Continent without borders

St Francis School (Primary), Msida will soon be participating in a Comenius project entitled Continent without borders, along with five other schools from Austria, Poland, Bulgaria, Turkey and Lithuania.

In view of this, late last year, we two teachers travelled to Austria on a preparatory visit.

During our stay, we visited GTVS Reichsapfelgasse School in Vienna where we met teachers who will also be participating in this project. We also happened to be present for the feast of St Nicholas. Austrians celebrate this feast in schools by having a person dressing up as St Nicholas, and going round classes distributing sweets to children. This is similar to the local St Martin tradition.

During our stay, we also observed the teachers' teaching methods and the students' interactions. One afternoon, Year 2 teacher Esther Drexler invited us to accompany her class on a school excursion to Schonbrunn and later to the Christmas market, which is situated in front of one of the many castles that are found around the city of Vienna.

We were invited to the European Middle School in Neusittagasse in Vienna, which is an independent international school that caters for children coming from different cultures. Director Christine Schiller gave us a warm welcome and showed us around.

While visiting classes we had the opportunity to observe and discuss with the teachers the various methods they use to teach English as a second language. We saw their books and the numerous well-prepared handouts that they give to the pupils.

We also visited various museums and places of interest. Vienna looked well prepared for Christmas with its bright illuminations and Christmas markets. The bare trees in the parks added to the wintry atmosphere.

However, one could beat the cold - the temperature was below zero - with a mug of hot chocolate or the traditional Austrian drink Kirsche Punch while munching roasted chestnuts. The latter are very popular and could be bought from any of the stalls scattered all around the city. Buskers playing waltzes and polkas added to the festive atmosphere.

Our visit to Vienna gave us the opportunity to see and appreciate the work of our counterparts in this project. We identified many similarities and some disparities in their teaching methods.

In view of this experience, we can say that our pupils are on the right track in education when compared to European students.