Thursday 25th
February 2016
The
workshop began with a brief and simple reception of the European partners at
the School, after which we left for Monfragüe National Park. The visit to the
park was held the first day for organizational reasons imposed by the park
authority.
In Villarreal
de San Carlos, after a walk around, we visited the museum where a guide
explained the different ecosystems, the park's biodiversity, climate and other
environmental details necessary to understand the richness of this natural
space.
Then we
moved to the place known as 'The Fountain of the Frenchman' and from there we
began our way up to the castle, along “The Shady Path”, accompanied by a park
guide who gave us interesting facts about the fauna and flora of the area.
Once we
reached the castle we had a little rest and we could enjoy the spectacular
views and stunning flight maneuvers that the numerous vultures offered. Then,
we began the way down along the Sunny Side of the mountain, which took us to
the bus and then to the River “Tajo” near the place known as The jump of the
Gipsy 'Salto del Gitano' from where with ground-based telescopes equipment from
the park and the invaluable help of the guides could observe black storks,
vultures and hawks among other birds that inhabit the park.
At this
point we ended our visit to the park and set out for the Natural Monument of
the Barruecos where we could appreciate the amazing landscape of granite
boulders and visit the 'Museum Vostel Malpartida'.
This visit
gave us the chance to admire not only the work of this outstanding artist of
German origin who lived in Extremadura, but also that of other artists of the
Fluxus group to which he belonged. The interest lies not just in the content of
the museum, but also in the building where the art collections are housed today.
This building in the best times of transhumance was an important wool laundry,
from which many remains have been restored with special care and respect to the
original.
Before
setting off on the journey back to Badajoz we had a snack in the pleasant
surroundings of the Barruecos.
Friday 26th February
2016
The working
day started at 8.15 a.m. at the school. Our colleague Juan Hipólito and Czech
Republic teacher Vojtěch Lacman shared with us the Joint Teaching from the
Spanish workshop. Based on CLIL methodology, the students worked in groups in a
session divided into three parts.
Once the
whole class activity was finished, and with no time lost, we took the bus to
San Vicente de Alcántara, where we could get a vast knowledge about the most
important industrial activity which has to do with the use of natural resources
in Extremadura: cork industry. We visited two factories for cork processing,
handling and production in San Vicente de Alcántara.
At the
first one we got information about the necessary steps to process the raw material
for later production of cork manufacture.
At the
second factory we witnessed the whole process for making cork tops for bottles.
Click on:
After lunch
we visited the Cork Museum where we could know about cork industry from a
historical, environmental and commercial point of view.
Click on:
To finish
the working day, we visited the Centre for the Interpretation of Nature ALAS,
about the Natural Park “Sierra de San Pedro”.
Click on:
There were
no guides for English speakers available at this centre, so our students Paco
Pérez, Lorena Vélez and Samuel Cosme translated explanations and comments from
the museum guide into English, with great suitability.
In the
evening teachers from Bárbara de Braganza School organized a social dinner for
the rest of the teachers from partner schools. There, all attendants could have
a wine tasting guided by oenologist and wine expert Carlos Cabo.
At the end,
we could taste all dishes cooked by the teachers and finally we officially gave
presents each other.
Saturday 27th
February 2016
On the
third day, we devoted our day to Badajoz.
We started
at the “Plaza Alta” (High Square) where we placed the starting point for the
main activity in the morning: a cultural gymkhana (scavenger hunt) to get
knowledge about the history of Badajoz, its foundation and the green heart of
the town: the arab citadel and its surroundings.
Teachers
and students in multinational groups participated in the activity. Students
from our school helped as guided assistants in each post (10) of the map.
Click on:
Once this
activity finished, we met at Santa María Square to start an official
sightseeing tour around the town. We started the tour at the Museum of the City
“Luis de Morales” and the ending-point was the Museum of Carnival.
Click on:
The tour
included some historical sites such as San Pedro and Menacho Streets, La
Soledad Square and charming parks like “La Galera” Gardens. It was a really
nice walking tour livened by historical and social illustrations performed by
Emilio Píriz, from media agency “La curiosidad del viajero” (Traveller's curiosity), throughout the tour.
Click on:
Lunch on
this third day was organized at the school by host families, who prepared their
best dishes in honour of our guests. During this lunch-meeting, teachers and
students shared experiences with the Spanish families involved.
After
lunch, participants could enjoy spare time visiting other places in town, going
shopping, or simply walking along some beautiful parks in Badajoz.
In the
evening all teachers had an official dinner organized by Bárbara de Braganza
School in honour of participant teachers at the event.
Sunday 28th
February 2016
Olivenza
and its surroundings was our destination on this holiday.
We started
a guided visit of the main monuments: Villa, Santa Casa de Misericordia chapel,
La Magdalena y Santa María del Castillo churches, the medieval wall and the
city Hall with its amazing manueline door, among others.
Then we
visited the local etnographic museum “González Santana” where the students
carried out a didactic activity in the traditional farming equipment hall.
After that they kept on visiting the museum.
We also
enjoyed an Olivenza panoramic sight from the top of the tribute tower in the
castle that all the students and teacher liked.
To finish
the city centre visit we moved to a near museum called “Papercraft” where
everybody looked for his favourite animal, character or building in cities all
over the world scale models. Everything is 3D made, just using paper.
Lunchtime
was about to start so we went to Villareal pier restaurant in Guadiana river
shore. After having lunch we had fun with a little journey by the river.
A river
side walk allowed us to enjoy the two sides landscape. In this way, we could
appreciate the differences between the more natural and perserved landscaped in
the right side, with the Portuguese Juromenha castle; and the human impact in
the left side, where the main part of the area is dedicated to fruit orchards.
After all
these activities we came back to Badajoz.
Monday 29th
February 2016
The morning
began with a tour around the school's facilities, classrooms, labs, library,
offices and other workspaces.
After the
visit, students attended classes with their partners while teachers learned
about the advantages of working with the interactive whiteboard (IWB).
Students
continued the day with the educational activity 'Seek, Find Nature and Picture
it', where they learned the basis for successful nature photographs.
Teachers
meanwhile gathered in “the official working meeting of the Spanish workshop” to
discuss the details of the project facing the next period of work.
When both activities
finished, in the auditorium teachers and students together enjoyed the musical
shows performed by Spanish students in the farewell ceremony.
To end the
morning, we had a festive activity of coexistence in the playground of the
school. Everybody sang and danced dances that celebrate friendship and
companionship.
Nice
farewell.
by Vicente
Paredes (Spanish teacher)