Find your Finnish (French) Friend Erasmus Project

Project Title

Find your Finnish (French) Friend

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: Teaching and learning of foreign languages; Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage; Creativity and culture

Project Summary

The partnership between the “Lycée Franco Finlandais d’Helsinki” and the “Institution Saint Joseph Carnoles” was established in 2015. The exchange project between the two 5th forms (CM2) of each school in 2019-2020 will take place within the framework of this partnership. This project encompasses a correspondence between the children over the whole school year as well as two school trips, one to France for the Finnish children and one to Finland for the French children.

56 French children and 47 Finnish children, adding up to 103 children, will be involved in the project. The headmasters will pay special attention to the involvement of the whole school community in the project. The children will be more especially supervised by their form teachers, two French teachers and four Finnish teachers, since the Lycée Franco-Finlandais is a bilingual school, which means that there are two teachers in each form.

There are many objectives to this project, more especially the strengthening of the partnership between the two schools, the reinforcement of the feeling of European belonging in both schools communities, the enhancement of cultural discovery, the emphasis on accepting differences and keeping an open mind, the discovery of new teaching methods, especially as far as bilingual teaching and use of digital technologies are concerned. The French school is also entering a reflexive process that should lead to the construction of new school buildings. The French teachers are therefore especially interested in observing how the architecture of the Finnish school impacts synergies between publics.

The children who will take part in the project are currently in 4th form (CM1) and they have begun to study Finnish / French culture with their teachers.

In September 2019, the teachers will pair the children, taking into account their tastes, personalities and habits. Individuals and collective correspondance will then begin. The children will send each other emails, photos, slide shows and films. Videoconferences will also be frequently organized by the teachers. Each school will share the highlights of its school year, more especially whenever the children will take part in cultural or festive events. The teachers will share authentic documents they’ll be able to use to enrich their lessons on langage and culture.

In February, a trip to Finland will be organized for the French children who will stay with their Finnish penpals. They will also spend two days in an open air activities center, at Iloranta, next to a frozen lake. The trip is to include teaching periods at the Finnish school, cultural and patrimonial observations, quality time with the penpal families, sport and cultural activities as well as festive events.

In the spring, a similar trip to France will be organized for the Finnish children.

It has been agreed between the two schools that the Finnish school will pay for the activities that will take place in Finland, and that the French school will pay for the activities that will take place in France.

Both headteachers will organize regular meetings to accompany the implementation of the project, with the whole school community as well as with the organizational team. They will take especial care to involve the children’s parents in the project : fund raising activities to finance the journeys, reception of their children’s penpals, attendance of informative and festive meetings, help with schools trips and activities.

This project is expected to have an important impact on the collaboration between both schools. It should be followed by a study trip to Finland for the French teachers the following year. Others impacts should include the reinforcement of the felling of European belonging in both schools communities, the enhancing of the international profile of both schools, the enhancing of children and teachers implication ans skills. Evaluation grids have been written to help analyse the impacts of the project.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 27840 Eur

Project Coordinator

OGEC Institution Saint Joseph & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Helsingin ranskalais-suomalainen koulu