The Spring Day in Europe in Smartno pod Smarno goro Primary school

On 23rd March the pupils of our school actively participated in the activities designed by the project named The European Day of Spring. By using various literary sources (books, newspapers, magazines, postcards, video and internet material) the pupils from 5^th to 8^th grade became familiar with the European Union, its full and associate member states.

The members of Smarna gora Hunters Family, who kindly took their time to visit our pupils on this special day, introduced one of the main European ideas to the pupils. Their presentation was intended to make the pupils aware of the role of the forest as well as introduce ways of achieving a balanced relationship between man, nature, ecology and animals. After the presentation, the pupils continued the work within individual classes. Under the mentorship of their teachers they participated in numerous project assignements. Thus, they made maps of EU countries with the presentation of their main characteristics (e.g. their cultural heritage, symbols, museums …).They compared mithological characters in Slovenian and European literature, calculated the prices of living expences from tolars to euros and made flags of the EU countries. They wiped off the dust from the old recipes which belonged to their grandparents and came up with some useful ideas concerning healthy and biologically produced or processed food. They also greeted their peers across Europe in languages of European Union countries and presented famous Slovene sportsmen and women, some of them the winners of the olympic gold, as this year is characterized by the European Sports Year. The pupils' caliographic skills were expressed in writing names and capital cities of all the countries which will officially blend with the European union of nations on 1st May 2004. The children also paid tribute to Slovene most recognized scientists Jurij Vega, Fritz Pregl, and Jozef Stefan whose contribution to European history and science is well known and appreciated in scientific circles. The content of the Slovene national anthem was discussed in detail and compared with the European one through singing and music. The day was officially crowned by flying balloons in to the air and planting a memorial tree in the school park.

The pupils from 1^th to 4^th grade also participated.

The project , whose coordinator was Mirjana Briški, was carried out on 22nd and 23rd March 2004. Its themes, carefully prepared and presented in advance, enabled children to express their opinion and views about life and future in Europe of many nations. Together with their teachers they prepared various artistic and literary contributions.

Their messages are summoned in the following lines:

Little stream, stop, look around and say

We should protect our waters and keep our environment clean if we wish to lead a healthy life and enjoy the nature.

A sparrow alone cannot awake the Spring

Our wishes and dreams of peace, freedom, tolerance and security cannot be made a reality unless we all share our strengths, positive thoughts and actively contribute to build a happy, prosperous life for everyone.

Home, sweet home in my sweet little valley

If we feel safe, comfortable and warm in our own homes and we tolerate each other, we might influence people around us to follow our example.

The project was concluded by an exhibition of the pupils' work in the school hall.

Participants of the project: teachers and pupils of classes 1.a and 1.b (eight-year programme), 2.a and 2.b, 3.a and 3.b, 4.b, pupils of 3.b, 3.c, 4.a, 4.b and 5.c within after school classes, Manuela Medic and Bojana Novak.