This article is from page 27 of the 2007-04-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 27 JPG
SEVENTEEN teenagers from Kilkee went Dutch this week.
The second year students from St Joseph’s Community College, Kilkee travelled to Vlaardingen in the Neth- erlands on Sunday, March 25 as part of a student exchange. They arrived back on Friday.
The exchange was part of the Comenius Project.
A European initiative – in existence since the foundation of the European Economic Community, the Comen- ius endeavours to facilitate exchange of ideas, personnel, and students be- tween member states of the EU and
indeed between all countries in the continent of Europe.
Phase two of the project is Comen- ius 1.3, which began in 2004. Kilkee Community College was a co-ordi- nating school for the project.
It hosted the first meeting of the partner schools in October 2004. Each meeting was a three to four day gets together by teachers (only) to exchange ideas, compare and share strategies developed to ensure that all the school is an inclusive place of Kee Nesnneree
The other countries involved include Scotland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Spain, and Norway the project will end where it began in Kilkee later this
month.
In the meantime the students are making the most of the European ey sbaterernleyer
The Kilkee students lived with the Dutch students’ families for just un- der a week.
The highlights of the week included a tour of Vlaardingen, a visit to Rotter- dam that included a boat tour through the harbours of the city and a visit to Neeltje Jans, the polders on Noord Beveland and the Veersegatdam.
On Thursday the Kilkee students and their Dutch hosts attended a lec- ture on polder water management at the Kinderdijk pump and windmills. Later that day they spent some time
in the city of Delft.
In late May the Dutch students will make the return visit to Kilkee as cuests of the Irish students.
The schools selected each other as exchange partners as they are located in a region that is physically/geo- graphically quite different. The Kil- kee students were introduced to the physical features of deposition 1.e. the Polders of Holland and a flat land- scape. When the Dutch students visit Kilkee they will study coastal erosion and karst landscape.
The exchange programme was or- ganised by Geography teachers Jean Lorigan and Deirdre Kennedy who accompanied the students on the trip.