Gone are the days when children were urged to stay in solemn silence and to communicate in hushed whispers in museums. Times have changed and museums are now expected to enrich children with engaging experiences that educate, entertain and inspire them.

Ġanninu, a character from the Heritage Malta workbooks

Following an intensive summer programme imbued with interesting activities, Heritage Malta has collaborated with the Ministry for Education and Employment to come up with a variety of thematic activities and new didactic resources that will cover the entire 2019-2020 scholastic year.

“Education forms an intrinsic part of Heritage Malta’s mission, particularly with regards to accessibility since this does not only refer to the physical side but also to the intellectual aspect,” Noel Zammit, acting CEO of Heritage Malta, said.

“This educational programme, which is brimming with a remarkable choice of thematic activities, together with the appealing didactic resources that are being offered by Heritage Malta, are all part of a strategy to increase accessibility to our cultural heritage. Last year, around 7,500 students participated in these thematic events and during this scholastic year, we are expecting this number to increase to 9,000 students,” he added.

Vanessa Ciantar, senior exectutive at Heritage Malta’s Education and Outreach Department explained that all the thematic activities were discussed with the heads of the education departments and with a number of teachers in order to ensure they these activities were in line with the national school curriculum.

Heritage Malta has published six workbooks.

At the same time, each thematic activity was planned to make learning more exciting. Particular thematic activities are also available for individuals with different abilities.

“We aim to turn Heritage Malta’s sites and museums into an extension of the classroom,” she said. “At school, the students will learn the theoretical part of the subject whereas at our museums and sites, they can observe the authentic objects which they have discussed in the classroom. Moreover, by participating in these hands-on activities, their school lessons are not only reinforced but they are transformed into fun and awesome memories.”

A close look at Heritage Malta’s new educational programmes reveals a long list of creative thematic activities.

Among these, one finds an activity for kindergarten students which will take them to the National Museum of Natural History in Mdina in order to learn about the world of birds and bats and will also give them the opportunity to create their very own specimen.

A thematic activity planned for primary schools includes a visit to St Paul’s Catacombs in Rabat where Roman numbers and other Roman methods used in calculation are utilised in an unusual treasure hunt.

For the older secondary school students, there is a thematic activity at Fort St Angelo in Vittoriosa which will incorporate a fitness workout at different stations of the historical fort, a guided tour related to the Castrum Maris and an art-related session.

Schoolchildren trying their hand at archaeology.

A set of six workbooks about Ta’ Kola’s Windmill in Xagħra, Gozo, the prehistoric cave of Għar Dalam in Birżebbuġa, St Paul’s Catacombs in Rabat, the Old Prison at the Citadel in Gozo, the Palace Armoury in Valletta and the Malta Maritime Museum in Vittoriosa have been newly published to contribute further to the added value of each visit at these Heritage Malta sites and museums.

A group of children visiting the Ħagar Qim temples.

 “These didactic resources enhance further the school visits and the thematic activities by making them more meaningful. All these resources have been strictly formulated to relate to the national school curriculum,” explained Godwin Vella, Heritage Malta’s manager of the Publishing and Didactic Resources Department.

 “All Heritage Malta’s museums and sites will eventually have such a workbook available for students. We are aiming to publish four new workbooks each year. These will cover four different regions in order to reach a wider audience. Currently the workbooks are in Maltese but we intend to publish them also in English and even in a digitised pdf version,” declared Vella.

The new colourful and engaging workbooks will be given for free to students when they visit these particular Heritage Malta museums and sites during a school visit. Students who visit these museums and sites on a personal basis can make use of their Heritage Malta Passport to gain free access for them and two accompanying adults and will pay a subsidised price of €1 for the workbook.

Heritage Malta is regularly coming up with innovative concepts and resources in order to help children and adults to appreciate the value of the Maltese islands’ cultural heritage. Schools and families are urged to make use of these opportunities which are aimed to give an added value to learning.

The new educational programmes of thematic activities can be viewed on https://heritagemalta.org/learning-2/educational-cultural-calendar/.

For more information regarding Heritage Malta’s thematic activities, contact Vanessa Ciantar on vanessa.ciantar@gov.mt.

For more information regarding Heritage Malta’s new educational workbooks, contact Godwin Vella at godwin.vella@gov.mt.

Colouring and gluing feathers to a bird picture.

A girl during a school visit to St Paul’s Catacombs in Rabat.