1. service at a local church
and open day for the
community. We are all
very excited for our
visitors and friends from
across Europe coming to
our town. Some places
worth seeing when you
visit Scotland are:
Rosslyn Chapel- where
„The Da Vinci Code‟ was
filmed, Edinburgh Castle,
The National Museum of
Scotland, Arthur‟s seat
and Holyrood Palace.
Natalia Dore S2
Welcome to the first
Comenius newsletter
created by Penicuik High
School! We thought we
would start by filling you
in on our town and
school. Penicuik is a
small town situated just 8
miles south of Edinburgh,
a short bus ride from
Scotland‟s capital. The
name „Penicuik‟
originates from the
Ancient British phrase
„Pen-Y-Cog which‟
means „hill of the
cuckoo‟. Our town is
twinned with L'Isle-sur-la
-Sorgue in France.
Penicuik lies on the bank
of the river North Esk and
at the foot of the beautiful
Pentland Hills. For almost
300 years Penicuik was
known as „The paper
making town‟. Paper
produced in Penicuik was
exported to places as far
as Australia and well
known Scottish writers
and poets like Robert
Burns and Sir Walter
Scott wrote famous books
with them. One of the
paper mills was named
the Bank Mill because it
specialized in producing
paper for banknotes.
Penicuik High School
was opened in 1937 and
we are this year
celebrating the 75th
anniversary of our school
with exciting events such
as concerts, a memorial
...and we're off!!
Issue 1
Special points of
interest:
Welcome from
Penicuik High
School
Memories from
our trip to Italy
News from
across Europe
Recipes from
Scotland
Preparing for
our trips
Welcome to the first Comenius Newsletter, all the way from Scotland!February 2013 Comenius Newsletter

2. There is so much on
offer at our school. A
wide variety of subjects
are taught including
History, Media Studies,
French, English, Physi-
cal Education, Comput-
ing, Music and many
more. This year the
school celebrates its
75th anniversary after
opening its doors in
1937. It has arranged a
number of exciting
events such as competi-
tions, open days for the
community and con-
certs.
At Penicuik our learn-
ing does not stop when
the bell goes, many of
us enjoy the varied ex-
tra-curricular opportuni-
ties that are on offer.
There are lots of lunch-
time and after-school
clubs that run on a
weekly basis, designed
to assist students with
their studies. These
range from Model
United Nations, Duke
of Edinburgh Award,
Eco-Schools group, Sci-
ence Club, Big Art
Club, Hockey, Football,
Volleyball and Drama
group. The school also
has its own music label
Burnt Out Records!
Burnt out Records is a
record label run by stu-
dents; this has been run-
ning for five years. We
have six artists at this
moment in time and we
run gigs monthly. The
record label is based in
“the hub”. Peni Produc-
tions is an after school
film group who create
scripts and then make a
films. The school also
raises a lot of money for
the Marie Curie Cancer
Charity, raising over
£3000 last year.
The school also holds
its Big Day, our annual
health promoting day,
every September. The
day is devoted to en-
couraging healthy liv-
ing, developing a
healthy lifestyle and
enjoying a healthy diet.
In the morning, the chil-
dren received profes-
sional coaching in vari-
ous field sports, includ-
ing hockey, rugby and
football, Indoors there
was volleyball, karate
and break-dancing. The
event is supported by
Lothian and Borders
Police, which works
with the school to or-
ganise a recreation road
-show. Those who
come to Scotland will
hopefully take part with
us in 2013, we are all
really looking forward
to this. We can safely
say that all at the school
are eagerly anticipating
our new friends from
across Europe.
Zoe Galbraith & Caleb
Cuthbert
places were all very inter-
esting and a great place to
visit. Some of the trip
made us feel quite nerv-
ous, especially when we
met our host families for
the first time. This was
because you were meeting
people who you were go-
ing to stay with for a
week that you had never
The trip to Italy was ex-
citing and also very inter-
esting. The most enjoy-
able experience was the
day trip the Rome. Rome
is a very old fashioned
city with lots of history.
We visited many places in
Rome including the Co-
losseum, the Vatican and
the Trevi Fountain. These
met before. They turned
out to be very friendly
people though. Overall,
the trip to Italy was very
enjoyable and it gave us a
chance to meet new peo-
ple and experience a new
culture.
Callum Whitlie
The story of our school
Our time in Italy
Page 2Issue 1

3. Six pupils, Rachel Law,
Jenna Richards, Andrew
Foley, Callum Whitlie,
Isobel McNiff and Harry
Donnelly and two teach-
ers, Ms Leonard and Mr
Murphy were chosen to
attend the first Comenius
Trip to Alvito, an agricul-
tural school in the heart of
Italy. With their presenta-
tions ready and excite-
ment flying high, they
arrived at Edinburgh air-
port at 4am, sleepy, tired
yet buzzing! Their flight
took off and despite the
early start, they all man-
aged a small smile, as
they landed in the Nether-
lands and headed to get
their next flight to Rome!
They finally arrived in
Rome airport at about
midday and, after a long
wait in the airport, they
travelled to Alvito where
they met our host families
and the other pupils on the
Comenius trip! They then
went home with our host
families and a few of
them got a 3 course meal
for dinner at 11pm!!!
However the second day
arrived and they travelled
to the school in Alvito,
where they met the pupils
from the school and the
pupils from the other
countries on the Comen-
ius trip. They had a quick
introduction and welcome
to the school by some of
the teachers and the flag
of the town was marched
in. They showed their
presentation about their
school, town and country
and listened to the other
pupils talk about where
they came from. The pres-
entations included power
points, videos and talks
about the various schools.
The day passed and after a
rather large three course
lunch they got a tour of
the town including a quick
look round the mayor's
house! In the evening they
headed off to a neighbour-
ing town's museum,
where they learned about
the Romans and Roman
artifacts, before heading
to the sports centre for a
game of volleyball! The
following day they headed
off to Italy's capital city,
Rome! They saw the coli-
seum, Vatican City, Trevi
fountain as well as having
a traditional Italian lunch,
PIZZA! They had made
lots of new friends from
Spain, Slovienia, Italy and
Holland! The last full day
in Italy had arrived and
they couldn't believe it
had gone so fast! The day
started with a trip to the
sports centre in the morn-
ing and a large game of
the traditional game called
“Tamburello”. It was a bit
like tennis but was played
with 5 persons on the
court and large tambou-
rine like rackets with no
handles! Let just say it
was very interesting to
play!!! After a quick prac-
tice they were thrown into
a competition and were
drawn against the Nether-
land's team! It was 4-4 in
sets and Scotland were
serving for the match! A
winning point by Harry
Donnelly won Scotland
the match and they came
second overall!! After the
match they headed back to
the school where they re-
ceived a large 6 course
meal and a very enjoyable
taste of traditional Alvitan
music and dance! Both
Ms Leonard and Mr Mur-
phy threw themselves into
it! Their host families
came to collect them from
the school and took them
home for tea and had also
arranged a night with all
of the Comenius students
and host families to go
bowling! The time came
for them to leave, the fol-
lowing day, and after a
few tears and many good-
byes they headed off to
the airport! The Scottish
students arrived home at
about 10.30pm on the Sat-
urday night. Everyone had
fun and made many
friendships through the
international language of
sport!
Rachel Law
We came, we saw, we conquered!
Comenius Newsletter
The amazing Coliseum
from our day trip to
Rome
Page 3

4. My most vivid memory of
the Comenius Alvito trip
was definitely stepping off
the bus for the first time. I
remember it so clearly. I was
actually very worried, but
then extremely excited at the
same time. So many things
were racing through my
head; “who am I going to be
staying with? What will they
be like?” Suddenly the
leader of the trip started
shouting out names, telling
everyone who they were
going to be staying with.
Several names breezed by,
then I heard a name that
sounded relatively familiar.
„Oh God! That‟s my name!‟
I walked up to the leader and
she showed me to the family
I was going to be staying
with. We greeted each other
and then they showed me to
their car. I stepped in and
waved goodbye to my on
looking friends who would
soon be directed to their
families.
I had never had such a feel-
ing as I did at that moment.
It was a weird but at the
same time exciting mix that I
could feel in the pit of my
stomach. The drive to their
house seemed to take forever
and it was pitch black out-
side, I couldn‟t see a thing.
We suddenly stopped out-
side a massive house on the
top of a hill, I could see
Alvito lit up from where I
stood and I thought if all my
friends were at their host
families yet. The family I
stayed with were very wel-
coming and kind and they
immediately asked if I was
hungry or if I needed any-
thing. I was physically
drained and I asked if I
could just go to bed. I went
to my room and went
straight to sleep. It had been
a long and one of the most
memorable days of my life.
And it was only the start…
Harry Donnelly S3
friends could probably
say…). Our Comenius cor-
ner is improving as well
as teachers’ involvement
into the project. We also
have registered size,
weight and height of 40
students. In December
our students will work on
Hello from Iceland! How
is life in Scotland? In Ice-
land things are quite wet
and dark…Italian sun and
light are already far
away…
Concerning our project
we are working slowly
but surely (as our Italian
their parents and grand-
parents past habits. The
discussion on refrigerator
photos is ongoing …
Regards
Marc Portal
Memories of Italy
News from Iceland:
Greetings from the Czech Republic:
they are working hard on
their presentations -
introducing the Czech
results of Healthy habits
survey.A questionnaire
resulting in the generation
comparison has started
being spread among the
pupils of the 7th and 8th
classes. Teachers of PE are
organizing a school
championship named
MODY 2012 in the
Framework of Active
breaks. This championship
is planned for the week
from December 17th - 21st.
Boys are going to play
floorball, girls volleyball.
The school has also
organized the meeting with
the parents of our pupils in
order to disseminate the up
to how successful the
project outcomes are being
met by our school and to
motivate them to cooperate.
We have also been working
on the list of hosting families
for the foreign pupils during
the meeting at our school in
May 2013.
We have been busy since our
trip to Italy. The pupils who
returned from Alvito
organized a sharing session
with their classmates. They
took the opportunity to tell
others of their experiences
and impressions and also
introduced the photos which
they had taken there. In
addition, they put the photos
from the meeting in Italy on
our Comenius wall.
We are also getting prepared
for our trip to the
Netherlands. Four pupils
who are going to travel to in
March have been chosen and
Page 4Issue 1

5. You all escaped Italy just
in time, snow, sleet and
rain have now covered our
beautiful valley. Since you
left, Italian teachers had the
students write compositions
on the visit to Italy they
found it interesting and
bellissimo......!
The project has been very
popular and all students
want to be considered for
the mobilities. The criteria
used for choosing students
has been spurring them to
do better in all classes.
The English language
teachers are thankful to all
of you for the boost in mo-
tivation. Grazie !
We have shown students
results of the survey on
their daily habits and have
commented on points to
comply with the project
objectives. The first mes-
sage is: let‟s eat better food
at recess, bring sandwiches
from home if possible,
homemade cakes or fruit
and let's all do more walk-
ing even walking to school
when possible.
In addition, we have started
the survey for parents and
grandparents both in L1
and L2 and are comment-
ing on results with students
in L1 and in L2. We have
started photographing the
refrigerators with only out-
side pictures at the moment
we are planning to draw an
Ideal Italian Fridge and
have a peek inside stu-
dent‟s fridges at home in
the next weeks.
Our P.E. teacher has meas-
ured the students and
weighed them, so that has
also been keeping us busy.
Mrs. Giuseppina Tomei
English Language Teacher
Comenius Coordinator
NEWS FROM ALVITO – ITALY
NEWS FROM SLOVENIA
cially given the award at
school by the coordinator
and the Head Teacher.
Students who attended the
meeting in Alvito, Italy
came home with a lot of new
experiences and friendships.
They are preparing a poster
which is going to be dis-
played in our Comenius Cor-
ner.
We have also started ana-
lyzing the results of the sur-
vey and we must say we are
quite satisfied with the re-
sults. We still have to finish
the uploading of all the
video presentations of
schools, places and coun-
tries, so the students and
their parents will be able to
see them.
The last task in December is
for the coordinators to
choose four students who
will travel to Holland in
March 2013. Then we can sit
next to the Christmas tree
and wait for the presents.
In December, in Slovenia,
we look forward to Christ-
mas and Santa Claus. How-
ever, if we want to get our
presents, we have to be good
boys and girls. So we work
for the Comenius project.
Back at our school all the
students and the teachers
listened to the news about
our project, the meeting in
Italy and our third place at
the logo contest on the
school radio. Vita Knavs,
who won the third place at
the logo contest, was offi-
Comenius Newsletter Page 5

6. Even though the first trip
for pupils was to Italy, a
group of teachers met in
Iceland in September for
the first planning meeting.
For the staff, it was great
to finally meet people that
we‟d been working with
over the last few months
while preparing the pro-
ject. We enjoyed two
beautiful sunny days
while we were in school
having meetings. Unfor-
tunately on our sight-
seeing day, it was cold,
wet, windy and felt pretty
much like a Scottish win-
ter‟s day. While we felt at
home, some of the Span-
ish, Italian and Czech
teachers looked pretty
miserable! But what a
beautiful country! Our
Icelandic hosts even man-
aged to arrange the North-
ern Lights for us! þakka
þér.
Visit to Iceland
Greetings from the Czech Republic
chosen and they are
working hard on their
presentations -
introducing the Czech
results of Healthy habits
survey.
A questionnaire resulting
in the generation
comparison has started
being spread among the
pupils of the 7th and 8th
classes. Teachers of PE
are organizing a school
championship named
MODY 2012 in the
Framework of Active
breaks.
This championship is
planned for the week from
December 17th - 21st.
Boys are going to play
floorball, girls volleyball.
The school has also
organized the meeting
with the parents of our
pupils in order to
disseminate the up to how
successful the project
outcomes are being met
by our school and to
motivate them to
cooperate. We have also
been working on the list
of hosting families for the
foreign pupils during the
meeting at our school in
May 2013.
We have been busy since
our trip to Italy. The
pupils who returned from
Alvito organized a sharing
session with their
classmates. They took the
opportunity to tell others
of their experiences and
impressions and also
introduced the photos
which they had taken
there. In addition, they put
the photos from the
meeting in Italy on our
Comenius wall.
We are also getting
prepared for our trip to the
Netherlands. Four pupils
who are going to travel to
in March have been
Comenius Newsletter Page 6
Lunchtime Sports Clubs
at Penicuik High School

7. Recipes from Scotland
Page 7Issue 1
Icelandic pupils in
HE class making
healthy, tasty food.
Icelandic pupils
greeting us in
traditional dress
Scottish oats scones
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter (have used Vegan margarine with good results)
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup all-purpose white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup sugar (may sub Splenda)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins (I have subbed these out with dates and dried cranberries in the past)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt (may use soy with good results)
2 tablespoons canola oil
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425°F Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray or line it with
parchment paper. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat and cook until it begins to
turn light brown, about 2 minutes. Skim foam and pour into a small bowl.
2.Stir together oats, flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Stir
in raisins and make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Combine the browned butter,
egg, yogurt and oil in a small bowl; add to the dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened.
3.Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead several times to form a ball. Pat
the ball into an 8-inch circle and cut into 8 or 12 wedges (depending on the size you want).
4. Place the wedges on the prepared baking sheet and bake until lightly browned and firm to
the touch, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool slightly.
Scotch Broth
Ingredients:
250g carrots, peeled, diced
250g turnips, diced
2 onions, peeled, diced
1celery stalk, diced
1 leek, white part only, sliced
75-125g/3-4oz pearl barley
125g/4oz dried peas, soaked in water for 4-5 hours, drained
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2.3litres/4 pints lamb or mutton stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Heat all of the ingredients, except the kale, in a large saucepan until boiling.
Reduce the heat and simmer gently for a 2-3 hours, or until the peas and pearl barley are
soft.
Stir in the kale and cook for a further 10-12 minutes, or until the kale is tender. Season, to
taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Stóru Vogaskóli, our
Icelandic partner school

8. Hallo! Ahoj!
In preparation for our trips to
the Netherlands and the
Czech Republic , we have
been reading phrase books
and have been asking friends
and teachers for any useful
vocabulary they may know.
Lara even changed the lan-
guage on her phone to Czech
to see if see could make head
nor tail of it!
Before packing we will
check a climate graph so we
can pack the appropriate
clothing. We also need to
pack a gift for our host fami-
lies, which has been the
hardest thing to decide on.
The gifts need to be Scottish
and exciting.
At some point in the near
future we will start our
group projects, which will
help bring the team together
before we leave. We‟re thor-
oughly looking forward to
this, as it will prepare us for
our trips and strengthen our
friendships
This is a fantastic opportu-
nity and we are very grateful
for it! We look forward to
meeting you all very soon
Lara Mega & Louise Tucker
Preparing for our trips
Comenius Newsletter Page 8
Logo Competition
Pupils across the seven schools were involved in
the process for creating and voting on the logo for
our Comenius project. They were given a design
brief and a deadline to work to and many fantastic
potential logos were created. Each school nomi-
nated two logos to go forward to the pan-European
vote. In true Eurovision Song Contest style, they
could not vote for an entry from their own country.
The winning logo, created by pupils at Colegio San
Ignacio in Oviedo, Spain can be seen below and
will represent the entire project.
2nd place, Penicuik High
School, Scotland
Joint 3rd place, Osnovna šola
Matije Valjavca, Preddvor,
Slovenia
Joint 3rd place, Colegio
San Ignacio, Oviedo,
Spain
WINNING LOGO!