Healthy Living Newsletter - First Project Meeting in Stavanger September 2009


Healthy Living First Project Meeting for teachers took place in Stavanger, 23rd-26th September 2009. All Comenius partner schools from England, Scotland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Spain and Norway were present and so was the North Sea Commission. The host for the project meeting was Gosen School, Stavanger.

Establishing a good project team was one of the main reasons for coming together - a big thank you to The North Sea Commission who invited the project group for a meal the first evening to welcome the partners to Stavanger; in this way the frame was set for a successful meeting.
The next morning the project work started by presentations of Healthy Living Comenius partner schools to enable us all to find similarities and differences in each school’s context.

Students gave a presentation of physical activities in Gosen School showing slides of summer and winter sports and outdoor education in general such as forests walks, having fun in the snow and at the seaside. Another group of Gosen School students focused on organic food and described how the process of getting used to organic food in the school canteen has developed.

Swinging music and a dancing group of students greeted the project partners at Gosen School. A guided tour around the school building was arranged by students showing the school’s new Food and Health department, class rooms and the canteen area - which was an excellent opportunity for the Norwegian students to practice their knowledge in English and prepare themselves for future mobilities.
The purpose of the meeting was to reassure that all Healthy Living Comenius partner schools know what the project intends to obtain and how each partner school can contribute to the results. An overview of the project underlining the project aims, concrete objectives, methodology etc. was given; all Comenius partner schools contributed to the discussions and further details were settled. An important issue was to establish or confirm the project calendar – which of course led to some discussions. International teams of pupils were formed and separate activity calendars for primary and secondary schools were made.
As the project aims to investigate the role of physical activity and good nutrition to promote healthy living, a brisk walk round Mosvannet Lake in the afternoon was suggested for teachers and school leaders, and so was sightseeing by foot. Bringing an umbrella turned out to be very useful as there was both rain and sleet. The project group also made a walk across the fields from Gosen School to the nearby Iron Age Farm (350-550AD) where organic food especially made for the Comenius partners according to a 1500 year old recipe was enjoyed by the open fire.
To learn about Norwegian culture and food, both salmon and moose from the region as well as cloudberries from the mountains nearby was served – another thank you is due – this time to the local school authorities. A stroll along the fish market, Stavanger Cathedral and the narrow streets in the center of Stavanger closed the programme. The farewell evening was located in a restaurant viewing the city framed in the most fabulous Norwegian sunset. We are now ready to carry on…

......................................................................................................
La primera reunión de profesores del proyecto Healthy Living tuvo lugar en Stavanger los días 23-26 de Septiembre 2009. Todos los centros asociados Comenius de Inglaterra, Escocia, Letonia, Holanda, España y Noruega estuvieron presentes así como representantes de la North Sea Commission. El organizador de dicha reunión fue Gosen Skole, Stavanger (Noruega).

La formación de un buen grupo de trabajo era uno de los principales objetivos de la reunión, que se inició con una cena inicial de bienvenida cuyo anfitrión fue the North Sea Commission.

Durante la mañana del día siguiente, el trabajo del proyecto comenzó con una serie de exposiciones de cada centro participante para conocer los diferentes contextos de cada centro educativo. Estudiantes de Gosen Skole mostraron diapositivas de las actividades deportivas de invierno y verano que practican como excursiones por los bosques, juegos en la nieve y la playa. Otro grupo de estudiantes del mismo centro explicaron el proceso de elaboración de la comida de la cantina escolar con productos ecológicos.

Un grupo de alumnas del colegio recibió a los profesores visitantes con un baile en Gosen Skole. Después, un grupo de alumnos/as nos guió por las nuevas instalaciones del instituto mostrándonos el departamento de Alimentación y Salud, aulas y zona de la cantina, lo que supuso una oportunidad excelente para que los estudiantes noruegos practicaran sus conocimientos de inglés y se prepararan para los futuros intercambios.

El propósito de la reunión era consolidar los objetivos del proyecto y el papel de cada centro asociado dentro del mismo. Se repasaron los objetivos, actividades y metodología. Un punto importante de la reunión fue establecer el calendario del proyecto y formar los diferentes subgrupos dentro de la asociación.

Dado que el proyecto pretende investigar el papel de la actividad física y la nutrición en una vida saludable, se sugirió ponerlo en práctica con un paseo alrededor del lago Mosvannet. El grupo también dio un paseo hasta la Granja de la Edad de Hierro (350-550 DC) donde disfrutamos de una receta de hace 1500 años elaborada con productos ecológicos típicos de la época y alrededor de una hoguera.
También pudimos saborear los productos típicos de la región como son el salmón o el alce, las …. De las montañas. Para terminar, una visita guiada por el mercado de pescado, la Catedral de Stavanger y las calles del centro y una cena con vistas a la puesta de sol sobre el fiordo. Estamos listos para continuar.