Two Comenius projects launched at Maria Regina GJL

Two Comenius projects were launched recently at Maria Regina GJL, Blata l-Bajda. The first project - "Preserving the environment of Europe: Now and for the Future" - is the outcome of a contact seminar held in October last year in Stratford-upon-Avon in the UK entitled "Healthy Environment - Healthy School".

The main event of this seminar was an Eco-school conference, attended by teachers and students from a large number of Eco-Schools in the Warwickshire area together with teachers from other European schools who are also participating.

The conference included an Eco-School fair consisting of schools' displays of Eco-Schoool activities, grouped under the themes - water, waste, energy, transport, litter, healthy living, school grounds and biodiversity.

As a result of the seminar, the Ekoskola group of Maria Regina GJL partnered with four other European schools - Rugby High School (England), College Paul Claudel (France), 2nd Gymnasioum of Kilkis (Greece) and Zespol Szkol Nr 1 (Poland).

Following their successful application bid, the partner schools have initiated a Comenius 1 project entitled "Preserving the Environment of Europe - Now and for the Future" which will develop themes based on environment-related issues.

The main aim of the project is to make the school community aware of the impact that our individual lifestyle has on the environment and depict environmental preservation as a global issue.

The activities connected with the project will implement education for sustainable development through a school cross-curricular approach. The first year of the project is to focus on promoting the creative re-use of reject materials through arts and crafts activities, waste separation at source, management of dry recyclables and composting. Maria Regina Girls' Junior Lyceum is the co-ordinating school of this Comenius project.

The second project, named "Discovering Europe using New Technologies" is a Comenius 1 project envisaging that with the use of various media, different subject syllabi will be put into practice.

A core team of teachers from various subjects, such as ICT, computer studies, geography, English and Maths, in consultation with interested teachers and students, have met to discuss the idea of co-operating with schools abroad to enrich the context in which they are teaching.

Over these last years, our school has been encouraging a holistic approach in subject integration, together with the dissemination of 'ICT as a medium' across the curriculum. The focus on ICT in the current School Development Plan (2005-08), drawn up in 2004, as well as the selection of our school as a pilot project for ICT-oriented teaching and learning, both encourage the introduction of innovative teaching methods.

The use of interactive whiteboards and the set-up of the school's Website are also increasing ICT awareness and literacy throughout the school population.

The ten European schools from Italy, Spain, Latvia, UK, France, Poland, Romania, together with our school, will all be making use of modern technologies, encouraging students to learn more about different cultures and helping teachers gain experience and insight into how such technologies are used in different educational settings in different foreign schools.

The aim of the Comenius 1 project will be to encourage and improve students' language skills, improve their IT skills through the use of various tools and application packages, help them gain intercultural experience and getting to know their country in a different context than that normally shown to them. Teachers will be given the opportunity to develop both personally and professionally, particularly in ICT.

Ultimately, the concrete outcomes and benefits for our school should be:

• an enhancement of the school's ethos and image,

• an improved climate of co-operation and team spirit between staff and students,

• an improvement of communication skills,

• a positive ripple effect on the school community,

• an increased awareness on environmental related issues.

Experience gathered from the project will make future twinning programmes easier and new friendships and contacts will have long-term positive effects.

The co-ordinators and teachers participating in both projects worked closely together during the application process and are continuing to collaborate on issues of common interest to both projects.

These two projects and all mobility activities are being made possible through funding under the European Union Socrates Programme.

The Ekoskola group of Maria Regina GJL was represented at the Healthy Environment - Healthy School seminar by Mr Evans, whose participation was made possible through funding under the Socrates/Comenius programme allocated by the Maltese National Agency within the EUPU. Mr Aquilina is Comenius project co-ordinator.