MEETING IN UK

Whitehouse Common Primary School welcomed visitors from Spain and Austria from 9th to 13th March, 2020. Unfortunately due to restrictions imposed by their respective Ministries of Education against the Coronavirus outbreak, participants from 10thSchool of Elefsina, Greece and Bahattin OzyaziciIlkokulu, Istanbul,Turkey were unable to attend the meeting at the last minute. However, pupils and staff were able to speak to participants in England via Skype. They learned how to play a culture game created by pupils at Whitehouse Common, and also shared their respective pages of a collaborative dictionary in five languages, created by pupils from each of the five participating schools.

Sunday, 8^th MARCH

Transportation and accommodation of the guests partners

MEETING IN UK

MONday, 9^th MARCH

Day 1- Guests were welcomed with flags, bunting and gifts. There were two welcome assemblies (one for the younger children aged 3-7 and one for the 7-11 year olds) attended by our local MP as well as the Mayor of Sutton Coldfield and our school governors. These assemblies included songs, poems and dances from the children as well as a rendition of the Hello song, and a special song written for the occasion by a member of staff. There was a tour of the school and visitors met the children. A planned workshop from a volunteer at the historical local water mill had to cancelled due to illness but this was replaced by a visit to Sutton Park and Nature reserve to learn about the history of the area.

MEETING IN UK

TUESDAY, 10^th MARCH

Day 2 started with a Skype call to Greece. This was followed by visits to Year 2 and Year 6 to find out about their work on London landmarks and their visit to Howtown respectively. Mrs Allen also explained the English education system, especially how the primary curriculum works. In the afternoon, there was a visit to New Hall Hotel to find out about the history of the building and its importance in the area followed by a very English afternoon tea!

MEETING IN UK

WEDNESDAY, 11^th MARCH

Day 3 was supposed to start with a Skype call to our Turkish partner but unfortunately that was not possible so we went straight to 3CC to explain then play the culture game that we'd devised called Guess Who? (Important Britons). Year 4 and Year 1 then learned about Austrian and Spanish culture before our visitors went with Señora Stevens to the Black Country Museum. There, they were taken back in time to find out what life was like over a hundred years ago including playing with traditional toys and going to school where some of our visitors ended up in trouble with the teacher! After traditional fish and chips for lunch, the day ended with another British favourite - a curry!

MEETING IN UK

THURSDAY, 12^th MARCH

Day 4 began with dancing for both Reception and Year 3. Reception enjoyed singing and dancing with our Austrian friends whilst Year 3 found out about Don Quijote and danced La Macarena. The rest of the day was spent in Birmingham, initially at a reception with the Lord Mayor of Birmingham Councillor Mohammed Azim who welcomed our project for showing the importance of collaboration and appreciating others' cultures. A tour of the Council House followed with everyone having a go at being the leader of the chamber and ringing the 'Order!' bell as well as marvelling at the beauty and splendour of the surroundings. After lunch in the BMAG, our guests went off exploring on their own before meeting for dinner by the canal, another important part of our Birmingham heritage.

MEETING IN UK

FRIDAY, 13^th MARCH

Day 5, the final day of our Let's Go Cultural! transnational meeting began with our visitors in Years 2 and 5. Year 2 worked with Lola, Esperanza and Rocío to learn about the rooms in the house in Spanish before dancing the (by now famous across the whole school!) Macarena. Year 5 found out about important places of cultural interest in Austria with Sylvia, Manuela and Janine, making fact files to show their learning. After a quick break, our visitors walked with Year 4 to Holy Trinity Parish Church where they were treated to a range of activities linked to Bishop Vesey, an important man in the history of our town. They had fun, dressing up as people might have dressed in Bishop Vesey's time, exploring the pews, gallery and other features of the church, looking at the exterior and imagining what life was like in his day, and also visiting the part of the church where he is buried. Back to school for Pizza Friday and then a quick meeting to discuss the week; a great success in spite of all the complications and circumstances.

In the afternoon, it was back to the Acorns Hall for a farewell assembly with the younger children who reflected on their learning and presented our visitors with cards before sending them off to the Oaks Hall with enthusiastic singing of the Hello song accompanied by passionate flagwaving! In the Oaks, the older children were ready with their own reflections on the week as well as another rendition of the Hello song complete with glockenspiel accompaniment by 6AB, and also our special Million Dreams at Whitehouse Common song written by Mrs Duckers.

And there the week finished with banners, flags and smiles, and the hope that we will meet again in the future in Austria, possibly not in October 2020 as planned but as soon as possible!