The orientation course was about much more than simply learning everyone’s names. Through team challenges, discussions and shared activities, the students practised communication, cooperation and problem-solving. They explored their individual strengths, learned more about the roles people naturally take on in a team and discovered how different personalities can complement one another.
One of the activities, an “auction of positive qualities,” encouraged the class to think about the characteristics and values they appreciate in others. It also opened a conversation about what each person can bring to the group and how individual strengths can contribute to a strong and supportive class.
With students from different cultural backgrounds, Class 1.A is a naturally diverse community. The programme therefore created space for students to share their experiences, traditions and perspectives. Rather than seeing differences as barriers, they explored how diversity can become one of the class’s greatest strengths.
An equally important part of the three days was building relationships between students and teachers. Outside the usual classroom setting, students could experience their teachers not only as educators, but also as people they can approach, communicate with openly and work alongside.
The class was accompanied by their homeroom teacher Radka Bergerová, school psychologist Martin Brummer, and educational counsellor and prevention coordinator Andrea Koblasová. Together, they created a safe and welcoming environment where students could be themselves, take part in new experiences and gradually build trust in one another.
And the difference was visible. On the first day, many students were meeting for the very first time. Three days later, they were returning to Prague as a class that had already begun to feel like a team.
The positive start was noticed at home as well. During the following parent–teacher meeting, parents shared that their children were talking enthusiastically about their new school and, most importantly, were happy to come to school.
The orientation course gave Class 1.A more than a memorable start to their first year at VICTORIA HIGH SCHOOL. It gave them something to build on: trust, shared experiences and the understanding that a strong class is created not by everyone being the same, but by learning how to work together.
