Report on the 3rd mobility held in Slovakia

The third mobility took place in Nové Zámky, Slovakia from 15^th to 19^th October 2018. Various countries arrived by different means of transport – planes (transfer from/to Vienna or Budapest airport was arranged) or train (Polish partners). On Sunday, the day of arrivals, most of the project group met in the afternoon or evening and greeted each other.

The first day we started with ice-breaking activities for students and three workshops in the school: world´s economy, forgery and money proverbs. Meanwhile teachers had management meeting which was opened by Ožvald Tamara´s presentation about the school and life in it. At 11.00 the vice-mayor of Nové Zámky, Mr. Dávid Nagy officially welcomed the group at the town hall, introduced the town and gave small presents to the foreign guests. After a short sightseeing tour held by Dóra Szabó, student of class IV. A, the whole group had lunch at the school´s canteen. The afternoon was devoted to workshops again (for students): family budget, gambling and finishing with a traditional Hungarian folk song, teachers continued in having management meeting. Students spent the evening with families, teachers had a group dinner.

The second day we travelled to Kremnica, where we visited the oldest functioning mint in the world having a look not only at their exhibition but seeing also the process of producing coins alive. After lunch, we moved to the mine, where the whole group dressed up as miners (coats, helmets) and had a look at the procedure of getting out silver and gold from the underground.

The third day in Tvrdošovce focused on introducing traditions, culture via trying out several crafts and customs held in the region. After traditional lunch (goulash), students spent the rest of the day in families, teachers visited Kolárovo, had a look at the wooden floating mill and longest covered bridge in Europe, then had local cheese and wine tasting.

The fourth day we took a trip to Bratislava, the capital. We organised a lecture in English language in the Slovak National Bank (NBS) – The roles of NBS in general, the euro in Europe and the new banknotes. We had lunch in a traditional Slovak restaurant offering domestic food specialities: bryndzové halušky, pirohy, placky, beef goulash and lot more. After lunch everybody had free time to walk around in the old part of the town. In the evening, there was an official cultural programme prepared in the cultural house in Nové Zámky. Parents, students, friends and local schools were invited. A representative of the Slovak National Agency also came. After the programme and dinner, there was a traditional dance teaching and learning night.

The last day continued in our school Gymnázium P. Pázmáňa with a meeting with a coin and banknote collector. The Greek team was the first to depart. Later on students coloured out and prepared a joint Bratislava map, then visited a local art exhibition about Nové Zámky. Before lunch, students and teachers completed evaluation posters.

Later, in the afternoon, after having said goodbye to the Romanian team, the rest of the group departed to and spent the afternoon in Nitra. The Polish partners left at 22.00, the Spanish partners departed home the next day, early in the morning.

Money Matters activities done during the mobility week:

1.      Students had several workshops on different topics of the project:

-          World´s economy – richest and poorest continents, migration

-          False money, forgery, safety features of banknotes

-          English language - money proverbs

-          Family budget – setting up a balance between income and outcome

-          Gambling

-          Collecting coins and banknotes – numismatics

-          Lectures held in the NBS in Bratislava The role of national banks in each countries, Euro in Europe

2.      Students dealt with not only the theoretical part of the project but completed creative tasks as well, using their artistic skills:

-          Creating posters about gambling and family budget

-          Taking photos of themselves impersonalising proverbs

-          Shooting short videos about proverbs

-          Making posters about Kremnica

-          Drawing posters of evaluation, etc.