Education
Coláiste Nano Nagle Erasmus students set off for Finland
Coláiste Nano Nagle Erasmus students model their snowsuits and boots. In the photo are Rebecca O’Connell, Alannah Purcell, Jermaima Anthony and Leah Finnin.
Coláiste Nano Nagle Erasmus students will don their snowsuits and boots as they set off for some snowy days in Finland today, February 9 as part of the Erasmus + project
The Coláiste Nano Nagle Erasmus group will visit Ilomantsi, in eastern Finland as part of a school exchange for a week and are “really looking forward to skiing, skating, going sightseeing, visiting the local school and overall just being there and having the opportunity to go on this great trip”.
The group will be made up of 22 students – 11 transition year and 11 fifth-year students – who will be accompanied by their principal, 2 teachers and the School Completion Programme co-ordinator.
“It is going to be a really fun experience and the excitement is building up here in our school,” The students said.
Erasmus + is the EU programme that supports education, training, youth and sport in Europe and runs from 2021-2027 giving students and school staff lots of opportunities to get involved in, allowing them to set up projects, spend time abroad and gain new skills.
the project aims to modernise and improve the quality of teaching, training and youth work across Europe, and to support the development, transfer and implementation of innovative practices.
Fundamental goals for Erasmus + include improving competence and skills and fostering partnerships between education and employment.
“Our journey will take us literally from the most western part of Europe to the most eastern part of Europe,” said the students, adding, “It will take us over 20 hours to make this journey. We can already feel the tiredness hitting us, but we are sure that the snow and coldness will revive us in no time.”
The group travelling said as part of the Erasmus + project they had been learning about Finland and “making presentations about Ireland and Irish culture to teach the Finnish people about us and Ireland”.
“We have also made some love bombs to give to the Finnish students on Valentine’s day. Ms Cantillon and Ms O’Brien have also got a signed Limerick hurling jersey and a sliotar thanks to the help of Declan Hannon. We are going to present it to Pogosta school as a souvenir from Limerick,” they said.
You will be able to follow the group’s adventure on the school’s Twitter page @colnanonagle, as they plan to post photos of their activities each day.
They said, “After the trip we will continue keeping in touch with the students in Pogosta School by doing Teams calls to discuss things such as climate change and what that looks like in Finland and Ireland.”
Next school year, the Coláiste Nano Nagle Erasmus group hopes to return the favour by welcoming the Finnish students and their teachers to Limerick and Coláiste Nano Nagle.
Here in this photo we are modelling our snow suits and boots. In the photo are Rebecca O’Connell, Alannah Purcell, Jermaima Anthony and Leah Finnin.