1st Primary School of Neapoli Lasithiou-Crete
Sunday, 8th May 2022
After landing in Heraklion, teams from Croatia, Italy, Spain and Sweden arrived in Greece. Before continuing our trip to Neapoli, the host town, we took photos in Heraklion, displaying the eTwinning school flag and the flags of partner countries of our project, ready for the following week's programme!
Monday, 9th May 2022
The meeting in Greece has started! After landing in Heraklion, teams from Croatia, Italy, Spain and Sweden gathered with the hosts at 1st Primary School in Neapoli-Lasithiou, Crete.
At the welcoming ceremony, the headmistress and the representative of the Town of Neapoli greeted the guests. After that, the pupils participated in the workshop Stop Motion Studio, led by Branka Lamza from the Croatian team. Since marking 9th May, EU and eTwinning Day, is a significant activity for our project and a part of all activities partners schools have been engaged in for years, this was an occasion to mark this day together. We pointed out that this is the day we celebrate unity, peace, freedom of mobility and human rights. Pupils from five countries created stop-motion animated video cards on this occasion, marking 9th May, Europe Day and eTwinning Day. After this workshop, representatives from all the countries presented local project activities at each school.
Later in the afternoon, the participants went for a cultural tour of Neapoli. They had a guided tour of The Ethnographic Museum. The exhibition is an overview of life in the local area since the 19th century, such as the period of the Cretan state and World War II. Very interestingly, the participants saw how a classroom looked like in the past.
They also visited the metropolitan Church of Megali Panagia (The Church of Virgin Mary), the largest church of Eastern Crete. It was built at the end of the 19th, beginning of the 20th century. The tour finished with a walk through the picturesque streets of Neapoli.
Tuesday, 10th May 2022
The programme's second day at the host school started with the presentation and quiz: Famous Greek writers and literature characters. The participants learnt about the most important Greek authors. Significantly, one was born in Heraklion, Crete - Nikos Kazantzakis, whose famous novels include Zorba the Greek.
Next, all pupils and teachers went for a tour of the surrounding area of Neapoli. They visited Vassilakis Estate. The hosts took them through the olive mill and explained how olives are harvested, sorted and pressed. Also, everyone was offered to taste olives, olive oil and other delicious products, which represent an essential part of Cretan agriculture.
After visiting Vassilakis Estate, pupils and teachers went to the small seaside village of Plaka, where they took a boat to the Island of Spinalonga. There, they had a guided tour of this historically significant place. This small island was the last Leper colony in Europe - the last inhabitant left the island in 1962. The lepers had everything they needed for everyday life there - however, it was a sad life since they were completely isolated from the rest of the world.
Finally, the group visited the beautiful town of Agios Nikolaos, a tourist centre, where they saw other important sights, such as the Statue of Abduction of Europe.
Wednesday, 11th May 2022
On the third day of the meeting at the host school, pupils participated in the Creative writing workshop with storytelling cards, led by teacher Dimitris from the host school. In the workshop, they learnt steps to write an engaging story. As in all other activities, the pupils were divided into groups of five (each member from a different country). They received cards in seven colours, each representing one part of the story. The teacher explained that each picture hides basic information about the story's structure. The red card hides the hero of the story, the orange card reveals the place where the hero lives, the yellow card will say more things about him, the green card hides the evil character, the light blue card gives a strong and clever ally, the dark blue card is the solution who provide the partner for our hero. Finally, the purple card gives a happy ending to the story. You can see how the groups completed the task in the video below.
The next workshop was Recording short films of book scenes, led by teacher Ioanna from the host school. The teacher gave each group a card with Aesop’s fable written in dialogues and introduced Aesop’s fables to the pupils, to use them to create a puppet show. She gave each group the printed animal figures that suited the adventure of each group and the wooden tongue spatulas and asked the pupils to colour and cut out the figures to create the puppets for a puppet show they will present in the class; you can see the results of their work here.
The programme of the third day at school finished with the Greek-Cretan dance workshop, the results of which you can see below.
Thursday 12th May 2022
Thursday was dedicated to a Twinspace workshop at school and a cultural visit to Heraklion. The pupils and teachers visited Knossos, the most significant archaeological site from the Bronze Age in Crete, which represents the ceremonial and political centre of the Minoan civilisation and culture, founded in 2000 BC. Furthermore, the group visited the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, one of the most significant museums in Europe. They saw a rich collection of artefacts, especially from the Minoan Age. After visiting Heraklion, the group went to Cretaquarium, where they explored underwater ecosystems of the Mediterranean. After that, they saw the Monastery of Saint George Sellinari, a unique site for its history and architecture.
It was another wonderful day. The pupils and teachers learnt a lot about Greek history. Incredibly fascinating were the facts about Greek mythology. The last part of the programme was the visit to the picturesque village of Limnes, where there was an official farewell dinner, with Cretan music and traditional dances.
Friday, 13th May 2022
The last day of the programme at the host school is dedicated to a Drama workshop, an Escape room about Greek literature, evaluation of activities and reflection.
The theme of the drama workshop is Greek mythology. Led by the teacher, the pupils presented themselves as a Greek god or a goddess according to the “freeze frame” technique. They re-enacted scenes from the Minoan mythology, using improvisation skills. With the help of soothing music, the teacher guided pupils through a body warm-up. A team of pupils narrated the story of Minoas, Minotaur, Theseus and Ariadne. Pupils listened to the story and improvised to bring the narrative to life. They also had the chance to learn how to dance “Tsakonikos”, a traditional dance.
The evaluation results showed that all the aims of this exchange of groups of pupils had been achieved. The pupils and teachers are leaving full of positive impressions: they learnt a lot, made new friends and expanded their horizons.
Saturday, 14th May 2022
The pupils and teachers are leaving Nikos Kazantzakis Heraklion Airport full of positive impressions: they learnt a lot, made new friends and expanded their horizons. Indeed, they will remember the trip to Greece forever.
