The Archbishop’s Visit to our school on 30th November was a spiritual experience. We are proud to say that together with the Archbishop, there was so much peace, love and a spirit of joy – above all there was Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. When Mons. Cremona arrived at school, he was welcomed by the Senior Management Team and the College Principal, the School Council and the Student Council. On entering the school hall, he was welcomed by all the children waving balloons amidst shouts of joy. Then a small group of children danced to the song “Every Move I Make”. Following that, the President of the Student Council, Maria Pia Micallef, welcomed the Archbishop on behalf of all the students. After, there was a short vox pop of children who were asked: “Who is Jesus for you?” Following that, the Head of School prepared a very short speech where children committed in religious and spiritual activites were shown to the Archbishop. Finally, the most important time came, when the children, following a video about God’s unfailing love, joined the Archbishop in some time of prayer. This was accompanied by the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament. It was a great moment where joy and love reigned! It was a unique experience! Finally the children’s programme came to an end. The Archbishop, accompanied by the Parish Priest, Fr Reuben Micallef, had meetings with the school’s administration, later with the school staff and finally with the parents. All meetings were very fruitful. Before leaving, the Archbishop visited the children in their classes where they exchanged jokes, showed him their work, explained the wonder of the Interactive Whiteboard and had some time of good humour. Before he left, Mons Cremona signed the Visitors’ Book. He thanked everyone who contributed to this wonderful event, in a special way the staff for their collaboration, the parents for providing sandwiches and cakes, for their very presence during the meeting, and last but not least, the children, who made his last day at Mtarfa one to be remembered. During the visit, the Head of School and some of the children were also interviewed by presenters of the socio-religious programme “Qalb in-Nies” which is aired every Monday on PBS.
On a personal note I would like to thank everyone, in a special way Fr Reuben, the Parish Priest, the Assistant Head, Ms Fenech, and the clerk, all the staff and the parents who cooperated along the way, on a material and a spiritual level. Prayers were said before the visit so the latter would bear fruit among children and adults alike. One last note of appreciation to Archbishop Paul Cremona whose very presence at school demonstrated his will to be close to the people and this gives each one of us courage to move on and serve in the church.
Thanks to the financial support of the Mtarfa Local Council, through subsidies from the European Union, the school is enjoying the privilege of organising a sports after school programme twice a week. Each session is nearly two hours long and is delivered by instructors from the Kunsill Malti Ghall-iSport. More than 30 students stay over every Wednesday and Friday to exercise and enjoy themselves.
We are proud to say that for the second consecutive year, the school has got a Gold Award in the Dinja Wahda Project, a project that promotes environmental education. Keep up your good work!!
Year 1 and year 2 pupils had a lovely visit to The Argotti Gardens in Floriana. On the 15th November, the pupils were picked from school and left to this oasis of peace. Over there they found a guide who showed them round the so many different kinds of plants. The children could also understand better through the use of their senses as activities centred around the sense of smell, touch, hearing and sight. It was a relaxing learning experience. At the end of the tour, the pupils could also make their own pot with soil and take a plant home.
20th October marked the European Day of Languages. On this day, schools all over Europe celebrate the diversity of languages and the identity of people of various countries. Our school also celebrated this day with a special assembly. Basically the assembly first started with some information background about different countries in Europe and the various languages. The Head of School, Ms Joanne Mifsud, explained how a language is born, what are the roots of a language and that the people make the language. Then a slide was shown with the various flags of different countries, and the concept of identity was even more emphasised, also by saying that although the Maltese language is spoken by such a minority, the European Union has recognised Maltese as one of its languages. After, another slide showed the word ‘please’ written in various languages, including that of Greece, Sweden, Ireland, France, Germany and others. The students were divided into two groups and each group was represented by six children, one from each year group. Then each group had to identify the ‘please’ word in the different languages. The children and teachers in the audience could help the two teams. There was so much enthusiasm and excitement until all the words were identified. The children returned home speaking the different words and trying to pronounce them according to the diction of the particular country.
Ms Medati’s class has followed a programme of swimming sessions at Tal-Qroqq swimming pool, thanks to the Sports Promotion Unit. The programme was based on four sessions of approximately two hours each. During the sessions the students learnt various skills, among which, the skill to follow instructions, to change independently, to shower and prepare to return to school, collaboration, time management and obviously skills related to swimming. A couple of children were not confident to swim on their own and thus the instructors helped them overcome this fear and learn how to swim. It was a learning experience.
World Animal Day was celebrated at our school on Monday, 3rd October. In the morning children came to school carrying their own pets. All the students gathered in the internal courtyard and a special assembly began. Ms Fenech, the Assistant Head, prepared some background about the patron saint of animals, St Francis of Assisi. She explained about his love for animals and the reason why this event is celebrated on the patron’s feast. Later, the Parish Priest, Fr Reuben, prayed with the children and their pets and blessed them all. The children loved the activity. Some pets were then kept in class for the day while others were picked up by the parents. The teachers in class carried out lessons related to this theme. It was an enjoyable day for everyone. All children were excited.
Dear students, teachers and parents,once again I would like to welcome you to a new, challenging scholastic year. The first term is full of activities and I am looking forward to see you all at school next Monday. At school we have prepared a lot of interesting activities, educational outings and some surprises coming up as well.
During Summer, the school doors did not close. They were open for those students who wished to spend some time at SkolaSajf. And this year, SkolaSajf was magnificent! Ms Medati and Mr Pirotta, the SkolaSajf coordinators, together with the teachers, did a wonderful job and many certificates were awarded to Mtarfa Primary. Congratulations to all the participants, especially to Maria Pia Micallef, who participated in a drawing competition about healthy relationships between the aged and the young, and she won an I-Pod. Well done to all! In the coming weeks we will upload some pictures related to some SkolaSajf activities.
So, next Monday our doors will be open again. Year 1 pupils will start the scholastic year wearing the new college uniform. They will find many of last year’s teachers and a new Assistant Head, Mrs Fenech. Every child, in every classroom is going to find a new tool of technology which will help the child in understanding and learning better.
Literacy, Numeracy, Assessment, Science and ICT will be our major focus this year. The school will also be embarking on a new project for Year 4 students called – Our Community. This is a college project about Entrepreneurship.
During the first term we are privileged also to have His Excellency The Archbishop of Malta Paul Cremona visiting our school as part of his pastoral visit at Mtarfa.
More, more and much more…is prepared for all of us. So fasten your seatbelts and…LET’S GO!!! See you next Monday.
The year 6 students were asked to prepare a short video to raise awareness about the importance of protecting ourselves from the sun’s ultra violet (UV) rays, especially now that summer is so close.
The students created a short stop motion animation video using MonkeyJam. This software can be downloaded for free from the internet. You may find more useful information about MonkeyJam on the following link http://filmit.wordpress.com/.
The students had to think of a scenario to create this movie. They had to create the background scene using crepe paper, wool, glue, tape and cardboard paper.
They had to think of the characters and props that will be needed for this video and created them using plasticine.
The students had to prepare a story which was later recorded using Audacity. A story board was created using the Interactive Whiteboard. Students made use of the ActivInspire flipcharts and wrote down the story on the board. They worked together as a group while they came up with simple phrases to make up this video. (The students were asked to keep the phrases simple since the video was targeted at their schoolmates, especially the younger classes).
The students enjoyed themselves working in groups while creating the various props, scenes and characters needed. This session was conducted while the students were doing their oral exams and so it served the purpose to let off steam while doing a short stop motion animation for a useful cause.
The students co-operated and finally created the stop motion animation. Each and every student had the opporutnity to move the characters according to the story board in order to create their video. This was a long process requiring the students to move the characters and props slightly. For every movement the students had to capture a photo. Around 300 photos were captured to create this stop motion animation. Well done to all the year 6 students.
Below is the final product the students created during this session.
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