3 februari 2025

The corridors were buzzing with interest as the atheneum and havo 3 pupils welcomed their counterparts from France and Spain for our second week of the project: RESPECT 4 Diversity.

In an ever-changing world where openness and acceptance in society are no longer a given, this Erasmus+ project addresses the polarisation and encourages dialogue and sets the next generation up to reconsider our place in society.

The morning’s programme had our pupils in knots for the ice-breakers and really getting to know one another, before ecology in The Netherlands was touched on. It truly is amazing how much innovation our country has shown in the last decades and it was great to showcase the Markermeer Islands which are home to lots of migrating birds.

The afternoon programme brought us to the Senior Living Complex, Overvest for a game of Bingo with the residents. The pupils had brought small gifts from Spain, France and The Netherlands as Bingo prizes. The home had also a range of prizes for our pupils as a gift too as they played Bingo too! The generation gap was closed as the young people helped the seniors with the game and served them biscuits and tea/coffee.

The final part of the day covered Respect 4 sexuality – again something that has hit our news from the USA with the new presidency of Trump and the refusal to recognise genders outside of Man/Woman and other LGBTQIA+ rights. The afternoon was finished off with a movie with pizza in hand.

The perfect start to a great week together in The Netherlands.

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