Good citizens, great scholars

“All organisations, including schools, have a ‘guiding light’” explains Nollaig Mac An Bhaird, Headmaster at St Edward’s College. “In the case of St Edward’s College the guiding light is the mission statement.”

The St Edward’s mission statement states: “At St Edward’s College we strive to create exemplary citizens in this increasingly globalised and technological world, placing strong emphasis on character formation, genuine intercultural understanding and leadership skills which will assist them to contribute to the well-being of society.”

Think, Understand, Learn, is applied to all subject areas at all levels.

“This mission statement,” explains Mac an Bhaird, “remains core to how we approach moulding the students at St Edward’s”. He also emphasises that, in the world we live in today, the values enshrined in the statement resonate loudly. “If ever we needed young persons with leadership skills, genuine intercultural understanding, understanding that they need to contribute to the well-being of society, it is the world we live in today,” he said..

“We have a strong legacy and an even stronger future” This remark by the Headmaster resonated as we strolled through the college grounds. Mac an Bhaird was quite insistent on taking this stroll and it was clear why.

He went on to explain that students plant potatoes and other vegetables each year and harvest them when ripe. Using this as an example, he explained the fundamental approach to learning at college is the process of Think, Understand, Learn. “First students have to think about what they do, then understand why it happens, and finally the students have learned something new. In this case, children come up with all sorts of observations: from butterflies to the difference in leaves, in soil consistency, and much more. The gardens are one of the learning tools of the college,” explained Mac An Bhaird. Indeed, this pedagogical approach shapes the philosophy of the college when it comes to learning. It is an approach based inherently on children’s natural curiosity and fostered through diversity and inclusivity.

“Think, Understand, Learn, is applied to all subject areas at all levels. We do not want the students to learn something until they understand it, and to understand something a person needs to think about it!”

St Edward’s College will soon be celebrating its centenary and during this course of time it has seen a stream of both Maltese and International students graduate from its hallowed halls. From Panama to Mongolia, from South Africa to Russia and everywhere in between, the college has arguably hosted students from most of the countries in the world.

This year inclusivity was also taken up a notch with the introduction of co-education

Nationalities, cultures, religions – all come to the melting pot that is St Edward’s College and forge lasting friendships. “This is where students from Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and so many other creeds, find freedom to be themselves without judgement or interference,” observed Mac An Bhaird, explaining that at the moment, there are 38 different nationalities at the college. He stressed that inclusivity is not ‘playing possum’ and pretending that differences do not exist but to actually see those differences and work with them and through them for a greater understanding “…which is why we celebrate Chinese New year, Eid, Diwali and so many other important cultural landmarks, including, of course, the great St Patrick’s Day” added the Irish Headmaster. The college, he observed is a living demonstration that differences enrich and are positive.

St Edward’s College’s pedagogical approach is based inherently on children’s natural curiosity and fostered through diversity and inclusivity.

This year, inclusivity was also taken up a notch with the introduction of co-education across the year groups of the college. Since its foundation in 1929, St Edward’s College was an all-boys school. In the early 1990s, girls were successfully introduced at the early years and at what was then Sixth Form level. “Now the decision has been taken to go fully co-ed in an incremental manner. We aim to ‘grow them together’ in the sense that to be fully co-ed we shall take 11 years. The current cohort of KG2 – boys and girls – will roll on to Year 1 together. Previously, the girls would have had to enroll in another school. Now they can stay here,” explained the Headmaster. Through this strategy, the college aims to cause as little disruption as possible, particularly to ensure that the learning process remains undisturbed. Headmaster said that this decision had been long in the making and relied on substantial academic research. While some looked to the single-gender past somewhat wistfully, Mac An Bhaird said that this decision is part of an evolutionary process which St Edward’s College has been going through since its foundation.

“This will have a positive effect on the students. Since it will be gradual, it will enable the absorption of any perceived differences. Our staff are very professional and will be trained to adapt to the changing situation. As a college, we are enhancing our infrastructure to cater for different genders. These are among the many steps which we are taking to ensure that the transition to co-ed is seamless,” said Mac an Bhaird, adding that he had also gone into case-studies in Malta to ensure that lessons learnt elsewhere are applied at St Edward’s College.

One of the significant aspects of St Edward’s College is its Boarding facilities. Unlike the 1920s when the college was set up, today, a single-gender school is a rare find given that mobility within Malta is no longer the factor it was 100 years ago. “We host mainly international students, male and female, from the age of 11 years upwards, though most are 14 years and older. They have their own rooms and free rein on campus, and they do learn independence and time management. The good thing is that they are supervised. We treat them like adults until they behave like children,” explained the Headmaster. He added that the college works closely with the parents of the boarders to ensure that the students are happy and that their parents are assured of the high grade of pastoral care their offspring are receiving. The college works very much on the Latin saying ‘a healthy mind in a healthy body’ and several activities are organized for boarding students including hikes, paintball, sporting activities, and crafting activities such as pumpkin carving during Halloween.

As the college approaches its centenary, Mac An Bhaird has his eyes firmly fixed on a bright future. “We aim to keep the college on the cutting edge of learning approaches, forge better and stronger links with parents and maintain the ethos of the college through the re-inforcement of its motto: Virtue and Honour. Our students are brought up to be respectful, polite, and do what is right, not what is easy. That is how our rich heritage can be passed on to future generations,” concluded the Headmaster of St Edward’s College, with an unmistakable note of pride and glint of determination.