'Si te cala...mójate'

In the school El Regato, in Barakaldo we have carried out an initiative in favour of childhood and adolescence which has ended up being recognised by UNICEF itself, an organisation that has recently awarded us with "Good practices".

The work "si te cala ... mojate" brought together students (about 60 GCSE students participated) educational staff and the school community, and served to diagnose the situation of minors in the town on very diverse aspects related to questions such as demography, health, diet, school transport, cultural life, the environment and acoustic contamination, immigration, etc.

Thanks to this work and the cooperation of different experts in the town hall of Barakaldo, the City Council was able to verify that the city largely fulfils the requirements which UNICEF demands and bears in mind when designating a city "Friend of childhood".

Both the programme undertaken and the award received have encouraged us even more in the centre, and for this reason we will give it continuity. Indeed, we are now looking into different alternatives related to the rights of childhood, to work on this theme together with students.

School El Regato, in Barakaldo

On the way to school

During the academic year 2010-2011 the Intxaurrondo Ikastola (Basque Language school) set up the project "Eskolako Bidea".

The aim was to promote and provide students with the possibility of walking to school, independently, in other words, without being accompanied by their parents but along a safe road. The project seeks to recover the city as a space for relations, for coexistence, for games, for both the young and the old. At the same time, it enables the children to grow with values of respect for citizenship and the environment as well as solidarity; and it aims to be a way of improving the quality of life of our streets.

To set up the project it was essential to have the cooperation of the parents in the school and this is much appreciated. Indeed, after a first observation of the neighbourhood, having identified risk areas, during the campaign various parents placed themselves at different points along the route to help students.

Several shops near the school joined in the project and we call them friends of "Eskolako Bidea". In this way, they all helped us to construct this safe and placid route, willing as they were to offer protection to and help students.

Our intention for this year is to continue on this line, framed within the work of sustainable mobility in the School Agenda 21. And this year we include various novelties such as the bus on foot, the mascot Txirrin and knowledge and study of the neighbourhood, among others.

Direction of the Ikastola Intxaurrondo

Awareness

During the years that the Urkide School has been taking part in the plan Agenda 21, we have adapted our programmes to teach about the protection of the environment by incorporating sustainable criteria into the activities of the school.

Gradually, throughout this process, we have also included some general initiatives into the annual schedules. For example, at the beginning of each school year, we organise the cycling run to encourage the use of bicycles and also at the end of the year we celebrate green week.

Activities for all levels are organised during green week: puppet theatre for the infant school, the pupils of the Physical Education module promote field games in the Campas de Armentia for the students of the 2nd and 3rd cycles of Primary Education; there are also various talks offered by the NGO's, "book swapping", etc. as we all work on the topic of the year set by Agenda 21. On the last day of term the Book Exchange Fair takes place on the school grounds, when books are classified in levels and, for each book donated during the week, a ticket is issued which can be used to pick up a different book. This year we would also like to organise a cycling circuit in the school playground. In order to promote sustainable consumption, seasonal fruit will be distributed during the final celebration. In addition, during the green week the school canteen will offer ecological menus which we call "low CO₂ menus".

We also organise various specific activities. For example, this year we had the "Stellar Urkide", in conjunction with the company Luminica Ambiental, to carry out work based on constellations, on orientation and light contamination. During the day, conferences and workshops were arranged for the different levels, a paper planetarium was constructed and another one was brought into the school. At night some relatives and teachers observed the sky from the roof terrace aided by telescopes provided by the Astronomical Society of Alava.

The challenge for this year: to create a vegetable garden on the roof terrace with a contribution from all primary pupils. We have been taking the students to the vegetable garden of the Convent of Saint Brigida for some time, but now we want to create our own here in the school. To make a start, we have filled with soil the 5-litre plastic bottle brought by each primary student and planted vegetables and flowers in it. What an adventure!

School Agenda 21 coordination team: Idoia Anzizar, Ania Elosegui, Ander Imaz, Amaya Hernandez, Ainhoa Rmz de la Piscina, Gustavo Rivera, and Aintzane Zubillaga.

Urkide School of Vitoria-Gasteiz