Green EYE – Green Europe for Young Europeans 2013-2015                     

How did we become involved with Germany, Italy, the netherlands and Turkey for our Green EYE project?

Ms Morran was invited to attend a planning meeting for a new European Eco project, she flew out to Catania, Italy, in January 2013 and spent the week with European colleagues form Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Turkey working on a large Comenius application.  Four countries secured funding for the project; Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK.

In July 2013 Bellahouston Academy was awarded a substantial grant to allow them to take an active part in the two year project.  The Comenius funding was issued by the British Council on behalf of the EU. Our partner school in Turkey decided to self-fund thus allowing them to take part in the project.

The project was open to all pupils and they were invited to attend a lunchtime meeting to hear all about it.  Everyone was welcome and pupils who voiced an interest in travelling to our partner countries were invited to complete application forms.  From that initial meeting we met every Thursday over the two year period.  Ms Morran the project coordinator, Mrs Douglas and dedicated pupils worked on the project at the meetings and after school.  Everyone was very enthusiastic and grew to be a strong, dynamic team.

Reflections from some of the pupils involved in the 2013-2015 Comenius Project – Green EYE (Green Europe for Young Europeans)

“Over the past two years I have been part of a project called the ‘Comenius project’ this is a project in which you get the opportunity to travel to a range of different European countries and meet a wide variety of new people whilst having the ultimate goal of learning and aiming to improve our environment. The project is a great learning experience as it gives you the chance to experience cultural differences and enjoy seeing what life is like in another part of the world.”   Carlin

“The Comenius Green Eye Project has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Through overseas visits and various activities done at school I have developed immensely as an individual. Whether it was learning new languages or increasing my confidence, the whole project provided me with a basis for me to personally develop and become a brighter individual with a more prosperous future.” Arubah

“…And that’s actually what the Comenius project has done for me personally. Yes it’s helped my confidence and presenting, and my research skills too. And I’ll always be grateful for that. But overall, what it has helped me achieve is ambition. Before Comenius, I wanted to go to university and then get a job that pays well. But now I want something different, something that has more meaning and value. Yes money is great, but it’s not my priority any more. I want to meet people that are passionate like I am, and learn things that way. As a whole Comenius has really helped me grow as a person. I’ve become more confident, have better researching skills and have a clearer idea of what I want to do in life, as cheesy as it all sounds J”  Emma

“Personally for me, the thought of traveling to a foreign country without my parents was insane …This was completely terrifying for me as in general I am a rather shy person. I finally convinced myself to push all my nerves aside and take part in the project as I knew it was an amazing opportunity that I definitely didn’t want to miss out on… I feel like the Comenius project has helped me in a range of ways, from making me more confident when meeting new people to greatly improving my presentation skills. The project also teaches you how to work around something such as a language barrier which was evident through the trip, the majority of the students involved do not use English as first language meaning it can be difficult at times when trying to explain things such as instructions or stories. We easily found a way around the problem by simply being careful with our word choice and speaking clearly so it was easier for them to understand through our thick Scottish accents.”   Carlin