The activity took place in Seget Donji, from 5 to 9 November 2018, and had cultural trips and workshops on different themes related with Croatian UNESCO cultural heritage, famous scientists, culture monuments, traditions, folklore and food. At these activities participate 30 pupils and 10 teachers from partner schools.

We expect that every participant will have knowledge about the Croatian educational system and the curriculum related to the STEAM area targeted in this project and about the Croatian UNESCO cultural heritage.

The Croatian school welcomes us:

 

The program of activities at Osnovna Skola Kralja Zvonimira from Seget Donji: Schedule Croatia

Day 1
Monday 5th of November 2018
Last weekend all schools have arrived in Seget Donji! That means we are ready to start! In the morning we walk together to our first host, the Kralja Zvonimira school. At the enterency the flags of all our country’s and the big purple Erasmus flag are flauting in the wind and we directly feel very welcomed. Croatia, our host, has organised a beautiful welcome programme with a lot of kind words, the national anthem and some dance and live music presentations.

Then all the country’s are called up to the stage to receive some very nice presents. Also we get a t-shirt to wear this week so everybody will recognise us. Each country brought some plant and flowers which we plant together in the school garden, as a symbol for our new friendship. 

Then it’s lunchtime! The students eat together, like the teachers do as well. We really enjoy all the delicious food, even Christian who didn’t even like seafood before (now he does!). We get really spoiled with all the pasterys the parents from the students made for us. After lunch there are some workshops, which the students follow. In each group there is one student of each country. We learn a lot from the Croatian history and heritage. We follow workshops as making bookmarks, dry wall building, crime scene math, building stone houses, Glagolitic workshop and Trogir pad workshop. Slowly we see our students to make there first connection with each other! 

After the workshops there’s some time for the teachers to come together and look back on a very special, perfect first day, while the student play outside. Tomorrow we will meet each other again and we are looking forward to it!

‘Men must think and speak only goodness’
(This secret message which comes to us throughout the centuries can be very well used for a modern man as well)
Glagolitic workshop 

Day 2
Tuesday 6th of November
The second day of the international meeting was full of amazing experiences, contacts with nature, history and loud conversations. We gathered outside the school at 8:30 and set off on a trip to the Krka National Park. It’s a large beautiful place with numerous walking paths,waterfalls, bridges and breathtaking views. The weather was perfect – warm and sunny so we walked around and admired wonderful waterfalls, plants and landscapes.

We even visited the Ethno Village and got information about first hydro power plants, famous inventors and agricultural devices. In the meantime the groups of students had to face some mathematical problems. Luckily, despite initial language difficulties they did really well and quickly. Very smart teenagers!😃 Later we had some time to laze a little in the sun and then it was time to get ready for lunch. We ate it in a posh restaurant where we could taste delicious Croatian dishes. And those with a sweet tooth relished very good ice cream… 😉. After lunch we head for Sibenik-a lovely seaside town with UNESCO treasures. We saw a real UNESCO architectural masterpiece – St. Jacob’s Cathedral and walked along narrow winding streets and the beautiful coastline. The Polish team even found time to dabble in the sea for a while. The whole day was perfect – it included nature, history, cultural heritage and friendship – it seems that everybody overcame their shyness and started to socialise and cooperate really well.

Day 3
Wednesday 7th of November
Today we spent the morning in Trogir, an Unesco city close to Seget Donji.
Our students discovered this wonderful place through a sort of “treasure hunting”. Each group had to find clues in 13 different locations of the city solving math tasks related to this impressive cultural heritage. Then, in the main square, there was a very interesting show with the typical dances, Dalmatian songs and modern majorette dances of the students enjoyed ourselves. In this occasion, the local authorities gave us a very special and official welcome and the consols of our countries were presents as well. We had a very good organised lunch were we could even try each countries specialities!

Day 4
Thursday 8th of November
Today we spent learning more about the past of Croatian culture but also about the present. We began our day by going to Sinj to learn about the tournament like contest called Alka, inspired by the wars with the Ottoman Empire.  We learned about the fact that each member of the alka had its own place and role in the procession. At the end of the tour, the children tried to catch the alka sign. We have also seen the icon of the Miraculous Madonna of Sinj inside its church.

After this, we went to a Maritime museum, where we discovered a lot of new information about the Croatian presence in the nearby seas and land from ancient times up to the present. We have seen beautiful miniature ships and bits and pieces of naval engines and equipment. The other wing of the museum presented us with military equipment.  The children worked on a workshop, learning how to tie different types of sailor’s knots.

Finally, we went to Split and visited Diocletian’s palace, a very interesting historic site, maybe unique in the fact that people still live in the buildings that are within the palace’s walls. Passing by a sfynx, listening to a quartet of traditional Croatian singers, sightseeing Diocletian’s palace from the roof,  and rubbing the toe of Catholic bishop which is said to make wishes come true, all these made Split an experience we’ll hardly ever forget.

Day 5
Friday 9th of November
Today was the last day of our wonderful exchange. We spent the morning with the boys and girls separately: the girls played handball while the boys solved crime math tasks and then the boys played football, while the girls  solved the tasks. Then we had a really nice lunch all together. After lunch it was time to say goodbye.: we recieved our certifications and we thanked each other for the wonderfull week we spend in Seget Donji. We handed our flags over to Sicilia, Italy, where our next exchange will be. We are looking foreward to it!
Thank you Croatia, for all the good care and great organisation and we will see each other soon again!