Comenius Day at St Sebastian Primary A Qormi

St Sebastian Primary School A celebrated Comenius Day last month. This was a special day when staff and pupils gathered in the school hall with Education Minister Louis Galea, Education Director Cecilia Borg, EUPU National Co-ordinator Joseph Sammut, the executive secretary at EUPU office, Ivan Borg, Comenius co-ordinator Annhelica Scerri from the Socrates Office, Qormi Mayor Roderick Galdes, British Council Representative in Malta Ronnie Micallef, the Head of Co-operation with EU candidate countries Rita Gillfeon and other distinguished guests.

Among these guests were 12 heads of schools, deputy heads and teachers from the four partner schools in England, The Netherlands, Germany and Sweden, who are with St Sebastian Primary A, in a three-year Comenius project called "Making Friends in Europe".

Pupils whose ages range from four to seven presented a mini- concert, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. About 75 pupils from the Kindergarten classes presented a 'Typical Maltese Festa'.

Some of the children danced to band marches and distributed nougat to guests, and others took part as musicians in the band. In the village feast, there was also the procession with the statue of the patron saint.

Though still at such a tender age, it was evident that these children were enjoying themselves and loved playing their roles of policemen, priests, statue-bearers, hawkers, musicians and village people.

Stalls with nougat, popcorn and hotdogs were also attractively displayed on the stage and the children loved shouting out to sell their wares.

Pupils from the Primary section presented four items, which included 'Traditional Games and Songs' and dancing to Charles Camilleri's Country Waltz. One class sang Song of Joy and another sang a song in German about colours.

It was of great satisfaction to see the revival of traditional Maltese games, which had been popular in our grandparents' days, like Pizzi Pizzi Kanna, Dawra Durella, Banni Bannozzi, Ara Gejja l-Mewt Ghalik and Iz-Zunzana Ddur Iddur, and also to hear the pupils singing the popular songs Il-Karozzin and Viva Malta.

This beautiful celebration was the climax of a whole week of activities that St Sebastian School shared with the 12 foreign guests from the four partner schools.

During the week visitors from the four foreign schools were taken to various places of interest around Malta, especially Mdina and Valletta. They also had the opportunity to have an overview of the history of Malta at the Malta Experience and also during their visits to St John's Co-Cathedral and the Palace.

A delightful experience for the foreign visitors was the short trip by ferry boat from Marsamxett Harbour to Sliema Creek.

Of special interest was the visit to the Limestone Heritage at Siggiewi, where the visitors could learn about the mineral structure of Maltese limestone in a typical quarry and see a collection of tools, machinery and vintage vehicles related to the development of the quarrying industry in Malta.

The English, Dutch, German and Swedish guests together with the school council were treated to an Ikla Maltija at school on November 14.

Work of children from the five schools in the project was displayed all over the school. During the past year a Comenius Room was also furnished and this was inaugurated on Comenius Day. All visitors had positive comments and words of praise about all the children's work.

On November 18 parents were invited to watch the mini-concert, go round the school and visit the Comenius Room.

All foreign partner schools sent e-mails to thank staff and pupils at St Sebastian Primary A for making their visit to Malta such an interesting, wonderful and memorable experience.

This success could only be achieved by the collective effort of the management team and all the dedicated staff at St Sebastian Primary A, who managed to instill so much enthusiasm in their young pupils and their parents, whose support and co-operation were very evident.