Dwardu’s Scoops
The note of Gryffindor?
ByJulianCoppiniandKieranCassarMullallyLike the sword of Gryffindor, it presents itself to those in need. Students and teachers alike have no idea whether to believe that this system exists. I am talking of the Myth Of The Five Euro Note.
The tale is one of a simple one, whoever is in need of it may borrow it under one condition; that it is replaced by next day’s nightfall, or else they may experience the most painful demise. To get to the bottom of this mystery we had to go to the origin of the source and seek answers from the man who started it all, Mr Caruana Smith. “The 5 euro note started when I first found the note on the floor, and I obviously wasn’t to go around asking whose it was so I kept it on my desk just in case someone needed it”.
So, myth confirmed, but how does this system work? “So, the students would come over when they needed it for lunch primarily, but I would emphasise that I would need it back the next day. So far 4 students have used it and, on all occasions, I have received the money back. For me personally when I see those qualities in my students, that’s what makes me truly proud to be a teacher. When young men in our society stand by the honour of their word is the real factor at the end of the day”, explained Mr Caruana Smith
So, there you have it. A mystery cracked during our colleges very own spooky season. A system that not only helps other students, but that also instils discipline, responsibility and management are makes this a truly great initiative.
MotherandSoncombojoin OperationWallacea
ByDanielaandJulianCoppiniThe Mother’s Perspective
The first time I heard about Operation Wallacea was in 2019. Julian, my son, came back from College telling me that they had a talk at school by someone who organizes youth travel. I clicked on the link provided by Headmaster and there I discovered a world of science, adventure and
What is Operation Wallacea?
Operation Wallacea is a biodiversity and climate research organisation. For 25 years it has run biodiversity field expeditions to support the research of hundreds of academics and funded from tuition fees paid by students that then gain experience of working with publishing scientists. Nearly 600 papers in peer reviewed journals have been published from these research programs.
travel. I was immediately excited to know that Julian could have this amazing opportunity in the summer holidays - one that changes him and marks his development. I filled in an application and paid the deposit.
Unfortunately, Covid changed our plans that summer. The trip, was eventually postponed twice! As 2 years passed, Julian ended up being the only boy from St Edward's participating and had to join a group from St Aloysius College going to an expedition in Croatia. Months passed, the departure date was approaching and the excitement was palpable until I got yet another email from the organizer. This time the problem was that there were no teachers from St Aloysius interested in accompanying the group. When Julian came home from school that day, I told him that I had good news….and bad news. The good news was that St Aloysius College accepted that Julian joins their group on the expedition, while the bad news is that they have no teachers to accompany the group and the Opwall Wallacea director asked me to chaperone the group to Croatia.
The 2 week programme was packed with fun and interesting activities. For the first week, we were based in a camp site close to the famous Kyrk National Park. The students had expeditions
brightandenthusiasticyoungsterssetoutonexpeditionseveryday.”
DanielaCoppini,Mother
every morning and afternoon, sometimes leaving at 4am to rise with the birds and sometimes returning at 1am after having spent the evening observing bats. After 1 week at the park we set off on a long journey by ferry to reach the distant island of Silba, a 4 hour journey by ferry from the mainland. On Silba Island, the students followed an open water diving course in the beautiful water of this car free and sparsely-populated Croatian Island.
It was a privilege as a teacher but also as a parent to witness these bright and enthusiastic youngsters set out on expeditions every day. How quickly these youths adapted to community living, doing chores and other duties at the camp base in great camaraderie spirit. I am now looking forward to seeing Julian go on the next Opwall Wallacea expedition to Mexico next summer.
Click here to go to the Opwall Wallacea website. It explains what the Croatia expedition entails.
Celebrating Halloween?
Many would say : why not?
Others would say: No Way. The basic question however is: should there be all this controversy over what, ultimately, has evolved into a dress up day?
The roots of Halloween are cobwebbed in the mists of history when the borders between the known and the unknown were blurred and the unknown was the realm of ‘magic’. This was the way that the people in the past would be able to explain the unexplainable. Today we know better.
As in other instances, Christianity took over existing feasts and baptized them, so to speak.
Saturnalia became Christmas and even today’s wedding rituals still harken to Roman traditions. So it was with Samhain, Halloween.
The Student’s Perspective
I cannot begin to describe just how incredible OpWall is. A 2 week expedition focusing on gathering data relating to conservation. The data gathered on the local ecology, feeding patterns and numerics on individuals under a certain bracket of taxonomy are all taken and processed into valuable data, published in future research papers and given to the local government in order to further promote, with scientific evidence, the value of conservation. My experience with OpWall was the Croatia 2022 expedition. A two week expedition consisting of one week doing terrestrial research in Krka National Park, and the next doing marine research on the island of Silba.
The terrestrial week was a huge culture shock. In less than four
The feasts of All Souls and subsequently of All Saints replaced the Druidic rituals so that all that remained over time was the ‘witchy’ lore and the Jack O’ Lantern it is the season to be pumpkinny, after all.
While there is no harm in dressing up, some still object to that. They have the right to their opinion but dressing up need not be limited to ghouls and witches.
One can celebrate All Souls and dress up as angels and saints.
This has helped some catholic parishes overcome the impasse on how to entertain children without infringing of family values. Food for thought?
will Survive
MsSamanthaAbela HeadofMiddleSchoolFor Middle Schoolers, the start of a new scholastic year can be a bit challenging and intimidating. New set of classrooms, new teachers and this year we also had a lot of new faces joining the SEC community. Nonetheless, our Year 7s had something really fun and exciting to look forward to this year ‘The Survival Night’ experience. This was inspired by Morpurgo’s ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’ which some boys read whilst they are in Year 6. Even though our Edwardians were not stranded on an island, they were had to ‘survive’ without the use of gadjets and learn how to camp outside. The weather was clement and they did not encounter famine problems for sure! It was a night which helped them to bond together and create some memories that will last a life time.
I cannot thank enough Captain Lanfranco and the Fgura Scouts group for helping out on the day and with the preparations as well as Mr de Maria, Ms Agius, Ms Luna and Ms Susanne. I give the floor to the real stars: the boys!
The colours and words of friendship
ByEtienneDeguaraThe introduction of PSCD in the Junior school, has allowed students to express themselves and their feelings through different forms. This has given students the opportunity to reflect upon themselves and how their actions affect others. This week, Year 5 students were learning about the good qualities a friend should possess.
The lesson started off by having the students answer a question: "What are three qualities a good friend should have?" Based on the responses, which they delivered through their tablets, a word cloud was formed through the Mentimeter app they were using. The most common responses appeared larger in the word cloud and the most prominent words were chosen and written on charts.
The activity then shifted outside where the students were split into groups and in turns, they had to go round each chart with the allotted word and write down why that particular character trait was a quality of a good friend. When they were done, everyone reflected on each others answers. The end result was that the students got to see what key qualities they would like to see within one another. The charts apart from looking colourful, conveyed a very important message, that of friendship!
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hours, our group had gone from the confined safety of civilisation to the minimalistic life that was the Krka National Park OpWall research site. From the typical comforts of western society, we had been introduced to a simpler, more sustainable and more collective way of living. Rather than sitting around a table, all looking to the black holes we call our phones, we would speak. Different levels of academics all come together to speak about the day’s findings, the papers being written, life back home and have a laugh or two. The terrestrial surveys were hard work. We would trek, observe and gather data on the transects for the majority of the day and then rest at camp for our daily lecture, always keeping an eye out for any fauna prowling the camp, especially at night.
The marine week was a learning curve. After no previous experience with scuba diving, OpWall threw our group into the deep end as we started our Padi Open Water Diving Certification. During the week at the marine site, we would undertake the Padi course, consisting of both confined and open water dives, as well as some basic underwater research techniques from our divemasters, such as how to handle Sea Cucumber without killing the organism, or taking octopus inc from rocks. The underwater beauty of Croatia’s aquatic life is a thing to behold, but nothing compares to the bursting pink splashes of sunsets on Silba Island. The sky, at 7:30 in the evening, would change from a calm shade of blue to an explosion of pinks and orange, dotted with cirrus clouds. Before sunset, the locals and ourselves would emerge from the serenity of our houses to watch the sunset an island event like no other.
This experience changed my life. Taking me away from the shelter of home and throwing me head first into a world completely different from ours the natural world.
Daniela and Julian Coppini
A mathemagical experience
BySamanthaAbelaLast year, some students from Grade 9 and 10 Physics applied for the project entitled: Julian’s Tech Start up Challenge 2022 Bionic Inventions which took place bettern September 12, 2022 September 15, 2022. This project is part of the The Julian’s Pathfinder Foundation that was created in memory of Julian Spiteri who tragically passed away in a traffic accident in April 2021.
The Foundation was created with the purpose of inspiring and supporting gifted children and youth to achieve their full potential. Three students applied at the time: Julian Scicluna, Zen Caruana and Richard Wang. They had to come up with a ‘technological product’ that could help humanity whilst applying current scientific rules. This was done over the course of four days of focused activities going into various learning areas, run by the best specialised educators we can find. The aim of the sessions was to excite the students multidisciplinary theme in the field of science and technology as well as to instil an entrepreneurial mindset and give the applicants a structured approach for developing
Julian Scicluna writes:
The car slowed to a halt. The building’s main entrance swung open. I was guided to a hall with many other children and I hadn’t the faintest idea what was going on. Then some of the helpers took to the stage and everyone fell silent. The helpers, along with Professor Schembri Wismayer, gave us insight on the programme. We then started the first event of the program, which was called “The Wheelchair Challenge”, where the nominees were grouped in teams of four and had to devise a wheelchair suitable for rocky terrain. After a few minutes of brainstorming, the first tea break was introduced and we all helped ourselves to all the juice, tea and cake on the table. After that, a few professors from the University came to give us educational talks (lectures) about topics which could be used to enhance our wheelchairs, such as the evolution of medicine. We were then asked to present our wheelchairs in groups, each member explaining a fair share of the wheelchair’s attributes and features. Lunch was provided, along with more fascinating talks such as metallurgy and an extremely important announcement about the new project: The teams were shuffled and the new teams had to design a new suit, ideally from the combination of their proposals and present it to a board of competent engineers and biologists from the university. Group work time became time allocated towards the formulation of the suit, which is how I have met a future mechanical engineer who goes by the name of Kyle Saliba. Following the
announcement came dinner, fun activities and the first bedtime.
Then dawned the second day of camp. We were taken to university to admire the professors’ marvellous contraptions and listen to them explain and show us practical examples of their previous lectures. We returned just in time for lunch (pity we had to leave), more lectures such as biocompatibility, group work, dinner and a treat: a lecture on astrophysics and a stargazing opportunity!
The third day was also packed with fun: a nature trail early in the morning, breakfast, another marvellous trip to university, lunch, group work, lectures, dinner (pizza) and a surprise: playing the drums and learning about music, followed by bedtime...
Zen J Caruana writes:
Why the Camp was established
The Julian's Pathfinder foundation was Created in memory of Julian Spiteri, who passed away in a traffic accident in 2021. He was constantly questioning whether he was on the right path to reach his full potential. Julian had a long list explaining why he wanted to study and practice law. Evidence of the great lengths he went to justify his choices. This list was found by his parents and lead them to establish the Foundation. To inspire gifted children and youth to follow their dreams and reach their full potential. In order to make the world a better place.
My experience at the camp.
This year I was chosen along with 23 other high ability students from across the Maltese Islands. Throughout the four days of camp we were giver talks by various experts. We visited the university of Malta and were able to see state of the art technology and learn how it works. The camp programme was directed by Profs. Pierre Schembri Wismayer a professor and researcher at the department of anatomy. With the help of these ex-
JulianScicluna
Julian’sStory
For the fourth and final day of camp! We were given lectures by an actor and a film director on how to present ourselves and prepare well for the final pitch (of groups’ members’ projects combined) in front of a board! Over the three days of camp, my team and I have designed an extremely fancy exoskeleton with many interesting features to give those with a disability a second chance. During the pitching period, we pitched our suit to the engineers and they surely did not seem disappointed! After that, we (rightfully so) thanked and applauded all who were involved in the organisation of the camp, were given refreshments, packed up and I went home with the greatest feeling I have felt in a long time.
In conclusion, this camp was one of the most educational, interesting and exciting adventures I have ever been on, and if asked to go again, I would accept in a heartbeat! One could say it was mathemagical!
Zen’sStory
perts and guidance of Profs. Pierre Schembri Wismayer we were able to design four bionic inventions. All the members of the foundation were very kind and understanding they did everything they could to make us feel at home. I learnt about many new topics and developed on that which I already knew.
To sum up, this was a once in a lifetime experience and a memorable one at that. I believe that this is an educational event that was founded for a great cause and intended to be interactive and enjoyable.
had at
of
Spring
just love the community
so...here we
all on the menu so, save the date and bring your loved ones. In any case the next day is a holiday so you can have a lie in!
and carolling
Dealing with ambiguity and change
ByAnnetteAgiusThe new scholastic year has just started and so have our youth work sessions.
During last Friday's session we kicked the year off with an energizer to get in the mood. Following that, the young people had a more challenging game that required thought and team work. They were asked to recreate the Eiffel Tower using blocks and work together as a team. At that stage everybody found it easy. When everybody was ready, the young people had to choose two builders from each group. Every builder had to get blindfolded and the other members had to help the build-
ers rebuild the tower.
This session was aimed at challenging our young people to learn to deal with ambiguity and change.
Alternative learning
BySamanthaAbelaandDeanGaleaPellicanoLearning takes place all the time and everywhere. While I was growing up, my teachers always encouraged me and involved me in many projects that took place outside of the classroom. When I became a teacher, I fostered with my own students this idea of learning in an alternative way . That is also why, in my capacity as Head of Middle School and as Head of Extra Curricular activities I try to provide the students with as many opportunities to meet new people, talk to various experts and take part in different projects through out the year.
We kick started this scholastic year by working on an Erasmus + project with a school from Germany, the Erich-Fried Gesamtschule. The program centered on the theme of Marine Pollution. These students visited our school on Monday 10th October for a tour thanks to my co author Mr Galea Pellicano who assisted me in this venture. They checked out the College Museum and some other locations of interest even though it was pouring buckets shortly after their arrival.
Richard Wang (Yr 11 Student Council Secretary) also did a short presentation about the history of our school.
On Tuesday, they had a busy day meeting with Ms Laus, Mr Ebejer and Mr Galea Pellicano to work on Marine Pollution themed lessons in English, Science and Geography. The students worked in groups with our Year 7s and Year
8s to learn about the issues of pollution especially in the Mediterranean sea.
When addressing the English language, the boys worked in a reading analysis exercise prepared by Ms Laus. Using a picture prompt of a turtle in a plastic bag, the students worked together to come up with relevant verbs, vocubulary etc... that come to mind when seeing the picture. Ms Laus also prepared a short quiz game for the boys and an activty booklet. The ‘See Think Wonder’ technique of TUL was also applied.
Mr Ebejer took up the science mantle and explored a presentation about pollution and the effects of Global Warming on the sea and especially around Malta. He also referred to the increase of jellyfish in our seas as a result of climate change. The issue of micro plastics was discussed and a picture prompt of a whale with ingested plastic was shown in class that triggered an avalanche of questions.
On Tuesday 11th of October 2022 student from class 8X and guest student from the Erasmus Program from the secondary school of Herne, Germany conducted a small practical experiment during the geography lesson led by Mr Galea Pellicano. The topic in question was marine oil spills, with an emphasis on how to mitigate the damage that such an environmental disaster presents to the affected area, and how to avoid such accidents from happening. Using a foil tray, a student filled one half with sand and the other half with water, and then a mixture of cooking oil and black powered paint was added to the water. The tray was then gently rocked by two students on each side to simulate wave and tidal action, to re-create the movement of the oil from open water onto the tiny
paint was added to the water. The tray was then gently rocked by two students on each side to simulate wave and tidal action, to re create the movement of the oil from open water onto the tiny sandy coastline. Many observations were noted including that the oil sticks in clumps to the sand and that the dispersal of oil leakages does not stop only to the original source in the water, but it goes in all directions. To mitigate the spill the students were given paper towels to try to dry up the oil from both sand and water, but they quickly realized that it would take more than one or two pieces to fully absorb the oil. An entire roll was needed for one tray. Similarly, the students learned that a clean up of an oil spill would require huge amounts of resources, time, and money, by which time the damage to the environment would be irreversible, wiping out both marine life and human industries dependent on the sea. The students cncluded that it is best to never let an oil spill happen in the first place.
Friday 14th October was the concluding day for this Erasmus + project. The German students visited in the afternoon and they met our Year 7s and Year 8s in the chapel for a couple of presentations. They were addressed by Luca Lanfranco (Yr 11) and Miguel Aquilina (Yr 11 School Captain, Eko-Skola member and Student Council member). Both these students did a brief presentation about Marine Litter in Malta and even reminisced about a beach clean up that Eko Skola was involved in a few years ago.
Ms Cynthia Caruana from Eko Skola and Nature Trust also came to speak to the boys about the dangerous of plastics and fishing gear in our seas. Her talk specifically targeted Turtles and their rehabilitation in Malta.
The SEC Student Council and Eko-Skola Committee will be adopting a Turtle on behalf of all the student body. The German school also adopted two turtles as part of their project. We look forward to work on more Erasmus + projects in the future as well as partnering up with Ms Beritt and the Erich Fried Gesamtschule ! It was an enriching experience for all the students involved as well as being highly educational. Thanks to all the teachers who contributed with their lessons and welcomed the German students in our school!
In the next few weeks, we will be looking at engineering and building structures. We started off with the Marshmallow Tower Challenge. Each team was given a bag of marshmallows and toothpicks. Our challenge was to build a tower using these materials. The winning team had to build the tallest, freestanding tower. The difficult part was making it stand up freely. We quickly realized that to do this we had to build a wide base to make our structure stable. We also learnt that when our tower started to lean in one direction we could add marshmallows on the other side to balance it out. The tallest towers we managed to build were 22cm high. Our next challenge will be to build the strongest tower.
Celebrating Languages
The languages department went out at full tilt celebrating the use of various languages. While at college we have 38 different nationalities, the exhibition this time featured French, Italian and Spanish. Languages are one aspect of culture and the teachers made sure that the verbal aspect was complemented by, shall we say, a more apetising form of culture!
showered. At 7pm the Fgura Scouts came, and after a quick introduction we started with the activities. We were split into four groups and each scout was responsible for their respective group. After a few minutes the groups would change: 4 1, 1 2, 2 3, 3 4. I was in group 4 and our first lesson was about songs we could sing around a camp fire ‘Campfire’s Burning’, ‘Soldier’s Song’, BP Spirit and…I forgot the last one!!. Next was ropes and knot tying we only had time to learn two types of knots the Thumb Knot and the Reef Knot. I really enjoyed that lesson! Next up was Fire. We didn’t actually start a fire but instead learnt what was needed and how to start it. We also learnt about the fire triangle. We were supposed to have sessions on mapping and compass reading but unfortunately we were out of time. Then we marched over to the camp fire to have supper. We had fire cooked hot dogs and roasted marshmallows for dessert. After that, we played ‘bulldogs’ and then it was lights out. Seb and I tried to play some of the card games we had brought but we both agreed that the games were boring so we went to sleep instead!!
SATURDAY 8TH OCTOBER. We were up quite early. At 7.30am we were instructed by Ms Abela to pack our belongings and take down our tent because we would be picked up at around 9am. Seb and I swiftly took down our tent but then realised that Seb had only brought one bag for the tent and the tarp. We managed to squeeze the tent into the bag but, as we predicted, the tarp wouldn’t fit. After minutes of trial and error we resorted to asking for help. Ms Abela somehow managed to fit the tarp into the bag I was amazed she managed! After everyone was packed, we headed to the School’s main entrance to wait for our parents. The Survival Night was the first opportunity we had to experience sleeping at school in an amazing setting surrounded by the bastions. Activities with the Scouts, singing around the camp fire, eating hotdogs and roasting marshmallows…an enjoyable evening with a difference!
St Edward’s College
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.
St Edward’s College
Triq San Dwardu Birgu BRG9039
Malta
Email: Communications@stedwards.edu.mt
Editor: Sylvana Debono
It’s that time of year again. St Edward’s college may be a great school but, as yet we have not controlled the weather! Students need to carry waterproof jackets (black, dark grey, maroon or navy blue please!) and these can be worn when moving between blocks only. Those who have lockers should keep a pair of socks and a towel.
