Back Home after our Transnational Planning Meeting

Guest blog, written by: 
Dr Rob Rodgers, Chair of the Board of Trustees at Global Education Derby

We seemed to have chosen a cold and wet few days in Altopascio for our meeting - but this didn’t dampen our spirits. So, Monday evening, teachers and educators arrived in a small town near to Pisa in Italy. Our European colleagues flew in from Estonia, Spain, Germany, Slovenia, Turkey and not forgetting UK. We were hosted extremely well by Sabrina and Raffaela.

It was a whirlwind of a visit!  We arrived, joined together, worked hard, laughed and enjoyed good company.  The majority of the week was spent sharing expertise, monitoring progress, developing our teaching resources further and agreeing on next steps together.  Then, we flew off back to our various homes.

We have learnt to communicate well with each other and show that European cooperation has so many benefits. The basic thing is that we want to communicate - we value each other and we know that, together we are stronger.

It was moving to see six year olds have lunch with us one day. They asked questions of the adults on their table and had strategies if they, or we, didn’t understand - we adults finished our lunches happier and richer, emotionally, as a result.

My advice to our politicians is “don’t throw the baby out with the bath water!” There is much to gain from each other’s countries, in Europe. Obviously, there are problems and issues, but these can be sorted if we really want to.

In a few days, which gave us many memories and encouragements, I have certainly grown as a person, emotionally. We would all do well to listen to the Queen, who has urged people to find “common ground’ and to respect different points of view!”

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