Josephine Mifsud and Fiona Ciangura, head teacher and teacher respectively at Lily of The Valley, Girls’ Secondary School, Mosta, have recently attended the first meeting of the three-year Comenius project “Our Schools in Europe: History, Environment, Traditions”. This was the first of a series of meetings and was held at S.M.S. G.Martino, Tremestieri in Messina, Sicily, under the coordination of its principal, Mr. G. Crisafulli. The other participating schools are Pasztorvolgyi Altalanos in Eger, Hungary and I.E.S. Diego de Guzman y Quesada, Huelva, Spain.

The aims, outcomes and methodology of the project were discussed and all the visiting members also became acquainted with each other and got to know the different dynamics of each school.

The participants had the opportunity to meet, talk to and share a day-trip with the students of G. Martino, Tremestieri to the city of Palermo, with a special visit to a primary school, which they all enjoyed thoroughly, and helped everyone learn more about Sicily.

Members of the hosting school together with Mr G. Crisafulli showed the visitors around Messina and highlighted its main places of interest. In particular, one can mention the architectural significance of this city and also the problematic history it had to endure, mainly due to the catastrophic earthquake that hit and totally destroyed it in 1908.

The aim of the project is to enhance the national identity of students together with their international identity as European citizens.

Students will study the environment, history and traditions of a selected area in their home country.

This will be carried out by hands-on activities, including fieldworks and model-making, and the setting up of an exhibition and research works needed to carry out projects and to produce a video documentary.

At a later stage, all the works of the four participating countries will be amalgamated mainly through a joint filmed documentary, together with an online site. This is a unique opportunity for students to mix and to enhance their cultural mix, to understand the importance of their local identity and to realise that we are not a secluded country in the Mediterranean, but a significant piece in a much larger jigsaw puzzle.