Our students need to feel that they are loved, appreciated and taken seriously, says Claire De Bono, Head of School at St Clare College Sliema Primary.

Beyond the obvious function of classroom education, what role does a primary school play in the formation of a student?

The school provides a holistic experience to all students, from academic tuition to social, emotional and psychological formation.

We help our students live together, understand each other and each other’s cultures and traditions. We help them learn what respect is, that not everything is owed to them, and that working hard, being good citizens and having work ethic are highly sought attributes.

Within this context, what is your role as Head of School at St Clare College Sliema Primary?

As Head of School it is very important to first and foremost walk the talk – to keep my word and deliver on promises I make. I try to hear my students as much as possible to understand what they need not only on the academic front but mostly on a personal level.

Our students need to feel that they are loved, appreciated and taken seriously. My role is crucial when it comes to leading the whole team towards a common goal to ameliorate our services to give the best education to our young ones.

Apart from students, a head also needs to build a strong relationship with parents or guardians and teachers. How do you ensure this?

This is a very challenging issue as our school sees a lot of change in families of students that attend our school. Families are very fluid and when you think you have made a connection, their work takes them somewhere else.

Any activities organised by the school are always linked in some way to the students’ curriculum and formation

I try as much as humanly possible to meet with parents who ask for help. I would love to have a closer relationship with our families, and we do have a group of parents who are very much in contact with the school – however, I believe we still have a lot of work to do in this area. 

The St Clare College Sliema Primary School is housed in an old building which was also used by the Wrens during World War I. How has the building been modernised to offer educational services?

The building is in dire need of refurbishing and modernisation. The school population has grown drastically over the past four years and although the architecture is beautiful and it is very light and airy, we need updating of the basic elements to ensure students and staff have a welcoming environment to come to every day. Our school is currently on the waiting list at the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools. The wear and tear together with the passage of time have signed this beautiful building.

What extracurricular activities do you organise and how do these fit into the students’ curriculum and formation?

Any activities organised by the school are always linked in some way to the students’ curriculum and formation. Fund-raising activities that besides funds raise awareness towards breast cancer, Down’s Syndrome, and others make the students conscious of struggles others in their community have to face. Teachers prepare activities on a regular basis that promote literacy and the love of reading in this technological era. All outings are educational and tied to the year group’s curricula. 

As educators we’re always trying to find new ways of stimulating the children’s innate sense of curiosity and extracurricular activities like shopping at the supermarket, maths trails, maths through sports and fieldtrips help in this regard. 

Any adult who is asked to reminisce about a great experience at school in their younger days will most probably mention an outing, an activity or an experience which is not tied to the physical classroom.

How is the St Clare College Sliema Primary School seen by the community?

Personally I hope that the Sliema community holds us in a positive light. As far as the Sliema local council is concerned we work a lot together and hopefully we will be working together to help foreign parents of our school. The school and all Siema parishes collaborate on a regular basis and this helps to bridge certain gaps between the school and the community.

The school is a live entity which is an integral part of the Sliema community – it can never exist in a vacuum.