Let's learn from one another!: November 2022

SUNDAY Sept 25th

Exchange students arrived by train between 6-8 pm. We took them to our homes and told them a little bit about ourselves.

MONDAY Sept 26th

We came to school at 9 a.m. We had a welcoming event and some ice-breaking activities, for example bingo with names.

We had lunch at school. First we had the pretest on the forests and sustainabilty. Then we presented the projects the students had made at home.

Introducing Joensuu to the participants

Prenstation Greece

Presentation Finland


Presentation Lithuania


Presentation Hungary

After the presentations we got to know the town and its wooden buildings by walking around. We also went to the art museum Onni and had a guided tour of the Golden age of Finnish art. In the evening we went bowling together with the whole group.

at the Art Museum Onni

the Art Museum Onni

the highest wooden block of flats in Finland - 14 floors

a wooden bridge over the river Pielisjoki

inside the building

bowling alley Cosmic

TUESDAY Sept 27th

We came to school in the morning at 8.30 a.m. All the exchange students and some of Finnish students went to Koli national park by bus. We were there at around 10 a.m.

We watched a short film about the history of Koli and went around in the visitor center Ukko and its exhibition with a guide.

the film 'Mustarinta'

Then went hiking around Ukko-Koli with the guide. Then we ate lunch at Koli restaurant.


half of the group on top of Akkakoli

Ukkokoli - foggy weather

After lunch we walked down the hill and learnt by the 'Slash and burn' method as a way of renewing the forests.


the whole group

Raimo Hulmi telling us about the slash and burn method

WEDNESDAY Sept 28th

We printed our own Erasmus+ themed tote bags. During the day we also had a competition between different classes and also with Erasmus students.

We had lunch at school at 12 p.m. and after that went to a workshop. It was at Arbonaut. The topic of the visit was deforestation. We used Google Earth Pro to find examples of the topic. In the evening we had quality time with the family.

students working with Google Earth pro

students presenting their findings on deforestation

Spending time with friends outside and in one of the Finnish girls' home.

THURSDAY Sept 29th

We went to the Luma centre and we had workshops about carbon sink and animals that live in Finland's forests. We calculated the amount of carbon that is bound in trees. We had lunch at the university.

the formula for calculating the carbon bound in trees

measuring the diametre

After lunch we learned about Finnish baseball and played a bit.

the gym teacher explaining the rules of the game

Then we had some free time and in the evening we had a get-together at our school. The host parents were invited, too. All the food was provided by the host families. We also got our Erasmus+ certificates.

students and host parents

Erasmus teachers

the Portuguese team and the head of Pielisjoki school Jouni Partti

FRIDAY Sept 30th

We came to school at 9 a.m. We had tests, for example a quizlet, Kahoot! and tested what we learned during the week.

Test on Carbon Footprint

We had lunch at school and after that we went to Kuhasalo Recreation area to do some games and tasks. We also heard a short introduction on fishing and different fish in Finland. We fried sausages and marshmallows by the open fire.