The Last Day before travelling home...

On Friday (25th March)  morning each of we summarized the 2-week-project and the project coordinator received our Europass Mobilities detailing project features and  another Institutional Certificate signed by NWA. All of us told about personal impressions, opinions and experiences of this Erasmus+ Mobility. We also filled in the final monitoring survey. We decided that we would disseminate the good practice of the project in the following next months and its outcome, benefits within our institution and in the region as well.

On Thursday (24th March) was our project finalizing day at North West Academy. We took part in a presentation about Erasmus programmes. 

/Draft from the presentation and discussion/

Erasmus +

- Key actions 1,2,3; Jean Monnet Activities; Sport

- Key actions 1,2,3:

 Learning mobility of individuals

Co-operation

Policy Reform

- NW Academy Projects 2005- present

(listed during the presentation)

- Flip the classroom tecnique (information, videos are sent to the students beforehand for

discussion in the classroom; families are involved online in the teaching process)

- 2014- MobGae programme

- 2013- Coach 4 Me programme

Personal/ business/ conflict/life coaching (and several others)

- 2012- Simple programme

- 2011- Design Your Future programme

- 2011- BeCult programme

Bea and Gábor completed a topic-based digital art work in Derry. They launched an exhibition inspired by our project. Snapshots, photos were arranged and placards have been placed at the Academy. 

The 8 members of our group.

Beáta Dunai - visual art teacher BGYRL, Francesca Giacomini director of Marketing and Operations at NWA,
 Gábor Gyuris - art and design teacher at BGYRL

2 SAT Project Exhibition at NWA 

Beáta's work

Gábor's work

Transparency is everywhere 

Derry Mosaic by Beata Dunai

Experiments by Gábor Gyuris

We visited a new art exhibition at the Centre for Contemporary Arts in the evening.

A CREATIVE DAY, 23rd March, Wednesday

This day was really about CREATION.

We were guided by two local designer-graphic artists. We were shown their office as well as several pieces of their art products which can be seen both at indoor and outdoor public places in the town.

All of them made us watch not only Craft Village and Garden of Reflexion, but also the Robin on the outer wall of Primark from a different point of view.

Workshop at the Academy

The third one is similar to the montage decorating the building of 'Szinva park' in Miskolc.

Moreover we entered the Sandwich Co. Bar, which we had expected to be dull from the outside, but from the inside it happened to hide some real treasures.The walls were full of their pieces of art.

However, the most interesting was the one with either's grandparents.This place used to be a popular dance club, a place where the would-be couples had opportunities to get to know each other. It was the very place where the grandparents met for the first time.

Visiting the Rainbow office

www.rainbow-project.org

http://www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk/what-s-on/arts-culture/27k-profile-pictures-comprise-new-mural-1-5760313

After the unusual sightseeing we could create our own pieces.Everyone had fun while recalling our experinces in drawing.

These drawings are being elaborated and printed by them to create postcards and a poster.

Our project work

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In the afternoon we listened to a presentation about YOUNG ENTERPRISE programme, which inspires and prepares young people to succeed in a global economy, and how to start businesses that create jobs.

Workbooks from 4 to 25 year-old students

Presentation about YE programme

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To finish this really CREATIVE night we went out to enjoy the atmosphere and the live music of the Peadar O'Donnel's authentic pub.

The place was full of happy Irish old guys and youngsters despite being Wednesday. The decoration was a unique mixture of old fashioned posters, notes of proverbs and jokes, flags and banners from all over the world, smoked bacon, pairs of sausages, and a whole smoked boar head wearing sunglasses and St. Patrick's hat.

Three musicians entertained the audience, a fiddler, a guitarist and the one with an Irish tinwhistle.

At the St. Cecilia's College, 22nd March, Tuesday

We started our day with going for a technical visit to St. Cecilia's College in the northern part of Derry.

More than 800 students, only girls go to this catholic school. They can be proud of their new, airy, well-equipped builings. Besides the traditional subjects they are taught Drama, Technology in a really modern and effective way. We could see students working in their Art, Drama, Science, and Cooking lessons. Everybody was working silently in neat, beautiful classrooms, they were organising their work and studies independently. In my opinion they can rather develop their skills than just following their teachers instructions.

In the hall

Drama lesson

Students' projects in Technics

In the school gallery

In the afternoons they can choose from different programmes of Public speaking, Ceramics, Gardening, Choir, Cheerleading, Film club or App building activities and services.

The school expects their students to wear a uniform of bottle green pleated skirt, with a V-necked green jumper with a green white stripe around it. The girls wear white blouses here, a blazer with a school badge, green knee-length socks, plus green and black hair ribbon. High heels are not permitted in the interests of safety.

A student's painting

Computer studies

School Yard - Amphiteatrum

We were guided by Corona MacDaid who answered all of our questions.

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In the afternoon we had a triple lesson about art and had discussions about its definition and purpose, explaining and sharing our opinions with our partner.

Some think that art must have a message, a symbolic meaning or some aesthetic pleasure regardless of time, culture or other circumstances.

In the second block we were given a text (taken from 'TEDTalk) about a North American artist, Janet Echelman who became a sculptor after being a painter.

Learning about TED TALK and BEYOND

https://www.ted.com/talks

https://www.beyondtextbooks.org/

As it was revealed the essence of art for her was something like 'taking imagination seriously'.

She found a unique way to express it: designing and creating amazingly volumetric 'sculptures' in metropolises using fishermen's nets, later steel and water. Meanwhile she was permanently searching for the proper materials and aeronautical engineering techniques for her pieces of art to be durable and resistant to capricious weather conditions, not only to strong wind and salty water but also hurricanes.

In the last part of the section some hints on the traditional Irish music were introduced and ideas about it were shared.

In the Central Library, 21st March, Monday

Today we went to the Central Library, placed in Foyle Street, Derry. We listened to a presentation and an introduction about the library, how you can get membership, how to use the mobile libraries, e-books, e-magazines, etc. The easiest way to learn more at home is to download e-books and audiobooks via OverDrive app. We also learnt how the self-issue works.

Children department

Using the self-issue register

Let’s see some hints and tips: e.g. there are 96 public libraries across Northern Ireland. It is free to become a member. By just one call you can join any of the libraries or register online. Any ID cards can be brought to prove your identification.

Micro-film scanner

Thousands of e-books are to be borrowed and heaps of popular e-magazines are to be downloaded on your tablet or mobile.

In the afternoon we also went to Tower Museum of Derry. The museum has two permanent exhibitions, an interactive Discovery Zone and an Education Room. We learnt about the story of the Spanish Armada, focusing on the discovery of La Trinidad Valencera at Kinnegoe Bay. The exhibition of Derry is about the plantation during the 17th century, the emigration and industrialisation from 1912 to 1922 and the role of the city during the World War II.

At the top of the Tower Museum

At the exhibition of the Grand Armada

Dressed in clothes of those times

The programme gave opportunities of understanding the history of Derry.