Sharing ideas...

Students from St Michael Foundation for Education, Pembroke, have been participating in Depomapol, a Comenius project, for the past two years.

Depomapol is a magazine on the Internet where students from different schools contribute their ideas on a number of topics. Before appearing on the Internet, the essays are circulated within each school. In this way young people share ideas and understand the similarities and differences between individuals and cultures on a number of topics.

This year the topics included music, the importance of water and getting to know Europe. There is also a section where students were able to write about any topic they wished.

The topics chosen form an integral part of the school curriculum within these subjects: Maltese, English, Biology, Environmental Studies, Art, Dance, Drama and Information Technology. The essays subsequently appear on the project's Website. During the second year the different schools held a number of meetings to co-ordinate the work on the project. The most recent meeting took place towards the end of the school year in Pembroke. Here teachers from Friedrich-Feld-Schule (Giessen, Germany) and Martinho Arias Secondary School (Soure, Portugal) met teachers at St Michael Foundation. Contact was also maintained via e-mail with the other participating school, Liceum Plastyczne im Jana Cybisa, in Opole, Poland.

The objective of this meeting was to evaluate the progress at the end of the second year and to prepare for the third year of the project.

During the week they were here, the visiting teachers met Maltese students in their classrooms. They worked especially with those students who are already involved in the project. The teachers and students discussed the texts produced by the different schools. It was a golden opportunity for all to share ideas on the material the students had prepared.

The teachers also observed lessons. The German and Portuguese teachers shared ideas on matters of education with their Maltese colleagues. The visiting teachers were also able to appreciate various aspects of Maltese language and culture. In addition to the meetings held on the Comenius project, the participants met Ms Annhelica Scerri from the Socrates Comenius National Agency. The project is partly funded by the European Socrates Comenius programme. The magazine may be accessed at www.depomapol.org or via the school's Website: www.stmichaelfoundation.org.