Monday
The day started in our hotel where Joke came to coach us to the train station. There we met the English group and started our train trip to Puurs with one change at Mechelen station. Short walk from the Puurs train station to the Campus Hof-ten-Berglaan, Sjabi School, was a good start for the day to cme. The headmaster Luc Bosman wished us welcome. Nice coffee was waiting us and we started working. We learnt to know each other, learnt the school system of Belgium and figured our project and decided some practical ways to do things. The lunch was served to the whole group in the school sport hall; the decoration was lovely. White table clothes, flowers and nuts on the tables made the space look like a first class restaurant. The pupils of the school were responsible for the lunch. The table discussions were lively and the three course lunch was tasty. Marleen Clissen, our coordinator was a wonderful chairman and she kept us working well.
The day started in our hotel where Joke came to coach us to the train station. There we met the English group and started our train trip to Puurs with one change at Mechelen station. Short walk from the Puurs train station to the Campus Hof-ten-Berglaan, Sjabi School, was a good start for the day to cme. The headmaster Luc Bosman wished us welcome. Nice coffee was waiting us and we started working. We learnt to know each other, learnt the school system of Belgium and figured our project and decided some practical ways to do things. The lunch was served to the whole group in the school sport hall; the decoration was lovely. White table clothes, flowers and nuts on the tables made the space look like a first class restaurant. The pupils of the school were responsible for the lunch. The table discussions were lively and the three course lunch was tasty. Marleen Clissen, our coordinator was a wonderful chairman and she kept us working well.
After lunch we started buddy group workshops where we planned our work in order to get tools for the box. Our cooperation with the UK group started right away. We decided to use ACP connection to keep in touch. After we all had shared our plans with all buddy groups we had the opportunity to go around the school and see the way how they work with young people. What we want to take back home is the idea of a silent corner in the school garden. After the long and busy working day we had a dinner at Parc Puurs. We caught the eight o´clock train back to Brussels.
It was a fascinating process which happened during the day: in the morning we did not know each other and in the end of the day we were able to work together, decide our targets, talk about the meanings of words and cross the cultural differences we had. We have a project Together is better - a toolbox to build a school for all.
It was a fascinating process which happened during the day: in the morning we did not know each other and in the end of the day we were able to work together, decide our targets, talk about the meanings of words and cross the cultural differences we had. We have a project Together is better - a toolbox to build a school for all.
Tuesday
Today we met the Slovenia group of four persons in our hotel. We headed together again to the Central train station of Brussels and found our way to Puurs. The working started with Kimmo´s presentation about the drop box and the website he had created for the project. We made decisions considering drop box, newsletter (six times), Facebook, website and eTwinning.
The presentations we gave were about our local internal and external project teams and possible relational projects. It is obvious that this project includes a huge amount of people and that the dissemination will be done properly.
The school visit to Sint-Jan Berchmansinstituut in Puurs showed to us how a secondary mainstream school works. The following good practices from this school are worth of sharing: The new pupils get good information about the care they can have. They also make a contract for their behavior and get a passport for that. The school year starts with a three day trip when the pupils have an opportunity to learn to know each other. If the pupils are sick they can get four hours temporary education at home. Parents’ evenings are organized. The tasks of the pupils are differentiated also for the gifted students.
In the end of the day psychologist Joke told us about the care ideology and the steps of care continuum.
When considering the special needs we have to think about the needs on pupils, teachers and parents. In Belgium there is an attempt to bring the special educational support from the special schools to mainstream schools. The idea of help desk is worth of thinking.
Then we headed to Antwerp by train. The city tour in Antwerp gave to all of us a good opportunity to networking and discussions together.
Today we met the Slovenia group of four persons in our hotel. We headed together again to the Central train station of Brussels and found our way to Puurs. The working started with Kimmo´s presentation about the drop box and the website he had created for the project. We made decisions considering drop box, newsletter (six times), Facebook, website and eTwinning.
The presentations we gave were about our local internal and external project teams and possible relational projects. It is obvious that this project includes a huge amount of people and that the dissemination will be done properly.
The school visit to Sint-Jan Berchmansinstituut in Puurs showed to us how a secondary mainstream school works. The following good practices from this school are worth of sharing: The new pupils get good information about the care they can have. They also make a contract for their behavior and get a passport for that. The school year starts with a three day trip when the pupils have an opportunity to learn to know each other. If the pupils are sick they can get four hours temporary education at home. Parents’ evenings are organized. The tasks of the pupils are differentiated also for the gifted students.
In the end of the day psychologist Joke told us about the care ideology and the steps of care continuum.
When considering the special needs we have to think about the needs on pupils, teachers and parents. In Belgium there is an attempt to bring the special educational support from the special schools to mainstream schools. The idea of help desk is worth of thinking.
Then we headed to Antwerp by train. The city tour in Antwerp gave to all of us a good opportunity to networking and discussions together.
Wednesday
To start our day we walked from our hotel to the office of VSKO organization. On our way we saw art deco architecture, beautiful buildings and a horse guard waiting for new diplomats. In the beginning of the working we concentrated on eTwinning. We also had the opportunity to work in the buddy teams. The drop box created for this project is already working. We decided to use our website, drop box and eTwinning for this project.
We learnt about the VSKO organization and discussed about the different support systems and the language we use when we talk about children with special needs. Www.european-agency.org is a website which provides the European ideas about the education. There was a discussion about the evaluation and Mrs Karine Van Thienen is an important person in the evaluating process of this project. We agreed to evaluate also our meetings by using a questionnaire. We also get a participation certification of each meeting. After evaluating the forms and many other issues Marlene gave us a lecture about Universal Design for Learning, UDL.
Diversity is one of the great challenges the teachers meet every day. Different needs, interests, ways of learning are present on every lesson. The origin of UDL is in architecture and about 20 years ago it was taken to education. UDL means access for all pupils and it needs good planning to find multiple ways to engage all pupils. What, how and why do they have to learn and how can they show what they have learnt are important questions.
It was time to end the day. VSKO gave us a nice opportunity to talk to each other during a reception and we did not forget to take a picture. The walk in Brussels taught us a lot about the history of the city and whole Europe; and again the networking was in a good process. What I also found interesting during these city tours was the opportunity to share our expertise. I´m convinced that our pupils get a huge advantage from that. During the dinner the discussions were lively. It was then time to say goodbye. We know now what to do for the toolbox.
Our project has now got a good start. The meeting was a real kick off. We have to thank you Marleen and the Belgium team for all arrangements. The opportunity to meet colleagues from different European countries offered us an opportunity to benchmark our Finnish compulsory education system. Our school system gives good possibilities to develop our school a real school for all. What we have to do is to find proper ways to give the best possible support to pupils who need it.
To start our day we walked from our hotel to the office of VSKO organization. On our way we saw art deco architecture, beautiful buildings and a horse guard waiting for new diplomats. In the beginning of the working we concentrated on eTwinning. We also had the opportunity to work in the buddy teams. The drop box created for this project is already working. We decided to use our website, drop box and eTwinning for this project.
We learnt about the VSKO organization and discussed about the different support systems and the language we use when we talk about children with special needs. Www.european-agency.org is a website which provides the European ideas about the education. There was a discussion about the evaluation and Mrs Karine Van Thienen is an important person in the evaluating process of this project. We agreed to evaluate also our meetings by using a questionnaire. We also get a participation certification of each meeting. After evaluating the forms and many other issues Marlene gave us a lecture about Universal Design for Learning, UDL.
Diversity is one of the great challenges the teachers meet every day. Different needs, interests, ways of learning are present on every lesson. The origin of UDL is in architecture and about 20 years ago it was taken to education. UDL means access for all pupils and it needs good planning to find multiple ways to engage all pupils. What, how and why do they have to learn and how can they show what they have learnt are important questions.
It was time to end the day. VSKO gave us a nice opportunity to talk to each other during a reception and we did not forget to take a picture. The walk in Brussels taught us a lot about the history of the city and whole Europe; and again the networking was in a good process. What I also found interesting during these city tours was the opportunity to share our expertise. I´m convinced that our pupils get a huge advantage from that. During the dinner the discussions were lively. It was then time to say goodbye. We know now what to do for the toolbox.
Our project has now got a good start. The meeting was a real kick off. We have to thank you Marleen and the Belgium team for all arrangements. The opportunity to meet colleagues from different European countries offered us an opportunity to benchmark our Finnish compulsory education system. Our school system gives good possibilities to develop our school a real school for all. What we have to do is to find proper ways to give the best possible support to pupils who need it.