3 March 2026
The second HUPE Osijek branch meeting in the school year 2025-2026 was held on Saturday, 21 February 2026 at the Faculty of Education in Osijek. Seventeen HUPE members attended the meeting, which lasted for almost four hours.
The agenda included:
- Ana Katruša: Put Your Creative Thinking Hats On: Inspiring Creativity in the English Classroom
- Tatjana Kristek: Teaching Beyond Borders: Professional Development in New York City
- Tihana Mudrovčić: Oh! Who can ever be tired of Bath?
- HUPE news
The first workshop, titled Put Your Creative Thinking Hats On: Inspiring Creativity in the English Classroom, was held by Ana Katruša from Kralja Tomislava Primary School in Našice. Ana presented key ideas from her Erasmus+ course on boosting creative thinking and problem solving, focusing on strategies that encourage student engagement, creativity, empathy, and motivation. She also introduced gamification as a student-centered approach to fostering creativity and collaboration, providing participants with practical, ready-to-use ideas for their classrooms.
The second talk, titled Teaching Beyond Borders: Professional Development in New York City, was delivered by Tatjana Kristek from Vladimira Becića Primary School in Osijek. Tatjana presented the teacher training course organized by HUPE and held in New York City in July 2025, with day trips to Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. She gave a detailed overview of the 10-day programme, presenting the many attractions, activities, and institutional visits, such as Columbia University, the U.S. Capitol, and the Croatian Embassy in Washington, D.C., as well as insights into American history, culture, and the U.S. education system.
The third talk, titled Oh! Who can ever be tired of Bath? was delivered by Tihana Mudrovčić from Ruđer Bošković Technical School in Vinkovci. In her presentation, Tihana reported on the HUPE teacher training course held in Bath in September 2025, organised with the Languages United to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. Tihana presented a day-by-day overview of the 4-day programme, which included visits to the Roman Baths, Royal Crescent, Jane Austen Center, a Regency Festival parade in Bath, a day trip to Wells and Stratford-upon-Avon, as well as a scavenger hunt and a theatre visit to an adaptation of Emma.
The participants were also informed about the latest news in HUPE, including the HUPE Board member changes, HUPE Instagram account, HUPE in Storyland National Writing Competition, Multilingual musical competition, teacher training course in Devon planned for September in collaboration with our partners from Sharing One Language (SOL), HUPE Day and AGM on 21 March 2026 via Zoom, Languages United and HUPE cultural bake-alongs, and future professional development events and conferences by our partner associations.
Members were also encouraged to contribute to HUPEzine and the Osijek branch by writing ELT-related articles, as well as applying as speakers to hold workshops or deliver talks at one of the future branch meetings.
HUPE Osijek is sincerely thankful to the speakers and all the members who were able to attend the meeting and create a pleasant and relaxing atmosphere. Hopefully, we will see you at our next meeting in May.
Adrijana Roždijevac
HUPE Osijek branch president
