Comenius at Msida Primary starts on a high note

None other but President Guido de Marco visited the Comenius Room at Achille Ferris Primary! The visit to the school formed part of a visit to the village of Msida, organised by the Msida council. Both the head of school, Ms Rosanne Borg Magro, and Professor de Marco spoke highly of the involvement of the school in the European Comenius Project which is now in its second year.

Two other activities were related to the Comenius Project, which is this year focusing on the local flora and fauna. On Animal Awareness Day, children's pets were blessed by the parish priest and a pony, brought over by a grandparent of one of the pupils, gave rides to the delight of the younger pupils. A power-point presentation prepared specifically for the Comenius Project by one of the teachers on "Animals and their Environment" was shown to the pupils. This CD will eventually be sent to the participating schools in Belgium, Italy, Romania, Estonia and Spain.

On European Parents Day, parents were invited to school for the day. They brought plants, thus helping to make the school greener - this being in line with our Comenius Project.

The slogan for the day was "Let us grow" - the caring of the plants symbolising the care we give to our pupils. Mass was celebrated in the school ground for parents, pupils, local council and school council members.

Everyone present had a piece of ribbon which was tied to the next forming one big chain, again symbolising the link that exists between school and home, working in the best interests of the students. One of the day's highlights was also the naming of the classes after flowers. Right after Mass, the parents were then organised in groups to follow various activities.

Summer in Malta was part of the Comenius Project that the pupils had to work on during the summer holidays. Besides the diaries, projects and photos, one of the boys prepared a power-point presentation and another prepared a video on how he spent his summer holidays.

These were presented to the parents by the pupils themselves on European Parents Day - the video was shown on a big screen brought over by a grandparent of one of the pupils. The exhibition on "Summer in Malta" was on as well in the Comenius Room, as also a demonstration and talk by one of the teachers on helping children to have green fingers.

Besides all the direct benefits for the pupils, another positive aspect which is helping greatly the development of holistic education of the pupils is the increase of the involvement of the parents. Most of the activities would not have been such a success without their help.

Finally, this Comenius Project is helping pupils become more conscious of the environment. The Website - www.greenlinks.be - is also an interesting Website for use in the classroom and at home.