Plogging, Winter Ball and Climate Change

For one week, Secondary School Gute Änger hosted 20 students and 8 teachers from Sweden, Spain and France.

Overcoming language barriers, proving patience and at the same time having fun getting to know each other as Europeans – these were the main goals of the launch program, which took place on 2nd-7th December 2018 at the Secondary School Gute Änger in Freising.

After a talk about global challenges with Professor Dr. Gabriele Schrüfer, the students participated in a Fairtrade Football Cup. The next day, the group got to try out some plogging as they walked through Freising. Plogging is a Swedish trend where you walk along particular roads/paths, whilst simultaneously collecting rubbish. Of course, a trip to the Munich Christmas market was not to be forgotten either. The program ended with a winter ball in the hall of the new secondary school.

Saltsjöbaden – Sweden – 5/5/2019 – 10/5/2019

Eight German Students and 3 German Teachers from Freising met our Erasmus Partners again for the second Workshop in Saltsjöbadenk, near Stockholm in May 2019! What a pleasure!

This will stay in mind:

• The friendly welcome and hospitality of the Swedish host families
• The hard work on our topic for the week: the social aspects of sustainability! We talked about gender roles and their importance for sustainability and intercultural learning – or on a more basic level: Does the average Spanish Mr. Right look different to the German one?
• The picturesque Swedish nature – team building activities were so much better outside with the archipelago in sight.
• Stockholm is an amazing city, that we discovered by foot and by boat
• The Swedisch school system – that is so different to the German one (no ban on mobile phones, laptops for every student, the students feel personally responsible for their success)
• The Party with lots of dancing, shouting and laughing
• The free school meal, including lots of milk and Köttbullar
• Greta Thunberg live in front of the Swedish Parliament – the place where the movement started
• All the tears when we said goodbye on the last day
• And so much more

Thank you so much, Samskolan Saltsjöbaden, for having us! It was amazing! We are looking forward to seeing everyone again.

Erasmus+ Workshop in Spain: You may arrive as strangers, but you’ll leave as friends.

From 24.11.19 – 29.11.2019, nine students accompanied by two teachers travelled to Bembibre, Spain, to deal intensively with the topic „saving water“ together with our Erasmus+ partner schools from Sweden, France and of course our hosts, the Spanish. Besides numerous workshops and intensive work on the project, we were having a great time. From the beginning of the project until the very last activity all participants were eager to exchange ideas with the other nations and work together to achieve our common goal: what can we do to protect our planet. All teachers were enthusiastic about the open-mindedness of all students and the excellent work atmosphere throughout the whole week in Spain. Many thanks to the Spanish team!

Anja Donderer, Stefan Vogl

Serine Boussaid, 9c: The host families are super friendly and always make sure that you are doing well. It is very interesting to see how the Spanish live and what a the daily routine in Spain looks like. If you have the chance to participate in an Erasmus+ workshop abroad, you should definitely take it, because it is so much fun!

Dimitrios Melissas, 9d: This trip was a great experience. It had a lot of fun and we learned a lot about water and how we can save it. My host family was very nice and I am very happy that I got the change to take part in the project.

Nina Schüller, 8a: I can highly recommend to participate in an Erasmus+ workshop abroad. You will become friends with people from other countries and learn new things. I liked the soap workshop, in which we learned how to make soap, the best. The host families are super friendly and always make sure if you are doing well.

Ronja Kästner, 9c: I think the coolest aspect is to have the chance to meet people from other countries. Especially their language and way of life are very interesting. I liked the soap workshop best. The host families are really nice and take good care of you. I can only recommend it to everybody.

Niklas Baier, 9a: I found the tour of the car workshop the best. My host family was very nice and the food was really good. Especially the meat was tasty. I also visited a castle with my host family and we went bowling.

Helena Lorenz, 8a: What I liked best was to experience the everyday life and the way of life of the Spanish people. We went shopping with friends and had a very nice time together. To be part of such a great project is really special.

Paula Untermeierhofer, 9a: I think whoever gets the chance, should definitely take it. It’s so great because you get to meet so many new people. I liked the soap workshop best and the host families are incredibly caring and nice. That’s why I absolutely recommend it. With my host family I went to a shopping mall. That was really cool. There we also met other Spanish students with their exchange partners.

Paul Henninger, 9a: It was a great experience. I met so many new people. I liked the trips with the host family and the soap workshop best. I can only recommend it.

Hannah Köllmeier, 8a: I liked the soap workshop best in which we were allowed to make our own soaps. I can only recommend participating in Erasmus+ because it is such a wonderful experience. The host families are all very friendly and make sure that you are doing well. You get to know new people and learn a lot of things.

Water is the most precious ressource on our earth – so dealing with sustainability – water was also an important subject for SMILE. Students learnt a lot about the quality of water and saving water during our week in Spain. Here are a few ideas about saving water – check them out!

Guided at the Erasmus+ workshop in Freising 2018, the students launched a challenge „Reduce the paper waste“. The task is to win many combatants at the school in order to reduce the daily paper waste. Well done!

Führe an deiner Schule die Challange „Reduce paper waste“ durch. Leere vor der Aktion alle Papiermülltonnen und wiege das weggeworfene Papier. Informiere alle Schülerinnen und Schüler und motiviere sie sparsam mit Papier umzugehen. Prüfe einige Tage später, ob ihr mit eurem Aufruf Erfolg hattet. Wenn ja, wieder hole in einigen Wochen die Challange erneut, denn wir sind Gewohnheitsmenschen. Wenn nein, ändere die Strategie und versuche deine Mitschülerinnen und Mitschüler auf eine andere Weise zu motivieren. Der Weg ist das Ziel und jeder kleine Schritt bringt uns weiter!

Sunflowers – Symbol and though provoking impulse

For the Erasmus+ project Shaping my life style, the sunflower is of particular importance because of its enormous symbolism. In Greek mythology, the nymph Clythia fell in love with the sun god Apollo, but the god did not return her love. She died of a broken heart and turned into a sunflower, which is turning for all eternity towards the sun and searching the sky for her love Apollo.

Today the sunflower symbolizes an unforgettable summer and thus stands for love, warmth and confidence. Does this still apply in the context of climate change?

Since sunflowers have very deep roots, they are interpreted as a sign of deep connectedness. Ultimately, their richness of seeds points to the possibility of sustainable use.

The aim of the project „Sunflower“ is first of all to show the solidarity of the cooperation schools and the European community. Therefore the pupils planted the sunflowers in front of the school.

Secondly, the cultivation and care occupied the pupils and enabled the exchange of experiences and success. Thirdly, the different plant heights and yields show the different growth and weather conditions. The latter are the basis for determining the climate.

The implementation led to different results and experiences as the adjacent pictures and videos show. An overall comparative evaluation was not possible, because at three schools the mortality of sunflowers was so high. To ensure a common start of the plants, the plants should be grown in mini-greenhouses, but sunflowers are difficult to transplant. But in some cases it was a lack of communication to the gardeners.

Land-Art – Sculpture in the landscape

Yellow card for discarded waste!

In a new action of ErasmusPlus at the Realschule Gute Änger big yellow arrows draw attention to littering!

In our region, waste is simply thrown away. This rape the townscape, damage nature and have to be collected and disposed of at the expense of the general public. Since this happens only rarely, the plastic is distributed in the landscape and the oceans. But once „released“ into nature, it returns to us in the natural cycle and damages our health.

Every yellow arrow points to plastic!

1. Make a “Selfi” with the yellow arrows in the background!
2. Send it to your family and friends with a call to do something like this!

For the fast ones: Compare intensive agriculture (east of the road) and extensive agriculture (west of our school)!

The Aquarium- und Schoolgarden-Team produced the yellow arrows. The yellow eye-catchers visible from far away are a artwork that makes you think. The thought – or the hope – behind the arrows is that people become aware of the damage they do with littering.