Erasmus+ Day 1 – New Faces, Big Ideas and a (Paint) Stroke of Creativity

2 februari 2026

Today, we officially started Part 2 of our Erasmus+ exchange trilogy. After a great first chapter in Spain, the story now continues here in Enkhuizen, where we welcomed our French and Spanish guests for a week full of learning, teamwork and creativity.

As always, the first interactions were a bit tentative (lots of smiling, careful English, polite nodding and a few confused looks), but thanks to our icebreaker activities every group quickly found four things they all had in common. Mission accomplished: awkwardness defeated.

Next came the main topics of the week. Pupils were introduced to the UN Sustainable Development Goals we will be working on: SDG 1 No Poverty, SDG 2 Zero Hunger, SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being, SDG 5 Gender Equality, SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities, SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, SDG 14 Life Below Water, and SDG 15 Life on Land. These are serious global problems — but pupils worked on them with energy and interest.

After all that hard thinking, lunchtime could not have come at a better moment. And let’s be honest: what’s more fun than watching people on a sunny terrace during a vacation? Watching people while eating lunch in an unfamiliar school auditorium, of course!

In the afternoon, the focus moved to our local history and our special relationship with water — both a source of wealth and, in the past, a dangerous enemy often called the legendary ‘water wolf.’ We then walked to the Zuiderzee Museum, where pupils were divided into three creative workshops. One workshop had art became the main focus: learning about emotions, messages and the techniques artists use to share strong ideas in the universal language of art. Another workshop examined Dutch Design and inspired pupils to consider new uses for pieces of history from around the museum, from parts of a ship to candle-lit lamps. The third had our pupils putting different materials together on mannequins turning old rags into fashionable pieces again.

Inspired (and a little tired, but in a good way), we returned to school for a well-earned snack before starting the next challenge: designing brand names and logos in preparation for Thursday evening’s Re-fashion Show. The ideas were flowing, the designs were bold, and we can safely say there is some low-key excitement in the air.

Day 1 is officially finished — and Part 2 of our Erasmus+ adventure is off to a strong start.