In Search of the Pot of Gold

The city of James Joyce and Oscar Wilde, in the Land of the Leprechauns, was the recent venue of the Comenius meeting for St Albert the Great College, Valletta, and schools in Dublin (Ireland), Lithuania, France and Wales.

The objectives of this meeting were to evaluate the project so far, and to plan in detail the activities for this last term of the project. The project, entitled ‘European Eko Kids,’ EEK for short, has been very effective in creating an awareness of our environment and in the various ways that we can all contribute towards its improvement.

In fact, the first task for this coming term is to create ways to improve the external environment of our school. Another task will be using any existing (or planned) markings on the school playground, in order to reach every student in the school. The final task will be to compile a capsule containing samples of activities carried out during the entire project.

The first planned activity, that of improving the external environment of our school, posed a slight problem for us, as St Albert is situated in the heart of Valletta, a Unesco Heritage site. So instead we approached this task in a more creative way, and also linked it to another occasion.

This year our school is celebrating its 60th anniversary. For this very memorable occasion we are celebrating through different activities. On the 21st March, at Wied Garnaw in Santa Lucija, the school, in conjunction with 34U, planted 60 trees surrounding a commemorative plaque. Students, members of staff and parents, together with Dr Jason Azzopardi, Parliamentary Secretary for Revenues and Land, met on a very cold and atypical first day of spring to plant 60 seedlings to mark this unforgettable occasion. Thus, this ecological venture linked nicely also to the project, especially considering the fact that Wied Garnaw is practically on the doorstep of the proposed site for the new St Albert the Great Community College.

During our visit to Dublin, we naturally visited our Comenius partner school, St Brigid National School, or as it is better known in Irish: Scoil Naisiunta Bhride. As our visit coincided with St Patrick’s National week we participated in the ‘Green Festival’, where obviously everyone had to wear green. It was a joy to be surrounded by top-hatted, bearded leprechauns in different shapes and sizes, emerald shamrocks and girls clad in orange, white and green, the Irish national colours. Others wore very imaginative, recycled costumes. St Brigid is a green school, and is already a proud holder of three green flags.

Part of the day’s celebrations also included a European market, where every partner school brought and displayed local goodies, which were very appreciated and sampled by students, staff and parents present for the occasion.

We also visited another school where Irish is spoken exclusively. It was very fascinating to see all displays entirely in Irish. We were also lucky enough to be present for a music lesson, where the students played tin-whistles and fiddles, typically Irish instruments.

Our visit was no means that of ‘all work and no play!’ We also had an opportunity of boarding a bus to tour famous landmarks such as Trinity College, (where we also had a chance to view the world-renowned Book of Kells) St Stephen’s Green, Phoenix Park and others. This incredible day drew to a close with a magnificent dinner of Irish Salmon and Irish stew, accompanied by Irish music and river dancing.

This visit proved to be very enriching, both from a professional development aspect, and also from a cultural aspect. I would like to thank St Brigid School for their great hospitality during our stay.

This visit was made possible through the funding from the EUPA.