St Nicholas College Girls' Secondary School in Rabat is taking part in a Comenius project entitled 'Our European newspaper' together with schools from Norway, Poland, the UK, the Czech Republic and Finland, each with their different educational perspectives.
Throughout the two-year project, the project partners are producing and sharing a monthly newsletter, a periodic news-paper, together with digital and other material with the aim of making each school aware of the other partner schools' respective cultural identities.
Since the project started last September the Maltese staff and students involved have been meeting on a weekly basis and have produced newsletters in October, November and January. In December, the first edition of the newspaper was published on the theme 'Me', featuring articles written by the students about themselves and their favourite subjects and pets. The next edition of the newspaper will be published this month on the subject 'Our school'.
Two project meetings have already been held, the first in Oslo, Norway, last September, and another in Tuusula, Finland, last January.
At the first meeting, which had been held from September 16 to 20, the Rabat school was represented by teachers Kathleen Bonello, Marisa Tabone and Susan Saliba. They were hosted by teaching staff of Tarnasen primary school, situated about 30 minutes drive from Oslo.
On the first evening, the visiting staff were invited to a dinner hosted bythe headteacher of the primary, Elizabeth Knoff, in a typical Norwegian village house facing the fjords.
The next day the visiting staff were given a tour of the primary school, after which the staff and the pupils went for a walk in a nearby forest.
A three-hour meeting ensued in the school staffroom to discuss and finalise the set-up of the five newspapers that each partner has to produce. Furthermore, in order to strengthen the relationship between the schools it was agreed that each partner would compile a monthly newsletter and share it through a link on the schools' websites. Students of the Comenius group are also able to communicate with their peers in the other partner schools through e-twinning.
On the first full day of the visit, the Comenius partners visited Flatestad Secondary School, which is very popular with the local students due to its innovative approach to teaching and learning. Here, the students are not streamed by age but by ability and aptitude.
This approach makes the students feel more in control of their learning experience and enhances their sense of responsibility. This visit was followed by a one-hour meeting at Tarnasen Primary School to conclude plans for the Comenius project.
Following the Maltese teachers' return to Malta, as soon as school began, work started on the first edition of the newspaper, together with other staff members and the most willing and enthusiastic students.
Head of school Maria Pace, and Kathleen Bonello together with two students - Manuela Busuttil and Nicole Schembri - took part in the meeting in Finland, which was held from January 20 to 24. On arrival in Finland the the students were picked up and settled with their host family.
The following day the Maltese children met the pupils at Tuusula primary school and spent a whole school day with them. The school pays particular attention to children with special needs.
The Finnish students held a programme, including folk music, for all the visiting staff and students from the project partner schools. The project team then set to work on the programme of the project.
After school hours, the members of the team went for a tour around Tuusula. They visited the house of a famous painter, Pekka Halonen, around Lake Tuusula, the Syväranta Lotta Museum, and the wooden church.
The following day, the group finalised plans for the March edition of the newspaper.
The children spent the last full day with their host family while the teachers visited Helsinki, including a trip to the Ateneum, and the National Art Gallery.