FEBRUARY 2011
VOLUME 1 ISSUE 16
THE EDWARDIAN GAZETTE ONLINE WEEKLY GAZETTE CREATING AN INTERACTIVE COLLEGE COMMUNITY OF INFORMATION & DEVELOPEMENT
THE EDWARDIAN GAZETTE In this Issue
The Edwardian Gazette Weekly Online College Journal
Chief Editor Mr Chittenden - Headmaster hm@stedwards.edu.mt
Message from the HM The Reading Model Notice Board
Design, Production,
House Shield Points
Photography & Advertising
Sports Department
M Fenech - Marketing Executive marketing@stedwards.edu.mt
Weekly Calendar
Weekly Calendar Celine Ellis - Secretary
Quote of the Week
hmsec@stedwards.edu.mt
Front Cover
We can never obtain peace in the outer world ... until we make peace with ourselves.
Cross-Country
Dalai Lama
ST EDWARD’S COLLEGE BIRGU (CITTA VITTORIOSA) BRG 9039 MALTA, EUROPE www.stedwards.edu.mt
THE EDWARDIAN GAZETTE Message from the Headmaster Dear Parents and Community Members On Tuesday evening, the College conducted a parent information session entitled Assisting with the Reading Process. Both theoretical and practical issues were explored. I was most impressed by the number of parents who attended. We had a packed house. Given the popularity of these sessions, I would like to draw your attention to the following workshops: · · · ·
Assisting with the Reading Process: Mathematics and Constructivism: How to Support the Writing Process: Mathematics and Constructivism:
KG and Year 1 Parents-Wed 16 Feb KG – Wed 23 Feb Years 2-5 inclusive- Thurs 10 March Years 1 and 2 – Wed 25 March
All sessions begin at 7pm More workshops will be advertised later. Given the need to photocopy material, I kindly as you to email me (hm@stedwards.edu.mt) if you wish to attend any of the above. Please name the actual workshop you would like to attend. The formative (early) years are so important; hence, the need to offer these workshops for these age groups. Please find below a summary of the main theoretical points made at the reading workshop. What is the Aim of Reading? Why do people read? The answers to these questions include finding out about things or understanding something. Often people read purely for entertainment. Whatever the answer, there is always a common element: people expect their reading activities to make sense; they expect to derive meaning from them.
Continued on following pages……….
Michael Chittenden Headmaster
THE EDWARDIAN GAZETTE The Reading Model
Written material
Cue Systems
Strategies
Graphophonic Relationship between the sound of language and written language
predicting
Syntactic Relationship between words, phrases, and clauses
testing
Meaning
confirming correcting
Semantic Relationship between written Language and its meaning
In order for reading to occur, three systems must be in operation to provide information for the reader. Fluent readers integrate these 3 cueing systems automatically and simultaneously. Graphophonic System. This system is concerned with the written symbols of language, and the way they should sound. A reader uses knowledge of spelling patterns and relates them to experience of spoken language. The graphophonic system is not a rigid correspondence between letter and sound, but a more flexible relationship between spelling patterns and sound sequences. Syntactic System. This system is concerned with the grammar of language. Through knowledge of the grammar of spoken language the reader expects that written language will follow similar rules (and word order), and thereby uses this system to anticipate meaning. Semantic System. This system is concerned with the understanding of the message from the writer by the reader. The reader brings past experience to the reading situation and uses it to make sense of the message. If the reader is low on semantics in a particular subject, s/ he will find the text difficult.
THE EDWARDIAN GAZETTE The Reading Model Reading Strategies. These are the four main strategies that readers must develop to successfully gain meaning from written material. 1.
Prediction.
The success of this strategy depends on the syntactic (grammatical) knowledge of the reader and on her/his past experience. The greater the reader’s knowledge about grammatical uses, the faster he/she can respond to written material and thereby successfully predict meaning. Also, if the reader’s past experience is relevant to a particular piece of reading material it will generally be easier to understand than something which is totally outside the experience of the reader, especially if the language is outside that which they have experienced. 2.
Testing.
After predicting the meaning of some written material, the reader tests the prediction by asking questions like, ‘Does it make sense?’ ’ What does the word look like?’ 3.
Confirming.
The reader has to make a decision as to whether the predicting and testing strategies have proved correct. 4.
Correction.
If a prediction is not confirmed, then the reader uses his/her knowledge of the three systems – syntactic, graphophonic and semantic to correct it. Close study of early reading behaviour suggests there is a major shift, close to the beginning of reading, which marks the point where the child can detect he/she has made an error, can retrace steps and self correct. This self correction strategy means that the child can learn from mistakes (if they are few) and gain from reading when not being instructed. Conclusion. A reader expects to gain meaning from things read. If certain conventions are understood, such as where to start reading and that print runs from left to right and, most important, that print is supposed to be meaningful in a similar way to the way speech is meaningful, the reading process can begin to operate. A successful reader uses three cue systems simultaneously to predict, test, confirm, or correct responses. These are the graphophonic, syntactic and semantic systems. If any of these systems is working in isolation, reading may be impeded. Teachers need to be sure of providing meaningful material for children to read – letters or words in isolation are not meaningful and do not allow for the development of positive reading strategies. When all three systems are working effectively, the reader is achieving the aim of reading: that is, gaining meaning.
THE EDWARDIAN GAZETTE Notice Board The Quiz Evening I would like to congratulate Mr Chris Naudi and his team for hosting a terrific Quiz Evening last Friday night. The crowd was in very good spirits: there was lots of laughter and good sportsmanship. Mr Thomas, the quizmaster, threw in some tricky (and almost impossible) questions. An excellent night was had by all.
Committee Honorary Life President Antoine Cachia Caruana M.O.M. President Peter Calleja (callejja@onvol.net) Members James Arrigo (jamesarrigo@waldonet.net) Edward Attard Montalto (burlington@onvol.net) Daniel Aquilina (daquilina@jmganado.com) Trafford Busuttil (trafford@propertyline.com) Peter Paul Caruana (ncarson@melita.com) Robert Gusman (robertgusman@melita.com)
THE EDWARDIAN GAZETTE House Shield Points
3rd
2nd
1st
House Points Updates CONGREVE
30 pts
CAMPBELL
90 pts
DUCANE
60 pts
Results show points awarded for Cross Country
THE EDWARD
Sports De
Malta Amateur Athletics Association Presentation
On Monday 24 January Mr Tony Chircop (MAAA President ) and Mr Anthony Fava (MAAA Secretary), of In this year’s Cross Country, the boys managed to lead all 3 boys’ categories. Participants included Governm
DIAN
GAZETTE
epartment
fficially presented our boys as the ‘Best Boys’ School’ for the second year in a row. ment, Church and Independent Schools.
THE EDWARD
Sports D
Cross Country —
DIAN
GAZETTE
Department
— Junior School
THE EDWARD
Sports De
Junior School Cross
Year 4
Year 5
1st Sebastian D – Ducane 2nd Sebastian S – Congreve 3rd Andrea G - Ducane
1st Harry P.E. – Duc 2nd Andrew C – Con 3rd Sam Z.C. - Duc
DIAN
GAZETTE
epartment
s-Country Results
cane ngreve cane
House classification (includes all runners) 1st Ducane 2nd Campbell 3rd Congreve
(96pp) (107pp) (121pp)
THE EDWARD
Sports Dep
Daniel B 1st
Joshua C 1st (Senior School)
Aggregate Placing 1st Campbell (330pp) nd 2 Ducane (350pp) rd 3 Congreve (401pp)
H 9 6 3
Seniors – 3.6km 1st Joshua C – Campbell 2nd Jeremy M – Campbell 3rd Philip P – Congreve
Tim 1 1 1
Under 11 – 2km Time recorded
Under 12 – 2.7 km Time recorded
1st Stephen C - Campbell 2nd Luigi D - Campbell 3rd Alistair G - Congreve
1st Daniel B - Ducane 11.41 2nd Chritian C - Congreve 11.54 3rd Robert N - Campbell 12.20
8.11 8.25 8.38
Middle & Senior School
DIAN
GAZETTE
partment
(U12)
House Points 90points 60points 30points
me recorded 12.53 13.40.08 13.40.12
Ryan B 1st (U15)
Under 13 – 2.7km Time recorded
Under 15 – 3.6km Time recorded
1st Matthew G – Campbell 2nd Timmy A – Campbell 3rd Matthew A H - Ducane
1st Ryan B – Ducane 2nd Malik J – Campbell 3rd Luke G – Ducane
Cross-Country Results
10.47 11.02 11.19
13.10 13.28 13.29
THE EDWARDIAN GAZETTE This Week at St Edward’s College
Monday 7 February
Beginning of Live-in for Yr 6
Tuesday 8 February
Live-in for Yr 6
Wednesday 9 February
8.40
Mass in the Chapel for Yr 11
11.00
SMT End of Live-in for Yr 6
Thursday 10 February
Public Holiday - Feast of St Paul
Friday 11 February
Saturday 12 February
Sunday 13 February
Calendar Information Please follow this link for the Advent & Lent Calendar The latest version of the Calendar is on the website. Please do not refer to the College Student diary as it contains errors.