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We have been so busy!

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Green and Yellow Bordered Garden Instagram Post

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Check out this Instagram Post designed by Cathy Averill.

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Here is what we have been up to!

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A visit to the school of Nea Michaniona, Greece.

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Visit to the School Nea Michianiona- Greece

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A summary of best pedagogical practices observed in the areas of inclusion, diversity and sustainability in Greece.

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Read about our work from January to June 2026 in our Erasmus+ Summer Newsletter

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This is a presentation collating and comparing biodiversity observations made throughout the year by the pupils of the different partner schools.

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ERASMUS+ PROJECT FINAL REPORT: EUROPEAN SCHOOL GARDENS BIODIVERSITY STUDY (2026)

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This is a presentation of the 2nd year's activities.

We had the privilidge to present all the wonderful things we did this year in front of collegues from neighbouring schools in the annual event organised by the educational consultant of our school ,who was also present at the welcome ceremony of the 4th mobility organized by our school.

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Αντίγραφο του Παρουσίαση Ηλιάννα Ιωαννίδου

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Check out this Presentation designed by Iliana iliana.

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The 4th mobility event of the European Erasmus+ program “Seeds Will Grow” was held with great success at the 2nd Primary School of Nea Michaniona, with the participation of teachers from Ireland, Portugal, and Italy, from May 25 to May 29.The visiting teachers received a warm welcome from the school community at a touching welcome ceremony organized by the school’s students and teachers.Through musical and cultural events, elements of local tradition were presented, and the spirit of cooperation and hospitality that characterizes the Erasmus+ program was highlighted.During the mobility, job shadowing activities were carried out, giving participating teachers the opportunity to observe school operations, exchange best practices, and learn about innovative teaching approaches. The collaboration and interaction among teachers contributed significantly to their professional development and to strengthening the European dimension of education.A special focus of the program was the briefing on the parallel eTwinning project, during which the partners presented the online activities they are implementing, strengthening collaboration between schools and promoting student participation in joint European activities.Participants also had the opportunity to explore significant sites of natural, cultural, and environmental interest in the area. They took a guided tour of the Salt Pit Keeper’s House in Angelochori, where they learned about the area’s ecosystem and the importance of protecting the natural environment. They also visited and were guided through the most important monuments of Thessaloniki, learning about the city’s rich history, as well as the GeroVassiliou Estate, where they were given a tour of the vineyards, the winery facilities, and the Wine Museum.The 4th mobility of the “Seeds Will Grow” program was an excellent opportunity for the exchange of knowledge, experiences, and cultural elements among the participating countries,strengthening ties of cooperation and promoting the values of European education,sustainability, and intercultural understanding.The 2nd Primary School of Nea Michaniona continues to actively participate in European initiatives,offering students and teachers valuable opportunities for learning, collaboration, and outreach.

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Δελτίο Τύπου 2ο Δημοτικό Σχολείο Νέας Μηχανιώνας

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Flowers blooming in pots, flowerbeds, and on trees

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We have created different sensory areas in our gardens where children can experience and enjoy a variety of scents, colours, and sounds.

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In both of our kindergartens, we cannot allow the grass to grow too tall because it may attract ticks, which can pose a risk to children. However, we have some small areas where wild flowers and native plants are allowed to grow, creating habitats that attract butterflies and other pollinators. Among the species we can observe are bindweed flowers (Convolvulus), clover blossoms, blue-eyed Mary flowers, mallow flowers, dandelions, and daisies.

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Flowers from across Europe: this is the result of our planting efforts, using the seeds and the bulbs our partners brought us in October. We took great care of them — sowing, watering, and giving them plenty of sunlight. They rewarded us with beautiful blooms, and the seeds that have not yet sprouted may still flourish in the coming weeks.

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We have mapped eight "stops" on a nature trail around our school grounds where we can see the habitats of bugs and birds. Our Gardening Club are great at helping look after our school grounds.

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Vegetable Garden and Seeds from Partners

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Everything is starting to grow! Our vegetable garden has come to life with potatoes, onions, beans and more. The sunflowers are growing strong. We planted seeds from our partner schools and are going to plant these soon.

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Now that the weather has got better the wildflowers have taken off! We have marked stop 6 on our map as a place where children can see wildflowers and pollinators. We don't mow the grass in this area to allow nature to thrive!

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This marks our last week of monitoring biodiversity in our school gardens. It has been so interesting to note which gardens are busy and when.

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In our school group (AE Valadares), garden clubs of all schools have a sensory garden that is available to all children/students, but especially to those with special educational needs.
A sensorial garden is much more than a simple green space; it is a living laboratory of discovery where nature can be touched, smelled, tasted, heard, and seen in colour and shapes. Designed to intentionally stimulate the five senses, these spaces offer profound and transformative benefits for all children, promoting truly inclusive physical, emotional, and cognitive development.

For children with Special Educational Needs (SEN), the impact is even deeper and therapeutic. The garden functions as a safe haven for sensory integration. Contact with nature helps with emotional regulation, allowing children to explore stimuli at their own pace. It helps to focus attention, stimulates communication, and develops essential skills, such as playing with other children, sharing experiences, and growing in an environment that celebrates diversity and growth through the senses.

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Inclusive garden: a great activity with great results!

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Copia di giardino inclusivo INGLESE_compressed

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Our school garden is now full of summer flowers blooming.We have begonias,petunias,geraniums,snapdragons and of course wild daisies!

A great place to keep our bug hotel!

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Miss Efi made this wonderful map of our school premises.We use it to play games in the school yard and the pupils learn how to use a map to navigate from point to point quickly.

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3rd Grade gardeners had great fun identifying,touching and smelling the herbs in our Sensory Garden.We are going to cut some brunches and dry them in the shade.We have got Thyme,Oregano, Mint,Sage,Lemon verbena and Rose-scent geranium.We are proud of our garden!

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Some of our pupils who study English as an Additional Language worked on a project to name flora and fauna around the school in different languages. They also researched flora and fauna from the diverse backgrounds of our students.

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The children from the Lagos Kindergarten explored the vegetable garden, playground, park, and garden, having a lot of fun looking for little animals. They observed without hurting anyone and discovered that sharing the playground with such tiny beings teaches them early on to respect, care for, and love nature. Later, they drew a map of the spaces, demonstrating good orientation. They learned the names of some insects. It was a very fun and enriching activity.

The 3rd-grade primary school children used an aerial image they found on the internet and marked the location where they found the animals. It was a very interesting activity because it allowed them to develop a wide range of fundamental skills. At the scientific level, they improved their observation, species identification, and ecological awareness of habitats. In the field of spatial and geographical orientation, they practiced field orientation, map reading, and the use of symbology. Recording the discoveries fostered mathematical skills through data organization and notions of scale, as well as linguistic skills, enriching their vocabulary. Finally, at the socio-emotional level, the activity reinforced teamwork, patience, and the curiosity inherent in critical thinking.

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During our last biodiversity monitoring we realized that our Citrus trees are infected by meligra or lice as we say in Greek.We asked our grandparents for a sustainable way to deal with the problem.This is the recipe they gave us:

- mix 1 tsp liquid dish soap or grated green soap, 2 tsp alcohol, and 1 liter of hot water.

-spray the plant frequently.

We couldn't reach the branches so we asked an older pupil to do it for us.

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Pupils using the "Goosechase App" outdoors

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Drawing inspiration from both our Easter Egg hunt and eTwinning Scavenger Hunt challenge, Mr Kane designed a biodiversity scavenger hunt for us, using an app called "Goosechase". We were challenge to find everything on a list of natural items found in the school grounds and had to photograph them and upload them to the app to show we had found them. It was great fun and we can now use this app in the future as part of our STEM lessons in biodiversity!

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Hand drawn map of St. Sylvester's IS nature trail.

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Ms Rawson created this fabulous map of our school grounds. Now we can plan and follow a specific trail when we want to search for biodiversity - this helps with geographical, mathematical and social skills. This also helps with with regulation for our pupils, as they know what to expect from their trip outside.

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May: Our Sensory Garden in St. Sylvester's IS

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May: Our Sensory Garden in St. Sylvester's IS

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We are really proud that our Erasmus+ project grant has helped us fund the creation of an inclusive sensory garden in our school grounds. Read all about it here!

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Science Five Senses Education Presentation in Blue White Simple Clean Minimalist Style

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A lot of work, a lot of dirt, a lot of SMILES!

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Scuola dell'infanzia Alice Sturiale and Scuola dell'infanzia Bruno Ciari

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Scuola dell'infanzia Alice Sturiale and Scuola dell'infanzia Bruno Ciari

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Inclusive/Multicultural garden

This is the result of our research on plants, flowers, and seeds from the countries of origin of our pupils’ families. A very interesting activity that also involved the parents. We have sown some seeds and planted some plants and we really hope they will grow.

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As part of our Young Gardeners Club, students took part in a creative and educational activity: building bird nests, feeders, and water stations.

This project aims to help children learn about nature, care for local wildlife, and develop hands-on skills while working together.

It was a fun and meaningful experience for all participants!

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Mr Vasilis helped us build a bug hotel. Creating a bug hotel in a school garden is a simple but powerful way to support biodiversity. It provides shelter for beneficial insects like bees, ladybugs, and beetles, helping pollination and natural pest control while giving students a hands-on opportunity to learn about ecosystems and environmental care.

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Scuola dell'infanzia Alice Sturiale and Scuola dell'infanzia Bruno Ciari

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Scuola dell'infanzia Alice Sturiale and Scuola dell'infanzia Bruno Ciari

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This report presents our observations of insects and small animals in our gardens, along with the various activities related to exploring biodiversity carried out from February to May.

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Our garden is blooming again.We had so much fun working with our friends .Their help and advice is valuable.

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Wild flowers in our garden - take a look!

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Wild flowers in our garden - take a look!

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AE Valadares - Portugal

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Make sure to scroll all the way down to the "other" row to read information about how Spring has arrived to the four countries and what that means for nature in the garden.

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This is a video with the most important activities of April

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The students of Class D of the 2nd Primary School of Nea Michaniona carried out a research project exploring the multicultural composition of their school community. They recorded the number of students in each class, the countries of origin of their families, and characteristic plants from those countries.

The results were presented through a symbolic construction: a tree representing the school. From its branches hang beehives symbolising the classes, while the bees represent the students—highlighting cooperation, collectivity, and the unique contribution of each child. Surrounding the construction, images of plants and a selection of live potted plants were placed, bringing together elements from different places and cultures.

The project is closely connected to the inclusive garden created by the students in the schoolyard. Just as different seeds take root and bloom in the same garden, children with diverse backgrounds grow together in the same school, forming a vibrant community built on respect and acceptance.

Because when we grow together, we all bloom.

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Descobrimos formigas no nosso recreio CP2

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Check out this Presentation designed by Ana Margarida Magalhães Marques.

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Habitats - we enjoyed so much to build this shelters... Take a look!

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Habitats - we enjoyed so much to build this shelters... Take a look!

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Check out this Presentation designed by Ana Margarida Magalhães Marques.

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It was exciting to read that the children in Italy spotted a bat!!

In Italy it is not common to find a bat into the school garden but this time happened!!!

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Junior Infants planting beetroot with Principal Mrs Dunne

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Room 2 worked hard to care for their beetroot seedlings, they were so excited when it was finally time to plant them outside!

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We are learning about the importance of bees

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In St. Sylvester's IS we are leaving some spaces for wildflowers to grow. We know this is important for pollinators and native biodiversity.

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Scuola dell'infanzia Alice Sturiale e Bruno Ciari

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Scuola dell'infanzia Alice Sturiale e Bruno Ciari

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These are some photos of the flowers and plants in the school garden in March-April. There are wild flowers and flowers that we have planted and carefully grown. There are also some plants that were given to us by the partner teachers involved in our project. We have thought about adding the vegetable seedlings that are growing in our garden as well.

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During our observations of the garden we are looking for our bird feeders and shelters. They are quite a lot....

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Looking for the bird shelters and the feeders (1)

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Room 6, Senior Infants have been busy planting sunflower seeds. Their seedlings have grown and are now planted outside. We hope we will have lots of good weather to help our sunflowers grow!

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Beige Minimalist Tree Planting Mood Photo Collage (3)

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Room 9 monitoring biodiversity on the school grounds.

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Mr Brennan's class have been working hard on the Erasmus+ project. They have been monitoring the grounds for biodiversity using the checklist created by our Greek partners.

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Green Photographic Earth Day Photo Collage

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It is interesting to see that seagulls were spotted in Ireland, Portugal and Greece - but not at our partner school in Italy, who are not near the sea!

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Our partner schools had given us lovely gifts and they all had to be planted when the conditions outside were right. Thank to Felicja and her mum Anna who kindly did some work in our school garden.

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Our school closed for Easter holidays at the end of March. Our Spring flowers had bloomed! Lots of the classes had planted flower or vegetable seeds. Thank you to Mr Brennan and Ms Hughes who watered them during the holidays. When we came back they had grown and it was time to plant them! Room 9 planted some beans gifted to use from our Greek partners.

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All of our efforts in winter have finally paid off and our Spring bulbs are in bloom. Our school grounds look as beautiful as ever!

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As part of the Erasmus+ programme “Seeds Will Grow”, our pupils from the Special Educational Needs class, took part in planting seeds we received during our trip to Italy from our Irish partners.

They care for the plants every day, watering them and looking after them with love and responsibility. Through this activity, they learn cooperation, patience, and the importance of caring.

The collage shows the journey of the plants’ growth, symbolizing the growth and progress of our students as well.

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Σπορά Τμήμα Ενταξης Γεωργία

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What an experience!

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4th grade gardeners have developed great respect for the natural world through collecting,pressing and labeling leaves and flowers.This way they also developed observation and organization skills.

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Our garden filled with wildflowers is a beautiful place, bringing colour, a feeling of freedom and a touch of nature to our school playground.

Just the perfect place for some Easter Egg Hunt game!

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Planting our Inclusive Garden - Junqueira Kindergarden - AEV

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Planting our Inclusive Garden - Junqueira Kindergarden - AEV

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Even in Italy, as in Ireland according to our friends, late February and early March is a good time to plant potatoes. We watch the moon, and last week was the right time to plant (waning gibbous moon). But first, we prepared the soil, which was full of weeds, and Grandpa Franco’s tractor removed them.

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We have continued to monitor biodiversity in our gardens. It is interesting to see the changes happening in only a fortnight! We are starting to see more and more birds especially.

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We have been monitoring the biodiversity we can see in our school grounds. It is interesting to compare what is seen across the four partner schools.

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It is traditional to plant potatoes in Ireland close to St. Patrick's Day. This gives them a good growing time before harvesting. Mrs Dunne taught Room 6 how to plant potato tubers. We are looking forward to seeing them grow!

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First Class, room 12 were out and about in the school grounds monitoring biodiversity. They spotted ants, bees, centipedes, woodlice, snails, worms and slugs! First class have also been learning about birds and they saw a lot...these included pigeons, crows, magpies, robins, seagulls and brent geese.

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We are really excited in Room 6 to be given the job of monitoring biodiversity in the school garden. We are bug experts! We spotted centipedes, woodlice and worms.

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Room 6, Senior Infants have been monitoring biodiversity in our school garden. This inspired us to design our own "pretend" bug hotels in class. Check our our designs and creations!

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Carnival in blossom

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The logo of our comprehensive institute has changed because it has obtained the music specialization program for the lower secondary school.

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If the trees in our school could talk, they might tell us that they had been waiting a long time to be filled with bird songs. As part of the Erasmus+ program “Seeds Will Grow”, we, the students of Grade D, decided to plant something different: not only seeds in the ground, but also seeds of love for the environment.

With wood, imagination, and teamwork, we built small nests — tiny houses of hope. We hung them on the trees in our school garden, and now we are waiting for our new feathered friends to make them their own.

Because when you give space to nature, it always finds a way to sing “thank you.”

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Bulbs from our partner friends!

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Harvest time!

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The February harvest in our school garden

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Reduce-Reuse Recycle and Plant!

Becoming Environmentally friendly!!!

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Scuola dell'infanzia Alice Sturiale e Scuola dell'infanzia Bruno Ciari

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Scuola dell'infanzia Alice Sturiale e Scuola dell'infanzia Bruno Ciari

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Check out this Presentation designed by sabrina iacoponi.

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A short video of the Mobilty to Certaldo. Great experience!!!

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We observed the colours of Nature around us and we used leaves to create something else.

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A new activity with the microscope!

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Καιρός αγγλικά Γ τάξη

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Μαρουλια Αγγλικα Γ τάξη

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We are the ZEP Reception Class of the 2nd Primary School of Nea Michaniona, Greece. Our class is proudly participating in the Erasmus+ project “Seeds Will Grow”, under the guidance of Ms Dora.

As part of this project, our children planted seeds brought by our teachers from their trip to Italy. Each child planted the seeds carefully in small pots and is now taking care of them every day. They water the plants, make sure they get enough sunlight, and watch as the tiny seeds slowly grow into healthy seedlings. Through this process, the children are learning responsibility, patience, and how important it is to care for living things.

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ζεπ σπορά 2025

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A grade gardeners are hard workers.

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transplanting  seeds from mobility a grade

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There was a lot of food served in our school a few days before Chistmas.Members of the gardening clubs from B grade organised a Christmas feast in front of the Erasmus Corner and used lettuce from our garden. It was really delicious!

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Members of the gardening clubs from A grade had a great idea!

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This is the newsletter we sent home to the parents in our school telling them about the Erasmus+ activities completed in the first term of this school year.

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Scuola dell'infanzia Alice Sturiale e scuola dell'infanzia Bruno Ciari

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Scuola dell'infanzia Alice Sturiale e scuola dell'infanzia Bruno Ciari

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These are our last activities!