Students visit Romania to take part in video learning for education project

Students from the Engineering, Construction and Commercial and Digital faculties at Sunderland College recently took part in a week long project, visiting Bucharest in Romania to engage in a range of STEM and maths activities.

This event was a key component in the college’s two-year Erasmus+ maths project, in which the open-source maths videos and accompanying resources will be created. The subtitle of the event was ‘How to be an ambassador for STEM disciplines?’ and during the six day visit, ten of the Sunderland College students took part in many maths and other STEM activities as well as taking part in a rich cultural exchange of ideas. They also enjoyed being shown around the city and neighbouring areas by the students and staff of Marin Preda High School.

The students learnt about the process of working collaboratively on international projects and about the value of the STEM disciplines. The students from both countries learnt a lot about each other’s cultures and values and made lasting friendships throughout the week.

Gerard Elder, Learning Innovation Manager said:

“In just one week, our students learnt so much from this amazing experience. They were all brilliant and were, every one of them, tremendous ambassadors for Sunderland College and its values. We, the staff who accompanied the students over to Romania, were so proud of them all from start to finish. The long, tearful farewells and hugs on the last day from everyone who participated, says it all.”

Georgie-Mae Poxton, NextGen Aim Extended Diploma Level 3 added:

“The trip to Romania was amazing. While we were there we went into the mountains, visited the president’s house and the home of the old royal family. We spent some time at the school going over the videos, suggesting ways to improve them and watching their maths lessons. During this time the Romanian students would help us get to places and show us around and by the end of the week we were all good friends. This trip was extremely eye-opening, we got to see what it’s like for students our age in a different country and they got to see ours.”

Emilia Ilie Programme Co-ordinator, Training.EXE continued,

“It was a pleasure to have staff and students from Sunderland College here in Bucharest last week, very productive for the project. The entire week was a good occasion for reflection. To meet the students, discuss issues with them and to hear their points of view was a great opportunity for me. I realised again that all teens around the world have similar interests and that they just want to be listened to and seen by adults. I think that this week was good for each and every one of us!”