1. COMENIUS LEGENDS ACROSS EUROPE- PUPIL EVALUATION
School: Meadowhead Community Learning College Year: 13
What have you enjoyed most about this activity? What did you like best?
• Being able to become friends with people I would have otherwise never met. The
differences between cultures were really interesting and I became close to my
exchange. She felt like a sister by the end of the week.
• Meeting new people and seeing how culture, history and habits can affect the way
people relate to and view the world around them.
• The trip to Finland without a doubt was the best part of the project. Finland is not a
destination that I would have considered previously and it is surely not a country
where I would visit with my family. Getting to experience another culture as part of
another family was nothing short of amazing. We were not just tourists in another
country but we were living as if we were part of our Finnish family. The activities we
partook in were typically Finnish and they were all very enjoyable. Finland is a
beautiful country and I am glad that I got to see it first-hand. It was an amazing
experience and I am very grateful that I was offered the opportunity. Hosting my
exchange partner was great fun and slightly tiring (only because I kept worrying
about her) but an amazing experience none the less. The performance that
concluded two years’ worth of work was outstanding and allowed us all to draw
together everyone’s individual experience with the project.
• I enjoyed our trip to Whitby, even though my tour didn’t go as well as I’d hoped,
apparently maps work better if you hold them the right way up who knew? My
exchange really enjoyed the amusements because you can’t gamble until you’re
eighteen in Finland. Also the fish and chips were gorgeous. But to be honest I enjoyed
the trip to Finland more, I had less responsibility, and the pre-Christmas party was my
favourite activity. Santa Claus brought me prank tea-bags which I enjoyed and my
sister didn’t.
• I enjoyed learning about the different legends which take place in our own country
as well as the ones which take place in Spain and Finland. I also really enjoyed visiting
Finland and staying with the host family whilst there.

2. What new ideas or information have you learned from this activity?
• That everybody has legends and the theme of bravery is common to everyone.
• I learnt some vocal-packed Finnish words, local legends and interesting aspects of
the culture of Finland and Spain.
• The whole concept of international legends was not something I had studied or
researched before the project. Learning about Finnish legends in particular was
fascinating as the culture is so very different to that of England. However it was more
than just learning about other legends. This project also gave me the opportunity to
independently lead English lessons within a school environment, develop my
communication skills as a result and give me more confidence.
• When I led a group of students round Whitby, which was unfamiliar, it made me feel
more confident in my leadership abilities. It was also my first exchange which was an
enriching experience. Staying with a family I’d never met was nerve-racking but it all
worked out and I learnt a lot about Finland from them.
• I learned some basic greetings in Finnish which made it a little easier to communicate
with them whilst I was in Finland. I also learned about the different Spanish and Finnish
legend which was really interesting.
What have you least enjoyed or found some difficulty with?
• I had trouble communicating
• Due to the short amount of time, it was sometimes hard and tiring to try to fit
everything in.
• While I genuinely enjoyed the entire project, there were some aspects which I found
difficult. One of them was attempting to maintain my workload while hosting my
exchange partner. As I am in my final year and just about to sit my final A-Level
exams, I had a lot of homework, coursework and exam preparation to complete
during the time I was hosting. The main concern was that I didn’t want to appear
rude or unwelcoming. I did manage to complete my work, but I couldn’t spend as
much time as I would have wanted to and it involved some very late nights! This isn’t
a fault of the project but comes with the territory. I only mention this as the younger
Y9 students seem to have got more out of the project as a result. The language
barrier also proved difficult. While my partner had a good grasp of the English
Language, she was not confident enough in her ability (even though it was very
good!) to speak much.
• It was exhausting to have responsibility for someone else’s wellbeing for a week and
sometimes difficult to keep conversations going. Also, Finnish is a hard language to
learn.
• There wasn’t really any aspect of the project which I didn’t enjoy. However, because
both the trip and the hosting took place during our last year at school, we had a lot
of work to catch up on which made the trip less enjoyable.

3. What would you like to change if you did this activity again?
• If I were to do it again I would like more time, there was lots I wasn’t able to do.
• I would have liked to have more family time in both Finland and England to be able
to relax and get to know the kind and interesting family hosting me a bit better.
• The entire project has been an amazing experience, and there is nothing to do with
the content that I would change. I only wish the trip to Finland had been during a
school holiday to minimise the amount of catch up work I had to do when we
returned. I would also have liked to spend more time with my partner when they
visited England as the rehearsals took up a lot of time and I felt like the week moved
too quickly. But I would not hesitate to join a similar project in the future as this has
been just the best experience.
• Not much. I’d make it longer!
• If I was to do the activity again I would like to have stayed in Finland longer and have
my exchange over in England for longer as well. There was so much that I wanted to
see in Finland and because the trip was only 5 days we didn’t get to see everything.
It would have been nicer to show the Finnish people more of Sheffield as well.
Any other comments?
• Thank you for the opportunity! It was really incredible.