European Students Baked Ginger Biscuits

27 students from Europe visited Lidingö on an exchange project.

27 students from five different countries in the EU have visited Högsätra School to build bridges. Greece, Italy, Germany, Romania, Poland and Sweden all have something in common – they are all part of the European Union and they all take part in a Comenius Project. Last week 27 students from these countries visited Högsätra School.

“The main aim is to make everybody speak English with each other. Part of the project is also that the students and teachers learn about the different cultures and traditions”, says Vilhelm Hofman-Bang, headmaster of Högsätra School.

The students arrived last Sunday and they have been staying with host families in Lidingö. The twelve teachers and headmasters who have taken part in the project have stayed at a hostel at Gärdet.

Last Friday everybody went back home, and then they had tried playing music together and baking traditional Swedish ginger biscuits.

“Four to six students from each country travel each time. This spring we are going to Poland”, says Vilhelm Hofman-Bang.

The students at Högsätra School write a letter of application, telling why they think that they should travel. The selection is based on the students’ letters. In between the trips the students communicate with each other through a web platform called “E-Twinning”.

According to Vilhelm Hofman-Bang the project takes a lot of work and effort.

“It’s about content and where to go. There are also cultural differences when it comes to expectations of what to do during this project”, says he.

Text to the picture:

Anna Hirsz and Wiktoria Kania from Poland and George Filippidis from Greece had a go at a typical Swedish December activity.

Comenius

Comenius is part of a program for life long learning aimed at schools from pre-schools to upper secondary schools.

The projects that are supported through Comenius are aimed at helping to improve the quality of teaching, promote mobility and learning of languages and strengthen the European dimension in education.  

The 27 members in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as well as Turkey, Croatia and Switzerland are part of the program.