​During the visit in Katowice, Poland, which took place between 09.01 and 13.01.2017, entitled “Let’s start together” the students and teachers from Bulgaria, Slovakia, Romania, Spain and Poland met for the first time. Students were aged between 13 an 19. Unfortunately, due to bad weather conditions, Turkish group could not come to Poland.

After sometimes long and tiring journey the students and teachers appeared at Zespół Szkół Ogólnokształcących No. 3 in Katowice. On the first day all of tem were kindly welcomed at the Opening Ceremony, during which Polish hosts showed traditional Polish dances and songs, presented the main ideas concerning Erasmus+ projects. Then the students and teachers were sightseeing the school during the game “Treasure Hunt”. After this we had an integration event “Making masks”, during which students were making one another masks of plaster. This experience brought a lot of fun but also helped our students to start trust each other and develop their artistic and manual skills. Then, every group of students presented their schools and made an individual presentation as well. In the afternoon we went to the Bowling Alley At Punkt 44 in the Katowice city center. It was an opportunity for students to get to know each other better and integrate through the game of bowling. There was a lot of laughter, shouting and fun.

      On the second day of the visit students and teachers went on a trip to Nazi German concentration camp in Auchwitz. That was a historical and highly educational trip showing the cruelty and non-sense of the war. In the afternoon the students, with the help of their teachers made a street survey “The role of education in people’s life”, which was an activity planned in our project. The survey was in English and all students were asking random passers-by questions on their education background and how it influenced/influences their professional life, if it was worth studying, at what faculties, etc.

       On Wednesday there were a lot of activities at school, among others integration game prepared by every school. Polish school prepared game with “the sheet of paper”, Romanian – a singing  game, Spanish – a making the word “Erasmus+” out the human bodies, Bulgarian – a “game with a mirror” and Slovakian school – a vocabulary game. Then all students took part in maths lesson, led by a Polish teacher. The students took willing part in the lesson, discussed the results and the way of solving tasks. Afterwards, students and teachers were discussing the importance of studying and regular attendance and active participation at the lessons. In the afternoon the whole group went to on Art Workshops at the Silesian Museum I Katowice. Students and teachers got acquainted with the history and art of Silesia region. Then we went on a sightseeing tour of Katowice, among others we saw the Monument of Silesian Uprisings, the Main Square. Then, according to the plan we were supposed to go skating but, as students were already tired, nobody took part in this activity.

      On January, 12th there was a trip to Cracow, an old historical city in the south of Poland. Students and teachers visited the Wawel Castle, Sukiennice, the Old Town, the Schindler’s Museum in Kazimierz. After the trip, the group from Romania with its teachers worked on statistics and final results of the street survey. Then we made an evaluation of the visit in Katowice. As a conclusion, both teachers and students were pleased with the activities, trips and accommodation with the host families. After this part, at 8 pm we started a Project Meeting of Teachers, including: discussing survey’s results, discussing  budget and the number of future participants of the project’s meetings, evaluation of Katowice Meeting, collecting photos, preparation for the Meeting in Romania (03.04- 07.04. 2017), writing a report from Katowice Meeting, discussing political situation of Turkey and opinions of Parents concerning sending their children to Turkey, discussing “Mobility Tool”.

       On Friday, the last day of the visit, we had a Farewell Breakfast at School for students, teachers and parents. The students and teachers received certificates of attendance, family certificates, declarations of attendance, certificates of students’ costs, list of attendance with names and email addresses, invoices, etc. The guest students handed thank you letters and flowers to the parents. Parents prepared delicious sandwiches and sweets. Then we learned dancing with the PE teacher. Then the group went on a trip to Nikiszowiec (an old industrial district of Katowice). We visited a typical Silesian house, visiting the Museum of Silesian Artists, Catholic church. Then we had a traditional Silesian dinner/lunch. In the afternoon, the students went shopping for souvenirs at Silesia City Center in Katowice.

      On Saturday and Sunday guests travelled back to their countiries.