As part of the Irish group, we were made to feel very welcome in Serbia. Our host, Anela, put huge work into preparing a programme of events to allow us to get a sense of how the education system works in her city, Zrenjanin. We were given a very warm welcome in her own school, Zarko Zrenjanin, where we witnessed the work both she and her colleagues have done in positively promoting cultural and linguistic diversity. The drama presented by the pupils was a lovely representation of student understanding of inclusion. The display of fairytales in many languages using QR codes with sound files to bring them to life verbally was very innovative and celebrated the linguistic diversity of the school very successfully. Elmer the Elephant as a symbol of inclusion and how he is integrated into school life so seamlessly and the Kite Project were also beautiful and provided a very visual hook on which to hang the school’s commitment to making languages visible.

We also enjoyed the visits to the other schools in the area. As a former principal of a small school, I particularly enjoyed the visit to the Village School, where assimilation of dual languages is carried out as part of the school’s daily approach to teaching. I also enjoyed the visit to the two other schools in Zrenjanin, where we compared and contrasted the education system’s approach to diversity with our own, building places where languages and cultures are visible, valued and cherished. We noted that digital technologies are not as visible in the Serbian classrooms we saw as in Ireland and would like to know more about this area.

We also enjoyed the fantastic cultural experience in Serbia, from food to music to history and learned a lot about the country’s cultural make-up. We noted that Serbia’s diversity is different to Ireland’s, eg only one Chinese restaurant and industrial base operated by a multinational corporation, and wondered will this change in the near future. We were honoured to be welcomed by the Mayor’s officials and hope that they will continue to support the fantastic work of Anela and her colleagues in Zarko Zrenjanin as our project continues.

To follow....

Even though this has been the third meeting for the Erasmus+ project group, it was my first complete meeting. I was thoroughly impressed with the various projects on the integration of different languages and cultures throughout all the schools we visited and how they were displayed. It was inspiring to see how multilingualism was integrated into the school system and how many options the students had. The Serbian team also impressed me with their willingness to support and work together on the project in combination with their demonstration of accomplishing so much with very few resources.

The secondary school was particularly interesting given how active the entire school community was with exchange programs and programs promoting open-mindedness, cultural exchange and philosophy. I realized how important these projects were when I heard about the local political pressure against such views and the necessity of having a strong and supportive headmaster.

After the inspiring visit, I will be taking various ideas home to my school in addition to the inspiration I feel after meeting some particularly great role models. A few activities I would highlight would be the multilingual approach to fairy tales combined with QR-codes to hear the tale in the original language in addition to organizing a European Day of Languages.

This visit and the opportunity to work with the group gave me full understanding of the project and tonnes of ideas that could be implemented in my school in various subjects (languages, music, history, or politics). I felt welcomed, supported, and valued while working with this group and want to point out especially the human aspect of the group and the project.

To follow....

Minutes of Schools of Belonging Meeting 22/10/24.

Catherine Doolan gave a presentation of the key messages of the Community Belonging Project.

This presentation included extra information from Deirdre Kirwan on Linguistic Diversity.

Each school gave a presentation of what they have done and what they are hoping to do.

Sylvia's school has a team of six working on the Schools of Belonging auditing Home Languages that are present in the school. On receipt of the plaque it is felt this will inspire more teachers to get involved and engage in the project. They are progressing their Welcome Wall.

Sylvia gave an outline for the visit to Austria in February. The full agenda will be sent to schools in January.

Website : Renata will work with Catherine Doolan to develop a website for the project.

This will cover origin of the Project, information about the schools, evidence of mobilities, minutes of meetings and a gallery of photographs.

Ruth needs to form a team. She will set up an International Club that could also include a buddy system for newcomer pupils. Ruth will use the European Day of Languages to engage with resources and materials.

Discussion followed on the focus of the next term of the project.