Slovak - Czech web conference

Web conference is a part of our project. Web conferences are very popular among students. They are always looking forward to have this web conference. Students choose a topic they will talk about prepare some questions about it and ask these questions students from their partner´s schools.

Slovak trees in our school garden

Typical Slovak trees - apple, and main "Comenius" group

First Comenius Project Meeting

The joint meeting held in November 2008 at St. Andrew's School in the UK went very well. Everyone arrived at their appointed times and the only mishap was one misdirected suitcase which turned up two days late.

The parties from Czech Republic and Turkey were able to take advantage of some slack time to get in a trip to London. The rest of us had to make do with the programme put together by the author of this post.

Wednesday

Czechs visit London and buy some colourful hats. Everyone else arrived at different times.

Thursday

Once settled in with their host families everyone began to relax a little and the programme got underway with some classroom observation for the visiting children, school tours for the adults, biscuits, tea, coffee and lunch for all. Some children were able to do relevant photography in the grounds of the school and everyone participated in a tree walk around the grounds. Computers were available for communication and for project work.

During the business meeting we decided upon dates and the programme for pen friends exchanges. We all exchanged posters, presentation books and gifts of all descriptions.

On Thursday evening we were treated to a lavish buffet party with each country supplying some entertainment. Everyone enjoyed the food and decorations and some may have enjoyed the entertainment (the author can't really comment since he missed the entertainment - too bad!).

Friday

On the Friday morning we visited Rushall Farm woods where we were given a quick demonstration of the art of thatching whilst the Black Barn was being given a new straw ridge. Inside the Black Barn we were able to see the old oak beams and supports for the roof. The tour of the woodland included a stop at a new hedgerow planting and the charcoal burning site. Unfortunately we were not able to see hazel hurdles being made.

Later in the day we visited the Living Rainforest Centre where we were able to get the feeling of a totally different type of forest and also practise our English skills.

In the evening the adults found solace in a communal pizza meal and visit to a local pub whilst the children were enjoying family life with their hosts.

Saturday

After a small impromptu international football match, somewhere in the Streatley area, we all gathered together for a trip to Oxford, stopping on the way at the Harcourt Arboretum to examine some fine conifer trees and having lunch at the nearby garden centre. At this point we were receiving text messages from friends of the Turkish party who were waiting to see them in Oxford. We finally found our way into the town along overcrowded pavements where we met up with the aforementioned 'texter'. Each country went its own way around the town for a couple of hours, visiting such attractions as Christ Church College and Cathedral (Harry Potter fans take note!), the indoor market, Primark and the Castle. The display of photographs at the Castle was all the more relevant to the Turkish group with a solemn reminder of the fragility of buildings in the grip of the most recent earthquake in that country.

Sunday

Sunday morning got off to a slow start with some people racing around organising departures and lunchtime arrangements whilst others were getting up late and doing things in traditional Sunday style. Eventually we were on the road to Windsor Castle (and shops as it turned out). The castle was still there, of course, but we were pushed around the State Rooms a little too quickly for comfort. The weather was a little depressing at this time and we were happy to get under cover near the shopping centre. Some groups found cover in the gift shops and others were more interested in their stomachs. The people studying the insides of British pubs were not disappointed as there was some waiting around to do.

That evening we said our farewells to the Czech team who had to return a little earlier than the rest.

Monday

Slovaks and Finns took their leave of us around the middle of the day whilst the Turks were doing heavy shopping in London.

Tuesday

The Turks left from Luton at 13:00

By the end of their stay most of the visiting children were beginning to open up and experiment more with their English. As I waved goodbye to the last of them and turned to go I was amazed to hear a loud "See ya!" hurled in my direction by a smiling Özlem (or was it Büşra?).

Back at school it seemed very empty and lacking colour. It is hard to come down from a high such as this meeting.

Link to Turkish blog

If you have not yet discovered the Turkish blog link in Fatih's profile then here it is for you all:

http://comeniustreesturkey.blogspot.com/

Finally our tree in Jablonné nad Orlicí has been planted!

On October 8th we managed to plant our symbolic Linden tree at last. About 120 children from 6th and 7th form took part and each of them got the opportunity to throw his chunk of soil filling the hole around the tree.

Since you are familiar with the digging process you will not be surprised by another treasure
revealed while planting. This time it was a vole which found its home in a pile of soil. As you can see in the photo, it became a friendly and sociable member of the ceremony immediately.


Beyond entertaining activities mentioned above, we had to focus on proper conditions for a good grow of the tree such as peat, water, poles and treetop tuning. The latter one is the most important for the root system.

Final photograph:)

Shifty weather spoilt our ceremony of planting but ...

On October 1^st we were planning to plant our national tree Linden.
Although the ceremony was prepared, our mayor was invited there was
still one thing to be done - to dig a hole. Children from the 6^th class did it on September 30^th

As we were going deeper into the ground of our school yard, we spotted a
....TREASURE!
Ok,ok, calm down...it was just a coin, nevertheless
it was not an ordinary coin and from our project point of view it had a special meaning for us.

Check it out....the lady on the heads is actually planting a linden.

At least one of us did his job, since we
were betrayed by our unpredictable Middle-Europe weather. Heavy rain
forced us to fall back into the school shelter and give up our planting
attempts.

To be continued.....we are going to plant the tree on Wednesday October 8th

St. Andrew's Tree Planting Ceremony

Today, at 11:15 a.m. we gathered round the hole which we had previously dug out of the clay. The bottom of the hole was filled with the turf which was removed when the hole was being dug. Bonemeal and some compost were then laid onto the turf before placing the tree into the hole.

The children from the 'Fifth Form' were invited to plant the tree together and they took it in turns to fill in the hole and to water it in.

Three short plastic pipes were drilled with holes and inserted around the roots of the tree. The rest of the hole was then filled with a mixture of compost and the original soil from the hole. Children used a metal weight on the end of a pole to tamp down the compost around the roots to anchor the tree firmly in its hole.





More bonemeal was sprinkled around the tree before a final layer of loose compost was placed on the top as a mulch to keep it weed free. Water was poured into the three pipes several times over to water right down to the base of the roots.

Finally we found a rabbit-guard from the woods and placed it around the trunk of the tree.

The tree is a 'Golden Beech' or Fagus sylvatica 'Zlatia'. The photographs show it in its autumn colours of yellow and brown.

Thanks to Mrs Snow for taking the photographs.