Comenius Project
‘Great to be Happy’
Achieving potential through challenge and care. Comenius Project 2013-2015
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GREAT to be Happy Comenius Project 2013-2015
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Introduction It has been a pleasure to be the Coordinator of the ‘GREAT to be Happy’ Comenius Project. I would like to thank Anefore in Luxembourg, the national agencies in the partner school countries and the respective Head teachers, Directors and Boards of Governors for supporting the project. In addition, I would like to thank the individual school coordinators and teachers for organising activities in their schools and ensuring that our mobility visits were unforgettable experiences. I also need to thank Dr Heinz Tippl for his academic study linked to the project outcomes. My final thanks are, of course, to the students from Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland and Turkey who participated in the project with enthusiasm, energy and most importantly of all, happiness. I hope this book reminds you of all the GREAT times we had together. Gary Cooper St George’s International School, Luxembourg ASBL
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GREAT to be Happy Project Summary Page 6
GREAT to be Happy
GREAT to be Happy Project Aims Page 8
Participating Schools Page 11
GREAT to be Happy Lesson Plans Page 25
GREAT to be Happy Project Quiz Page 37
Individual School Project Activities Page 41
Joint Project Activities Page 53
Comenius Ball in Luxembourg Page 54
Comenius Activity Day in Giessen Page 56
Happy Days in Gdansk Page 58
Happy Games in Gratkorn Page 60
Project Meeting in Istanbul Page 62
Unified Football Tournament in Gnas Page 64
Youth Summit in Gnas Page 66
Social Capital Results Page 69
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GREAT to be Happy Project Summary The ‘GREAT to be Happy’ project focusses one of the major paradoxes of modern society: the young people of Europe have more material wealth than ever before but, according to research from the ‘Action for Happiness’ campaign, they are no happier than they were 50 years ago. This lack of social and emotional wellbeing has a
Appreciating
– to take notice of the world
around us and understand our individual contribution to protecting the planet.
Trying Out – to learn new things such as joining a sports club, learn to sing or dance or try out a new hobby.
profound negative effect on our societies and is a social phenomenon that governments are only just recognising
‘GREAT to be Happy’ Comenius Project partner schools:
and beginning to address. This project embraces the ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’ identified by researchers that
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St George’s International School, Luxembourg
have been shown to improve the personal happiness and
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PTS Gratkorn, Austria
interaction of young people with the outside world. The
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Sophie Scholl Schule, Giessen, Germany
‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’ are:
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Szasz Marton School, Tapolca, Hungary
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School number 8, Zabianka, Gdansk, Poland
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Vatan Primary School, Mardin, Turkey
Giving
– to help others as volunteers or through
charity work
Relating
– to connect with other young people to
develop new relationships and to increase self-worth.
Exercising
– to be active and improve physical
health through sporting and recreational opportunities.
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GREAT to be Happy What is ‘Happiness’? Happiness is about our lives as a whole: it includes the feelings we experience everyday but also our overall satisfaction with life. Our genes, upbringing and external circumstances such as our health, work and financial situation can all influence our perception of ‘happiness’. But crucially it is also heavily influenced by our choices, our inner attitudes, how we approach our relationships,
One of the suggestions of the report was to introduce a one hour ‘happiness lesson’ every week in schools to address young people’s emotional and social needs and to teach them important life skills. Most people would agree that education should contribute to the overall sum of human happiness and schools should be happy places for children to be. Professor Lord Richard Layard from
our personal values and our sense of purpose.
the London School of Economics goes as far as believing
In July 2011, the General Assembly of the United Nations
‘the secrets of happiness’.
in New York City agreed a resolution to encourage all of the countries of the world to promote the happiness of their citizens. As a response to the global economic crisis many governments are now planning to measure the happiness of its citizens as a legitimate and important political strategy so that the available resources can be directed into programmes that make people feel happier.
that the central purpose of schools should be to teach
Schools are well placed to support many of the dimensions of children’s lives which have been shown to be important for long lasting happiness and well-being and our vision was for the partner schools in this project to place happiness and wellbeing at the heart of their school ethos and culture.
The United Nations held their first ever conference on happiness and well being in April 2012. At this conference the first ‘World Happiness Report’ was published.
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GREAT to be Happy Project Aims The ‘GREAT to be Happy’ project focusses on the development of a shared educational ethos, policy and strategy at a macro level and a variety of student experiences at a micro level. We participate in this project in order to increase the happiness and wellbeing of the students in our schools and share this with other schools across Europe. The project embraces the following key aims:
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To equip young people with the values and skills needed to live happy and successful lives and make positive contributions to society.
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To help young people make connections with other members of society through volunteering, charitable work and common activities organised by the participating schools.
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To disseminate best practice to other educators in order for the project principles to be shared across Europe. In order to meet these objectives each partner school taught an explicit series of lessons on ‘Happiness’ so that the students developed an understanding of the ‘Five Ways to Well Being’ and then engaged in a series of project activities:
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Giving – each school adopted a local charity for fund raising activities during the project.
Relating – students came together to play sports, sing, dance and enjoy cultural activities to share their ‘Happiness’ experiences.
Exercising
– students took part in new activities in their sports lessons and participated in sports tournaments with the partner schools.
Appreciating
– schools supported an environmental campaign in their local area for example litter picking, recycling or giving supporting to existing projects in their locality. Students also increased their knowledge about the culture and customs of the partner school countries.
Trying Out
– students learned new things throughout the project. They had a quiz about their partner schools, they learned new dances, songs, sports and hobbies with other students from the partner schools. A research study, conducted by Dr Heinz Tippl, a lecturer at the University of Graz, Austria, measured how the project activities contributed to the happiness and wellbeing of the young people involved.
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Participating Schools
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Gdansk Zespół Kształcenia Podstawowego i Gimnazjalnego nr 8 in Gdansk The school is located in Zabianka, a suburb of the city of Gdansk in the north of Poland. It is a general Primary and lower Secondary school with over 500 students aged 6-16. Some students come from families that have to cope with the problem of unemployment and all the connected difficulties. We also have some children who are raised in single-parent families as well as children whose parents live and work abroad. Thanks to the project we are able to give opportunities to all of our pupils, regardless of their socio-economic background, to try various ways to lead a happy and satisfying life now and in the future. Our school’s participation in the project also gave us the chance to fight stereotypes and intolerance making our pupils more respectful of different cultures, ethnic origins and religions.
School Coordinator •
Katarzyna Kolator
Participating Teachers in Project Activities and Meetings •
Marta Kulka
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Barbara Mikus
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Malgorzata Meszczynska
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Barbara Albercka
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Zofia Bartosik
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Ewa Blanska
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Magdalena Dworniczak
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Malgorzata Borkowska
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Liliana Tarasow
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Pawel Staruszkiewicz
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Giessen Sophie Scholl School, Giessen, Germany The Sophie-Scholl-School is located in Gießen in the south of Hessen, 50 km from Frankfurt. It is a private school, founded by the “Lebenshilfe Gießen”, in 1999. The Sophie Scholl School comprises of a full-time Primary and Secondary school, with year groups ranging from Year 1 to 10. The Secondary school is an integrative comprehensive school. It is divided into levels, in which students from two year groups work together. At the Sophie Scholl School difference is regarded as an advantage as we strive to recognise the individuality of all students and facilitate learning through inclusion and differentiation. Each class consists of 20 to 22 students, at least 5 of which have special educational needs.
School Coordinators •
Eda Ozkutbay
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Barbara Siebertz
Participating Teachers in Project Activities and Meetings •
Naomi Keates
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Anja Kuhl
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Christine Beichter
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Silke Peppler
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Claudia Lutz
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Gratkorn PTS Gratkorn, Austria "Polytechnische Schule Gratkorn" is a comparatively small school attended by students aged 14 - 16. Gratkorn is situated in the Austrian province of Styria, approximately 10 kilometres north of the capital, Graz. About 100 pupils in four classes from Gratkorn and the villages around the area come to our school every year and follow the "Secondary Modern School" (Neue Mittelschule) programme. Our main goal is to make young people fit for life and above all to get them ready for their future jobs and professions. We put special emphasis on practical training within our educational schedule involving numerous business companies of our area. Additionally we take care of students who have special needs in their learning abilities and about 30% to 40% are bilingual students who mostly come from countries such as Bosnia, Croatia or Romania. A special group of students are refugees from Afghanistan and Iran who make their first steps into integration at our school.
Project Coordinator •
Walter Krammer – Head Teacher
Participating Teachers in Project Activities and Meetings •
Siegfried Kohl
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Hansjorg Sitner
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Luxembourg St George's International School, Luxembourg ASBL St George’s International School, Luxembourg ASBL is an inclusive, vibrant international community of approximately 700 students ages 3 to 18+ years from over 50 different countries. The school is situated in Hamm-Luxembourg, approximately 3 km from the international airport. St George’s follows the National Curriculum of England and Wales, tailored to meet the needs of an independent overseas school. Many students are bi- or even trilingual. The Comenius project has made a positive impact on its students and the community by providing them with opportunities, regardless of their socio-economic background, to achieve happiness through giving, relating, exercising, appreciating and trying out. St George’s is known for its caring and supportive environment where each student can benefit from individual academic support. The happiness and well-being of students is important to St George’s, this is reflected in the school’s mission statement ‘Achieving potential through challenge and care.’
‘GREAT to be Happy’ Project Coordinator •
Gary Cooper – Assistant Head Teacher
Participating Teachers in Project Activities and Meetings • • • •
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Marco Foz Sue Cooper James Reilly Jessica McManus
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Tapolca Szasz Marton School – Hungary Szász Márton School is a Primary and vocational school in Tapolca-Diszel situated in the Central Transdanubian region near Lake Balaton, which is a major tourist attraction in Hungary. The school is a multi-purpose educational institution including a vocational school for students with and without special educational needs and pedagogical services. We have 148 students, 115 of them having special educational needs and 80% of them being socially disadvantaged. Besides integrated education, common school activities such as trips and sports events assist to overcome the disadvantages. The students also participate in different environmental protection activities such as rubbish, used batteries and waste-paper collections. Participating in this European project will increase the selfesteem and happiness of our students.
Project Coordinator •
Anett Kovesdi – Deputy Head Teacher
Participating Teachers in Project Activities and Meetings •
Andras Gaspar
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Krisztina Nyiro
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Agnes Sinay
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Adel Hovari
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Livia Martonne Tompos
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Mardin Dargecit Vatan Primary School, Turkey Vatan Primary school is located in the one of the most beautiful regions of Turkey, the south eastern Anatolian region. The city of Mardin has a very rich history and cultural heritage as it is famous for historic buildings and the stone houses. People in this city come from different nationalities and they live in peace. The students in the school are Muslims, Christians, Arabs and Assyrian.
Project Coordinator •
Resit Musaoglu
Participating Teachers in Project Activities and Meetings •
Burcu Adiguzel
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Murat Erdem Bestancioglu
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Recep Sacu
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Selahattin Kurtbogan
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Abdurrrahman Yesilmen
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Semiha Yavuz
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Abdullah Acar
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Mehmet Sidik Ak
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Nusret Arslan
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Ayetullah Yildirim
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Happiness Lesson Plans
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Happiness Lesson Plans One of the key features of our project is to disseminate best practice to teachers across Europe by creating a series of lesson plans that introduce the concept of ‘Happiness’. The project partner school share all taught lessons with their students, the students have then become involved in the project thereby increasing their own self-esteem and well-being. We have created a series of 10 lessons for teachers, each of which introduces aspects of the ‘5 Ways to Well-being’ and encourages them to reflect on ‘Happiness’.
Lessons 1 & 2: ‘Why Give Money to Charity? Lesson Objective -
Understand that giving to charities can raise well-being
GIVING Activity Starter
Mind map in groups - why raise money for charity? Have any of the students ever given money to charity? How did it make them feel?
Main
Show video on The Giving Pledge with Warren Buffet and Bill Gates (3:06min) – discussion. Use internet links to find out what some famous figures have done with their wealth. Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Ted Turner. Students to search and read on billionaires giving their fortune to charity. http://www.looktothestars.org/ http://givingpledge.org/ Hand out copies of generous famous people with a speech bubble. Worksheet 1 – Fill in the speech bubbles. Students write in the bubble how giving makes a person feel.
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GREAT to be Happy Plenary
Q&A: Would you be tempted to give more money to charity and why?
Homework
Research local charities – can you name 5 local charities and what they raise money for?
Lesson Objective - GIVING
Raise awareness and knowledge of what ‘Make-a-Wish’ does for children Activity
Starter
Bat kid video – Make a wish.
Main
Research the ‘Make-a-Wish Foundation: http://worldwish.org Who are they? Where are they located? When did they begin? How do they help children? How much money does it cost to make a wish come true? Imagine you were ill – what would you wish for and how would you feel if the wish came true? What can we do to help sick children in Luxembourg?
Plenary
Q&A: Describe 3 things you have learned in the lesson today.
Homework
Poster competition to raise awareness of ‘Make a Wish’ in Luxembourg
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Lesson 3: ‘Sharing and Caring’ Lesson Objective -
Understand that connecting and sharing with others is an important contributor to overall
Relating
happiness. Activity
Starter
Film clip (I am legend) Write a sentence to capture the way you may feel if you discovered you were the only human left alive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2q71r5-K_g
Main
Write down a happy time you spent with your family – describe where you were, what you did and how you felt. Now imagine you did exactly the same thing on your own – how would you feel now? Toy Story - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKt-2dgcgsw Why do you think friends are important? What are some of the best times you have spent with your friends?
Plenary
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Q&A: describe 3 things you have learned in the lesson today.
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Lesson 4: ‘Letter of Thanks’ Lesson Objective -
Understand that saying ‘thank you ‘and doing nice things for others makes you happier.
Relating Activity Starter
When was the last time you said ‘thank you’ to someone? What did they do for you? When was the last time someone said ‘thank you to you? What did you do for them? Which made you feel better?
Main
Think of three people in your life you would like to say ‘thank you’ to. What did they do that made you choose them? Now select one of these people and write them a letter. What specifically are you grateful for? • How did they help you and why do you remember it so well? • How might you help someone in a similar way?
Plenary
Turn to your partner and thank them for something they have done.
Homework
Finish your letter and share it with the person you are writing it to. You can post it, send it by email or read it to them.
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Lesson 5: Exercise Makes You Happy! Lesson Objective -
To understand how exercise can make you feel happy!
Relating Activity Starter
Which sports do you enjoy and why?
Main
Endorphins – doing sport makes you feel good! Discuss how these chemicals are released during exercise. http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/exercise-happiness2.htm Students to create a poster explaining how this happens in a sport they play or whilst running in the playground.
Plenary
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Q&A: describe 3 things you have learned in the lesson today.
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Lesson 6: ‘Sport for Everyone’ The Paralympics and Special Olympics Lesson Objective -
To learn how sport is made available for everyone
Exercising Activity Starter
Discussion - Can everyone take part in sport? How is this possible?
Main
Divide the class into groups: Each group researches either the Paralympic Games or Special Olympic Games. http://www.paralympic.org/paralympic-games?gclid=CJi1rcbuiMICFQXmwgod-oIA7w http://www.specialolympics.org/default.aspx What is it and when did they begin? Who competes at these games? Where are the next winter and summer games going to be held? Name 3 sports that the athletes compete in. How have the sports been changed to allow disabled athletes to compete? How could you become involved? Find out 3 facts about the Paralympics/Special Olympics in your own country.
Plenary
Q&A: describe 3 things you have learned in the lesson today.
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Lessons 7 & 8: ‘Who are our European Neighbours?’ Lesson Objective –
To learn about the cultures and customs of our partner schools/European neighbours.
Appreciating Activity Starter
Introduce the Comenius partner schools and the task. How many students have ever visited these countries? What did they learn about the culture of the country when they visited?
Main
Divide the class into 6 groups. Each group has to research one of the partner schools and their countries. •
Luxembourg - Luxembourg
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Mardin - Turkey
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Gießen - Germany
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Gdansk - Poland
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Gratkorn - Austria
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Tapolca - Hungary
Where is the school? Show the location on a map of the country and a map of Europe. What is the capital city of the country? What languages do they speak in the country? What is the population of the city? What is the population of the country? What is the currency used? Research 2 customs/festivals that take place in the country. When and why do they happen? Find out one unusual fact about the country! Create an electronic brochure/presentation to present to the class in lesson 8. Plenary
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Set the tasks for lesson 8.
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Lesson 9: ‘Trying New Things’ Lesson Objective –
How learning new things throughout your life can influence how happy you are.
Trying Out Activity Starter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6xLYt265ZM Motivational video – How great I am.
Main
Group discussions and Think – pair - share What new things have you learned this year? This week? Today? What happened when you didn’t get it right immediately? How did you feel? What did you do next? Think – try to think of something you know and can teach your partner. Pair – Teach your partner – it could be a fact about yourself, an interesting/unusual item of general knowledge/ a trick/a joke. Share with the whole class. What is the most exciting hobby you have tried? What new hobbies would you like to have a go at? If you could try any hobby what would it be? What new things would you like to try before you get too old?
Plenary
Why is it important to learn new things – what new things have you learned in this lesson?
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Lesson 10: ‘Acts of Kindness’ Lesson Objective –
Try to show acts of kindness each day so that you become happier yourself.
Trying Out Activity Starter
Doing things to help others is not only good for the recipients - it has a positive payback for our happiness and health too. When people experience kindness it also makes them kinder as a result – so kindness is contagious! As the saying goes: “if you want to feel good, do good” – discuss this statement as a class
Main
Perform extra act of kindness each day. This could be a compliment, a helping hand, a hug, a gift or something else. Do at least one extra kind act each day for a week, ideally a different one each day. Task: In groups think of different acts of kindness that are easy to achieve each day. http://www.actionforhappiness.org/media/80216/happiness_action_pack.pdf From the class list choose one each that you will do today and 2 others you will do sometime this week.
Plenary
What makes you happy? How do you think you can make other’s happy be being kinder to them? Do you agree - “if you want to feel good, do good”?
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GREAT to be Happy Project Quiz
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GREAT to be Happy Comenius Project Quiz Each school provided 5 questions to discover the customs, traditions and other facts about the countries and regions where the project partner schools are located. Students also completed a tie breaker: in a maximum of 15 words they had to say why they thought it was ‘Great to be Happy’!
Szasz Marton School, Tapolca, Hungary 1. Lecsó is a traditional Hungarian dish. Which 3 vegetables are the main ingredients? 2. Name 3 famous tourist attractions in Hungary. 3. What are the names of the two most important rivers in Hungary? 4. Name one traditional Hungarian folk dance. 5. On what date do Hungarians celebrate St Stephen’s Day?
PTS Gratkorn, Styria, Austria 6. In which year was the city of Graz Europe’s cultural capital? 7. Which musical event that takes place in Vienna on January 1st is broadcast all over the world? 8. What is the famous Styrian dark salad oil made from? 9. Name the traditional Austrian male/female national costumes 10. Name three major tourist attractions in Vienna.
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Vatan Primary School, Mardin, Turkey 11. Name three of the eight countries that border Turkey. 12. What is the capital city of Turkey? 13. Who is the Prime Minister of Turkey? (2014) 14. In which region of Turkey is Mardin located? 15. Since 2003 Mardin has been twinned with which other city in Europe?
St George’s International School, Luxembourg 16. Name the 3 official languages used in Luxembourg 17. Which 3 countries border Luxembourg? 18. What is the capital city of Luxembourg? 19. What is the name of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg? 20. On which date do Luxembourgers celebrate their National Day?
School Number 8, Gdansk, Poland 21. What is the name of the capital city of Poland? 22. What is the currency in Poland? 23. What is the name of the highest mountain range in Poland? 24. Gdansk is located on the coast of which Sea?
GREAT to be Happy 25. Who was the leader of Solidarnosc (Solidarity)?
Sophie Scholl Schule, Giessen, Germany 26. In which year did Berlin become Germany’s capital again following unification? 27. The university in Giessen is named after which famous scientist? 28. What was the name of the organisation Sophie Scholl founded with her brother? 29. Which scientist from Giessen discovered x-rays? 30. Which famous museum did Professor Beutelspacher open in Giessen?
Answers 1. Pepper, onion, tomato 2. Parliament building, Buda castle, Fisherman’s bastion, Chain bridge, Hortobagy National park plus any others. 3. Danube and Tisza 4. Csárdás, palotás plus any others 5. 20th August 6. 2003 7. New Year’s concert 8. Pumpkin seeds 9. lederhosen/dirndl 10. Ferris Wheel/St Stephen’s Cathedral/Belvedere Castle/Schönbrunn Zoo 11. Iraq, Iran, Syria, Armenia, Georgia, Greece, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan 12. Ankara
13. Recep Tayyip Erdogan 14. South east Anatolia 15. Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic 16. French, German, Luxembourgish 17. France, Germany and Belgium 18. Luxembourg 19. Henri 20. June 23rd 21. Warsaw 22. Polish Zloty 23. Tatra Mountains 24. Baltic Sea 25. Lech Walesa 26. 1991 27. Justus von Liebig 28. Weisse Rose (white rose) 29. Wilhelm Röntgen 30. Mathematikum
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Individual School Project Activities
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Gdansk The ‘GREAT to be Happy’ project is very important at our school and the students participate in various activities connected with it. Collecting cleaning resources and other items for three families whose house had burnt down. Two bake salesthe money raised allowed us to buy a large amount of necessary items for a single mother with two little disabled children from our area.
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Joining the nationwide action of Wielka Orkiestra Swiatecznej Pomocy (students become volunteers for one day, they collected money in the streets and give heart stickers to those who supported them).
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Collecting money for children emergency departments in Polish hospitals.
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Joining the nationwide action of Góra Grosza (can be translated as ‘Penny Mountain’- initiative that shows that even a small amount of money given by many people becomes a considerable sum) - the money supports children’s homes.
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Collecting plastic bottle caps for rehabilitation of a disabled girl (caps exchanged for money by sponsors)
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joining ‘Pola Nadziei’- collecting money for hospices
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Our school is small so everybody knows each other, but we still want to make sure that their relations are positive and satisfying. In order to give the children an opportunity to socialize more, we’ve organized “Nights at School”. The idea is that the students come to school on Friday evening and leave on Saturday morning. During the night they have sports games, socialising activities such as mime games, they have a meal together and watch films.
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We decided that the students should learn about our Comenius partners. Each class was given a country. They had to work together to prepare posters and/or PowerPoint presentations showing the country’s location, flag, famous sights, useful phrases in the national language, holidays and any other interesting information. They also had to dress up as famous people from the country. Some of the students even prepared national food.
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PE teachers in our school work hard to ensure that students have plenty of opportunities to do sports and spend time actively. After their regular classes they are invited to join a variety of additional sports activities,
GREAT to be Happy these include football, basketball, handball, badminton, dance classes, cycling and Nordic walking.
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‘Sports Day’ took place at the end of May. The day started with a presentation of our students’ sports talents. The main part of the day consisted of team games and practicing a range of activities such as long jumps and hula hoops. Since fitness is closely connected with healthy diet, after the games groups of students were asked to prepare healthy snacks.
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To teach our students how important nature is for all people, the teachers encourage them to take part in numerous science competitions. In one of them a team from our school won the first prize for developing the idea of towns powered by renewable resources.
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When attempting to achieve happiness, we cannot forget about trying to learn new things. We started by ‘trying out’ acting in a shadow theatre.
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Students had a chance to join a workshop where they could learn some regional and Israeli dances. Practice makes perfect and after a while the students were dancing just like professionals.
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Gratkorn The ‘GREAT to be Happy’ project has been one of the most important features of our school since the project began in 2013. It has given the students a real focus and they have fully embraced the principles of the project.
Giving
– Each year there is a charity event that PTS Gratkorn has supported. This is the “Leukaemia Run” that takes place in the Eggenberg Stadium in Graz. Students from nearly every school in Styria compete in running competitions over different distances in order to raise money for the leukaemia charity – especially for research and treatment of this disease. As a part of our Comenius Project students from PTS Gratkorn took part. One student, Abdul Nazari was very successful as he finished in fourth place from 500 runners – a star was born!! However the biggest winner was the Leukaemia charity that raised hundreds of Euros to help to combat the disease.
Relating
– students from PTS Gratkorn have visited partner schools in Germany, Luxembourg, where they performed a show dance at the Comenius Ball and Hungary for a cultural class visit. Andras Gaspar from Tapolca also visited PTS Gratkorn to teach Hungarian to the Austrian students! Gratkorn also hosted the ‘Happy Games’ for the other partner schools.
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Exercising – the students participated in several project activities including the ‘Happy Games’ in Gratkorn, the Comenius Ball in Luxembourg, the Unified Football tournament in Gnas and the Leukaemia Run in Graz.
Appreciating
– the students have introduced a recycling system in our school. A recycling system in each classroom that is responsibly used by the students and the school is a litter free zone. In addition to this the students and teachers participate each year in a special event called “Clean Gratkorn – Clean Environment”. The students split up in groups accompanied by teachers in order to pick litter in the school area and the local community. Students are provided with rubbish bags, high visibility jackets, gloves and shovels. The local community are very appreciative of their efforts to make the local environment of Gratkorn look better.
Trying Out – the students have fully embraced the principles of the project and have learnt new activities such as ballroom dancing and a few phrases in Hungarian, which they would not have had the opportunity to do without the project.
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Mardin Our students have really enjoyed participating in this project.
Giving
– Clothes were donated by people from the local community. Our students sorted these clothes according to their size, age and gender. Children from the local area came to the conference room in our school and our students handed the clothes out.
Relating
– Students and teachers visited all of our partner schools and took part in the project activities. We also had a discussion “Are children less happy then they were in the past?” This activity was held in the conference room of the school involving whole school members. It was intended to make everyone in the school aware what the project is about.
Exercising – Several sports activities were planned and held for the students. The PE teacher in the school organised volleyball, football and a chess tournament as it is a popular game in the school.
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Appreciating
– A Comenius corner was created with a declaration panel and a poster showing the locations of the member countries and stating the aims of the project. The students also put their gloves on and started to clean the environment around the school. The Director and members of the Dargecit Education board also participated in the activity
Trying Out
– Students participated in a Kite Festival as a new activity. Coordinated by the Technology and Design teacher, students first made a kite in their lessons and then the students flew their kites “happily” outside in the sunshine!
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Luxembourg As the coordinating school, St George’s has worked hard to ensure the aims and principles of the ‘GREAT to be Happy’ project have been at the forefront of the school activities over the last few years.
Giving
– The Student Parliament at St George’s selected the ‘Make-a-Wish Foundation’ in Luxembourg to be the major
charity that this project would support. This charity grants a ‘wish’ to terminally ill children. The staff and students took part in a wide range of activities including Fancy Dress days, ‘Make-a-Wish’ Day, bake sales and raffles to raise over €5000 for the charity during the project. The students also supported other charities including Movember (awareness of men’s health issues) during this time.
Relating – Students from St George’s participated in the Youth Summit and Unified Football in Austria, and the ‘Happy Days’ in Gdansk and Giessen. One of the main features of this section was as hosts of the Comenius International Ball when the students acted as ‘Dance Ambassadors’ to support and teach the international guests from the project partner schools.
Exercising
– The students participated in the Comenius Ball in both 2014 and 2015. They had at least 10 weeks of
dance lessons during PE to prepare for the ball and this had a benefit on general health and fitness. Teams from St George’s played in the Unified Football tournament in Gnas and took part in unified sports activities during the annual St George’s Sports Day.
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GREAT to be Happy Appreciating – St George’s Parliament - The Ministry of the Environment have introduced a recycling system in our school. Different coloured bins have been placed around the school that allow students to separate their litter and other rubbish enabling it to be easily recycled. The students have also adopted an orang-utan to help safeguard the orangutan species from extinction by protecting the habitat in which they live in.
Trying Out
– The students have really enjoyed taking part in the project and have learnt new activities such as
ballroom dancing and during the ‘Happy Day’ in Giessen the school band and choir learnt a new song ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams’ that they then played with students from other partner schools in a live performance. The project also allowed a new school band ‘George and the Dragons’ to play live music at the Comenius Ball. When one of the partner school teachers, Andras Gaspar, visited Luxembourg he taught some of our students to speak some words in Hungarian during their language lessons.
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Tapolca Giving
– Our school trains bakers and garden workers
a glimpse into the life and intricacies of another culture, and
and they found that the best gift they can give to other
they willingly shared their knowledge with their class and
children is the fruit of their own hard work. Our bakers are
school mates at our Comenius Day.
capable of creating delicious bakery products which can be distributed and shared with younger pupils. Before
Exercising – What better way is there to bring children
Christmas they experienced how great it feels to make
together than some common sports games? Throughout
the small ones happy when they surprised them with
the project the partner schools organised many events
some delicacies in the morning. We also participated in a
where students could compete, or just simply leave the
gingerbread competition, after which the products were
confinements of the classroom behind to have some
offered for charities. The students were proud and really felt
fun in nature with fellow learners. These events offered a
good about themselves when their pastry creations were
tremendous amount of fun with enjoyable activities and
distributed in a social centre among the homeless.
possibilities to connect with international peers.
Relating – One of the most important aspects of this
Appreciating
project was to help students connect with foreign learners.
us was a key element of this project and our garden
Amazingly, sometimes by climbing over language barriers
workers helped their classmates to realise that. We planted
they managed to communicate and share some common
flowers, arranged flower beds, weeded the area around old
moments which they will remember forever. We had a
monuments, constructed wooden flower boxes and made
wonderful trip with the Austrian group to our nation’s capital
several trips in our region to get to know it better and with
and the various project activities and cultural visits managed
the help of this knowledge get people to appreciate it much
to bring our students together. It also allowed them to catch
more than they do now.
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– What we have and what surrounds
GREAT to be Happy Trying out – The Comenius project also helped our students to experience several activities that they haven’t tried before. They have learnt new dances, tried new sports, trusted new people, ate new foods, and visited lots of new places. The project taught them that there is a life outside of their comfort zone and they shouldn’t feel embarrassed about it.
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Joint Project Activities
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Comenius Ball in Luxembourg St George’s hosted the Comenius International Ball at the Hotel Parc Bellevue in Luxembourg in March 2014 and
then participated for three hours during the ball itself.
again in March 2015. This followed on from project activity
Trying Out
days in Luxembourg that celebrated the ‘International
the school dances that we all performed together
Day of Happiness’.
‘Saturday Night Fever’, ‘Shake a Tail Feather’ and ‘The
The focus of the activities were the following project aims: Giving - a raffle was organised for our project
- the teachers and students learned
Twist’. The event was reported in the national Luxembourg newspapers and the school newsletter. Below is an extract from the press release in 2014:
charity in Luxembourg ‘Make-a-Wish Foundation’ which raised €800.
‘Over 200 guests attended the event including students
Relating - students from the partner schools met
and teachers from St George’s, Governors, parents and special guests from Austria, Hungry, Poland, Germany
one another and had fun learning some new dance
and Turkey who are partners in the ‘GREAT to be Happy’
steps. The Austrian students performed their traditional
(GREAT = Giving, Relating, Exercising, Appreciating and
polka dance with a modern ‘hip-hop’ interpretation in
Trying out) project. The Austrian guests wore traditional
2014 and the school band ‘George and the Dragons’
costumes and performed a special folk dance for
performed live at the 2015 event.
everyone to enjoy. The Make-a-Wish Foundation will
Exercising
receive the proceeds from the event, which included a - students, teachers and parents were
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Comenius Project 2013-2015
raffle drawing – raising more than 400 Euros.’
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Comenius Activity Day in Giessen Sophie Scholl Schule in Giessen was the host partner for the ‘Comenius Day’ in February 2015. The visiting partner schools participated in a wide range of activities during the day ranging from handicrafts, music, sports, art and drama. The day was very successful and the students followed this with a visit to the famous ‘Mathematikum’ museum in the town.
The ‘Comenius Day’ contributed to the following project aims: Relating
–
students from the partner schools
worked together in all of the workshop activities.
Exercising – students and teachers took part in the sports activities and tried out new sports such as ‘Burn Ball’.
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Trying Out
– the teachers and students tried
out new activities such as model making, singing and painting that they had not done previously. At the end of the day each of the activity groups showcased their work and shared their achievements with the whole school and the project partners. A major highlight was the live performance of ‘Happy’ by the music workshop which included a live band and a choir. A video of the performance was posted to YouTube so all of the partner schools could show it in their schools.
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Happy Days in Gdansk In September 2014, teachers and students from all the
anniversary of the school and there was music, dancing
partner schools met in Gdansk to take part in our first
and traditional Polish food!
‘Happy Day’ during which the students and teachers took part in a number of different “Happiness Activities”. Day one was a Language Day prepared by the Polish
The ‘Happy Days’ contributed to the following project aims:
students. Students had drawn one of the partner
Relating
countries and were asked to prepare a short dialogue in
worked together in all of the different activities organised
the country’s language and illustrate it with some posters.
by the host school. In addition, as the partners had to do
Next, the students dressed up and presented two well-
presentations about one another’s countries, this helped
known personalities from the drawn country. After that,
them to understand each other more.
each group of students sang a famous song in English. To
– students from the partner schools
conclude the day, groups of Polish and foreign students
Exercising – students took part in all of the sports
worked together to prepare posters showing their ideas for
activities, had a walk to the Baltic coast at Sopot and also
a logo of the project. On day two the students participated
walked around the wonderful city of Gdansk to visit the
in an inclusive sports day which proved that sport is not
major sites.
only healthy but also great fun. We then walked together to the Baltic Sea at Sopot, which is only 15 minutes from
Appreciating – the city of tour of Gdansk and
the school. The weather was fantastic during the visit
especially the visit to the Solidarity Centre helped the
and all of the partners visited to the European Centre of
students appreciate the varied history of the city. The
Solidarity in Gdansk and did some sightseeing in the old
historic old town and harbour was a favourite place for all
town. On day three there was a celebration of the 40th
of the visiting partners.
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GREAT to be Happy Trying Out
– the teachers and students tried out new foods at the anniversary celebrations and we also visited
a traditional Polish restaurant. The students also tried to speak some words in Polish which was very difficult!
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Happy Games in Gratkorn In April 2015, teachers and students from the partner schools met in Gratkorn to take part in the ‘Happy Games’. The ‘Happy Games’ were held in the Sports Centre and swimming pool of the school in Gratkorn and comprised of a range of fun sports, activities and mental challenges both on dry land and in the water. The competing teams were mixed, both in gender and nationality, and this created a spirit of fair play and cooperation. After a morning of fun competition, students from each participating partner school were awarded certificates and a trophy. On the next day there was a guided tour of the historic city of Graz followed by a visit to the famous Zotter chocolate factory and the Riegersburg castle. Dinner was eaten at one of the traditional ‘Buschenschank’ in the Styrian countryside.
The ‘Happy Games’ contributed to the following project aims: Relating – students from the partner schools worked together in all of the activities as the teams were all mixed between the different nationalities.
Exercising – students took part in all of the sports activities and also had a long walk round the city and up to the castle in Riegersburg.
Appreciating – the city tour of Graz helped the students appreciate the history of the city as they visited the famous landmarks including the ‘Schlossberg’, the cathedral and the regional parliament building of Styria.
Trying Out
– the teachers and students tried
out new foods at the Buschenshank including the local speciality ‘Brettljause’.
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Project Meeting in Istanbul In November 2014, the project coordinators and supporting teachers met in Istanbul. The meeting was an opportunity to reflect on the project activities that had taken place in Year 1 and begin the planning of the joint activities for the remainder of Year 2 including the ‘Happy Day’ in Giessen and the ‘Happy Games’ in Gratkorn. The coordinators also began to prepare the final product, the ‘Happiness Report’. In addition to the project work, all participants were also able to take part in cultural activities including a walking tour of the major sites such as the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Taksim Square and the Grand Bazaar. Some also watched a football match in Galatasaray and went on a Bosphorus river cruise.
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Unified Football Tournament in Gnas Representatives from each of the ‘GREAT to be Happy’ Comenius partner schools and schools representing Austria, Italy and Slovenia competed in Gnas, Austria in the 7th Unified Football tournament organised by BISI (Bildungsinitiative for Inclusion and Sport). The tournament was played in an excellent spirit and all of the players and coaches were welcomed to a celebration dinner by the mayor of Gnas who praised the young people and their efforts towards meeting their Comenius project goals. He explained that the tournament demonstrated that the aims of ‘Exercising’, ‘Relating’ and ‘Trying Out’ are shared by the young people from all of the partner schools and the visitors from other countries. The mayor also said that promoting ‘Happiness’ amongst young people from different countries is to be applauded and will provide a bright future for European cooperation.
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Youth Summit in Gnas Representatives from each of the ‘GREAT to be Happy’ Comenius partner schools, VIP guests from BISI (Bildungsinitiative for Sport and Inclusion) and Special Olympics Austria met in Gnas to participate in the 2nd International Youth summit for Inclusive Sports. Each school made a short presentation describing how their school had promoted inclusion in sports and had addressed the ‘Relating’, ‘Exercising’ and ‘Trying Out’ aims of the ‘GREAT to be Happy’ project. Mr Marc Angelini, the Vice President of Special Olympics Austria addressed the students praising their work and inviting them to participate in the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games which will be hosted by Graz/ Schladming, Austria. The students then participated in an exhibition of ‘Floor ball’ which will be one of the sports offered during the Winter Games.
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Social Capital Results
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GREAT to be Happy – Social Capital Survey To assess the impact of our project and help to evaluate whether we had met the project aims, Dr Heinz Tippl from the University of Graz, Austria, conducted a Social Capital survey for each of the partner schools. He measured the Social Capital of the participating students by means of an online questionnaire at the beginning of the project and again towards the end of the project. By comparing the results he could then determine whether the Social Capital of the students had increased and also identify which specific elements of Social Capital had been affected the most.
What is Social Capital? Social capital refers to the social cohesion within a community. This can be a community, an institution, a company, or informal groups. This cohesion is based on three major principles: • • •
“Ties” (binding) – the contacts people have with each other and these relationships can be personal (family) organized (clubs/groups) or spontaneous. "Norms" - these are our rules of life and patterns of behaviour that have evolved (laws/rules of society) “Trust” - without trust that a person accepts the 'norms' there will no 'ties'.
In English there is the acronym TNT (Ties - Norms – Trust). TNT is also associated with explosives as relationships contain the potential for explosive behaviour. When one of the three principles is underdeveloped or is missing completely, society can become unbalanced and that can be dangerous. The Social Capital Theory Identifies Bonds on Three Levels:
1- The micro-level of personal close relationships. This includes people who are very familiar and who one would trust unconditionally. This usually relates to no more than a few people in their close family or perhaps one or two best friends.
2- The meso-level of larger groups and units. This is similar to an extended circle of friends for example the class group, sports club group or wider group of relatives. These people are not personally very close (micro level) however they are part of the wider social network of the individual.
3-
The macro level of being a member of wider social groups. This includes being a member of a religion, political group, environmental group, or their nationality/citizen of Europe.
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GREAT to be Happy Is Social Capital always linked to communities or can it be developed individually? Social Capital cannot be acquired in isolation. It always involves wider relationships within a society. Therefore the Social Capital of both individuals and societies can be measured. Individuals can acquire "social skills�, but Social Capital is more than this as it involves both "Bonding" and "Bridging". The term "Bonding" refers to the communication and interaction of individuals within their own community. The term "Bridging" can be better understood as "building bridges". This is the connection of people to others outside of their own community. For optimal Social Capital you need a balance of bonding and bridging.
How does Social Capital work? Development of Social Capital requires reciprocity. Bonds should be mutual and norms must be adhered to in order to develop trust. At every level mutual respect and tolerance is necessary even within hierarchical social structures (parent to child, teacher to student, employer to employee for example). It is not possible to develop full Social Capital awareness, as it is impossible to know what other people are feeling and thinking. However, minor issues related to reciprocity do not affect Social Capital very much as it is the perception of the relationships that are important. Only when this idea of reciprocity becomes negative (creating distrust and disappointment) is Social Capital weakened. Comenius Project 2013-2015
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GREAT to be Happy – Social Capital Survey Results 2015 A control group of students from more than 1,500 schools in Austria were compared with students in the ‘GREAT to be Happy’ project schools between 2013 and 2015. The hypothesis is that Social Capital can be improved at lower levels and maintained at higher levels more effectively as a result of participating in Comenius project activities. The Social Capital value in this age group (13 -16 years) should be between 50 and 54 percentage points; 55 percentage points and more can be referred to an above-average Social Capital score and high Social Capital values are 60 percentage points or more. In the control and project groups there are other influences which can affect Social Capital values including school-related issues such as exam stress and personal issues such as relationship problems with family or friends. School
Class
1st Survey
2nd Survey
Conclusion
Giessen, DE
Year 9b-13
59.11
59.45
Above average Social Capital maintained
Gratkorn, AT
Year 9b-11
52.61
56.66
Bonding and Bridging in Meso-level was improved
St George’s,
Year 9MFo
65.94
66.10
High level of Social Capital maintained
Years 9-15
39.40
44.35
Bonding and Bridging in Meso-level was
LUX Tapolca, HUN
improved Vatan, TUR
Year 7b-17
52.74
55.60
Bonding and Bridging in Meso-level was improved
In summary, the ‘GREAT to be Happy’ project activities have had a more positive impact on Social Capital outcomes for students in the project classes when compared with the control groups. Further studies could determine the specific impact of each type of activity. However it is already clear that the range of mobility activities in the ‘GREAT to be Happy’ project have had a positive influence on Meso-level Social Capital.
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GREAT to be Happy Pictured: St George’s students took part in Movember (awareness of men’s health). Comenius Project 2013-2015
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Achieving potential through challenge and care.
St George’s International School, Luxembourg ASBL 11, rue des Peupliers L-2328 Luxembourg Phone: +352 42 32 24 Fax: +352 42 32 34 E-mail: reception@st-georges.lu www.st-georges.lu