The Comenius programme of European co-operation among schools reached a climax in Brussels between November 8 and 12. Organised by the Directorate-General for Education and Culture of the European Commission, this project involved schools from 30 European countries grouped under three main languages: English, French and German.
A group of four schoolchildren, aged nine to 12, from each country assembled in Brussels to present their Comenius project and discover the linguistic and cultural diversity of the continent.
Malta was represented by the Junior School of Stella Maris College, Gzira. Luke Aquilina, Luke Sultana, Andrew Spiteri and Dean Henry, led by myself as assistant head and Ivan DeGabriele (music teacher) for four days played the part of Maltese ambassadors in the democratic environment of European partnership for schools. These young Stelmarians and their leaders were also accompanied by Annhelica Scerri (Comenius' Contact Person for the European Union Programmes Unit Socrates Committee Malta) and Ivan Camilleri (PBS journalist).
A remarkable experience was the inter-cultural event organised by the Language Animation Centre on the Biouel boat in the heart of Brussels, where all the pupils joined in the various ice-breaking games. The countries were grouped in seven teams and Malta formed part of Group F together with Iceland, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Poland.
The young Stelmarians showed great talent in dramatic improvisation when they had to create spontaneously the funny situations prompted to them by the young Belgian animators. These dramatic perfomances were acted in front of all the teachers within their group. The evening finished with a heart-warming barbeque.
The main attraction of the next day was the excursion to Mini-Europe, which included guided visits and games. Besides learning about the main landmarks of European countries, our boys proved to be a great asset to their group since they solved the organised treasure hunt, thus winning a treat of Belgian chocolates for themselves and for the rest of the group. The Spirit of Europe was an enriching experience because the whole group of pupils could see the historical and political development of a united Europe.
November 10 saw the launching of Comenius Week 2003 by Nikolaus Van der Pas, Director-General for Education and Culture of the European Commission. Bertrand Delpeuch, Head of School Education (Socrates, Comenius) then explained the main aims behind the Comenius projects. The official opening of the Comenius Project exhibition by Christa Prets, MEP, took place in the afternoon.
Luke Aquilina was very proud of himself when he had to explain to Ms Prets his part of the project as she visited the Maltese stand.
During that day the participants were escorted to various rooms for three creative workshop sessions. In the first workshop, "A tour of Europe in one hour" each country had to initiate children from other countries in the basics of its mother tongue.
For this activity the Maltese teachers led three groups of four students from Sweden, Cyprus and Latvia for about a quarter of an hour in a short conversation in Maltese. In the meantime the young pupils from Stella Maris were in another part of the workshop trying to communicate in Latvian, Czech and Swedish. The message from this workshop could be said to be learning languages is useful.
The karaoke workshop was divided in two parts: the European Song, based on the hit song Asereje by Las Ketchup, consisting of passages in French, English and German, and which all the children had to sing; and any other modern song chosen by the various participants. This event created a pleasant wave of musical friendship with all the children imitating international pop stars.
The young Stelmarians were no exception, as Dean took the lead while Luke, Andrew and Luke were his backing singers.
The third workshop was "The Euroreporter". Every student had to get acquainted with a student from another country mainly by presenting his or her Comenius project. The workshops on Tuesday included "Play the Game" and Dance. Both activities involved the children in fun events without frontiers as they drew each other and joined adults in dancing.
Finally, in the afternoon, the highlight was the release of the European message balloons from La Place Jean Rey under the watchful eye of Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Education and Culture. Andrew was very pleased with himself when his message "What I would like for Europe" was read by one of the participants in front of Mrs Reding.
Malta's contribution
The objective of the entire project was to promote different ways of learning and practicing foreign languages through cultural activities in a healthy Europe. Our Stelmarians had no problems with communicating with others and they showed individual drive and a willingness to share pleasant experiences with others. For four days Brussels became a single multi-lingual school with democratic ideas.
The component in which Stella Maris College was involved dealt with "Health and Well-Being: Nutrition", which had to be tackled by a group of five countries: Italy, Wales, Denmark, Iceland and Malta. The Maltese effort was co-ordinated locally by Mrs Myriam Zammit, head of the Junior School at Stella Maris College.
For the past two years the school environment was turned into an industrious workshop full of inter-relating activities among teachers, students and parents. Subjects were integrated under the focal point of nutrition and production reached a high level of satisfaction. Consequently the team that went to Brussels in November had a lot of material to exhibit.
The project involved the entire education community at Stella Maris College: students, teachers, administrators, parents, and local authorities.
A series of charts, presented in Brussels, showed the whole process from germination to cooking in today's world. The boys visited a local farm to see what is involved in sowing seeds, and then they traced the journey from the farmer to the pitkali, to the market, and ended in their own kitchen, where they themselves cooked a pot of minestra. Another series of charts showed traditional Maltese food associated with feasts.
Side by side with this material there was a table full of Maltese food produced by the participants' parents, like prinjolata, figolli, mqaret, galletti, gbejniet tal-bzar, torti tal-marmurat, and qaghaq tal-ghasel. These proved to be a great success especially with the French animators, who particularly liked the gbejniet and prinjolata.
Another aspect of the Comenius week in Brussels was the "ambassadorial" function of the group as the young Stelmarians displayed informative material on the prehistory, history, geography, economy and traditions of the Maltese Islands. The presepju, made by Luke Sultana and his father, attracted much attention. Some of the information relating to Malta and Stella Maris College was also circulated on CDs.
During the major activities the Maltese group wore a blue T-shirt with the image of the prehistoric sleeping lady as a logo. Throughout the four days the boys were actively involved in explaining their country and their school to the other students, their teachers and members of the European Commission and Parliament. They made new friends, exchanged gifts, learned a lot, and savoured every minute of this unique opportunity. No wonder that on the flight back home exhaustion left its mark .
The entire experience proved most worthwhile in enhancing the quality of teaching and strengthening the European dimension of school education networks. The idea of school partnerships is an excellent system for training education staff and promoting learning and mobility.
This phase of the Comenius project focused on enhancing European citizenship through learning in a multi-cultural framework and aimed at preventing exclusion: all of which are compatible with the Lasallian ideals of the Christian Brothers, who are this year celebrating their centenary in Malta.