the Bridge
Falling for Slovenia
Its back to the future, the circle has turned and our final meeting returned to Slovenia. Once again a fabulous programme was laid out for the partnership and our Slovenian hosts left us with precious memories. During the week an important multiplier event was staged but it was the students who took centre stage. Whether it was the artistic creativity of our logo designers, the musical talent of our young performers, the silky skills of our sportsmen or the spirit of love and optimism that radiated fromour young people, this was a week that belonged to the young.
The week got off to a running start literally. As students working in multinational teams competed in a range of ice breaking activites.
The Legend of Europa
After sweating in the gym our students worked together in the classroom building intellectual Bridges between themselves Their task was to articulate what Europe meant to them.
Sightseeing
The students spent a full day in school, those who thought the Erasmus meeting was a "holiday", were going to be disappointed, but after school the visitors finally had the opportunity to see what treasures Slovenia had to show the visitor and the first visit was to the Škocjan Caves, it was like a scene from Lord of the Rings.
Day 2
The second day combined art and social awareness, Students had collected gifts and toys for a charity for underprivileged children, these gifts are put into a shoe box. Students from all partner countries filled the boxes, and decorated them with art work representing the project and the home countries of each partner. The young people constructed a 3D Logo for the project and all the work was presented in the town shopping centre
The Map at the heart of this logo shows the countries involved in this project,
More Caves
Which are better? the caves of Postojna or the caves of Skocjan? well both are beautiful, both are special but as to which are better, the jury is still out, but today, after school our students had the chance to make up their own minds
In addition to visiting the Postojna, the students visited the Predjama Castle a Renaissance castle built within a cave mouth
Day 3
In preparation for the third day, the students prepared discussion documents to be presented at the Slovenian National Parliament in Ljubljana. The session was opened by the speaker of the Slovenian Parliament and our students heard presentations from the High Commisioner for the Slovenian delegation at the European parliament, the deputy minister of Education and the ambassadors of the UK, Spain, Norway and Italy/ This was followed by committee sessions where our young people presented their vision of how the future should look.
The parliamentary session finished with a release of doves outside the parliament and a tour of Ljubljana. In the afternoon students visited Lake Bled
Day 4 Football on a mountain top
Velika planina is the site of one of Europe's few surviving high mountain herdsmen's villages where traditional Alpine herdsmen's culture is still alive. This scenic high mountain plateau, part of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps, is famous for its stunning natural beauty. Its landscape, characterized by vast pastures and numerous karst phenomena such as dolines and hollows, is criss-crossed with an extensive network of hiking routes.
Our students reached Velika planina by aerial cable car and chair lift. On top of the mountain, the English boys and the Norwegian girls arranged a football match. It was an interesting pitch, not exactly flat and a lake in the dead ball area
Day 5
Our final day in Pivka included a music and dance programme, a buffet and final goodbyes. By the time school finished and the students returned to their homes, the minibuses arrived to take guests to the airports.
The British team who were not due to fly until the following visited the seaside and were taken bowling by our Slovenian hosts