Friends Across Borders Erasmus Project

Project Title

Friends Across Borders

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Environment and climate change; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Teaching and learning of foreign languages

Project Summary

We developed a partnership with the Canisiusschule as our vision in respect to internationalisation strongly agrees. The choice for this school was made after several visitations, and many discussions between our schools in the Netherlands and Germany. This exchange program has been running for 15 years. Over the last seven years two other primary school from The Netherlands also participate in the exchange program. All four schools involved have extensive experience in the field of internationalization. In the ‘Project summary’ chapter we further explain how we wish to work together in the Friends Across Borders project.

During the two-year project, we provide a varied program. Firstly, it is important that all participants apply and improve their English language skills. Secondly, it is important that the participants become acquainted with the culture in the host country and work together on citizenship education.

Concrete goals that all participating schools pursue in this exchange program:
1. Improving English language skills
2. Increasing self-confidence
3. Get to know the neighboring country (a different culture)
4. Increasing self-reliance by staying with a host family
5. Citizenship education (with specific attention to human rights, environment and sustainability, media and critical thinking and, last but not least, history and culture)
6. Teachers learn more about lesson systems abroad and share their experiences

We want to achieve these goals through the program that we put together, through close consultation between the different partners. After each activity, we will evaluate each other and adjust where necessary. Writing, listening and speaking skills are central to improving English language skills. The pupils communicate with each other via the Twinspace and Skype for the exchange. The official language is English during the exchange.

This year, eTwinning is all about “Democratic Participation”. We would like to work on this subject within our exchange project. The teachers involved will divide these topics among themselves, design and prepare lessons in English and actually give them to their own students. These lesson plans and any connected materials are shared, so all subjects are taught similarly at all schools. All pupils share their presentations with each other through the Twinspace of eTwinning.

In addition to introducing students to an educational system abroad, the teachers involved will also do this. The teachers will see their foreign collegues work in their own environment during the exchange and they will share the so-called Good Practices with each other. These good examples can, once back at their own school, be exchanged with the rest of the teachers within the schools. In this way, colleagues who do not participate in the exchange also get a good picture of the exchange and will benefit from the knowledge acquired at the partner school.

Because both schools are located near famous cities, we visit Münster in Germany and Utrecht in the Netherlands. Through the structure of the program, we introduce the children to a different culture and a foreign teaching system.

Thanks to the many years of cooperation between the schools, we are well attuned to each other and the lines of communication are short. With the above approach we have been able to achieve our set goals for a number of years. In the same way, we want to achieve our goals again next year.

Project Website

https://twinspace.etwinning.net/100167/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 30000 Eur

Project Coordinator

Openbare Basisschool de Veldrakker & Country: NL

Project Partners

• Bischöfliche Canisiusschule
• OBS De Toonladder Galecop
• OBS de Krullevaar