Exchange Dénia (Spain) and Rotterdam (the Netherlands) Erasmus Project

Project Title

Exchange Dénia (Spain) and Rotterdam (the Netherlands)

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 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Ethics, religion and philosophy (incl. Inter-religious dialogue); Teaching and learning of foreign languages; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy

Project Summary

The project ‘Exchange Dénia (Spain) and Rotterdam (the Netherlands)’ is a two-year exchange program between Wartburg College, location Guido de Brès in Rotterdam (the Netherlands) and Colegio Alfy y Omega in Dénia (Spain). In both school years, 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, at least 12 students of each school will participate in the exchange program. These students are 14-15 years old. In both years of the program, the students of Wartburg College, location Guido de Brès, will go to Spain for a week in March or April. Approximately two months later, the Spanish students will go to the Netherlands, in the same week when a group of Romanian students will be there for an exchange with another group of students of Wartburg College, location Guido de Brès. Various preparatory meetings will be organized with the students. In addition, the students will conduct research in advance in e.g. the history and culture of the people whom the students will meet, by means of various preliminary assignments.

The exchange program has three main goals:
1. Improving the students’ level of English.
Because the students can only communicate with each other in English during the entire exchange program (orally during the educational exchange trips and mostly in writing during the preparations), their level of English will certainly increase. This is also clearly shown by previous results after exchange programs. So the exchange is an important step in the preparation for the Cambridge exams the students will take shortly after the exchange.
2. Developing a broader view of the world and a better European and international orientation.
This is the second ‘pillar’ of bilingual education and therefore an essential part of the curriculum. An exchange between a school in Western Europe and a school in Southern Europe, both with a completely different context, will of course deliver a very valuable contribution to this. Both before and during the educational trips attention will be paid to the history, culture and faith experience of the people the students will meet. Beforehand, the students will conduct research in these fields through various pre-assignments, the results of which will be recorded in the digital portfolio of the students. These subjects will also be discussed in the preparatory meetings with the students. During the journey, all this prior knowledge will be deepened by seeing the remains of history, experiencing the culture, meeting people at the partner school or elsewhere in the city. After the exchange, the students will reflect on their development in European and international orientation. This will also be recorded in their digital portfolio, which students present to their teachers at the end of the school year.
3. The students’ growth in ‘spiritual formation’.
During the entire exchange program, attention will be paid to the spiritual formation and citizenship education of the students. Faith will be deepened and the vision of the place in (international) society will be tightened up for students, so that they can participate in it fruitfully and constructively. The students will prepare conversations about faith, philosophy of life and participation in society and will reflect on this in conversations with each other and with the accompanying teachers, in a survey, in their digital portfolio and in the presentations they will give at the school year.

The educational exchange trips will consist of various components, including:
School visit and attending classes
Getting to know the other school, the education system, the way of contact between teacher and student and the subject content is of great importance for students to get to know each other’s culture.
Church service, bible study and morning devotions
The students will participate in church services in a church with a different background than their own church. They will also talk about their faith with other students at other moments. In this way, the students will learn to express their Christian identity and to compare it with that of the others.
Workshops and excursions
Various workshops and excursions will take place in all trips. In addition, several guest speakers will be invited in order to raise the level of the exchange.

In both schools, the participating students will share their experiences in their classes, but also the accompanying teachers of the exchange trips and the other colleagues involved in the exchange program will share their experiences in their teams. In this way, the internationalization achieved by this program will be disseminated in both schools, and the schools will develop a more international mindset. In addition, this exchange can hopefully serve as an example to set up other exchanges at Colegio Alfa y Omega, and contacts between the teachers involved in this exchange program and those involved in the other exchange program at Wartburg College, location Guido de Brès can certainly strengthen both exchange programs.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 50060 Eur

Project Coordinator

Wartburg College locatie Guido de Bres & Country: NL

Project Partners

• ALFA & OMEGA-DENIA GUARDERIA Y ENSEÑANZA SCLV