Dwardu's Scoops 07

A Woman of Substance

Dwardu’s Scoops

ST EDWARD’S COLLEGE NEWSLETTER

ByAnneTabone FormerheadofJuniorSchool, StEdward’sCollege

Iam fortunate enough to have hadsomeone like Elizabeth as my aunt. My cousin ClaraTait described her: “She was adevotedtous all –she lovedthe goodthings: fine china,poetry,literature and history and the beauty of living asimple life. She encouragedus children by reading stories. Our favourite book was about the man who never washedhis dishes and we listenedcarefully to Hilaire Belloc’s cautionary tales.”

Elizabeth was always careful to keepdignity,manners, education and love. She has been describedas ‘afine intelligent lady of the oldschool…there was far more beneathher stern exterior!’ (AlecMizzi)

Elizabeth was adedicated teacher,having taught at SacredHeart and Cavendish Square in London and at St Edward’s College where she spent 14years. Tributes pouredin onsocialmediafrom OldEdwardians

The following was written by Kevin Tonna: “I have just been informedof the terribly upsetting news of MsEliz-

abeth Parnis passing. For those of you who were doubt that you willagree that Ms Parnis was not only agreat teacher but also atruly remarkable and caring lady. She contributedin no small part to the success story that StEdward’s College is, and willforever be rememberedwith a sense of gratitude and respect. Please remember her inyour thoughts and prayers.”

George Saidwrote: “Ms Parnis was an institution in her ownright. She also introducedme to the

MsElizabethParnis 1926-2024

Exploring Valletta: A Hands-On History Lesson for Year 9 Students

Late inJanuary, the History Option Students of Year 9 embarked on an exciting outing to the historic capitalcity ofValletta. This immersive journey provided a unique opportunity for students to step back in time and explore the rich heritage ofour island nation. The adventure began at Fort St Elmo, where students delved into the significance ofthe Sacra Infermeria and learned about the Manderaggio while navigating through the ancient streets of this iconic city.

Next on the itinerary was a visit to Palazzo De La Salle, where students were treated to a glimpse ofMalta's artistic and architecturaltreasures. Inside the palazzo, they marvelled at the chapelbuilt by the Knights of St John and explored the renowned art gallery ofthe Malta Society of Arts thusappreciating also some contemporary local artistictalent. The exploration ofValletta continued as students ventured to other notable landmarks, including the Auberge D'Aragon, St Paul's Anglican Cathedral, and the majestic ManoelTheatre. A comprehensive tour of St John's Co-Cathedraloffered students a deeper understanding ofthe architectural and cultural legacy left behind by the Knights ofthe Order of St John.

Throughout the outing, students were captivated by the tangible reminders ofMalta's storied past, with every streetcorner revealing another piece ofhistory. The monuments ofGrand Master La Vallette, Glormu Cassar, and Francesco Laparelli served as poignant reminders ofthe enduring impact ofthese historical figures on the landscape ofValletta. This hands-on approach to learning history allowed students to engage with the past in a meaningful way, immersing themselves in the sights and sounds ofValletta's rich tapestry of heritage. By walking the streets and witnessing firsthand the built treasures of our island, students gained a newfound appreciation for Malta's rich cultural legacy.

As theyreturned from their outing, students carried with them notonly memories ofa day filled with exploration and discovery but also a deeper understanding ofthe history that shapes our identity as Maltese citizens.

Monitoring Nature

BySamanthaAbela

The new year startedwithanexciting adventure for a group of Edwardians withages ranging from Yr 5 toYr 10, whenthey kick started their Monitoring Nature Programonthe 4th of January. Meeting at the NaturalHistory MuseuminMdina, the boys met withMr David Cilia, Curator and coordinator of the sessions. Mr Cilia explained toour teamof students that they willbe investigating various naturaland historicalareas of Malta tolearnabout its diverse flora and fauna. Through a hands-onapproachthe students willlearnabout sampling, writing field notes and investigating naturalscience curiosities. The sessionserved as anintroductionto spark their curiosities as they ventured throughthe halls and display rooms of the NaturalHistory Museumand learnt about some its darkest specimens onshow including various skeletonbones, stuffed birds and baby monkeys in formaldehyde. The students were intrigued and asked a lot of questions bothpertaining towhat they were seeing in the displays but alsoonthe collection of specimens, the preservation of themand the studies related tothem. A unique opportunity for the students arose whentheywent inthe archives of the museumtosee how the collections are stored and see some of the ‘hidden’ treasures (sotospeak!). The boys enjoyed the sunny day together and it was lovely toexperience the mature conversations taking place betweenthe students regardless of the age gap between. The love and passionfor learning was the commondenominator for this experience. At the end of the day, the students returned home witha lovely notebook whichthey willuse todocument their journey and observations, a keychain, penand bag token. We are thankfultoHeritage Malta foroffering this unique opportunity toour St Edward’s Students exclusively.

When Sports and Geography meet

ByDanielCaruanaSmithandPaulFerrante

On Thursday the 29th of February the Year 10PE Option and Geography Optionstudents were treatedto an unusualfieldwork. Martin,an ex-combatmedic,guidedthe students through various elements of survivaland navigation. Topics coveredincludedorienteering,first aidand roadsafety.The boys also hada brief orienteering exercise, where the boyshadto navigate their way through the facility using only compass bearings. As one of the boys put it,"one ofour best fieldworksyet!"

Meeting Ninu l-Bninu

ByStephanieGrech

As part of the ARPA fruit and vegscheme,the JS and EY childrenhadthe opportunity to meet Ninu l-Bninu and participate in aworkshop at College. The students listenedattentively,discussed,and askedquestions about healthy foodchoices, and foodwaste.We discussedthe use of shopping lists and planning ahead. The children contributedeffectively to the workshop and were even given milk and delicious fresh fruit after the workshop.

Learning numbers

Discussing Educational Leadership

In mid-February,our Headof Senior School,MrDanielCaruana Smith was invitedto provide insights into educationalleadership on Eye OnEducationalLeadership,aUS radio program that focuses on guiding adult students through their studies and in their careers towards becoming educationalleaders themselves. Along with Ms Diane Calleja,avery promising Masters student in her own right,Mr Caruana Smith wenton to describe thedifferences between being an educationalmanager and aleader. The main conclusion drawn from the comments of allthe guest speakers was that management can be learned and practiced,but leadershipdifferent. Leadershipis something one embodies and needs to truly believe in to motivate and leadateam of students, educators and professionals towards acommon goal - that of providing ahigh standard,quality education to alllearners. Mr Caruana Smith and Ms Callejaextend their sincere thanks to Dr DanielGutmore and Professor ChristoperBezzina for theirvery kind invitation to participate in such aunique opportunity.

FromPg1

wonderful worldofRoaldDahl. For that alone Iwillbe forever grateful to her”

“Farmorebeneathhersternexterior”

Mark AbelaScolarorecalls: “Irememberher well...stickingstars for goodperformance on the hanging board,her afternoon reading lessons and howdedicatedshe was to us all.”

Elizabeth also made amark when she livedat CasaAntoniaRetirement Home during the last ten years of her life.She wouldvisit herneighbour whose son didcrosswordpuzzles. He wrote:

“Elizabeth was the best crosswordsolver at CasaAntoniaand she also toldmany interesting stories about the past many decades. We shallmiss her”

“Anexcellentletterwriter”

Elizabeth was an excellent letter writer and kept upcorrespondence with people sheknewallover the world. Father MichaelGarnett who lives in Peru wrote: “It was years ago that Elizabeth got in touchwith me as aresult of an article Ihadwritten for The Tablet. Ihave alarge archive-folder fullofour correspondence; since then we exchangedlettersseveraltimes each year andanumber of books which Icontinue to enjoy were sent byher.”

Elizabeth also workedfor many years abroad.She was atutor to three boys of the San Felice family in Rome where she livedfor manyyears as wellas tutoring MichaelHeseltine’s children in London. When these families heardof Elizabeth’s passing,they immediately got in touch with deepestcondolences and many memories.

Theepitomeofagoodteacher

Elizabeth always hadtime for children. When atStEdward’s,she wouldspendher breaks goingroundthe boys on the playgroundand checking if anyonewas being left out of groups or games.

Her colleagues (at least two of whom arestillat College) remember her with much affection and say that she willingly passedon herknowledge to them,as aresult of which they are nowsterling examples of really goodteaching.

Elizabeth Parnis trulyrepresentedeverything thatSt Edward’s stands for.She has left an indelible legacy on the scores ofOldEdwardians she taught andwas an inspiration to me when Itook over the Junior School years later.

Rest in peace dear Elizabeth.

Abracadabra

ByStephanieGrech

As part of their reading andwritingtasks,the boys took on the lead role in the book they were reading and transformedinto Wizards themselves.They walkedaround the grounds looking for items they wishedto use for their spell, amongwhich were sticks, acorns,and dried leaves. Later they returnedto their cauldron and,deckedout in gear, came up with aspell.

Science in the City my experience in Valletta

Last October me and my parents went to the Science Fair in Valletta. I was hyped and excited to see what this fair had to offer. The first thing we did was line up to test and try CPR on a dummy. When it was my turn to learn how to do CPR, the doctor told me to do these steps:

Lay the dummy on the back and put my fingers on his neck to check if there is a pulse (meaning the heart is beating)

Push the dummy’s chest 30 times in between the breasts withbothmy hands

Repeat untilhelp arrives.

It really felt good toknow how todoCPR.

What is CPR exactly?

ByJanFiorentinoYr7Y

Consider your heart as an extremely vital pump that continuously pumps blood and distributes oxygen throughout your body. However, occasionally that pump may malfunction and cease to function. That is what happens during a cardiac arrest. Every second counts when oxygen isn't present! CPR is useful in this situation! To aid restart the pump, you can perform an action like that in a superhero movie. You are essentially helping the heart pump oxygen by applying specific pressure to the chest. It's similar to giving your body a boost until the doctors and nurses, whoare the true superheroes, show up.

CPR truly has the power to save lives! The person's chances of survival increase with the speed at which you perform CPR. Without CPR, their chance of survival drops by 10% each minute. Because of this, understanding CPR is equivalent to possessing a secret superpower you never know when it will come in handy! That is why I wish that we could learn about these things like CPR and

how to help people when injured just like we learn English, Maths and all the other subjects at school.

I really loved the Science Fair in Valletta and I am now looking forward for the upcoming Science Fair at school.

Tangerine Dream

Gregory Micallef Yr 7Y wrote:

In my experience atSt.Edwards,Inever thought Iwouldbe making marmalade with children. It allstarted. When the headmaster askedme to go look at atree near the Junior School. My first glance at it was alarge tree filled with bright colouredoranges.Sadly,there were many on thegroundas well. Me and my friend pickedthem allup and even picked some from the tree. The weeks that were yetto come were going to bevery hardand fast. This was because many of the oranges were becoming mouldy,but our hopes were high,andwe continuedthe process. After along time,we came up with a plan to turn them into marmalade. We took this approach to the headmaster,bursar and Mr. Moore.They allagreedso we startedgetting ready for allthe cutting,waiting and Seering. The day came andallthe children startedwaitingoutside the main kitchen of our school. When they came in everybody was excitedto see the soft toy,Igot of Paddington that relates to the theme of marmalade.Allthe remains were cut by me and my friend so that we hadhurriedup to see it for 24hrs. The nextday wouldbe easier because we just neededto cookitandsterilize all the jars. Finally,everything was done and the last thing todo was to buy it and then enjoy it on some nicely toastedtoast.

Matthias SultanaYr 7Y

It allstartedwhen the Headmaster toldGregoryand me to go pick up the tangerines from the JuniorSchool,so we set off duringbreak time,every day for awhole week,to the Junior school were there was this tree loadedwith tangerines. It was great fun,and we were always looking forwardto it. When we were ready from picking up the tangerines we endedupwith four buckets filledto the brimandconsideringthe large number of tangerines we managedto harvest,the Headmaster decidedthat we shouldmake marmalade out of them. We took the whole lot to Mr. Moore’ s

office and bookedtwo days in the kitchen. We neededjars, lemons and sugar to make the marmalade which Iofferedtoget.

The nextday,at around 9.00am the two of us were already in the kitchen, cutting the tangerines and the lemons. This was not an easy job,and it took us the whole morning to cut the whole lot. Once we were ready,we put the tangerines and lemons in abigpot with afewlitres of water and left them to sit for twenty-four hours. The nextday we boiledthe mixture so that allthe water wouldevaporate,and we couldthen mix in the sugar. This took about three hours. When allthe water hadevaporated,we addedthe sugar and mixedeverything around for another ten minutes before finally pouring the hot marmalade into the jars.We closedthe jars tightly so as to create avacuum inside the jars and like that the marmalade wouldlast longer. Mr. Moore designed labels for the jars with the school's emblem and the ‘best before’ date.

We were bothvery proud of thefinishedproduct. The tangerine marmalade and lemon marmalade were ready just on time to be soldon the open day of theschool,the22nd of February.

A bigthank you goes to the Headmaster,Mr Moore,Heads of Sections and Ms. Cioffi.

Love the land and it’s bounty

ByBrandanGerada

Twice aweek,children eagerly gather in the garden, armedwith their tiny shovels andwateringcans. With tender care,they nurture their green charges, beansand cauliflower,from seedlings to robust plants. Each day brings newlessons: patience as they wait for sprouts, responsibility in tendingto fragile leaves,andjoy in witnessinggrowth. Through dirt-stained hands and laughter-filledmoments, they forge connections with nature,learning the rhythmsof the seasons. Their gardening adventure fosters not just green thumbs,but also adeepappreciation for the earth's bounty,instilling values of sustainability and stewardship from atender age.

The Power of Unity

In aheartwarming display of community spirit and responsibility,the Year 6Y boys,recently took itupon themselves to carry out acleanup. Motivatedby a shareddesire to create acleaner and more positive learning environment, these young leaders demonstratedthe transformative impact that collective action can have on the schoolcommunity.

The ideafor the cleanupbegan when afewfriends noticedthe litter leftbehind after breaks. Insteadof turning ablind eye,they decidedto take matters into their own hands. Recognizing that aclean and well-maintained school fosters aconducive learning atmosphere,the boys were determined to make

On the designatedcleanupday,the boys arrivedat school armedwith enthusiasm and determination. Dividedinto teams each groupwas assignedaspecifictask andarmedwith gloves and garbage bags, the boys set out to transform their school into acleaner and more inviting space.

ByDaphneCamilleri

The cleanupwas not only about tidying up physicalspaces but also about fostering asense of teamwork amongthe boys.Working together,they developedadeeper appreciation for the sharedresponsibility of maintaining a clean and respectful environment.

The story of these boys serves as apowerful reminder that positive change often begins with asmallgroupof dedicatedindividuals. Their initiative not only beautified the school but also instilledasense of pride and responsibility within the student body. Through their collective efforts, these boys have left an enduring mark on their school, proving that anyone,regardless of age,can contribute to creating abetter and cleaner community.

Discovering friction

ByRobertaCamilleri

Friction,the unseen force that shapes our daily lives, often goes unnoticeduntil discoveredin the most unexpectedof ways. Forchildren,its revelation can spark wonder and curiosity,leading to anewfound understanding of the worldaround them.

Imagine agroupof children playing in apark onawarm summer day. Among them,Sheldon *,acurious eight-year-old,notices something peculiar as he slides down the playground slide. His hands griptightly onto the metalrails, feeling a resistance as she descends. He wonders why it'sharder to slide without holding on.

This was the narrative with which the children ofYear 4X departedin their quest for discovery.

Intrigued,,they embarkedon aquest to uncoverthe mystery of this resistance. They experimentedwith differentsurfaces,observinghowfriction affectedtheir movements.They rubbedtheirhands together vigorously,feeling the heat generatedby friction's invisible embrace. Theyrolledmarbles and otherobjects down ramps, witnessing howfriction slows themdown.

With each discovery,the children'sfascination grew. They realizedthat friction isn't just ahindrance; it's afundamentalforce thatgoverns the worldaroundthem. From the simple joy of sliding on aplaygroundto the complexities of machinery and transportation,friction plays avitalrole in their daily lives.

As the lessonof explorationended,the childrenwalked away with anewfound appreciation for the invisible force that shapes their world,eager to uncovermore of its secrets in the days to come.

*Sheldonisafictitiousname.

The price of a life

ByKikiMizzi

On the 8th of May aheroicdeedwas completed at the College . The sum of €4,521 was collected and passed on to the parents of Thiago.

Many near and far have heardof little Thiago. Heis 4 year oldMaltese boy who lives with what is possibly Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. In the face of adversity,his family took tosocialmedia,specifically on the Facebook Page Thiago’s Journey,asking for financial help. A newrecently approvedtreatment couldhelp change little Thiago's future. However,this newbeacon of hope comes with ahefty price tagof $3.2 million. In his mother's words - 'this issadly the cost of my little boy's life - a price so steepitfeels impossible.'

For us,at St.Edward’s College,solidarityis not just abuzzword. Inclusion is not just apolitically correct phrase. Caring is not about lookinggood. At St Edward's College,Malta we care,really care. Coming together as ateam,on the 8th of March the College had a crowdfundingday for Thiago. On the initiative ofthe INCO Department,allboys 'flouted' the uniform and came dressedin aparticular colour torepresent arare disease...and paid €2 penalty as a'fine' for not coming in uniform.

In addition,each student was askedto come to college dressedin aparticular colour.The reason behindthis colour block is to celebrate diversity. Each colour (see chart) represents different conditions.

Please followsuit and helpThiago and allother children and adults who needspecialcare

St Edward’s College Malta

Triq San Dwardu

Birgu BRG 9039

Citta Vittoriosa

Phone: +356 27 88 11 99

Editor: Sylvana Debono

Email: communications@stedwards.edu.mt

Founded in 1929, St Edward’s College is an all-boys college for both day and boarding students. Boarding is offered between the ages of 11 to 18. At nursery and kindergarten as well as at post-secondary level, the college is co-educational. As a private educational college, St Edwards offers excellent teaching facilities, high teacher-pupil ratio, a very wide range of sports facilities and scrupulous personal attention to the students.

At St Edward’s College, students receive a well rounded education ending up in the IB Diploma. Most of the students go on to study at world class universities. Our top students are leaders in society ranging from Science and Business to traditional professions and the arts. Most Edwardians retain a love and appreciation of sports throughout their lives.