Welcome Back to School!

A very big welcome back to all senior school students to a new year at Newark School.  We hope you had a fantastic summer! Everyone is eager to begin this new year with teachers and staff wishing you all the very best with your studies.

Summer Exams

The Senior School summer exams are well under way and congratulations to all students who passed their ECDL exams on Thursday the 29th of May.  Summer exams will continue until the 5th of June.

Best of luck to all students. 

Home Economics & ICT Project - 8th of May Due Date

Hello all, 

Please note that the Home Economics and ICT project is due on Thursday the 8th of May.  This will represent:

• 50% of the end of year Home Economics Exam
• 20% of the end of year ICT Exam (Presentation Work) 

Students should have work printed, bound (Ring bind) and handed into Ms Tania or Mr. Brendan by Thursday the 8th of May. The printed work should include:

• The project work based on the chosen topic
• Appendices showing answered questionnaires 
• Reference page showing where information came from and other relevant supporting work. 
• At the end include a print out of the presentation (Microsoft PowerPoint)

Students can decide to print in colour or black & white. 

Students will present their live presentation, presenting their findings on their topics during the week 12th to 16th. Both classes will be in attendance including Ms. Zammit, Ms. Tania and Mr. Brendan. 

Marking

Presentation will be marked as follows (20%)

• Presentation Work 10%
• Presentation Speech 5%
• Presentation Content 5% (Relating to actual work carried out on project) 

Home Economics Project marked as follows (50%)

• Overall Presentation 5%
• Research 15%
• Results 10%
• Conclusion 5%
• Questionnaires 5%
• References 5%
• Ability to follow instructions & Time Management 5%

Good luck to all. 

Science Fair EcoPlane 64 & 100Fast

A short video of the EcoPlane 64 and 100Fast by Form 1 who exhibited at the NSTF Science Fair at MCAST between the 5th and 11th of April.

NSTF Science Fair

Evgeny, Form 2 presenting the Robot LED

Newark school participated in this year's NSTF Science Competition, which was held at the Institute of Applied Science in the MCAST Main Campus on Corradino Hill, Paola. Four groups of students presented projects from Newark. The projects were presented at the Expo between the 5th and 11th of April. Though they had practiced their presentation at school, most of the students were very nervous whenever the first group visiting our stands approached. However they quickly gained confidence as they realised that they were talking about a project that they knew inside out. By the end of the day, the students were always thrilled to look back and realise that they had just spent a few hours talking to different people about their project, and answering any questions that they had. The judges visiting the stand were also particularly impressed with how bright the students were.

None of the projects won any prizes at the end of the day. This, however, did not dishearten our students. In fact the Form 1s are already making plans for what they want to do next year. I am sure that this was overall a very enriching and confidence-building experience for each student involved.

Maria, Form 1 setting up the EcoPlane 64

FORM 1

The two Form 1 groups were Matteo, Maria and Francois, who created a project called EcoPlane 64, and Mariam and Katerina, who created a project called 100Fast.

The original idea of the Form 1s was to make a plane which runs on solar energy, hence the "Eco" in the title. However when the students started building the project we quickly realised that it would be better to scale down to a normal battery-operated plane. The class first did research on the shapes of plane wings used in real-life, then used a simulator to learn the properties of wings which allow planes to fly. The excitement started to mount when they started building the plane in earnest. The students first drew the shape of the plane they wanted to build on pieces of cardboard. They made sure that the plane was symmetrical and that the proportions were appropriate. Next, they taped bendable pieces of wire to the bottom of the plane with tape, to make it stronger. They took care to use as little metal as possible, to keep the weight of the plane low. After a short interlude, during which we were waiting for some parts to be delivered from Hong Kong, the students started strapping the components to the plane. First on was the propeller, attached to the front of the plane by pieces of metal wire. The propeller also had a propeller-saver attached, to prevent the motor from breaking in case of a crash. Next up was the speed controller, which had to be soldered to the propeller and attached to the plane. 

Matteo, From 1 giving a presentation

Though their tutor did most of the soldering work, all the students tried their hand at soldering in class under supervision. The students then attached two servos, which were meant to control the flaps of the plane, to the two wings, again using metal wire. All the wires were then connected by the students to the wireless receiver, and everything was hooked up to a transformer for power. The whole setup was controlled by a tablet. Using an app, the students were able to change the speed of the propeller and to change the pitch of the flaps. Finally, once assembly testing was complete, the transformer was replaced by a battery. Unfortunately the planes did not manage to fly by a small margin, since the battery model bought was too heavy to carry. However the students were still very proud of their work, and felt a sense of achievement in having built something complex with their own hands.

FORM 2

The two Form 2 groups were Aleskej, Mohammed and Nuran, who built a robot called AMZ10000, and Moria, Melanie and Evgeny, who created a project called Robot LED.

Moyra, Melanie & Evgeny, Form 2

AMZ10000 was meant to be a model of the Mars rover. It was meant to write and move, but time constraints and the difficulty that the writing part entailed meant that this project also had to be downscaled. This robot also started as a flat piece of cardboard, upon which the students drew the robot and then cut it out. The model was reinforced with metal wire, at which point we realised that it was not going to be sturdy enough. So we changed the cardboard box for a larger, sturdier shoe-box. Four holes we made in very precise locations in the box, and metal bearings were placed in them. Metal shafts which had been sanded down to fit were then passed through the bearings. Two plastic wheels were then attached to the outside of each shaft, and they were stuck in position using superglue. On the inside of the box, the front shafts were connected to a gear which was connected to an electric motor, while the rear shafts were kept in position using cable ties and a piece of metal. The motors were connected to two pairs of batteries via two buttons using china connections. The tracks were then attached to the wheels. Once everything was setup, pressing the two buttons simultaneously caused the robot to move forward.

Alexsej, Mohammed & Nouran with the
AMZ100000

Robot LED, like the other projects, started off as a cardboard model. In this case though, the model was fitted with legs and a head. Next, the students inserted a number of LED lights into the front and head of the robot. The LED lights were connected to an Arduino chip using soldered pieces of wire which had been protected with heat-shrink and pieces of tape. Again, the supervisor did most of the soldering work, though each student had a go at soldering under supervision. Once everything was connected, the chip was programmed on a computer by the students themselves. Four batteries were then inserted, and the result was a beautiful blinking robot.

Evgeny, Form 2 trying out a
hydraulic arm

Congrats to all students on the projects. 

“Walk for Nature” celebrates start of spring and raises €1,200 for nature conservation

Plant detectives try to identify the different species in an area of garrigue during the Walk for Nature:  Photo by Ella Beeson

Sunday 25th March 2014- This Sunday, 223 children, adults and families from Malta celebrated the start of spring, officially 21st March, by walking 7 kilometres through the Maltese countryside in aid of nature conservation, raising a total of €1,200, in BirdLife Malta’s “Walk for Nature”. 

Walk for Nature is an annual event organized by Klabb Ħuttaf, BirdLife Malta’s nature club for young people, and is one of the activities for Dinja Waħda environmental primary schools. Staff from the Bank of Valletta, BirdLife’s partners in Dinja Waħda, were amongst those who joined in the walk. 

As well as raising money for conservation, the activity helps to teach children (and adults) about Maltese wildlife and why it is important that we protect it. 

In the past, money raised by the Walk for Nature has helped to buy nest cameras for use at the Għadira and Is-Simar wetland reserves, and pay for solar panels at the scientific ringing station on Comino. This year, the money raised will again go towards improving the nature reserves, including buying binoculars for visitors to use, helping them get closer to the birds and other wildlife in these rare wetland habitats. 

The walk took a rural route from Siġġiewi Parish Square on small countryside lanes through fields bordered with traditional rubble walls and past the Neolithic temples of Hagar Qim, to St Matthew’s Chapel near Maqluba, with its famous sink hole. 

Along the way there was lots of opportunity to enjoy the sights and sound of the Maltese countryside and wildlife in spring, with resident Maltese breeding birds like the Zitting Cisticola making an appearance, as well as butterflies, lizards and many native flowering plants adding colour and interest at every turn. 

The nature highlight of the walk was an activity for the children (and some of the adults!) which turned them into plant detectives as they tried to identify the different species of plants in an area of garrigue. 

This year, seven primary schools took part in the activity, and for the first time they were joined by adult members of BirdLife Malta, who were happy to be able to share their knowledge of Maltese wildlife with the younger generation. 

Walk for Nature and Klabb Ħuttaf coordinator, Kathleen Mamo, said, “It’s always a pleasure to see children enjoying and getting excited about nature and learning about wildlife in a hands on way. That is what this event is about and now to also bring younger and older generations together adds more value for everyone involved.” 

At the end of the walk, prizes were given to all the children who took part, with the top prize- a copy of Breeding Birds of the Maltese Islands- going to Giulia Debattista Montalto, who raised an amazing €125! Thank you and well done Giulia! 

If youe would like to make a donation towards BirdLife Malta’s work for birds and nature conservation in the Maltese Islands can do so on our website here. 

Find out more about BirdLife Malta’s activities for children: 

BirdLife Malta’s club for young members is called Klabb Ħuttaf. As well as getting a regular magazine (in Maltese) full of fun and interesting information and stories about nature and wildlife, there are all sorts of outdoor nature activities and visits organized for members. For more information about Klabb Ħuttaf activities and to join, visit our Klabb Ħuttaf pages or email office@birdlifemalta.org. 

Schools, teachers or parents interested in finding out more about the Dinja Waħda programme should have a look at the Dinja Waħdapages or email dinjawahda@birdlifemalta.org.

Parent/Teacher Day Friday 28th March

By now all report cards have been sent home for the February Exams.  Parents day is on Friday the 28th of March and is a time for parents to discuss with teachers the progress of their child.  Please keep to the allocated time scheduled by the Form Head Teacher to ensure that all parents have time to meet. Please note, you may have to wait in order to meet with a subject teacher.