Wednesday 24th July was the last day of the Year 10 live-in.  A total of 37 students together with 5 teachers spent 3 fun-packed days in Gozo.  They had mass celebration together, watched films, went swimming at the beach and in the pool, had barbeques and night hikes, played football and boardgames, had a pizza party and visited a convent and a farm!

It was indeed an enjoyable live-in spent simply and happily just as San Ġorġ Preca wished.  We would like to thank Mr Tabone who co-ordinated this live-in, Mr Aloisio, Mr Busuttil and Mr Frendo Cumbo who also accompanied the group during this live-in.  Mr Debono, the new Assistant Head also joined the group to start familiarizing himself with the students, before starting his new role at our school. Thanks to all for your commitment and time.

     

Wednesday, 3rd July – After breakfast, the group gathered for mass at the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto with a group of Irish people.  Soon after we had some free time.  Some opted for a walk by the lake, others went for the Via Crucis and others visited the castle or the grotto baths.

Before leaving the group took a group photo from the roof of the hotel with a view at the background.  Soon it was time to leave for Tarbes airport for the flight back to Malta.

It was indeed a fruitful experience full of knowledge and expression of faith.  We congratulate all those who were part of this trip and we thank the Headmaster and Mr Mario Muscat who co-ordinated this experience and Fr Daniel who accompanied the group as the spiritual director.

 

Tuesday, 2nd July – The scientific aspect of this trip to Lourdes reached its climax when the group visited the Cité de l’Espace (https://en.cite-espace.com/) in Toulouse.  This cultural and scientific centre answers the questions one has about exploration and spatial technology.

After a two-hour trip to Toulouse, the group started exploring various interactive exhibitions found at the park.  They had also the opportunity to watch a show about the story of the universe in one of the largest planetariums found in Europe.  Later they watched the film Deep Sky on a big screen in an IMAX cinema.  The group had also time to go around the exhibitions and they had a tour to explore various real size space vehicles spread throughout the large garden found in this complex.

Later the group had time to visit the centre of Toulouse, the Capitol main square and went around shops to buy souvenirs.  Back at the hotel, they had dinner and mass celebration and later they also participated in the Aux Flambeaux procession.

We thank God for another full day of activities.

   

During the above mentioned year, Italian students in Year 8, 10 and 11 participated in 3 eTwinning projects with students from other schools in Italy .

 

Leggende dei nostri territori

https://www.calameo.com/books/0067687537533d9cbd4cf

Italian students in Year 8 at St. Michael School in Santa Venera, Malta, participated in this project along with Italian students from ICS “Don Lorenzo Milani” Monte Porzio Catone (Rome).

“Each territory has its own landscape, as well as a literary, historical-artistic, ethnographic, and artisanal tradition that is worth rediscovering and told about”. The project therefore proposes to make one’s own territory  known, by promoting the comparison between different territories. This is  done by starting with legends, and then moving on to other realities present in the area.”

 

La Nostra Storia: il nostro passato, il nostro presente

https://www.calameo.com/books/00676875356b5b0a6f873

Year 10 students of Italian partecipated in this project along with students from 3 different Italian schools: Istituto Comprensivo 3 di Sora. Liceo Scientico Leonardo da Vinci, Sora, e Istituto Tecnico Agrario, Alvito.

“The project aims to help students rediscover their own territory, by drawing comparisons between different territories. This can be done by describing historical evidence such as castles, towers, abbeys, and so on, and then moving on to other realities present in the area such as festivals, typical dishes and traditions.”

 

Giornalino dei giovani

https://www.calameo.com/books/006768753a9b187ec9332

Year 11 students of Italian at St. Michael School in Santa Venera, Malta, participated in this project along with students from Liceo Scientifico Leonardo da Vinci, Sora.

“On taking up the project named “Giornalino dei Giovani”, the students are invited to create an eBook with articles based on themes related to sport, technology, and the environment. All the articles, according to different themes, are to reflect a particular topic, set every month. Once the articles are read, the students are able to work together by creating “blogs” on Twinspace, through which they are eventually required to share all the knowledge acquired from such articles that they have written themselves.”

On Tuesday, 25th June we spent a day in Sicily together with students from Years 8, 9 and 10 who during this scholastic year obtained the largest number of positive reports.  At 4am we met at the Malta International Airport and at 6am we had our flight to Catania.  Upon arrival we had breakfast at the Palace Square and our students had a brief description of the old town of Catania which is full of baroque architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We entered the Cathedral dedicated to St Agatha, who is the patron saint of Sicily and co-patron of Malta.  After breakfast we headed to the Etna Adventure Park.  The students enjoyed this adventure and at 12:30pm we left for lunch at Giardini Naxos.

After some time to rest, we went to Gole Dell’Alcantara botanical park which is full of geological gorges.  Thousand of years ago this gorge was blocked by a large amount of lava coming from Mount Etna.  The water cooled the lava and this lava crystallised forming large columns.  By time the lake formed naturally, and it created impressive valleys.  The students had time to enjoy the fresh cool water of these gorges.  After the Gole we spent time at Aci Castello were we had the opportunity to go inside the castle, built in 1076 by the Normans.  Before heading to the airport, we all enjoyed a delicious Sicilian ice-cream.  We then left for the airport to catch our flight back to Malta.

We would like to thank Mr Tabone and all the assistant heads who organised this day.  We also thank the other members of staff who accompanied the group and the parents for allowing their children to attend.  It was indeed a day full of activities and fun! A memory to treasure.