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In the school year 2006/07, we carried out a Comenius school project with three other secondary schools in Germany, Great Britain and Italy. It turned out to be a very successful venture. The topic was "Comparing the changes in ordinary lives across common European grounds after 1952".
This year our themes were democracy and domestic topics, such as food and the use of water and energy in a household. To do the research, we produced questionnaires for the families of students, then exchanged the data received with the other schools. There were three gatherings between the schools: in Rome in October, in Cieszyn in February and, finally, in Mildenhall in June, 2007, where the final presentation of our research was made.
In our school, two classes took part in the project: 1cLO and 1dLO. The first class did the scientific research, led by two teachers, M. Syrokosz and B. Szlachtę. The second class researched democracy. Its students worked with Mr R. Macura and A. Huczała. The coordinator of this project was B. Madecka.
Ten students from these two classes went to England for the final meeting with students from Itally, Germany and GB and to present the data.
11.06. We flew to London's Stansted Airport. The plane arrived late and we then had to wait four hours to get to Mildenhall because all seats on buses were booked. There we met our host families and split up to enjoy an evening getting to know them.
12.06. We went to the famous university city of Cambridge and did some sightseeing. Among the wonderful sights we saw were King's College and Trinity College. We learned that Isaac Newton was a famous student of the university and we saw an old wooden bridge that he designed. We took a photo of a group of all the schools in the city but unfortunately someone forgot to remove the council rubbish bin!
13.06. We made an early start at 6am to travel by coach to London, one of the biggest and most exciting cities in the world. There we were privileged to visit the Houses of Parliament, seat of one of the world's oldest democracies. We heard of their traditional customs, such as the division, where they file into separate lobbies to cast their votes. Amazingly, there are old bells fitted in local pubs and restaurants which ring to summon MPs back when it is time to vote! We also enjoyed a nice walk including to Buckingham Palace, where we witnessed the Changing of the Guard, Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square.
14.06. Back at Mildenhall, we made final presentations of our survey results on the environment and democracy together with the students from Italy, Germany and England. We also met four Polish students whose families are now living in Mildenhall, thanks to the new freedoms to live and work anywhere in Europe. We enjoyed a delicious lunch thanks to the English students and teachers who brought lots of food from home, such as fish and chips, baked beans on toast. In the evening, we played games and were supposed to enjoy a barbecue. Unfortunately the famous English rain meant that we had to eat inside school instead!
15.06. All too quickly, it was time to say goodbye to our new friends. There were many hugs and kisses. With tears streaming down our faces, we boarded a bus to take us back to Stansted Airport. We left with wonderful memories of a very enjoyable trip. Despite the rain on the night of the barbecue, we were generally very lucky with the weather. We also enjoyed wonderful hospitality from our English hosts and found them to be open-minded, warm-hearted and extremely friendly. We tried some traditional food such as pies, the famous cooked breakfast and home-made cakes. We hope that the friendship between our countries will continue and grow and that we can do more work on the project next year. We look forward to meeting our European friends again in February 2008.
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