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2013-1-TR1-COM06-47699 3
contents 1st EPAL of Thessaloniki The story of 3rd project meeting: 24-27.02.2014, Thessaloniki, Greece Students’ impressions
One country-one story Heroes of fairy tales Language matters- short story conversation English- Greek What’s next?
Our school, which is called 1st EPAL of Thessaloniki, is situated in the Centre of Thessaloniki. Thessaloniki historically also known as Thessalonica or Salonika, is the secondlargest city in Greece and the capital of the periphery of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace. The Thessaloniki Metropolitan Area extends over an area of 1,455.62 km and its population in 2011 reached a total of 1,006,730 inhabitants. Thessaloniki is the second major economic, industrial, commercial and political center of Greece, and a major transportation hub for the rest of southeastern Europe; its commercial port is also of great importance for Greece and the southeastern European hinterland. Our school is a Vocational Senior High School that specializes in technical subjects. The subjects are distinguished into general knowledge, theoretical vocational education, mixed subjects and subjects with two or more cognitive objects. The number of the students is about 260 and the number of teachers is about 39. Our pupils attend many lessons in different Laboratories, according to the specialization they have chosen. The Sections of Specialties we have in that grade are the following: 1. Mechanical, 2. Computer Science (informatics), 3. Economy and Administration (and Health and Welfare, only for this year according to a new Law). After graduation our students acquire two diplomas: The first is a certificate of their special Vocational knowledge/training and the Specialty they have attended. The second one is a high school diploma (apolitirio) of the same value as that of the Senior High School and they have the same opportunities to enter University Higher Education, participating in National Examinations. Many pupils come from the suburbs of Thessaloniki. In the School there is a very large percentage of foreign students who are immigrants from Albania, Russia, Romania, Georgia and Armenia. The social and economic background of the families is middle to low and the students do not often get the chance to travel and consequently visit different countries and discover new cultures. But thanks to various European programs our students start entering into European life, they exchange ideas, they become familiar with other cultures and customs, they share common problems and experiences realizing that the things that bring them together are more than those that set them apart. Finally, they are happy and confident to know that they can manage to communicate and exchange opinions using other foreign languages like English. This multilateral partnership is a great opportunity for our students to widen their points of view, understand different cultures and acquire a European perspective in education. 1 .