Knowing me, knowing you in Ghent

This year is the third and final year of the Comenius project "Eurokids: Knowing me, knowing you", for St Sebastian Primary School, Qormi, financed by the EUPU - Socrates National Agency on behalf of the European Commission.

Two members of staff - Ms C. Degiorgio and Ms S. Bezzina - visited Ghent in Belgium for four days, where they visited two kindergarten schools participating in the project: Ter Leie Kindertuin and Bollekens Kindertuin.

This visit was an opportunity to share experiences and ideas and learn about the Belgian educational system. Educational issues were also discussed with the teachers and the head of school, Patrick D'Haenens.

The Maltese teachers were given a warm welcome both by the staff and children at the Belgian school. Most children, even though young had already heard about Malta through the Comenius project. Work from partner classes in Qormi was handed to corresponding Belgian classes.

The little children were delighted to see the work of the Maltese children. Teachers asked the children simple questions about Malta and about the island's features and showed the children pictures of Malta taken from brochures. Some Maltese goodies were also shared. Children in Ghent start school at the age of two and attend Kindergarten till they are six. There are three levels of kindergarten. The children are not grouped in classes according to date of birth as they are in Malta. Each class is a good balance of abilities, nationalities, age and religion.

Apart from teaching staff, there is a day care staff. Pre-primary teachers and day carers are all certified by diploma. Day carers cater for meals and take care of children during break times and also those children who stay longer at school. School time is from 8.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. but the school is open from 7 a.m. till 7 p.m. Parents can leave their children with the day carers during non-school hours at a change.

Classrooms are very spacious, each having different activity areas, such as the doll's house, the gathering corner, the handwriting area, the painting area, the computer area and the sandpit.

Children often work in groups in different activity areas at the same time. Sometimes a teacher assistant comes to help the teacher during activities. The teacher decides which activity areas are open on a particular day. Most of the instruction is given through play. There is a lot of opportunity for the children to develop their fine and gross motor skills.

It was noted that the children are very independent. They pour milk for each other and they even do needlework on their own. A lot of emphasis is given to physical exercise. Children have time to run about in the playground three times a day.

Since the visit was very close to the feast of St Nicholas, each class was doing activities related to the saint, like making a mitre or painting a shoe for St Nicholas to put sweets in. Ms Bezzina and Ms Degiorgio joined both Kindergarten schools for a film related to St Nicholas at the old cinema in Ghent.

After the film show, the children were taken straight to the school playground to exercise themselves. A teacher explained that it is important to have the children exercise after a long period of sitting down at the cinema.

Teachers meet frequently since they can meet during the one-and-a-half-hour break. Teachers discuss themes together. The themes chosen cater for the children's needs. To help children in the first level to overcome timidity, Jules, a toy the size of a little boy, accompanies each class in every activity of the day, also during outings. Jules also visits a child during the weekend, and his experiences are noted down in a logbook.

To discuss the educational system even further, Mr D'Haenens, director of both kindergarten schools also made arrangements for the two Maltese teachers to visit Bollekens Primary School.

Ms Bezzina and Ms Degiorgio visited most classes. The children, being older than the kindergarten children, asked a lot of questions about Malta and they were also curious about the language. The Maltese teachers taught them some expressions in Maltese and also sang some songs.

Children start primary school when they are six or seven years old and are assessed each year using both formative and summative forms of assessment. Children are never streamed according to ability. A remedial teacher takes small groups of children to help those who need individual attention. Children, with special needs do not have a personal facilitator. A special education teacher spends some hours a week with each child with special needs.

This was a very valuable visit for the Maltese teachers and also a memorable experience for the teachers and children in Ghent.