MAY 2011
VOLUME 1 ISSUE 29
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
Design, Production, Photography & Advertising M Fenech - Marketing Executive marketing@stedwards.edu.mt
Weekly Calendar Celine Ellis - Secretary hmsec@stedwards.edu.mt
Front Cover
Message from the HM Notice Board Middle School National Athletes at College Language & Sports Departments Sports Department From the Nutritionist Kindergarten Weekly Calendar
Winners of the Yr 9 & Yr4 Champions League 2011 on Sat 21 May Photographs courtesy of College archives. .
ST EDWARD’S COLLEGE BIRGU (CITTA VITTORIOSA) BRG 9039 MALTA, EUROPE www.stedwards.edu.mt
www. gasan mamo .com
THE EDWARDIAN GAZETTE Message from the Headmaster Dear Parents and Community Members It is, indeed, difficult to believe that exams are once again on the horizon. I reminded the Middle, Senior and IB students at Assembly that, because of half days, the exams will seem to arrive even more quickly. All students from Yrs 3-12 should map out a revision programme. These programmes will differ from year to year and subject to subject. Parents should assist the younger students with their revision programme but a word of advice: Please do not take over their learning. Provide a structure, a quiet environment and keep a close check on progress but do not do their learning for them. Please click on the links below to view the exam timetables. IB 6th Form Yr 12 -
Middle & Senior School -
Junior School
Best regards Michael Chittenden Headmaster
Quote of the Week “There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.� Albert Einstein
THE EDWARDIAN GAZETTE Notice Board College Calendar Wednesday 1 June Summer Routine Half day for all students
BTEC - Enterprise and Entrepreneurship – 16 - 18 year old students Please read the following article and follow this link if you think the above interests you .
THE EDWARDIAN GAZETTE Middle School Yr6 Gozo Outing Tired and weary, I woke up at half-past five, however, my attitude soon changed as I remembered that today was the day I had been waiting for – the Year 6s were going to Gozo! I arrived at Ċirkewwa at quarter to eight where all my friends were waiting. We boarded the boat half an hour later. We were greeted by a big and very comfortable coach as soon as we arrived in Gozo. We hastily set off to our first destination - Ġgantija Temples. We came to a halt shortly later and stepped out of the coach. The first thing we noticed were the huge stones. No wonder they are so-called! Only ‘giants’ could have carried and placed them! The guide told us that the Temples, which are older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids, were built in the Stone Age, in the Ġgantija Period, by the Temple Builders. The Temple Builders were a race of people who came over from Sicily. They reared and hunted animals for food. They are known for building the temples around our Islands. The most famous ones are: Mnajdra - The Hypogeum - Ħaġar Qim. The Temple is set out very simply; an entrance passage, two side altars, another passage and another two side altars. The Temple originally had a roof but over the years it fell. As we walked out of Ġgantija we noticed a Gozitan farmer selling traditional ġbejniet in olive oil, olives and sundried tomatoes as well as a selection of jams. Many boys bought from the farmer, including me! Our next destination was Ta’Kola Windmill, which was a stone’s throw away from Ġgantija. Its origins go back to 1725. It remained in regular use until 1987, when the last miller, Ġużeppi Grech, died. It consists of a workshop, a number of handmills and two bedrooms. Many tools used by Ġużeppi are on display. We then boarded the coach for lunch in Marsalforn. We had pizzas and soft-drinks followed by icecreams. Everyone agreed that the pizzas were delicious! We had in mind to go to the Ċittadella after lunch, but as we did not have enough time we went to It-Tokk, the traditional Gozitan market close to the Ċittadella. Almost everyone purchased something fron the market. The most popular item was without doubt the ‘I Love Malta’ cap which came with a solar-powered fan! It was unfortunately time to leave. We boarded the half-past two ferry and arrived in Malta a few minutes later. In my opinion, this was the BEST outing I ever had! Matthew John P Yr 6Y
THE EDWARD
National Ath
On Tuesday 24 May a group of National Athletes visi Country in the coming ‘Small States’ games in Lichte David Camenzuli helped our Year 9 boys get a better and their time management skills.
The athletes from 3 sport disciplines, namely Andy G tana (Squash) and Etienne Bonello (Cycling). The Sq versity students.
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hletes at College
ited College. This group will be representing our enstein, A live interview led by Sports reporter r insight of our country’s top performers’ lives
Grech, Alessandra Pace (Athletics), Colette Sulquash, Cycling and athletics athletes are all uni-
THE EDWARD
Language & Spo
Yr 9 & Yr4 Champ
Last Saturday, the whole College was buzzing with cheers, applauses and screams during the matches played by with talent and added some zest to the games with his enthusiasm and pertinent remarks. Michael C was a keen the hot moments throughout the tough matches. William C was of great help working as a perfect assistant. And
Mr George Psaila, together with Mr Joan Abela, a professional referee and old Edwardian, assisted by Mr Paul F chester United (Yr 9), Silver medals to AC Milan (Yr 9), and Bronze medals for Olympique Lyonnais. We also Italy and bronze medals for France and Spain. Brown & Rye provided food and drinks in the canteen. The Language Department would like to thank all participants and their families for supporting the event. Once Dominique Inglott Head of Languages
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orts Departments
pions League 2011
y Manchester United, Olympique Lyonnais, AC Milan and Real Madrid. Miguel S commented the matches photographer taking shots of everyone whilst Ben S and Andrew A M acting as journalists taking notes of drew P escorted by Mark L and Max P E acted as DJs and played excellent music.
Ferrante and myself, rewarded the winning teams. Medals were awarded as follows: Gold medals to Manrewarded the winning teams of the Junior School with gold medals for Manchester United, silver medals for
more, our students showed pride and excellence in the task they were doing. Well done!
More pictures on next page
THE EDWARD
Language & Spo
Yr 9 & Yr4 Champ
Well Done
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orts Departments
pions League 2011
to All!!
THE EDWARD
Sports De
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epartments Helping Others On Friday 20 May, Thomas D and Justin B represented our College in the symbolic run organized by our neighbour school St Margaret’s College, to kick start their annual marathon.
Sixteen boys from eight nearby schools ran down to what was known in the past as Fortini School. This year’s 24 hour pool marathon was in aid of S.T.A.R.S., a relatively new foundation that supports children with special needs and their families.
Well done boys!
THE EDWARD
From the N
Honey and its H The Facts An alternative sweetener to regular table sugar, honey has a long-standing history of being used in traditional or folk medicine. Honey has been known for its healing properties for thousands of years, the Ancient Greeks used it, and so have many other populations throughout the ages. Counting calories, one tablespoon of honey contains approx. 64 kcal compared to 46 kcal for the same amount of sugar. Thus is honey any better than sugar? Even up to the Second World War, honey was being used for its antibacterial properties in treating wounds. But with the advent of penicillin and other antibiotic drugs in the twentieth century, honey's medicinal qualities had taken a back seat. Thankfully this seems to be changing , thanks to a New Zealand based researcher’s hard work in the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato. Biochemist Professor Peter Molan has identified one particular type of honey with extraordinary healing qualities. Professor Molan has shown that honey made from the flowers of the Manuka bush, a native of New Zealand, has antibacterial properties which supersede those of other types of honey. So what is this mystery ingredient? In all types of honey, there are two different levels of hydrogen peroxide produced from an enzyme that bees add to the nectar. In Manuka honey, and its close relative Jelly-bush, which grows in Australia, there's something else besides the hydrogen peroxide. That something else’ has proved very hard to pin down. Even now, after more than twenty years of research, Peter Molan admits he still has no idea exactly what it is but it works! Dr.Molan has given it a name: Unique Manuka Factor, or UMF. Thus when buying a Manuka Honey from a Health shop one will find different strengths of UMF ranging from 5 to 30 at least. He has found a way to measure its antibacterial efficacy, by comparing UMF Manuka honey with a standard antiseptic and its ability to fight bacteria. The results are astonishing!! Nowadays we know Manuka has a very broad spectrum of action, working on bacteria, fungi and protozoa. With research done so far, there seems to be nothing it doesn't work on amongst various infectious organisms. UMF Manuka honey can even tackle antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria which has become a growing problem for hospitals around the world.
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Nutritionist
Healing Powers Mechanism of action The mechanism by which honey acts as an antibacterial agent is not fully understood. What we know is that the sugars in honey draw away moisture, which helps inhibit bacterial growth. In addition, types of honey with strong antibacterial activity contain compounds that are known to be toxic to bacteria, such as methylglyoxal or hydrogen peroxide. Interestingly, a very recent 2011 study, from the University of Amsterdam, (Plos One, 2011;6(3):e17709), compared the antibacterial activities of two medical-grade honey types and found that the antibacterial activities of Manuka honey continued even after the methylglyoxal was neutralized, thus demonstrating that there were other unknown factors that contributed to the antibacterial capacity! Throat-soothing or cough control. The throat soothing properties of honey are not well-explained scientifically, but ask most singers/teachers and they swear by a honey tea for irritated throat or squeaky voice. Many of us still resort to hot tea made with lemon and honey for soothing relief of sore throat and coughs. Honey acting as a prebiotic. A prebiotic makes your gut environment hospitable to friendly bacteria. Certain types of honey contain oligosaccharides, which appear to facilitate the growth of friendly bacteria in the gut. These types of honey have been shown to contain such friendly bacteria. Attention! Honey is contra-indicated in infants. From a food safety perspective, infants under one year should not be served honey because of the risk of infant botulism. The Bottom Line Simply get to your nearest Health store and stock up on some good quality honey and rid yourself of the next bug in the most natural way, as was always intended by nature. Happy Honey Eating….……….
Caroline Scerri B Pharm (Hons.) PQ Dip Nutrition & Dietetics
THE EDWARD Kinder
Sports F Last week the KG2 children entertained their parents with a display of skills learnt during their
followed by sports activities in three different areas and included team games, parachute games wards, the children enjoyed a sing-along puppet show in the Main Hall. Julie Mangion, Head of Kindergarten
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garten
Festival gym sessions. The performance started with each class parading onto the lawn. This was
s and an assault course. To finish the event, each child was presented with a medal. After-
More pictures on next page
THE EDWARD Kinder
Sports Fe
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garten
estival
GAZETTE
THE EDWARDIAN GAZETTE This Week at St Edward’s College Monday 30 May
Tuesday 31 May
9.00
Confessions in the Chapel
10.00
Mass for Year 9 & Year 10 in the Chapel
Wednesday 1 June
Summer Routine (Half Day) 11.00
Thursday 2 June
SMT
Mass for the Junior School in the Chapel
Friday 3 June
Saturday 4 June
Sunday 5 June
Calendar Information Please follow this link for the Advent, Lent & Trinity Calendar The latest version of the Calendar is on the website. Please do not refer to the College Student diary as it contains errors.