Category Archives: General

Polish guests visit Bremerhaven!

03.04.2025. From 31 March to 3 April 2025, a special Erasmus+ project week took place at our school with students from the ZSE in Krakow, Poland. Under the title ‘Can We Build Up a European Eco Society?’, the participants focussed intensively on the challenges of climate change and the role of individuals and entire societies in the fight against environmental threats.
Exciting workshops and discussions were on the programme during the week. A particular focus was on sharing possible solutions for a more sustainable future in Europe. The students developed ideas for a more environmentally friendly society and actively addressed the question of how Europe can act together in a more ecologically sustainable way.
A highlight of the week was the very exciting presentation by Victor Smetacek on carbon capture strategies with algae moulds. Mr Smetacek, Professor Emeritus at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), gave fascinating insights into his research work and discussed the potential of these technologies for climate protection with the participants.
In addition to the content-related work, there was also time to explore Bremerhaven. A special experience was the guided tour of the city by pupils from Bremerhaven, who showed their guests the sights and history of the city with great commitment. The programme also included a visit to the Klimahaus and a tour on the harbour bus.
The project week was an inspiring experience for everyone involved and raised awareness of ecological issues. We would like to thank our Polish friends for the enriching time and look forward to many more project weeks together!

Do zobaczenia w Krakowie w maju, przyjaciele! // See you in Krakow in May, friends! // Wir sehen uns in Krakau im Mai, Freunde! 🙂

Digital tools in intercultural projects

31.01.2025. We were in Parchal, Portugal, from 26 to 31 January to take part in the teacher training course ‘Digital tools in intercultural projects - Insights into AI, podcasts, explanatory videos & practical applications in school’ organised by europeanseminars. This training focussed on the use of digital tools and artificial intelligence (AI) in the classroom.

During the training, which lasted several days, the increasing relevance of AI-based tools for teaching and their potential for individualising learning was emphasised.
We gained valuable knowledge and insights into a variety of tools, including interactive learning platforms, creative applications for project work, SUNO for music creation, NotebookLM for podcasts, Greenscreen for video creation and PresentAI for generating presentations in a matter of seconds.
In the dialogue about best practices and challenges in the education sector, we not only developed new ideas, but also made contacts that will create a basis for future cooperation. Particular highlights were the intercultural exchange with colleagues from various European countries and our own projects on site:

‘The training programme not only helped us with the content, but also broadened our perspective. It was very inspiring to see how schools in other countries work with digital tools,’ reports one of the participating teachers.
We are delighted that our school will benefit from these new skills and ideas and would like to express our sincere thanks for their support during this beneficial exchange!

2nd meeting of the EUrope AG

03.12.2024. The second meeting of our EUropa AG took place yesterday. After a brief review of the founding meeting in mid-September, one group dealt with the application documents and the registration procedure for Erasmus student mobilities, which we want to implement immediately for subsequent trips. Another group worked on project ideas for activities in our school and as part of Europe Week in the state of Bremen - as well as for participation in competitions such as ‘Europe? But safe!’ and “Act democratically”. In the coming weeks, another group will also be working on the logo for our working group. The next meeting will take place in 2025, invitation will follow soon!

Schule:Global network meeting

Schule:Global network meeting

27.11.2024. We were in Bonn for this year's Schule:Global network meeting from 25 to 26 November. In addition to many exciting impulses and a lot of input as well as collegial exchange, we were able to enrich the meeting with a best-practice presentation on our ‘Demokratier’ - a project that we carried out for the first time this summer with our current learning groups of the E phase under the leadership of our colleague Nele Schirrmacher ... and a project that was very inspiring! 🙂

Simulation of the United Nations 2024

22.11.2024.  20 students from the E-phase, accompanied by Ms. Engel and Mr. Schmitt, were in Hamburg from November 13th to 15th to participate in a two-day simulation of the United Nations.
This simulation was organized by HAUS RISSEN, a non-partisan non-profit institute. In this simulation, young people slip into the role of delegates from various countries as realistically as possible and represent their country's position in joint diplomatic negotiations.
In the Human Rights Council and the Economic and Social Council, we represented five out of 34 countries (Chile, Japan, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, and Nigeria) to fight for girls' rights and the right to education for all.
In addition to us, students from the following Hamburg schools participated: Brecht-Schule, Bugenhagenschule, Jenisch-Gymnasium, STS Bergedorf, and STS Poppenbüttel.

It was a very intense time, but it was also great to see how we grew together as a group. We faced the challenges and grew a lot!

EUrope AG

17.09.2024. The first meeting of our newly founded EUropa AG took place yesterday. After a brief round of introductions (why & what for), we discussed our plans and drew up our first concrete plans (co-creating, living, receiving, developing, enabling). We would like to thank the people who attended and who all want to come again. The next meeting will take place after the autumn holidays. Invitation will follow soon!

Job shadowing from Krakow

19.08.2024. Last week, Ms. Anna Nowakowska from ZSEL1 in Krakow was our guest. After we had organized very successful joint project weeks in Krakow together in the last two school years (see also: Link 1 & Link 2), she now visited us as part of a so-called Job Shadowing from 12 to 16 August.
Among other things, she sat in on classes in German, English, mathematics, biology, economics and psychology in all year groups as well as basic and advanced courses. In addition, she enriched our contribution “Erasmus at CvO GyO” at the Europe workshop for the new trainee teachers on August 16, took part in our online exchange with our School:Global school coach Ms. Lena Westermeier and also attended the annual general meeting of our school's support group.
After a wonderful week and a joint visit to the “Maritime Days”, it was time to say goodbye. But we have already planned two more project weeks. We are very much looking forward to welcoming students to Krakow again next year - but also to welcoming Ms. Nowakowska and a group of Polish students to our school.
With this in mind: “Do zobaczenia wkrótce, Anna!"

Job Shadowing in Thessaloniki

21.04.2024. Our teachers Dr Hoffmann, Mr Siebs and Mr Ehlert visited the "Second Lyceum of Kalamaria" in Thessaloniki (Greece) at the beginning of March. As part of a job shadowing programme sponsored by the European Union, they sat in on various subjects and were able to participate in school life.
In addition, a preparatory visit was organised for a student exchange next year with the overarching theme of "STEM - Water testing using self-built measuring devices with Arduino components".

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Travelling exhibition ‘EU on tour’

01.05.2024. We are very happy that we were able to host the travelling exhibition ‘EU on tour’ of the European Parliament's Liaison Office in Germany over the last ten days - see also: https://www.eu-on-tour.eu/.
This travelling exhibition provided us with extensive information on the upcoming election, insights into the work of the European Parliament and an overview of existing participation formats and further offers - and was therefore a complete success!
The aim was to sensitise our first-time and young voters aged 16 and over in particular to the importance of the European elections and to motivate them to exercise their right to vote.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the European Parliament's liaison office in Germany for this wonderful opportunity.