Ciao, arrivederci- last day in Macerata!

16 april 2026

Our final day arrived and it was time to start our regular walk up hill and down to our partner school, from where we would be heading off to IIS Garibaldi, their new sister school just outside of Macerata. Along a tree-lined path, the coach weaved its way along the path, with commanding views over the valley of olive groves and grapevines, which had just started to emerge after the pruning back in January.

This school was our base for our final day and we were split into two groups: one group headed off first to explore the rebuilding of parts of the school that had been struck by an earthquake back in 2016. It was interesting to hear how new techniques were being applied to the renovations to prevent such damage in the future – from metal structures, which looked like emergency stairs in the corners of a gym hall to a new roof that encased an older building with some murals from Walt Disney, dating from 1944, the school was being given a facelift that would stand the test of time.

The second group also looked at innovation from how the cattle are managed, to the organic farming on site to how plants can grow in water, which is enriched by fish swimming around. Truly futuristic and a hive of activity- did I forget to mention that the school has its own bees too? They work meticulously on pollinating the olive trees and the many other flowers and shrubs on site.

Of course, it now was time to put the learning into perspective with group work and reflection on what the week has meant to the pupils. There were posters created and presentations made and before we knew it we had relived the week that we had had. This was backed up by a film made by one of the teachers of the week’s activities. Erasmus+ has truly opened minds and broadened horizons of these two lucky groups of pupils!