Technology with a purpose at Antonio Sciortino Primary School

Our Comenius project "Environmental Education in Everyday Life" is currently in its second year. The project involves Antonio Sciortino Primary School of Zebbug, together with partner schools from Romania, Finland, Turkey and Italy.

Last November it was our turn to host a partners' meeting and we used this occasion to share these projects not only with our partners but also with the children's parents, who were invited to school during an open day. Our guests not only visited an exhibition of some of the finished products but also participated in some of the projects themselves.

The project is the result of co-operation between the school and the Science Centre within the Department for Curriculum Management represented by the Science and Technology peripatetic teacher. With the help of the class teachers, during these past 18 months, all children in the school have taken part in technology projects thus contributing towards the project's aims as well as meeting the requirements of the Design & Technology primary syllabus.

The technology projects included designing and making postcards, electronic quiz boards, calendars, environmental board games, pop-up cards and phrase books. The Comenius project created the opportunity for these technology projects and the children became even more motivated when they got to know that their products were to be shared with our partner schools.

Certain steps were followed in these projects to ensure that the maximum benefit was derived:

• The children looked at ready-made products such as postcards, cards, calendars and board games and noticed the various designs of the products and the different qualities in manufacture;

• They were given the skills needed, such as how to make a pop-up in a card or how to use a computer programme to print their phrase books;

• They prepared their designs sometimes working individually or sometimes in a group.

• They made their products and evaluated their results.

The project is being funded with the support of the European Commission and is possible due to the joint efforts being made by all the school staff, the Science Centre and the school council.