Romanic architecture. A brief walk around the city centre, with its narrow
streets full of shops selling local products closed the day. After lunch, at 2.30 p.m., we went to
Alberobello where, notwithstanding the unforgiving weather, our European friends were able
to admire the UNESCO heritage “trulli”, and to come to know about the history of such a
unique site, thanks to the work of our guide. At 8 p.m. the group tasted our local foods and
delicacies for dinner, at a restaurant in Santeramo.
Wednesday 20th October was the day dedicated to our school. From 9 a.m. until 10.30. a.m. we
took the European partners on a tour around the “S. Franesco d’Assisi” school. Upon reaching
it, we were greeted by the school’s pupils singing about the importance of considering
ourselves European citizens, united and respectful of each other’s cultures. The whole school
gave its best to give the guests its warmest welcomes by waving flags and singing national
anthems. Each group was walked to an assigned class, where they witnessed to our way of
working and answered the questions and curiosity of the children. The 2nd years’s English class
– linked to our project on European values - turned out to be very popular and interesting to
our guests. The countries’ team coordinators, along with their own teams, made children
interested and enthusiastic by involving them into activities full of games, songs, pictures.
From 11 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. the Scuola dell’Infanzia Montefreddo greeted the foreign delegation
with the pupils in a queue dressed up to represent the Italian flag: they danced and sung, and
offered hats and bracelets made by themselves; after visiting the school, the partners had lunch
with food of our traditional cuisine, prepared by our pupils’ parents. Done with lunch, we held
the project meeting in the refectory at 3 p.m.
Every country showed a Power Point presentation on their respective school system; the Italian
representative was Dirigente Scolastico Maria Digirolamo. This allowed us to compare the
several school systems, noticing similarities and differences.
At 6 p.m., in “S. Francesco d’Assisi” ’s home room, in the presence of the European partners,
of the parents and teachers, the children performed songs, folkloristic dances and brief dramas.
Eventually they offered the European coordinators small baskets full of local and traditional
products, prepared by their parents.
At 8 p.m. everyone, partners, Scuola primaria and Scuola dell’Infanzia teachers, Dirigente and
the working team gathered at the Hotel Sole di Puglia for a convivial moment, with traditional
and non-traditional dances.
On Thursday October 21 we went to Mater to visit the UNESCO heritage “Sassi”: the guide
told about the history of the site, and took us on a tour inside to see the ancient tuff dwellings.
Seeing them for the first time, the partners felt extremely curious and interested in the Sassi. At
12 p.m. we briefly stopped by a restaurant to taste some local delicacies before coming back to
Santeramo.
At 2.30 p.m. the Scuola dell’Infanzia Quasimodo took its turn to welcome the partners. The
children greeted us by singing and offering welcome messages and windmills with the same
colours of the national flags. Here too the guests visited the school classrooms and were
showed many works the children had made. At 4 p.m. a rich buffet ended the visit. At 5 p.m.
the second project meeting was held at S. Francesco d’Assisi. The coordinators introduced and
showed slides on the famous people of their own countries who contributed to the birth of a
European culture.
At 8 p.m. the Dirigente gave the participation certificate and exchanged gifts. The parents
celebrated the departure of the European partners with a rich buffet.
On Friday October 22nd the partners visited the classes and the laboratories of the “Balilla”
school. At 11 a.m. the Town Major and members of the Town Administration welcomed us into
the council room. The Major stressed the importance of nurturing the European culture with
children, and how school tries to reach this goal with this very project, and renewed his and the
administration’s intention to go on supporting it and collaborating with the school. At 2.30 p.m.
the last project meeting was held at the S. Francesco d’Assisi school, to plan the work to be
ready by the next meeting to take place from May 9 – 13 2011 in Lithuania. Italy will have to
prepare the 2011 calender, a vocabulary with 10 sentences at least, a power point on our
Nation’s Day, a booklet on interculture and traditional games.
At 5.30 p.m. we visited Santeramo’s historical centre and main monuments. The evening ended
with a pizza, which was the occasion to exchange our goodbyes. Our friends were very
satisfied about the meeting, the activity management and the great warmth they received by
the parents, teachers and children and the school’s complete staff.
October 23rd was the day planned for the departure.