connecting classrooms: ena cluster - newsletter, n. 1 - english version
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Newsletter created in Connecting Classrooms ProjectTRANSCRIPT
same schools will meet in Tibães,
in an event organized by Escola
EB2,3 de Mosteiro e Cávado to
celebrate Multiculturalism.
In June we will try to pro-
mote a sports event, in Braga,
that will count on the population
participation, with the aim of
raising funds for a Solidarity Insti-
tution, the APPACDM. The CC
wants to stir people’s conscious-
ness and appeal to the impor-
tance of the solidarity value.
Let us wish that many students
from the ENA cluster arouse be-
fore the positive stir of con-
sciousnesses and lead their lives
by the solidarity, tolerance, and
inclusion values and respect for
the Human Rights.
This is the first number of a bi-
monthly Newsletter that wishes
to promote some actions that
have taken place or will take
place in a near future at ENA
cluster schools. We will be open
to the sending of suggestions by
Teresa Lacerda
The Connecting Classrooms is
a project promoted by the British
Council with the Portuguese sup-
port of the Education Bureau
through the General Directorate
of Innovation and Curriculum
Development, and the Portu-
guese Youth Institute, involving
twenty schools from European
countries. This partnership began
in 2010/2011.
The Portuguese partnership
has been developed with three
European countries: Greece,
Czech Republic and the United
Kingdom. There are two main
clusters: one in the north (ENA
Cluster) and another in the south
(OI Cluster).
The CC has been developed in
a curriculum context and it is
about the inclusion issue, appeal-
ing to the group work between
partners through the use of vir-
tual spaces provided by the Inter-
net. This year many actions will
take place in each school. How-
ever, some will occur simultane-
ously, at the Portuguese schools
from the ENA cluster with the
goal of having an important visi-
bility at school and in the Portu-
guese society, so that it can sen-
sitize the most people possible to
the importance of tolerance, mu-
tual respect, solidarity and re-
spect for human rights.
Having this in mind, three ac-
tions will take place on thirtieth
January- Connecting Classrooms
Day; on sixteenth March – Multi-
culturalism ―My world is as big as
what I know‖; and on eighth June
– ―We want to help!‖ (fund rais-
ing campaign for the APPACDM).
On thirtieth January 2012,
ENA cluster schools will dedicate
the day to the promotion of the
project and will join the School
Day of Non-Violence and Peace.
On sixteenth March, the
Presentation
The School Day of Non-violence and Peace
The School Day of Non-
violence and Peace has been celebrated worldwide since 1964 on January 30 and aims at calling attention for
the importance of a lifelong
education for non-violence and peace.
This year, the Portuguese
schools from the ENA
cluster have decided to
celebrate this day together with the schools of their part-
nership (Greece, Republic Czech and London).
[cont. page 2, 3]
Connecting Classrooms (CC)
January 2012
Volume 1, Edition 1,
English version
CC.ENA Cluster
Contents:
30th January 2
Open CC Day 2
Connecting cultures 4
CC Hymn 5
International Day of
Disabled People 5
News from Czech
Republic
7
A caring school 7
Math, Yes you can 8
Young leaders training—
October, © Cristina Santos
TwinSpace >>>>>
To start the opening day
―Connecting Classrooms‖, stu-
dents will sing and play a version
of the song ―Imagine‖ from John
Lennon along with a choir of
students from the 8th grades.
The school activities will stop for
about 25 minutes so that all the
school can partake in this activity
which will consist of an human
lace in the outdoor school space
constituted by all the participat-
ing students, school staff and
students from the unity of autists,
all dressed in white and green,
symbolizing peace and hope. We
will also launch white balloons
with messages inside referring to
peace, inclusion and cultural di-
versity in several languages and
with an email address for even-
tual answers.
Throughout the morning, images
under the theme ―We are the
Others‖, from the documentary
―Babies‖, will be broadcast on
the school LCDs. The report of
the events will be made by the
students from ―multimedia‖ and
by the School Newspaper
‖Impressões‖ promoted by stu-
dents from the 12th grade of
―Humanidades‖. The students
from ―Turismo‖ will make the
protocol of the day. We will
build a mural with the sentences
sent in the balloons and others
to be completed.
That day, a cinema cycle will be
started with themes related to
the Connecting theme ―We are
the Others‖ – films such as
―Gran Torino‖, ―Billy Elliot‖,
―Desert Flower‖, Water‖,
―Kandahar‖, ―Invictus‖ will be
presented for four weeks.
A Human Ribbon will be built-up,
in order to promote Non-
Violence and Peace at
schools, and bracelets, which
will identify the members of
―Connecting Classrooms‖ com-
munity, will be also delivered
among the CC members.
On ―Connecting Classrooms‖
Opening Day a promotional
video of the project will be
shown, as well as other works
done by students who belong to
ENA Cluster’s schools, during
the Teen Leaders’ training.
[>>>].
One of the main goals of the
project is the one of solidarity.
This is the reason why we will
p re s e n t t he AP PACD M
(Portuguese Association of Par-
ents and Friends of the Mental
Handicap Citizen), an institution
which ENA Cluster’s schools will
try to support, during this school
year.
The School Day of Non-violence and Peace / open CC day ...
… at Escola EB2,3 de Matosinhos...
… at Escola Secundária Carlos Amarante ...
At Carlos Amarante High
School, within the activities,
there will be a human chain all
around the whole school
building.
Also as part of the activities to
celebrate this day, the CC
launched a digital poster com-
petition to raise awareness in
the school community, and the
winners will be awarded. “Since wars begin
in the minds of
men, it is in the
minds of men that
the defenses of
peace must be
constructed”.
(Prologue of the UNESCO
Constitution )
Page 2
CC.ENA Cluster
… at Escola Secundária Dr. Joaquim Gomes Ferreira Alves ...
Exhibition room >>>>>
Tv GFA >>>>>
Radio GFA >>>>>
On 30th January teachers will
motivate students for the impor-
tance of our actions in order to
fight the ―Bullying‖ and ―Cyber
bullying‖ problems, which have
been spreading everywhere, as
well as for the need of every-
body’s cooperation in the resolu-
tion of this social illness. The
main purpose is to call every-
one’s attention for an active role
in order to defend the Human
Rights and to promote the Peace.
Thus, teachers will explore some
videos aboutBullying, Cyber Bul-
lying and Human Rights.
The School Community of Póvoa
de Lanhoso Secondary School
will get together joining those
who are likely to be victims of
school violence. To reach this
the School yard. Slogans and
thoughts against School Violence
will be shared. The ―Connecting
Classrooms’ Hymn [>>>] will
also be sung by the school com-
munity.
Ângela Pereira, ESCT
In Mosteiro and Cávado
Compulsory School a
recital of the poem ―If‖, by Rud-
yard Kipling, will be recited by
All day long, in Caldas das
Taipas Secondary
School’s entrance, informa-
tion about the project will be
shown through pictures and vid-
eos on the wall collected by the
Teen Leaders, in order to give
information related to Friendship,
Integration and Diversity in the
School Community.
A Human Heart of 100
students will be organized in
students. There will also be a
digital presentation about impor-
tant personalities worldwide who
were recognized by their struggle
for the Peace in the World. This
activity will take place in the
Students’ Room; an exhibition of
photos and brief biographies of
well-known personalities re-
searched by the students, will be
shown in the School Library; a
leaflet will be put in the teachers’
… at Escola Secundária da Póvoa de Lanhoso...
… na Escola Secundária de Caldas das Taipas … & … EB2,3 de Mosteiro e Cávado
intends to honour the victims of the
slaughter in Utoeya.
“We say no to fear,
We say no to violence,
In the silence you hear,
Hidden in each tear
Lies the power of tolerance!”
Fátima Veiga, EB23 Paranhos
Oslo, Norway, 22 July 2011 AFP - Two
attacks on Friday in the region of Oslo
shook Norway with the news of 87
killings, as the result of an action perpe-
trated by a right wing extremist against
the labour party. Witnesses of the
attack in the island of Utoeya revealed
that the aggressor - a man with Nordic
features and that spoke norwegian shot
against the victims, the majority of
which were youngsters (France Press).
The Human Lace in EB 2,3 Paranhos
“There is no way to
peace. Peace is the
way! ”
Mahatma Gandhi
Page 3
… at Escola EB2,3 de Paranhos ...
Volume 1, Ed it ion 1 , Engl i sh vers ion
Utoeya
books, so that they can ex-
plain the role of the project
―Connecting Classrooms‖ to
the several classes. The
main purpose of this
activity is to inform the
students about the impor-
tance of the project in the
development of well-formed,
active, critical citizens, as the
main agents for a better soci-
ety.
purpose, a big Human Ribbon will
be held in the open school yard in
order to call the attention of all the
members involved to the impor-
tance of being an active citizen to
build up a world of PEACE. A t-
shirt with the slogan ―I took the
anti-bullying pledge‖ will be given to
every school members who will get
together for the Human Ribbon. To
complete this activity, two groups
of students will play two perform-
ances with messages against School
Violence, as a manifesto. These t-
shirts will be delivered in the school
building .
The notion of six degrees of
separation between any two
people stems from a research
performed in the 1960s by
the American social psycholo-
gist Stanley Milgram. Six de-
grees of separation is the the-
ory that anyone on the planet
can be connected to any
other person on the planet
through a chain of acquaintan-
ces that has no more than five
intermediaries. According to
a study by Facebook and the
University of Milan, the aver-
age number of steps it takes
to link any two individuals on
the social network is 4.74.
Thus, we can conclude that
ICT, and particularly the so-
cial networks, are an effective
way to communicate with
other people, to share ideas,
to discuss different points of
view.
By using ICT to communicate,
Connecting Classrooms project
approximates students from
different schools both in Por-
tugal and in Europe. Different
pupils in a distant country can
share their work and experi-
ences by using, for example,
the TwinSpace platform or a
blog. That is what Esco-
laBásica do Cávado has done.
You can have a look at our
Christmas Campaign by con-
sulting our Blog:
http://
connecting-
cavado.blogspot.com/
Perhaps Stanley Milgram was
wrong… perhaps there is no
such thing as six degrees of
separation…if we work to-
gether nothing can or will
tear us apart…
Cristina Gonçalves,
Escola EB2,3 de Mosteiro e
Cávado
Connecting Classrooms: connecting cultures
“By using ICT to
communicate,
Connecting
Classrooms
project
approximates
students from
different schools
both in Portugal
and in Europe.”
Page 4
CC.ENA Cluster
Blog - EB2,3 do Cávado >>>>>>
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;
CHORUS
Think of things you want to do
Think of things that make you smile
And forget your troubles for a while
Here there’s so much to do
But you can have fun, too
Here you can take a break and chill out
Actually, we know this is what life is all about
(Chorus)
Here you can visit places
Try new things and see new faces
Working out mobility to restyle again society
Curbing down all prejudice refusing bullying and
cowardice
(Chorus)
Dive into diversity
Think of solidarity
The world is out there, so bright and so new
The world is waiting for me and for you.
CC Hymn composed by César Silva and song
lyrics by 10ºPDM & 10ºPCC 2010-11
IF [… share in EB2,3 de Mosteiro e Cávado]
Connecting Classrooms Hymn
Page 5
Volume 1, Ed it ion 1 , Engl i sh vers ion
Lecture on International Day of Disabled People On last December 2, 2011, a lecture entitled
"Terminology on Disability in the Era of Inclusion"
was held in the auditorium of our school as part of
the activities to celebrate the International Day of
Disabled People. This event allowed us to present
some CC's activities to be carried out during this
school year.
School day Among many other initiatives to celebrate our
school the Connecting Classrooms Project organ-
ised a "Cultural Display" – a stand of typical dishes
from different countries, language and literature,
folk music and dance. Students from different
countries attending classes in our school talked
about their places and traditions and discussed
multicultural sensitive issues in a round table de-
bate.
Adelina Moura, ESCA
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!
Rudyard Kipling
(30th December 1865 – 18 January 1936 / Bombay)
... Also at Escola Secundária Carlos Amarante
Along the first term,
under the project Connecting
Classrooms, the students
made poems (some turned
into songs) about the themes
―The Importance of the Lan-
guages among the People‖ and
―We are the Others‖, which will
be published on the school page.
What’s more, the students
of arts will contribute
with drawings for the
creation of an e-book.
The students of the 12th grade
have presented their research on
PowerPoint about Valadares,
Portuguese Language Varieties,
Portuguese Culture/ Gastronomy,
Portuguese around the World, Dif-
ferences between the British and
Portuguese culture, under the
theme ―Here We are‖, once we
are only starting the project this
year.Moreover, Students
from basic and secon-
dary education partici-
pated in a volunteering
initiative in aid of the 'Against
Hunger' / Food Bank campaign
and took photographs. The stu-
dents will make a report about
the event along with a video.
Furthermore, the students
f rom Pro f e s s io n a l
Courses organized a show to
raise funds for the volunteer
firefighters from Valadares. In
philosophy, under the theme
―We are the Others‖ and articu-
lating with the Project Workshop
of Ideas, the arts students from
the 10th and 11th grades illus-
trated sentences from other
students of the same grades
which were printed on book
marks. Some of these sentences
and illustrations will be previ-
ously impressed on T-shirts for
The School Day (GFA Day). There
were also expositions of stu-
dents’ works about cultural di-
versity and tolerance, again an
initiative from Philosophy. The
students of the elementary and
secondary educations partici-
pated in debates in Civic Educa-
tion about the theme Social De-
scrimination and Networks. We
registered the event with photo-
graphs of the students defending
their causes in a debate for the
project ―Youth Parliament‖. Our
school also went along with the
project ―Sala de Estudo‖ (Study
Room): after the classes sched-
ule, volunteer students from
10th, 11th and 12th grades are
helping students from 7th to 9th
grades with their homework and
school tests at the school library.
Along the second
term, we will organize our
online page for our stu-
dents’ works and news
of the project. Work-
shops from Espaço T and
a conference about mul-
ticulturalism are due to
take place. In philosophy and
in articulation with English, the
Human Rights will be translated
and debated. The works done by
the students will be published on
the school page. Within the
project Workshop of
Ideas, a contest with de-
bate and videos direction
about the Problems of the
Contemporary World and
We and Others: participation
and citizenship has already been
regulated. 12th grade students
from ―Áreas de Expressão‖ are
preparing a theatre play which
they will present, in St. Valen-
tine’s Day, to the users of the
institutions where they will do
their internship (mostly retire-
ment homes). The activity will be
opened to the community and
they will be selling love cookies.
The Environment theme will be
dealt with in English subject by
11th grade students with power-
point presentations and the or-
ganization of a study visit. The
11th graders from ―Técnicas La-
boratoriais‖ have organized a
visit to the local television/radio
where they will record a film/
podcast in English presenting
themselves and giving their opin-
ion about some social/human
problems. In history, agroup of
work of 8th graders will be
formed in order to recover local
estate ( water-mills, typical of the
place ).
On the School Day,
2nd March, we planned to pre-
pare panels with the themes of
the project and we are going to
propose the writing of a sen-
tence or a drawing to the stu-
dents who will visit us. The mural
will have a digital and global side,
the ―Multimedia‖ students will
photograph the outcome right
away and publish it on our mas-
terblog. The sentences written
by the visitor students will also
be published in our blog and
projected ―live‖. We are going to
ask the teachers of our visitor
schools to bring something about
their community as well: for
example, a photo of their folk-
lore, the activities of voluntary
organizations or collectivities, so
that we can publish them with a
subtitle on the so called global
space.
Helena Reis - Escola Secundária Dr.
Joaquim Gomes Ferreira (ESFGA)
Connecting Classrooms activities in ESFGA
“Um homem não
pode fazer o certo
numa área da vida,
enquanto está
ocupado a fazer o
errado em outra. A
vida é um todo
indivisível”.
Mahatma Gandhi
Page 6
CC.ENA Cluster
“Só engrandecemos o
nosso direito à vida
cumprindo o nosso
dever de cidadãos do
mundo”.
Mahatma Gandhi
The project "Uma Escola Solidária"
was designed jointly by the Department of
Humanities and Social Sciences and the Inte-
grated Mediation Team of the Escola Básica de
Matosinhos, with the help of social worker
Claudia Gomes.
This project was developed dur-
ing the Christmas season and aimed to
assist the poorest households in our area,
meaning those with the highest rate of
unemployment, poverty and social exclu-
sion. Thus, during a period of two weeks, we
proceeded to collect a large amount of food
that was later distributed to 44 families who
have expressed serious economic needs, taking
into account the number of factors that were
affecting each household.
It is important to mention that this
act of social solidarity has gone through several
phases before proceeding to the subsequent
development and delivery of parcels, to be
designated: identification of potentially needy
families by the teachers; appeal for contribu-
tions by the school community through the
designing of posters by the 7th grade classes;
promotion of a bazaar by the 9th grade classes;
and analysis and selection of the families that
would be helped by this project by the social
worker Claúdia Gomes.
In short, I must commend the efforts
of all those involved in fostering and imple-
menting this project, from students, teachers
and non-teaching staff who have worked hard
to make this action a success. In terms of
learning, the students who participated directly
in the development of this project had the
opportunity to develop skills such as sociability,
responsibility, solidarity, initiative, cooperation
and creativity.
Andreia Mendes
Escola EB2,3 de Matosinhos
EB2,3 de Matosinhos:
A caring school
Page 7
Volume 1, Ed it ion 1 , Engl i sh vers ion
News from…
...Czech Republic
Christmas workshop (12/2011)
The Chrudim Business Academy students (the Czech school
involved in the British Council project, Connecting Classrooms)
organized a Christmas workshop for the attendees of the Day Care
Centre “Jitrenka”. They made together Christmas cards and
Christmas decorations. BA students also invited their friends
to the café run by them in the practical project for the school
subject Enterprise.
Sports festival in Chrudim (10/2011)
In October students from the
Business Academy in Chrudim (the Czech Republic) together with
other students from four Czech schools involved in the British
Council project, Connecting Classrooms held a festival for
physically and mentally disabled attendees of the Day Care Centre
"Jitrenka" and the House of Social Services.
A group of English students from Churchill Community College
helped them with the preparations and organization. The festival was a
great success and all participants enjoyed it very much. We are all
looking forward to meeting again in autumn 2012.
The day before the festival the
Business Academy students together with the group of English
students visited “Jitrenka”. They watched a performance prepared
by its attendees and made together decorations out of clay and
weaved baskets.
Sarka Pudilova
Business Academy in Chrudim
Pictures—Escola EB2,3 de Matosinhos
Pictures—Business Academy in Chrudim, Czech Republic
Published by Escola Secundária da
Póvoa de Lanhoso
Rua da Misericórdia
4830-503 Póvoa de Lanhoso
Telef: 253 633 338
British Council - Porto
Rua do Breiner, 155
4050-126 Porto
Telef: 222 073 060
This edition had the collaboration of all ENA Cluster’s Schools.
Connecting Classrooms ENA Cluster
Sophia de Mello Breyner
“In the great
battles of life, the
first step to victory
is the desire to
win”
Mahatma Gandhi
DGIDC - Ministério da Educação
Av. 24 de Julho, 140
1399-025 Lisboa
Telef: 21 393 45 00
SIBYLS
Sibyls inside adamantine caves,
Totally loveless and blind.
Feeding emptiness like a sacred fire
While shadow dissolves night and day
Into the same light of bodiless horror.
Bring out here that monstrous dew
Of interior nights, the sweat
Of powers tied to themselves
When words strike the walls
In blind swoops of trapped birds
And the horror of having wings
Screeches like a clock in the void. © Translation: 2004, Richard Zenith
Reading suggestions: Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen
by Rosa Sousa, Escola Secundária da Póvoa de Lanhoso
Acknowledgements:
Andreia Mendes, Cristina Gon-
çalves, Conceição Ribas, Dulce
Ventura, Fátima Veiga, Helena
Reis, Isabel Friande & Manuela
Lourenço.
(Thanks for helping in translation)