Mondorf, first Luxembourg school in the Unesco network

3 questions to Paul Sandt, a teacher at Mondorf-les-Bains for 35 years and now President of the school. 25 years ago, he took the initiative of creating the first Unesco school in Luxembourg. 

1.  The Mondorf-les-Bains primary school was the first to join the Unesco network. What prompted this move, and how important is it for your school to be part of the worldwide network of Unesco schools?

When I was a child, I sometimes accompanied my parents to cultural events or on holiday. These activities were rarely, if ever, suitable for children. I remember in Venice, the tour guide literally bombarded visitors with numbers they didn't know what to do with. 

Geography was and remains my favourite subject at primary school and it was through this subject that I tried to pass on culture in a way that was appropriate for children in Cycle 4 (at the time: the top grade). When our capital became a Unesco World Heritage Site in December 1994, I started developing walking rallies around this world heritage site in 1995.

At the request of the Luxembourg Unesco Commission (Jean-Pierre Kraemer), I was asked whether - in order to promote this innovative form of walking rally for children - the Mondorf school would like to become the 1st Unesco school in the Grand Duchy.

2.  Are there any collaborations with other schools in the network, in Luxembourg and internationally? If so, can you give us some concrete examples of activities or projects carried out?

In 1999, the moment finally came: Mondorf officially became the first Unesco Associated School in Luxembourg. During the first few years in particular, exchanges took place with other Unesco schools: classes or individual students from Germany (Oberwesel) and Austria (Bad Goisern-Hallstatt) tried out the walking rally. Mondorf pupils then travelled to Oberwesel, where they discovered a similar form of rally.

As part of a Comenius project, two teachers visited the Unesco school in Bad Goisern. Over time, another walking rally was created, this time in Trier and for pupils in higher grades (particularly those in cycle 4.1) on the theme of the Romans.

For 25 years now, Mondorf school has been organising visits to various Unesco World Heritage sites as part of its school camps: more than 30 different places have already been visited.

3.  How are Unesco values such as peace, equality and sustainability integrated into the school's curriculum?

While the origins of the project clearly lie in Unesco's ‘World Heritage’ pillar, the values mentioned here are increasingly being thematised in our school.

As part of our School Development Plan (SDP), a Unesco working group was set up to examine the various pillars of the SDP.

Here are a few actions that correspond to these pillars: the Cool Down Project (peace and equality pillar) as part of SDP 1, Too Cool for School (a musical that corresponds to each pillar), recycling in all classes and energy saving (sustainability pillar) and offering fair trade and organic products.