A map of the world adorns a wall at the entrance hall of the Patri Felic Sammut government primary school in St Paul's Bay.
At first glance it's no different to the maps put up in any number of other schools around the island. This one, however, holds a more immediate meaning for this particular school, for running around the edge are nearly 30 flags representing the nationalities of its pupils.
The St Paul's Bay school is probably the most multi-cultural state school on the island. Of its 600 pupils in years one to six, 140 are either foreign-born or have one or both parents who are non-Maltese, averaging five in each of the school's 27 classes.
Flags from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and North and South America have all been stuck up on the map, with the largest number of foreign students hailing from the UK.
The reason is that the school's catchment area, Xemxija, St. Paul's Bay, Bugibba and Qawra, is a tourist zone dominated by apartment buildings which has become a magnet for foreign residents attracted by low rents and easy access to the beaches.
The mix of nationalities makes the school its own Comenius Project (an EU-funded programme enabling students from different countries to interact). Last year, for example, a storytelling event was held with the participation of parents in which pupils told tales that illustrated something about their home countries.
The multi-national nature of the school also holds educational challenges though.
"Quite often the pupils, on first coming to the school, know very little English or none at all, and no Maltese. There can also be a big gap in levels between the newcomers and the rest of the class," said head of school Salvina Muscat.
"So the teachers have to be inventive, come up with new ideas, and use different educational resources in order to communicate with them.
"Sometimes they even have to resort to sign language. It certainly keeps teachers on their toes. They can't afford to come to class unprepared."
The school has two full-time complementary teachers and they help a lot, taking children aside in small groups to boost their language skills.
The school also has a high complement of children with disabilities or learning difficulties, with every classroom being assigned a facilitator.
"This all makes us very strong on differentiated learning," said Ms Muscat. "The success of the school is down to the way teachers have been able to cater for the individual needs of their pupils."
This is bang in line with the new national minimum curriculum, one of whose principles is inclusive education. The curriculum stresses the need to recognise "the full range of educational interests, potential and needs of students".
For the Maltese pupils, there are distinct advantages in having so many pupils of different nationalities around them.
For one, they have more exposure to English than typically available in other state schools. Teachers have to use English and Maltese in equal measure in the classroom, as opposed to the predominance of Maltese in many other schools.
With the Maltese pupils also speaking more English in the playground in order to communicate with their foreign friends, their standard of English is bound to improve. This is reflected in their results at the Junior Lyceum Entrance Exams done at the end of primary school, in which the school registers an above average number of passes.
"The pupils mix very well," added Ms Muscat. "They help each other in class and there is no hint of racial prejudice."
She once noticed that a young Maltese boy was looking rather strangely at a black boy standing next to him during assembly. When she questioned him later his innocent reply was: "But Miss, I was only trying to see if he was the same colour under his collar."