Celebrating friends

I will Survive

Ms Samantha Abela Head of Middle School

For 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! Continues page 16

The colours and words of friendship

By Etienne Deguara The 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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From page 3

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

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