Comenius project all adds up for St Malachy’s pupils

The aim of the project is to broaden pupils’ knowledge of other European partner countries, establish friendships and respect the similarities and differences between countries.

The project also hopes to enhance and further develop communication, interpersonal, mathematical and ICT skills amongst our pupils.

The project started last September 2011 and will run until July 2013.

St Malachy’s partner schools are Grundschule Marbach in Germany whose principal is Wolfgang Roslin and Alleskollan, Lomma, whose principal is Marie-Christine Cronholm.

So far the Coleraine pupils have produced a photograph of themselves on a “Number One” template and shared this information with other pupils in their partner schools, produce a DVD/Powerpoint about a day in the life of our own schools and enjoyed e-mail and video-conference with staff in each school to share teaching methods.

Tony Fisher, St Malachy’s principal told the Times: “Our teachers will also have the opportunity to visit partner schools and see at first hand the education systems in the respective countries. This has broadened our knowledge and enabled us to learn from each other’s systems.

“During this visit our colleagues from Germany and Sweden will be able to experience the high quality learning experiences provided for children in Northern Ireland. They will also be able to visit many of the world-renowned tourist sites in our local area. The visit will last from Sunday through to Thursday.

“Throughout the remainder of the project, children will engage in a wide range of purposeful activities which will involve them in different modes of mathematical learning, including playing, exploring and investigating, doing and observing, talking and listening, asking questions, reflecting, drafting, reading and recording.”