School Activities

Monday 05th May 2014

Green talk: 25.04.2014

Mr.  Jason Aloisio gave a “Green Talk” presentation on Friday the 25^th of April to Junior 6, Form 1 & Form 2.

On land

Painted ladies, in maltese, friefet tax-xewk, are migratory butterflies that have settled in our islands. They feed on weeds before their metamorphosis and then they stop eating and only drink nectar from flowers. A characteristic of these butterflies are two big spots on their wings which show brightly when they are asleep. This is a way these butterflies keep off predators.

Mr. Jason Aloisio 

Swallowtails, in maltese, friefet tal-fej{el, are another type of butterflies which are endemic, that is they are found only in our islands. Butterflies taste flowers through the tips of their legs. Today their number has decreased considerably. This is a clear indication that our natural environment is not healthy at all.

Dragonflies are much more common in malta. In fact, in the past three years their number has doubled and now we find more than 20 different species.

Honey bees are also becoming rare. When a honey bee discovers nectar and pollen, it makes like a dance to indicate the place to the other bees. In a bee hive there can be only one queen whose job is to lay eggs.

Spiders change their web every week. They eat the old one and then recycle it. Today, scientists are trying to find out how spiders make such fine but resistant cobwebs. This will be a big asset to the clothing industry as the thread is so light, yet hardy.

The storm pestrel, maltese, il-kan{u ta’ filfla, is a small bird that lives in colonies. There are two important areas in malta where this bird lives – filfla, and ta’ ¬en¬ in gozo.

Sea

Sea life in the mediterranean sea is very limited when compared to oceans. This is because this inland sea is very salty and as such there is less plancton, and because of over-fishing. Whales live in the mediterranean, especially females, who come to give birth to their young. The spearhead, in maltese, gabdoll, is found abundantly, in malta also. There are a lot of misconceptions about sharks especially since the film jaws was produced in the 1970’s. Sharks are quite harmless although probably nobody wants to come across one while swimming. Spearheads are important because they store fat in their head. This is used for many things, like making candles, cosmetics, soap and detergents. Oil is also found in these sharks which is also used extensively in making different products. Unfortunately, whales are hunted extensively especially by japan, and their number is decreasing day by day.

Sunday 13th April 2014

FORM 2 ASSEMBLY FRIDAY 4TH APRIL

THEME: MALTESE COATS-OF-ARMS AND FREEDOM DAY MARCH 31

Evgeny From 2 

MALTA HAD ITS FIRST OFFICIAL EMBLEM, OR COAT-OF-ARMS, WHEN IT BECAME INDEPENDENT WITHIN THE COMMONWEALTH ON SEPTEMBER 21ST 1964. TEN YEARS LATER MALTA BECAME A REPUBLIC WITH A PRESIDENT AS THE HEAD OF STATE. CONESQUENTLY, THE NATIONAL COAT-OF-ARMS CHANGED. THIS EMBLEM REPRESENTS THE COLOURS OF OUR FLAG ON A SHIELD WITH THE GEORGE CROSS ON THE WHITE PART. THERE IS A STONE CROWN WITH NINE TURRETS ON TOP AND TWO GREEN BRANCHES ON EITHER SIDE OF THE SHIELD. ONE IS AN OLIVE BRANCH AND THE OTHER A PALM BRANCH, BOTH SYMBOLISING PEACE. UNDERNEATH THERE IS A WHITE RIBBON WITH THE WORDS, 'REPUBBLIKA TA' MALTA' WRITTEN IN BLACK ON IT. THE BACK PART (OR UNDERSIDE) OF THIS RIBBON IS RED.

Melanie Form 2 with Francois & Matteo Form 1

TRADITIONALLY WE ATTRIBUTE THE RED AND WHITE COLOURS OF OUR FLAG TO COUNT ROGER THE NORMAN OF THE HOUSE OF HAUTVILLE WHO CONQUERED MALTA FROM THE MUSLIMS IN 1090. THESE COLOURS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SYNONIMOUS WITH MALTA AND WE FIND AMPLE EVIDENCE TO PROVE THIS.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT DAY IS FREEDOM DAY. IT WAS ON MARCH 31ST 1979 THAT THE LAST BRITISH SHIPS LEFT OUR ISLANDS AND MALTA CEASED TO BE A BRITISH NAVAL BASE. ON THIS DAY CELEBRATIONS ARE HELD IN COTTONERA NEAR THE FREEDOM MONUMENT

Nouran Form 2 with Francois & Matteo Form 1

Wednesday 26th March 2014

On Friday the 14th of March, Form 2 & 3 visited St. James Cavalier in Valletta to attend a lecture presented by Mr. Ruben Zahra on traditional Maltese folk instruments.  After the talk students viewed four Maltese fables played out in film.  

At St. James Cavalier, Valletta. 

Thursday 06th March 2014

Mr. Jean giving a talk at Wied Ghollieqa 

On Friday the 21st of February Senior 3 & 5 visited the University of Malta accompanied by Mr. Jean, Mr. Terence and Mr. Brendan.  The group stopped by the main entrance and walked to the campus next to the Students' House. The first stop was by the Main Library and then onto the Department of Chemistry. The first lab that was visited was the Auxetics Lab. This is a primarily computational group, so the lab looks a lot like a computer lab. In here, the students were shown a 3D printer, and some of the structures/model that it created. Next, it was onto the Teaching Lab (also at the Chemistry Department). The students were shown some basic/important lab equipment, including a pH meter, the use of an indicator, a burette, the distillation apparatus, etc. After that the group walked to the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics in the Biomedical Sciences Building. This lab forms part of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery. The students were shown a modern biomedical lab were the determination and sequencing of part of the human genome are performed regularly. The scientific process was explained to them, and they had the chance to observe the apparatus involved in the several steps directly. The students were also shown to the data processing part of the lab.

Wied Ghollieqa

Following the University campus tour the group walked to Wied Għollieqa. This is a natural reserve which is part of the University, and currently entrusted to Nature Trust Malta. It was one of the best times of the year to be in the valley, since at this time most of the plants are in bloom. Many plants and trees which are characteristic to the valley habitat in Malta were pointed out to the students, including the Carob tree, the Bay laurel, the Pine tree, the Olive tree, the Almond tree, the Cypress, the Wild Carrot, the Fennel, the Giant Fennel and the Pyramidal Orchid. Alien species such as the Crown Daisy, the Cape Sorrel and the Prickly Pear were also pointed out. The walk through the valley left the students with barely enough time to catch the bus back to school. Special thanks to Mr. Jean for organising this very interesting visit to the University of Malta.

Wied Ghollieqa 

Wednesday 05th March 2014

Some of the many masks produced by the Senior & Junior School for carnival celebrations. 

Tuesday 18th February 2014

February exams are taking place for the senior school between Tuesday the 18th of February and Friday the 28th of February.  Wishing all students the very best of luck.

Tuesday 28th January 2014

Form 1 had the pleasure of presenting this morning's assembly.  The topic of the assembly was "How Cool Things Work".  Matteo told us about how a 3D printer works, Maria informed us how the digestive system works and Francois gave a detailed instruction of how to remove a virus from your computer.

Monday 27th January 2014

This morning students from Form 1 and Form 2 visited the Radisson Blu Resort Hotel at St. Julians as part of their Home Economics and Business Studies subjects. Students got to see at first hand the working of a hotel from food delivery, preparation, cooking and serving within the various hotel restaurants. Many important syllabus areas were looked at, like health and safety in the preparation of food, good hygiene, budgeting, costs & profits, employment law, company organisation structure and many more. The students really enjoyed the trip and found it most interesting. Below in the comments is a link related to the trip today.  Newark School would like to thank the Radisson Blu Hotel and especially the head chef for a great learning experience.

At the Radisson Hotel with the Head Chef