The Legend of Gelert

King John of England gave Prince Llywelyn of Wales his finest hunting dog as a gift and token of their friendship.

Gelert, as this dog came to be known, was an enormous, yet fiercely loyal Wolfhound who quickly gained his owner’s trust and love.
One day the Prince went hunting, leaving his infant heir under the protection of some of his servants. The servants decided to leave the child to go for a walk.
While hunting, the Prince noticed that his lead dog Gelert was not present, and imagining he had returned home, the Prince called off the hunt.
Upon returning to his home, the Prince was met by Gelert covered in blood but wagging his tail. Horrified and fearing Gelert had been injured, the Prince rushed off his horse and began tending to the dog.
At that moment, the prince heard his wife scream and raced indoors to check on his son. Upon rushing into the child’s bedroom, Llywelyn found the cot upturned and the floor stained with blood, but no sign of his boy.

Filled with rage, the Prince raced down to the courtyard and drew his sword, thrusting it into Gelert killing him with a whimper.
When the Prince returned to his son’s cot he turned it over and found his boy safely concealed beneath. What the Prince had failed to see was an enormous wolf lying dead in a pool of blood in the corner of the room. Realising his mistake, the Prince wept.
Gelert had returned home after seeing the servants, left to protect the baby heir, walking in the woods. Upon entering the castle, Gelert found a huge wild wolf in the babies’ room and after a fierce fight, in which he was badly injured, Gelert killed the wolf.
Prince Llywelyn never spoke again and buried Gelert in a grave covered with stones. As a mark of his devotion, Prince Llywelyn named the local village Beddgelert (Gelert’s grave).

First teacher meeting in Wales, november 2008

Participants:
Norway: 8 teachers, 1 deputy head:Tor Solheim-Olsen, Perny Igland, Inger-Lise Angelshaug, Magni Hjertenes, Trud Nybø, Hilde Amundsen, Sissel Østrem, Sissel Brunsvik, Hege Nielsen.

Poland: 5 teachers, 1 headteacher: Magdalena Ruta, Zdzislaw Stypinski, Danuta Pastuszak, Grzegorz Martyniuk, Urszula Szczepaniak, Monika Turczyn

Estonia: 2 teachers, 1 ICT-staff: Triin Nöör, Sirje Sinitskaja, Rando Pajuste

England: 2 teachers, 1 headteacher: Sue Griffiths. Sue, Dorothy



Programme:

Wednesday 26th.-Thursday 27th.
l : Travelling, arrival Wales. Host-staff picking us up at Cardiff Airport/ Cardiff City Centre, transport to Neath. Check in BlueBell Hotel.

Friday 28th.November

School- visit.
A wonderful day: We took part in the schools worship in the local church. Visited classes all over school, talking with staff and children as we walked around the building.


Lunch at the Mayors Parlour, meeting Mr. and Mrs. Mayor, and chairman of school gouvernors. Exchanging formal gifts.
Headed back to school, attending classes, and observing Welsh education in practice. Very interesting , we achieved a lot of knowledge and good ideas to bring home. Teachers were thrilled with the things we experienced at this school visit.
Planning-meeting.
Teachers running the project made did pre-planning for the next day. We needed to decide 1)how to change the plans, vs. original application, after Turkey’s application was declined. 2)New deadlines , 3) Dates for next visits.

Gala Dinner
Our hosting school was celebrating its 150 years anniversary. All foreign guests were invited to Gala Dinner at school with invited prominent guests and staff. Great food and outstanding entertainment. They sure know how to sing in Wales!

Saturday 29th November

Planning meeting.
The following morning a selection of teachers held a planning and evaluation-meeting at school, where further details were discussed and agreements made.
Excursion to Swansea and Mumbles. Sightseeing in the surrounding areas of Neath.
Farewell-dinner in the valley. The Butchers.

Sunday 30th November
Meeting for coffees and farewell. Polish, Estonian and Norwegian visitors leaving for Cardiff.

Monday 1st December.

Flying back home

RESULTS / OUTCOME OF THE MEETING
Decisions:
1) We leave out the art “Dance and Music”
2) We start working with a new legend after visiting origin country ( will not be possible for England, here we need to start a few months ahead)
3) Norway will host a vistit for those participants who has the fundings for an extra visit in MARCH 2010.
4) Deadline for sending off the work we have done to origin country is 3 weeks ahead of each visit. Then the origin country has time to put every part together in a multimediafile. The partners will also send examples of puppets, paintings etc . back to origin country.
5) The first “You’ve got mail”-task will be Christmascards sent by regular mail between schools. There will be a variety of class-cards and individual cards. Cards will be sent to the schools, and teachers will make sure these are distributed to appropriate classes.
6) Words were picked out to the multilingual dictionary, but decisions have not been made on what technology to use. Estonian staff will look into this issue, which will be discussed further on next meeting in Estonia.
7)Meeting in Estonia: Friday 27th.-Tuesday 31st. March. Travellingdays Friday and Tuesday, possible sleepover in Tallin first and last night, depending on flights. Meeting in Haapsalu on latest Saturday, planning, evaluating, sightseeing the town, schoolvisit set to Monday. Triin will check out accommodation in Haapsalu, travelers will meet in Tallin.
8)Meeting in Norway: Thursday 4th-Monday 7th. June. (Travelling Thursday/Monday) Sissel will check out domestic transportation and inform grout asap.
9)Visit to Poland will be set and booked later, propably travel dates around November 1st.

Comenius project Eye to Eye, Heart to Heart 2008-2010

The project is designed to unite 5 totally different , but in many ways similar primary schools from all over Europe. The project aims to stregthen these bonds through meetings and ongoing close communication eye to eye, building friendships on intercultural understanding - heart to heart.
The 2- year project will provide a wide variety of interesting tasks and activities involving collaborative work. Pupils and staff in the partner schools will be given the opportunity to explore and discover their similarities as well as diversities. Through new friendships and knowledge everyone involved will learn to appriciate the wide variety of culture, language, background ans everyday life, which the different countries represent.
The main activity includes an exploration of the different countries` cultural heritage, providing an opportunity for legends to be interpreted by the partnercountries. Each one will be expressed through the common language of art. The teaching of the activities and the working together will foster a solidarity within each school and between partners- both staff and pupils.
The project also seeks to support the partnerschools in a common professional challenge; methodologies of teaching pupils with special needs.
New ICT-solutions will be tested and taught throughout the Project period, ensuring close communication between all partners.

The participants of the project:

Torvmyrane Skule - Norway, coordinator is Sissel Østrem
Bowes Hutchinson`s CE Aided Primary School - England, coordinator is Susan Griffiths
Szkoła Podstawowa nr 5 imienia Janusza Kusocińskiego w Świdniku - Poland, coordinator is Magdalena Ruta
Alderman Davies Church in Wales Primary School - Wales, coordinator is Caryl Dobson
Uuemõisa Algkool - Estonia, coordinator is Triin Nöör