The Gozo College - a hive of activity

Positive energies are blossoming at the Gozo College. Though the college is only a few months old, it has already given a new lease of life to the educational well-being of the whole Gozitan community.

A more forward-looking frame of mind is gradually being moulded where the leitmotif is a spirit of co-operation and collaboration among all partners and stakeholders. This is good for our children in particular, and that of the whole Gozitan community in general.

The Gozo College has indeed become a powerhouse of novel ideas and a busy hive of contagious enthusiasm.

Proof of this are the various activities that are constantly being organised by the college in which everybody is lending a precious, helping hand. The week between April 3 and 7 was a special case in point. Besides the usual daily teaching and school activities, a whole series of professional, educational experiences for all took centre stage at some of the educational localities that make up the Gozo College.

A farmhouse in Xaghra was the venue for a unique science hands-on, project-exhibition aptly called 'home-sci-home'. The idea to organise the activity in a farmhouse proved to be an excellent one. It helped to promote science as an indispensable, curricular area that is present at every moment of our lives.

In fact, the hundreds of Gozitans, students as well as members of the general public, who thronged to visit the exhibition could witness for themselves that science exists in every nook of their house and of their existence.

A great tribute goes to the college co-ordinator and the team of very dedicated and professional Gozitan and Maltese science peripatetic teachers from the Department for Curriculum Management who worked together for months to transform their idea into a concrete scientific experience for pupils, students, parents, grandparents and the whole Gozitan community.

The University of Malta should be congratulated for funding a part of the project, as well as the organisers for keeping the farmhouse doors open till well after school hours, giving a unique chance to all to relish and learn in this perspective of lifelong learning. Thank you and prosit!

Another very busy place during the same week was the main hall of the Ninu Cremona Complex at Victoria. Once again, through the relentless activity of the college co-ordinator, the health and safety peripatetic staff in Gozo joined forces with the health and safety education officer and staff to set up an exhibition on health and safety as it is taught in the various schools.

Once again, one could appreciate the wise hand of co-operation that reigned throughout the weeks leading to the inauguration of the activity. The large hall could hardly contain the large amount of exhibited material prepared by Gozitan students under the guidance of this group of very dedicated, professional educators.

The exhibition was particularly enlivened by the various informative sessions held by the Police Department who contributed in no small way to the success of this activity as did the Health Promotion Unit and the various sponsors.

Simultaneously, a very short distance away, this time at Agius de Soldanis Complex, another very interesting exhibition on technology education was being inaugurated. Agius de Sodanis is indeed becoming a haven of ICT activity in a world where Information and Communication Technology is not a luxury but an important tenet in everybody's daily life.

Once again, one could admire enthusiastic parents who flocked to the school hall to glean invaluable information about ICT and to share this experience with their offspring.

On April 5, World Book Day was being launched at the Public Library housed at Sir Arturo Mercieca Primary School, Victoria. The opening ceremony was attended by Bishop Mario Grech, Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono and the MP Justyne Caruana, among others.

After the initial speeches, those present were taken round the library where they could admire the numerous new additions to this very well equipped and efficient library. Many of these new additions will be distributed to the various local libraries around Gozo. It is in this spirit of co-operation that this year the Public Library worked, for the first time, with the Literacy Unit to achieve even better results.

In fact, the following day, a very animated student forum on the role of reading in our lives was organised by the college co-ordinator and the Literacy Unit officer-in-charge. The exhibition will be open during the coming weeks.

The Gozo College is still in its infancy but a lot has already been achieved. This augurs well for the future. The appointment of a college precincts officer and a college administrator both accountable to the college co-ordinator, as laid down in the document For All Children to Succeed published by MEYE in June 2005, will surely improve matters.

The mindset has already been sown and a paradigm shift founded on promulgation of good practice and co-operative initiatives can already be seen at the Gozo College.

An aura of professional joy is blooming at the Gozo College, which, coupled with hard, dedicated work are reaping very positive results for all.