Icelandic Week in Poland

After priceless experience in Iceland we decided to try something really challenging for our big school. We have chosen 11 pupils of different age to form a special class for the purposes of  the project. 
Basia - our most valuable teacher, experienced in various schools around the world, took charge of the class. 
She prepared  special classroom materials for the group - so that it could serve 7 years old as well as 12 years old children. Using national symbols of Iceland all of the children were searching for information on the Internet and within object supplied for them from Iceland. Older children did writing reports about the origin of the symbols, gave description of most interesting and rear  natural phenomena. All pupils displayed charts summarizing their work in the school library.


Basia sais- I was surprised how well the group cooperated. When I compare it to standard class, it was more difficult for me to design such activities. They must involve all the pupils at the same time. I cannot imagine teaching writing 7 years old and 12 years old in one class, it’s so different.

Filip  10 years  – we had to help the younger pupils
 (Filip is helping a younger girl )
David 10 years – The older girls helped us – that was great. ( David is being helped by an older girl) I liked the silence as well. There were so few pupils.
Kinga 12 years- That was strange not to wear shoes at school, but we got used to it. 

After classroom work the experimental class went out to play Kubbspel. The team emerged naturally and the game caused great excitement within the players us well as the spectators. 

In Gosia’s third class they were learning very useful Icelandic craft – knitting. The effects are quite interesting and the authors are very proud of them!

During Icelandic week we practiced a very special sport-  Glima . The hardest part was to obtain the special equipment , but Ania was able to supply it against all odds.
Class 4 C - We love Glima. It's a great opportunity to get rid of stress  :) 

Icelandic Week in Wales

To celebrate the closer links between our countries we shared with the children our lovely experiences in Iceland. We chose to focus on ideas of recycling and reusing materials in our creative work, to keep our outdoor shoes for outdoors and to gather as 'family groups', where children of all ages have opportunity to meet, worship and chat together. Children have thoroughly enjoyed the experiences and look forward learning more about pedagogy in Poland.

Trip to Iceland 11 - 14 April 2011

On Monday 11 April Mrs Scaife and Mrs Griffiths left school late in the afternoon and travelled to Newcastle Airport. The flight was delayed and consequently they had to run from Terminal 5 to Terminal 1 to catch the flight with minutes to spare to Reykjavik.

Tuesday 12 April 2011
They arrived in Reykjavik at 2am and together with all the staff of Wales they had three hours sleep ready to catch the bus to the Domestic City Airport to catch the flight to Akureyi. We then transferred to a tiny aeroplane which took everyone in two groups to Thorshofn. The flight was a very interesting experience and the scenery was amazing looking down on the glaciers and the sun rising over the mountains.

Daniel met us at the airport and took us into the town. Here there was one food market, a very small gas shop, a bar-restaurant and a liquor shop.

We settled into a hostel and the farmer showed us how he uses shepherd’s dog to round up the sheep on his farm.

We all had a wonderful dinner that night of lamb soup, potatoes and swede cooked by the farmer’s wife.

Wednesday 13th April 2011
After a big Icelandic breakfast we all went to Svalbardsskola to meet the nine children who go to the school – eight boys and one girl.

The school is very isolated surrounded by snow capped mountains and looking towards the sea.

We met the teachers and the school cook and looked around this lovely school. We walked to the little church and went inside. It was very quaint and beautifully kept. One of the teachers from Wales played a hymn on the old pump organ.

After lunch we visited a sheep farm and saw hundreds of sheep ready to give birth next month. It is late lambing in Iceland because they have to wait for the grass to grow after the heavy snowfall in winter.

We then went on to see how Icelandic horses are trained to round up the sheep in this very rough terrain. They do not use quad bikes because it damages the land.

After that we went on to the swimming pool to have a swim and a hot shower to try and get rid of the ‘sheep smell’!

After a hearty meal of salted cod, mashed potatoes, cod’s roe and salad we all slept very soundly.

Thursday 14th April 2011
After breakfast we all went to visit three schools in Thorshofn: a kindergarten for 1-5 year olds, a primary school for 6-16 year olds and a high school for 16+.

It was all very interesting and we learned a lot about Icelandic pedagogy from both the staff and the children.

After lunch we went on to Svalbardsskoli and celebrated the arrival of summer )a little early!) by playing Viking games outside in the gale force winds!

We then enjoyed Icelandic hospitality from the children, parents and staff.

We ate a wonderful meal of roast lamb, potatoes and vegetables. We were then treated to traditional folk dancing. A fantastic ending to our first Icelandic experience.