1. There are also two branch
schools in the village Kokra
(with only 6 students) and in
Jezersko (with 36 students).
Most of our students are
commuters. They come to
school by bus.
Dear friends, we are pleased
to be a part of this Comeni-
us project. We are aware we
can learn a lot from you and
we are happy to be your
hosts you next spring. Come
and meet us, our school, our
village and our country!
Slovenian Comenius Team
You are reading the second
issue of our newsletter. Stu-
dents and two teachers
from Matija Valjavec Prima-
ry School put quite some
effort in it in the last
months. We wrote the arti-
cles, gathered the articles
from other participants, put
in the photos and designed
the pages. And this is the
final version. We like it and
we hope you'll enjoy reading
it.
About our school
Our school is located at the
foothills of a great Slovenian
mountain Storžič that is
2132 m high. It was built in
1966 and completely reno-
vated in 2004. There are 340
students and 35 teachers at
school. Besides all the tech-
nical stuff we have a dentist,
who takes care of our stu-
dents’ dental health.
We are very proud of solar
cells which are spread all
over our roof and with them
we contribute to the produc-
tion of green energy. 65,000
kWh of electricity is pro-
duced in a year.
We are surrounded by beau-
tiful nature and our students
spend a lot of time outside
in the school yard, even
when it snows or rains. They
come before the lessons
start in the morning, during
the main break and after the
lessons finish. They play
football, basketball or just
walk around and sit on the
benches.
Next to the school there is a
newly built wooden energy-
efficient kindergarten with
140 children and 16 teach-
ers. We have two small kin-
dergartens in the nearby
villages in Bela and Jezersko.
Welcome to the second Comenius Newsletter!
Issue 2
Special points of
interest:
 Welcome
 Devil's forest
 An interview
with Davo Karni-
čar
 Holland
 Luca's
reflections
 My trip to
Almelo
 Penicuik High
School
 Dear friends
 Hockey Match
 Recycled sports
materials
 Active breaks
 Eco farm
May 2013 Comenius Newslatter

2. In Potoče near Predd-
vor there were living
two farmers. They
were arguaging all the
time, because of the
forest under the
mountain Zaplata.
Once, one of the far-
mers said: »If the
forest isn't mine, let
the devil take it! «
That night was a very
strong storm with lig-
htning and thunder.
In the storm the devil
came and took the
forest on his sholders.
He was running over
the mountain Zaplata.
Suddenly, the church
bell ranstarted to ring
early in the morning.
He was frightened, so
he dropped the forest
in the middle of the
mountain. This forest
is very special. Becau-
se of it, the mountain
got the name 'Zaplata',
which means a patch
and the forest is called
the Devil's forest.
Marija Okršlar, 7.a
tle, my parents taught
me to ski and later on I
learnt about mountain-
eering and alpine climb-
ing with the help of my
older brothers and sister.
So I started to set goals –
I knew I was good at ski-
ing and climbing, so I
combined the two sports.
And my goals became
higher and higher. That
is why I skied from the
highest mountains in
Slovenia, Europe and
1. What do mountains
mean to you?
I can't imagine my eve-
ryday life without moun-
tains. They are a great
opportunity for spending
our free time.
2. Why did you decide
to ski from the high-
est mountains of all
the continents?
I had a special luck be-
cause I didn't have to
think which sport to
choose. When I was lit-
last, the highest moun-
tains in the world.
3. How did you feel
when you were skiing
form the highest
mountain in the world
– Mount Everest?
Every time I ski from a
high mountain, it is dif-
ferent than other sports,
where we are relatively
safe. In football, for ex-
ample, we score a goal
and we have time to be
happy. But when skiing
Devil's forest
An interview with Davo Karničar, a world-class extreme skier
Page 2Issue 2
Students returning from a field trip to Zaplata and the Devil's forest
A view to our village and
our school from Zaplata
Zaplata
Davo Karničar

3. we must be focused all
the time and we mustn’t
do a wrong move. Only
one mistake can be fatal!
The sense of concentra-
tion is the only sense we
feel while skiing of a
mountain. We can jump,
be happy, clap our hands
and relax only after we
end that journey.
4. Did anybody inspire
you for extreme ski-
ing?
I got a lot of inspiration
from your previous head
teacher, my older broth-
er Luka, who had done it
before and he taught me
a lot. And when I was
your age or a bit older I
was reading books about
people who did that
sport in France. The
combination of skiing
and alpine climbing be-
gan to develop early in
the parts near Mont
Blanc. So while I was
reading these books, I
started to dream that
one day I would do the
same. But the basic mo-
tivation came from my
home and my older
brother.
5. Have you ever
thought about giving
up, have you ever felt
homesick?
That is something that’s
always present. When
we are safe at home,
when the mountains pre-
sent themselves in the
best light, we are brave
then and we set new
goals. We want to go to
the mountains. But
when we go, fears ap-
pear. When we realise
we’ll have to put a lot of
effort in it and for a long
time, there are some con-
cerns. Have we decided
for the right thing or
not? But if we have set
the right goal, then the
ending is a happy one. It
is the same for all the
things in life. The more
we try and the harder a
way seems to be, the
happier we are in the
end.
6. Which achieve-
ments are you most
proud of?
That we are here togeth-
er now and we can talk.
Extreme skiing is con-
nected to great dangers
which we can’t have an
impact on. I’m very
proud that nature gives
me a good luck and that
I deserve it. We have to
give all our efforts, have
the proper equipment, a
fit body and the right
timing for making deci-
sions. But when moun-
tains are concerned, we
have to have good luck,
too. Good luck that some-
thing doesn’t move on
the mountain or that we
are in the right place at
the right time. In other
sports we talk about
sports luck, but in this
sport we talk about the
luck of staying alive.
7. Have you had any
injuries?
Yes, several of them, but
not in this sport. Except,
I’m missing two of my
fingers on my left hand. I
was told this was not an
injury because it was a
process. In my first try to
ski from Mt Everest it
was too cold, I didn’t
manage to ski and two of
my fingers froze.
8. What qualities are
necessary for a top
sportsman?
A top sportsman must be
a complex personality.
He or she takes care of
both, the knowledge in
the mind and the
trained, fit body. Both
must be balanced. All
sportsmen learn tech-
nique well, they practise
every day, but still, only
Comenius Newslatter
Davo Karničar
Stran 3
Lea, Maruša, Nejc and Kristjan with Davo Karničar
The more we
try and the
harder a way
seems to be,
the happier
we are in the
end.

4. one wins a competition.
And mostly, the winner
is the one who succeeded
to show all his
knowledge with his met-
al power. A top sports-
man must be a healthy
person, mentally and
physically. Sportspeople
who often win are emo-
tionally and spiritually
balanced people and they
have trained their bodies
to perfection.
9. How much time do
you have between the
hikes and expedi-
tions?
I have a lot of time, be-
cause each expedition is
costs a lot of money. In
this sport, one part is
adventure, exploration
and the other one is
sport. There are numer-
ous things we can’t de-
termine in advance. In
athletics, for example,
the conditions never
change, but in extreme
skiing there are plenty of
variables which can’t be
determined precisely.
10. Has your family
ever tried to stop you
or have they encour-
aged you?
I was extremely lucky
that my parents never
opposed. They always
gave me some advice.
Now that I’m a parent I
see how hard this is. My
parents loved me and
worried about me, but
they never prohibited
anything. That was a
special luck for me.
11. What are you do-
ing at present?
I’d like to pass on thirty
years of experience to
other people. To people
who want to learn more
about what the nature
can offer and what to do
in the woods on snow.
That is my priority, but I
also want to visit new
mountains. There are no
limits in my sport, only
numerous mountains all
over the world.
12. You are one of a
few Slovenians whose
name appears in the
Guiness Record Book.
What does it mean to
you?
My goal was never to be
in that book. That is a
sort of confirmation for
my work.
Thank you very much
for your answers.
Holland
a train to Almelo.
When we came there,
our families were
waiting for us. Stu-
dents stayed with
their host families and
teachers stayed in a
hotel.
I spent a week with
the Post’s family.
Their house was very
nice. My host was Iris
Post. She is as old as
me and she has a
younger brother Jul-
ian. Her mother Astrid
was very friendly with
me and she talks ex-
cellent English. They
have a dog called Lu-
na.
Page 4Issue 2
Mrs Mateja Sajovec,
Mrs Petra Lesjak, Vita
Knavs, Vid Tavželj,
Ana Ogris and Meta
Mekuč went to Hol-
land to attend a meet-
ing for Comenius pro-
ject.
We stayed there from
5th to 9th March.
On Tuesday at 7.30 we
met in front of our
school. Then we went
to Marco Polo airport
in Venice by van. We
had to use the airport
in Italy, because the
tickets are much
cheaper there than
tickets from the Slove-
nian airport.
When we came to
the airport, we wait-
ed for the plane.
Then we flew from
Venice to Schiphol
airport in Amster-
dam.
The view from the
plane was beautiful
– at first we could
see mountains, but
then they disap-
peared, because in
Holland there aren’t
any mountains or
hills. We saw a lot of
windmills – they are
typical of Holland.
After we landed we
went to the train
station and we took
We saw a lot
of windmills
– they are
typical of
Holland.

5. In Holland we woke up
at half past six. We ate
breakfast. Then we
prepared lunch – we
ate it at school. Usual-
ly we had a sandwich
and a little chocolate.
Then we went to
school by bike. Almost
every student in Hol-
land goes to school by
bike. They are very
popular there. The
first and the last day
we attended some les-
sons at school. After
school we did some
other activities. In
Holland people go to
bed quite early.
First day at school we
had presentations
about the lifestyle in
our country. We talked
about our nutrition,
free time … It was in-
teresting to hear how
people in other coun-
tries live.
After school we went
to Almelo and did
some shopping there.
Then we ate dinner in
a restaurant called
Zenderen.
On Thursday we visit-
ed the city of Amster-
dam. We drove there
for two hours by bus.
We went to Nemo sci-
ence centre, on a boat
trip, shopping ... We
ate potato chips. Then
we walked through the
city and we saw some
interesting old houses
and boat houses - this
means that people ac-
tually live in a boat.
When we came home
we went to sleep be-
cause we were ex-
hausted.
On Friday we went to
school and did a group
project about habits of
our parents and
grandparents – we
compared the results
from different coun-
tries. Then we cycled
to Tubbergen. We
were in fitness, played
a game in a gym and
baked our own pan-
cakes. For dinner we
ate a typical Dutch
meal. After dinner we
showed our presenta-
tions to the parents
who came there to see
us, the students and
teachers from the Co-
menius project.
On Saturday we could
sleep long, because we
didn’t have to go to
school. Iris’s mother
Astrid showed me
their village. We saw
the church, the shrine,
the ice rink ...
We went to the train
station in Almelo. We
said goodbye and we
were sad, because we
will probably never see
each other again.
Then we went to Am-
sterdam airport by
train. We waited for
the plane for five
hours, because we
came there very early.
At 8.36 we had the
flight. We travelled
from Venice to
Preddvor by van and
we came home 1.10 at
night.
It was a beautiful trip,
because we saw a lot
of interesting things,
met new friends, had
fun ... And I think our
English has improved,
because we had to
speak English all the
time there.
Meta Mekuč, 8. a
Comenius Newslatter
It was a
beautiful trip,
because we
saw a lot of
interesting
things, met
new friends,
had fun ...
Page 5
Slovenian team in Almelo

6. My trip to Almelo
parking for 1200 bikes, I
had never seen so many
bikes all together, Dutch
students don't go to
school by car but they
use their bikes and natu-
rally I did too.
At school we took part in
an assembly and the
presentations done by
each Comenius partner
school were projected
and commented. Later in
the day we went to clas-
ses and worked together
with our foreign class-
mates, it was quite hard
and embarassing at first
we hardly talked with
each other we were quite
uncoordinated but then
as the hours passed it
became easier to talk
with everyone. I finally
realised that without a
good knowledge of Eng-
lish it is impossible to go
anywhere. I liked the
quiet and relaxed atmos-
phere of the school and
the bright colors all
around.
On Thursday we went to
Amsterdam, time just
passed too quickly there
as we visited the Nemo
Science Center, it
looked like a large ship
anchored on the pier
and the fact that it had
been designed by the
Italian Architect Renzo
Piano, made me feel
good. The boat ride in
the canals around the
city was great and shop-
ping in the centre of
Amsterdam was great
fun. Friday was the day
dedicated to sport and
off we went to Tubber-
gen where we worked
out for hours in a large
sports gym for the en-
tire morning and later
visited the other St
Canisius School where I
made some pancakes
which were not bad at
all for a bigginner. In
the evening we had the
final presentations with
all host families and the
final farewell party. In
the evening I prepared
my little blue trolley
and Saturday after vis-
iting Amsterdam again
we were off for Italy. I
was a bit sad to leave
Almelo and my new
friends but happy to go
home, as for my little
trolley unfortunately it
repoted bad injuries on
the flight home and
won’t be used again.
Tata Davide
Class I A
Alvito
It was 7:30 am of the 4th
of March the day before
our departure for Almelo
and I had just closed the
last zipper,of my little
blue trolley it was ready
and I was ready too ....
but we left ten hours lat-
er.
It was my first time on
an airplain and I must
say I was quite excited
and a bit uneasy.
My friends my teachers
and I met in front of our
school in Alvito ready to
leave for Fiumicino air-
port and of course I had
my little blue trolley.
We arrived as scheduled
to Amsterdam airport
my blue trolly had its
first accident, nothing
serious and we took a
train to Almelo, I was a
bit homesick but when
we arrived at the train
station our homestay
families were waiting for
us and I finally met the
family assigned to me
and my schoolmate Stef
Paus. The next morning
we went to school and to
my surprise in the
schoolyard there was a
Page 6Issue 2
I had never
seen so
many bikes
all together.

7. I had never travelled
alone to a foreign coun-
try and the trip to Hol-
land was an unforgetta-
ble experience for me. I
liked everything about it
apart from the Dutch
food …. and some as-
pects on their daily hab-
its that seemed odd to
me. I was impressed by
the fact that the Dutch
students (my peers) are
definitely more inde-
pendent than we are and
that the Dutch schools
are way ahead of us for
certain things: in the
school in Almelo apart
from books all students
used computers in class
and for all their school
work. Dutch students
change classes at regular
intervals and go from
one classroom to another
to follow lessons for dif-
ferent subjects while in
Italian schools our teach-
ers will go from one
classroom to another and
students are in their
home room for the whole
school day. I was also
very much impressed by
the general relaxed atti-
tude of the Dutch par-
ents in their daily rela-
tion with their children,
in our families we are
treated differently, our
parents are overly pro-
tective and they general-
ly have almost complete
control on what we do,
where we go, with whom
etc… my Dutch friends
are more independent
and they rely less on
their parents for practi-
cal things. In my opinion
we should have these
exchanges every year in
order to enable us to
have more contacts with
other students and also
to learn about other
teaching methods. It is
definitely an experience
that I would repeat.
Luca Martini
Classe I B , Alvito
on about our different
trips and activiti-
es. Texts, photos and
short movies will be
shown and discussed.
Students from the 8th
and 9th grades are
working on different
activities. Art and sci-
ences teachers are lea-
ding our recycled
material project, some
wonderful ideas have
already occurred. P.E
teachers as well as
senior students are
organising games and
physical activities,
youngsters at school
seem to appreciate the
whole thing very much
and are very active
Stóru-Vogaskóli has a
very busy and enterta-
ining time. We are
preparing our annual
festival. Our 200 stu-
dents are working
hard preparing movi-
e s , p l a y s a n d
exhibitions. Parents,
relatives and indeed
the whole community
will be invited at
school on 21st
March. Most of them
will bake pancakes,
muffins or bring some
pastries.
Our Comenius corner
will have a good place
among exhibitions and
everybody will be able
to get some informati-
during breaks. Our
fridge project has the
support of the home
economics teacher as
well as the majority of
the staff at school…we
can also expect a very
long line in front of the
school nurse door
while size, weight and
B M I w i l l b e
taken. Some of us
had the idea to weight
the teachers but the
results could be catas-
trophic and the propo-
sition didn’t get much
support J.
Best regards
Marc
Luca’s reflections
Dear friends
Comenius Newslatter Page 7
Our parents
are overly
protective and
they generally
have almost
complete
control on
what we do,
where we go,
with whom
etc… my
Dutch friends
are more
independent
and they rely
less on their
parents for
practical
things.

8. In Penicuik High
School, over the recent
months, we have been
very busy. Our school
recently celebrated its
75th anniversary and
opened its doors to the
general public. Former
pupils, from near and
far, were welcome to
tour the school and
observe our lessons in
action. We set up old
style playground
games in the PE hall,
such as hop-scotch,
skipping and elastics.
Modern day games
were also practiced,
and our guests enjoyed
spectating the compe-
titive and lively games
of volleyball and bad-
minton. Everyone
involved in the Come-
nius project took part
in demonstrating the
games and the event
was a great success.
The group of pupils
who will take part in
the Czech Republic
mobility are currently
creating a game of ten
pin bowling with
recycled materials.
They are collecting ten
two litre bottles, which
will be filled with
water and used as
pins and many plastic
bags and elastic
bands, that will be
bound together to
make the ball.
As ‘a healthy mind, a
healthy body’ is the
main theme of this
Comenius project, we
are also looking at
what the ‘ideal fridge’
would contain. Each
pupil in the trip has
taken a photo of their
fridges on an average
day, and these photos
will be compared with
the ideal fridge so we
can determine roughly
how healthy our diets
are.
Possibly the biggest
project was taking
every pupil in 3rd year
and getting their mass
in kilograms and their
height in centimetres,
pulling the informati-
on together and crea-
ting charts to present
the information.
Thinking about a
‘healthy mind, a
healthy body’ has been
interesting and very
exciting. Every pupil
involved had a lot of
fun and we cannot
wait to present our
findings to the Czech
Republic mobility gro-
up at the end of May.
Penicuik High Scholl
Page 8Issue 2
We set up old
style
playground
games in the
PE hall, such
as hop-
scotch,
skipping and
elastics.

9. On 2nd March, some
2nd year E.S.O stu-
dents from San Ignaci-
o school, went to watch
a hockey match at the
Palacio de los Depor-
tes sports centre in
Oviedo as part of the
Comenius Project acti-
vities. We went to
watch two ¼ finals
matches: Vilanova vs
Vendrell, and Igualada
vs. F.C. Barcelona.
First, all the group
met at Campoamor
theatre. Then, after all
the children arrived,
we went to the sports
centre. It took us abo-
ut seventeen minutes
to get there. We went
with the two P.E teac-
hers, F. Pañeda and F.
Carro. We all took
some food to eat at the
match: pastries, crisps
and we drank soft
drinks, like Coca-Cola
or Fanta. We loved it!
When we arrived, we
went to our seats, and
a few minutes later,
the first match star-
ted. The first ¼ final
match was Vilanova
vs. Vendrell. Vendrell
won the match 3-2.
Then the second
match was Igualada
vs. F.C. Barcelona.
Barcelona won the
match 1-7. We only
saw the first half,
because it was late.
When we were leaving
the sports centre, Bar-
celona was winning
0-3.
After the first half
finished, we went out
of the sports centre
and our teacher, F.
Pañeda, went with the
children to America
square, because the
children’s parents
were going to pick
them up there. But I
did not go with the
group, I waited with F.
Carro, the other teac-
her, at the entrance of
the sports centre until
my dad arrived.
We had a great time! I
loved going on this
Comenius school trip
because I spent time
with my friends and
my teachers outside
school. Besides, I love
all types of sports
events, like football
matches, or basketball
matches. I go to bas-
ketball matches with
my dad on Saturdays!
It was a good idea too,
because when children
see sports matches
they want to do sport!!
Please, teachers, can
you plan more activiti-
es like this?
Santiago Fernandez
Lacasa
Comenius school trip to hockey match
Comenius Newslatter Page 9

10. More than 50 kids
from the age of 10 to
14 are working on the
recycled sports materi-
als. Boys of the 8th
class are creating a
billiards table from old
paper. This paper tab-
le has got the same
size as a normal billi-
ards table. We are
wondering how the
boys are going to cope
with billiard cues and
balls and we are loo-
king forward to the
first billiards competi-
tion organised by
them.
Other pupils are
working on table ten-
nis bats made of old
paper and also on ten-
nis racquest made of
paper and wire. Some
children are also
working with plastic
bottles and they are
preparing bowling
clubs. The bowling
competiton will follow,
of course.
Boys are creating foot-
ball and floorball balls
made of paper and sel-
Recycled sports materials
Page 10Issue 2
lotape. There are inter-
national friendly mat-
ches planned for the
project meeting in our
country in May.
Students from Czech
Boys of the
8th class are
creating a
billiards
table from
old paper.

11. We have organised
many activities in the
framework of active
breaks. Pupils of the
9th classes were cros-
sing the Pálava moun-
tains, the protected
area with unique
nature. Our school
also organised Healthy
Woods action. Pupils
were cleaning the
woods around the
school area, they were
learning about the
plants and animals
that lived there. They
had discussion about
environmental issues
of their region and
they tasted healthy
food based on natural
products from the
woods. With snow
covering our country
another activities rela-
ted to winter sports
were organised. Pupils
of the secondary school
could try cross-country
skiing on the scho-
ol yard during the
lunch breaks. Children
of the primary school
had a special downhill
skiing course in the
afternoons. To take a
rest from snow, our
pupils took part in the
swimming lessons in
the indoor pool in the
afternoons. Older chil-
dren could spend their
breaks playing chess,
which ended up with
the whole-school tour-
nament. We shouldn’t
forget to mention also
school floorball tourna-
ment named MODY
2012 and sports days
for children from lower
classes.
Students from Czech
Active breaks
Comenius Newslatter Page 11
Pupils of the
9th classes
were crossing
the Pálava
mountains,
the protected
area with
unique
nature..

12. The class 6a made a very
interesting trip in the au-
tumn. We visited the eco-
farm »Pri Šuštarju« in the
village Hotemaže. The
farmer Primož Krišelj told us
everything about eco-
farming and pointed out its
advantages. He also showed
us the farm where he grows
vegetables (pepper, salad,
beans, carrots, water mel-
ons etc.) and a few animals
(ducks, chicken, pigs). The
dietary expert Martina Mel-
jak helped us to prepare
some dishes from the ingre-
dients they got at the farm.
We prepared a stew, honey
apples with walnuts and
raisins, canapés with cheese
and autumn salad. Every-
body enjoyed the food, es-
pecially the canapés.
We found out eco-farming is
environmentally friendly
and the food is much tastier
and more nourishing.
Students and Maja Šenk
Zidar
Eco farm
Page 12Issue 2
We found out
eco-farming
is environ-
mentally
friendly and
the food is
much tastier
and more
nourishing.