It started with a chance meeting – and now pupils at a school in Northern Ireland are researching alternative forms of energy with their European partners. Tom Hillier reports

At an astronomy workshop in Munich, Jacquie Milligan from Glenlola Collegiate School in Northern Ireland had a chance meeting with a teacher from Portugal. The result of her networking was an invitation to collaborate on a novel project looking at alternative energy, supported by the Comenius programme – a European Union-funded initiative to build partnerships between schools across different parts of the continent.

With a very supportive headteacher backing Jacquie’s initiative, Glenlola was able to accept and hasn’t looked back since. Even though the project officially finished three years ago, the impact of the partnership is still in effect today as staff and pupils engage in enriching and ongoing learning experiences.

Glenlola Collegiate School is an all-girls’ school in Bangor, a small seasidetown south of Belfast, with pupils coming from varied socio-economic groups, but relatively few from different cultural backgrounds. As Jacquie states: “One of the reasons we place so much value on Comenius collaborative projects is that it widens our pupils’ experiences of different cultures.”

Their Comenius project, entitled Our Way to Save the Planet, was based on a solid and very interactive partnership with Italy, Norway, Portugal and Romania. Regular e-mail exchanges went on between pupils and teachers in each country, swapping videos and ideas.

Project raises aspirations and increases motivation

With her Science class, Jacquie was able to breathe new life into the curriculum with relevant and exciting learning. “The girls had the opportunity to really own their topics, as they carried out their own research into various forms of alternative energy,” she explains.

As the project developed, some pupils were able to visit Naples and view a factory making solar power cells, helping to cement their classroom learning. Their research into other forms of alternative energy also became more meaningful with visits to a hydroelectric power plant in the mountains of northern Portugal and a ‘gasification’ project in Moss, Norway. Throughout the three years of the project, every girl in the class who wished to visit a partner school was able to do so, thanks to the EU funding for Comenius, which is managed by the British Council in the UK.

The project has had a significant impact on the aspirations and motivation of the students involved. The girls have won competitions with their work, as well as submitting it to their local newspaper. Many have gone on to study environmental and engineering courses at university. And in March 2009, two of the girls were invited to represent the UK at the first European Environmental Student Forum in Cyprus, all because of their participation in the Comenius project.

Jacquie comments: “I would recommend the Comenius experience unreservedly as an excellent opportunity to motivate and excite both pupils and teachers in the learning process.”

Tom Hillier works in the Programme Promotions team at the British Council

More info If you would like to link with other European schools, the British Council can help you find partners and access funding and free support through the EU-funded Comenius and eTwinning schemes. Visit www.britishcouncil.org/comenius and www.britishcouncil.org/etwinning for more information. Read more about this story in the October issues of SecEd, the only weekly newspaper for secondary schools – see www.sec-ed.co.uk