Volume 1, Issue 18
Newsletter Date: 06/06.2022
St Edward’s College
Dwardu’s Scoops “You are all my boys” Tributes poured in on the many posts on the social media, including those run by or affiliated to St Edward’s College, following the announcement of the death of Mr Charles Mock, former Sports Master at the college. An icon for the boys over the decades he served at the college, Mr Mock’s attributes as perceived by his students were integrity, fairness and an inspiration to elicit the best performance possible. Charlie Mock, as he was commonly known in the sporting scene in Malta was a respected coach. At College he was loved and looked up to as a role model. His is, perhaps a classic case of karma: you get back what you give out. In a comment on a post by a student a couple of years Continues on Page 3
In this issue... Tributes to a college icon ……………1—3 Swimtastic ……….. 2 Pollution vacuum .. 2 Of X and Y ………. 4 Jungle Story ……… 5 Medieval Wonderland Recreated …… 6—7 Eco-warriors …… 8
From apprehension to elation No picture can do this justice, not even a film strip. Ms Monika Sammut Badidova was completely bowled over at being nominated as STMOTM (Staff Member of the Month). Somewhat sheepishly, she approached Headmaster's office after she was informed that he wanted a word. "I wondered what I had done," said the conscientious LSE later, her face wreathed in smiles. Ms Monika and her young assistant Jack are inseparable. Her work as an LSE, though quiet and unassuming, is diligent and given from the heart. A small token of appreciation by the college for all her hard work.
Dwardu’s Scoops
Star Swimmer A big shout out goes to St Edward’s own artistic swimmer Jude Bonnici Peresso who placed first in the Male Solo Free and the Male Figures event at a major competition in Budapest. Jude Bonnici Peresso placed First overall in his age group category. Artistic swimming is a mixed sport and for Jude this was a major opportunity to get the feel of international competitions. Well Done indeed!
Help me convince people! By Hannah Snyders
As a student following the IB program at St Edward’s College, I hope to win the EY Innovation for a Better Malta 2022 competition. To achieve this, I must convince the Maltese government of my project initiative. This current proposal I am building to present to the government is focused on mitigating and solving Malta's prevalent, yet unspoken issue: air pollution. Times of Malta has confirmed that poor air quality kills 570 citizens in Malta prematurely every year. TVM news similarly reported that Malta has shockingly been ranked as the country with the second worst air pollution in Europe, and the secondary impacts of Malta's air quality will not only affect the labour and welfare of adults but its younger generation. Pollution Vacuum Cleaner I aim to have a pollution vacuum constructed in Malta, inspired by Beijing's Smog-free tower. Constructing a similar smog-free tower will absorb pollutant particulate matter and provide an inspirational experience of clean air in St Julian’s. Smog free campaigns have been successfully launched in 5 countries already and are the perfect, tried and tested next step for Malta. I hoped you could support me in my primary research by taking 2 minutes to fill out my survey . Page 2
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Volume 1, Issue 18
A man for all seasons ago, Mr Mock was very clear in the way he perceived students: “You were all ‘my boys’ at college, gifted or not there was no distinction. I was ‘sports Master’ to ALL students caring and respecting you all.” His grounding n sports pushed the boys to value interdependence and team work, underscoring that one is only as good as the performance one gives in the moments of truth, and in those moments, reliance on colleagues is crucial. Described as a legend by his students, Mr Mock evinced integrity as his words and deeds tallied as he pushed the children to do their best. Mr Richard Bonello, Former Head of Junior School
Charismatic “Charismatic:" was an adjective Mr Charles Mock often used when referring to his friends. And there's no better word describing Charles' personality, said former Junior School Headmaster Richard Bonello. “In the world of sports he was a man for all seasons. I clearly remember when he was PROMOTED to the staff of the Junior school at St. Edward's College.. (and I use that word judiciously since only the headmaster of the Senior school , Charles and myself knew its implications)...I knew that the Staff was then complete. Charles put all his energy into his work and he knew individually all the boys at St Edward's College. He was loved by all the students and Staff of College as can be seen by the hundreds of posts on Facebook as soon as the word of his demise became known to his Old Boys. Personally I shall miss his daily ecard ..which reached me on most mornings. May his charisma remind us of the gentleman that Charles was and may his soul rest in peace.
He loved life “Back in 1993, when I had just joined the Sports Department at St Edward's as a newly graduated teacher, Charles helped me to come to terms with the 'real' school life. His love of life was contagious, together with his Mr Paul Ferrante, Sports Master ability to solve challenges in his own way. One thing I will never forget is his way of narrating and telling jokes.” This is the way the current Sports Master, Paul Ferrante recalls his late mentor. A prayer is solicited. Page 3
“For to teach is the best way to learn and you boys taught me a lot” Charles Mock 1936-2022
Dwardu’s Scoops
X + Y = A barrel of laughs By Samantha Abela
For those not mathematically inclined, one of the banes of school life was, undoubtedly algebra. The floating mischievous ’x’ and it’s partner in crime ’y’ were as elusive as a cool summer breeze in August. And yet, here at St Edward’s College you get algebra and you get laughing faces, a pairing which I never thought I’d ever write about. The year 7 students revised Algebra through quizes. And, by the looks of it, the revision went very well indeed! The students had a blast solving algebraic questions and got very excited along the way Some of the exercises they did included: collecting like terms, solving and expanding the brackets.
Sporting Stickers By Margaret Bartolo
As part of their lessons, the Year 3 boys read about well known sportspersons, both Maltese and International. Names like Usain Bolt, Serena Williams, Michael Mifsud and Suzanne Buttigieg came up on their Maltese book and the boys were asked to choose their favourite character, the one they identified most with. Having made their decision, they were tasked with designing a label. These are some results. Page 4
Volume 1, Issue 18
Intrepid Adventurers By Stephanie Grech
At Nursery, life is an adventure. In the Early Years, St Edward’s College seeks to keep that spirit of curiosity alive through role play and active learning through think, understand and learn.
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Dwardu’s Scoops
By Max Ghio Year 6Y
It started out as a community where we could roleplay and have fun. It evolved into a whole kingdom (well sort of). A small group of us from Year 6 started earlier on this year by pretending that we used to live in the Middle Ages - kings, priests, knights and all. After a while, we started playing infection tag and we had so much fun. And that brings us to the present day where we built rubble walls, houses, shops and so much more. Now let’s put those points in a little bit more detail. Before we were allowed to go up on the bastions during break, most of us in year 6y used to pretend that we lived in the Middle Ages. We had weaponsmiths, kings and everything like that. We did not use modern language, instead we used a language which sounded like that spoken in the Middle Ages. Everyday, we rushed out for break and knew that we would add just a little bit more of the story – the anticipation and the excitement to come up with new stories as a group made it so much fun. We started to get to know our classmates just a little bit more with every new addition to the story. After around two weeks of roleplaying, we decided to try something different -“Infection Tag”. This was revolutionary to the long journey into the land of Barsin. We chose an infected catcher, and everyone had to run away from him. If the person caught you, you would have to go and catch (or contaminate!) the remaining people with him. We realised that this game was extremely good fun and Page 6
Volume 1, Issue 18
more and more new members started to join our breaktime community. We played this game for over two months and those were some of the best months of my life! We found so many places to hide and play in and the game never got too old for us - or so we thought… As we ran and ran on the bastions to avoid the catcher, we realised that we were running over rocks, and it was hurting our legs. We did not know where to put these rocks, so, we decided to start building rubble walls. It was not only efficient, but also fun. As the wall got taller and taller – we moved away
from infection – and got more absorbed in our daily building. After we finished one wall, we started building another and another. After a week of working, we had built four walls and we were all so delighted. Then we started building shops and houses and suddenly it got even more entertaining. Even the other year 6 class joined!! We had a bank, a massage chair, a community hub, a cinema and even our own currency, flag and national anthem. We all had our role in Barsin and we managed the place as a team. Some found fossils and we set up a museum. Others mined rocks for more building. My friend and I designed the flag, some ran businesses and oversaw progress. The best part of it all was that each person in Year 6 contributed in some way and the team effort showed in the result – Barsin looked perfect. This was all so much fun! On the 27th May something awfully terrible and sad happened… At the time of writing this - everything had just been demolished! We ran up for our daily adventures on Friday and stood in shock. Our shops, our bank, our first wall and everything that meant so much to us was destroyed. We were devastated. We spent around two months building this spectacular city and at the end of it, we felt nothing but disappointment.
We are not sure what happened exactly or what will happen – what we do know is that we had a great time building this and having fun and that no one can ever take away the wonderful memories we will always have of our very own - Barsin.
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St Edward’s College
St Edward's College Triq San Dwardu Birgu (Citta Vittoriosa) Cottonera - BRG 9039 Malta, Europe
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.
Phone: +356 2788 11 99 Email: communications@stedwards.edu.mt
Jude Bonnici Peresso takes to podium by storm in Budapest (See story on page XX)
Eco-warriors
By Brandan Gerada
This year's Eco-Garden team started an initiative where children brought their favourite plant to school and planted them in the school garden. Everyday a team of dedicated students help out to water all the plants and care for the garden. Junior year students participated in re-building of rubble walls known as 'tas-sejjieh' whilst also bringing nests and food to the birds around the garden. Special thanks to headmaster and Joe the gardener for the constant support and encouragement.