Latest activities from SWEDEN

The Björsäters school in Atvidaberg (Sweden) has been very busy lately. Amongst other things they had a special trip to an animal farm, built a vehicle for the future and also searched for a 'hidden treasure' that consisted of beads from the Iron Ages!

Morag and the Water Kelpie

A special booklet done by the Primary 7 class of Ms McDonnell.

Kelpies were the most dangerous supernatural creatures to be found in Scottish mythology. The Kelpie was the best known type of water-horse and it was usually found by seas and lochs.

Kelpies were known to lure travellers into deep water at what looked like, shallow, crossable waters. The creature also carried unsuspecting travellers into deep waters on its back. In these circumstances, it could appear in the form of a docile, young horse and parade itself infront of the unsuspecting victim, seemingly inviting them to get on its back. With its prey on board, the Kelpie would then bolt into the water, its victim magically unable to dismount and dragged into the water.

Welcome to Malta

MALTA WEEK took place from April 21st - April 26th: a 5-day-full-programme that included meetings, class visits, socialising and cultural outings. Teachers from Scotland and Sweden visited in Malta and had the chance to meet Maltese teachers as well as students. In fact foreign teachers visited the upper classes and the infant (kindergarden) classes on Wednesday 22nd April. Lower classes were visited on Friday 24th after having presented a mini-concert. On Thursday 23rd, a special Sports Day dubbed as Shape-Up Day was held inside the Corradino Sports Complex. Children practiced various skills including rugby, football and handball skills. A good number of parents also were present. At the end of the sports day a spontaneous game of football was held between teachers and parents. Meetings between co-ordinators were held on Thursday and Friday and it was agreed on the targets met and our next steps to be taken.

After school, it was an opportunity to have a taste of Malta from a cultural aspect. Guests had a tour on foot on St. Venera, visited the pictoresque cities of Birgu and Mdina, went to Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Temples and also went on a boat trip to the beautiful Blue Grotto.

It was a lovely experience for everybody concerned. Laura McLean, head teacher at St. Timothy's Primary School said, 'Our stay was so interesting and enjoyable. We had a great time. It was really good to meet so many staff and pupils and to have time to see around the school.' Jens Rosenqvist, headteacher of the Bjorsater School in Sweden was equally impressed and said, 'We had a great time in Malta. All staff planed a very good stay for us and we hope to see you again in September.' Well, the feeling was mutual!

The project will come to a close in September 2009 when a final meeting will be held in Glasgow in Scotland.

Photos of various activities will available soon.

Class Project by Year 5a

The children of Year 5a (St. Venera Primary School - Malta) of Mrs Xuereb have been doing some research at school and at home about healthy eating. All gathered facts were presented to the whole school during the morning assembly on Tuesday 24th March.

Here is a summary of some of the points they managed to find:

- a healthy diet is sometimes called a balanced diet as it needs to consist of different types of food
- eating properly and regularly is very important. What we eat and drink now, will effect our future.
- our bodies need a variety of food that includes carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread and potatoes.
- five portions a day from the fruit and vegetables group is very important
fruit and vegertables give us fibre, vitamins and minerals.

- Meat, fish and dairy products are also important, but we have to be careful not to eat a lot from this group.

The main nutrients derived from meat are proteins, but it also gives us fats and some minerals. For example, athletes eat lots of proteins; these help them to build muscles. On the other hand, we should take only small amounts from foods which are high in fats and sugars. A small amount of fat is important for health, but eating too much fat is unhealthy. It leads to unclogged arteries, high cholesterol and becoming overweight.

Our bodies need a lot of vitamins too.

Vitamin A – helps maintain eyesight.
Vitamin B – helps body make protein.
Vitamin C – helps to heal skin and prevents cold.
Vitamin D – Strenghtens bones.
Vitamin E – Helps strengthens cells.

Leaving aside food, one must take into consideration exercise too, which is quite healthy for the body. However, although exercise is good for you, it still matters what you eat. Eating the right food means we can learn better and exercise better too.

Water is also very important!! It keeps us hydrated. It helps us to digest food.

After all that information children, this will sound good to your ears. Did you know that chocolate can be part of a balanced diet? Plain dark chocolate is better than milk ones because it is higher in iron.

Do you want to hear a weird fact? Well children, our brains consist of 80% fat!!!
And one last thing, please listen carefully: CHILDREN THAT EAT BREAKFAST GET BETTER SCORES IN TETS THAN CHIDLREN THAT DON’T.

Online Poll No. 2

Our latest online poll is all about sports and physical exercise. We in fact asked you how many hours of sport or physical exercise do you do in a normal week. Voting (which can be done by clicking on your preferred choice on the left hand side of this blog) started on Thursday 19th March and lasted until April 24th. Participants could only chose one answer.

Results were published during the fourth partners meeting in Malta in April 2009 and can be viewed on the left hand side of this blog.

St. Timothy's Recipe Book

Pupils in St. Timothy's have researched the food that is produced in Scotland. The pupils also investigated what dishes were traditionally Scottish by researching the internet and by asking at home. Children have written recipes for many traditional Scottish dishes, as well as some of their other favourites.

The underneath photos should give you a good taste of some of these delicious dishes....

Sharing our cultures and traditions...

Following the half yearly examinations, activities are back in full swing inside St.Venera Primary School in Malta. As agreed during the last meeting in Sweden, schools need to work on exchanging respective cultures and traditions. This is an opportunity for our students to know more about the two other participating countries. As a result, upper classes in Malta are currently working on producing a special booklet on local legends or traditions. This will be forwarded to representatives of the Scottish and Swedish school during our next meeting which is due to take place next April in Malta.

Underneath you can get a glimpse of the booklet sent over by the Scots...

You cannot eat anything Maltese without tasting the typical Maltese bread!

More Photos of the Maltese booklet will be posted shortly!

Yoghurt and Cereal Day

St. Venera Primary School organized a special Yoghurt and Cereal Day on Thursday 22nd January, 2009. With the help of the School Council, students were served with fresh yoghurts and a variety of cereal bars during the first recreational break of the day. Meanwhile all classes are encouraging parents to prepare healthy lunches for their kids.

New Pen Pals

Thanks to our project, letters are now being exchanged between pupils from all three schools. The first bunch of letters were exchanged during Term One of our scholastic Year.

Some lovely Christmas Cards also accompanied some of the letters in the same parcel.

More letters are currently being lined up as most children are getting more and more excited by this project that is giving them the opportunity to make friends from foreign countries.

Healthy Eating @ St. Venera Primary

Throughout Term One, St. Venera Primary School has also been promoting healthy recipes amongst all classes.

Classes chose different food and appropriate ingredients were brought to school. Two recipes were done every week and children could enjoy different kinds of healthy eating during breaks.

The activity will be also linked to a special calendar which will be launched later on this year. Every month will be accompanied by a chosen recipe along with a reccomended physical excercise.

Please find the list of recipes carried out in classes these past weeks:

Year 1: Smoothies (Fruit and Milk) & Fruit Kebabs

Year 2: Milk Shake and Fruity Cereals (with milk)

Year 3: Parma Ham and Melon & Wraps with Ham & Cheese

Year 4: Caprese (Mozzarella with Tomatoes) & Rice Salad

Year 5: Maltese Ftira and Cold Pasta

Year 6: Feta Cheese Salad & Brown bread with Tuna

First Online Poll: 71 % say 'Fruit gives us nutrients'

Our first online poll saw the participation of 38 children from all 3 countries. We asked you 'Why do you consider eating fruit as a healthy eating habit?' The message from this survey was clear. Do Eat Fruit!

The majority of all those who took part (71%) regard eating fruit as an important habit because they believe they are adding more nutrients into their body. In fact eating fruit does provide nutrients that are vital for health and the maintenance of our body. 15% thought that the risk of getting sick is reduced when they eat fruit. They too were right! 7% eat fruit to keep fit.

Research tells us in fact that fruit stimulates our memory, has a positive effect on our brains and makes you feel better. Apart from nutrients it contains fibers and vitamins. It is the most natural form of food and more importantly it is not expensive!

You can view the complete graph results on the left side of this blog.

The Worst 'Healthy' Foods - Article

Click on the underneath link to read this latest aritcle that uncovers those foods which you thought might be healthy but in fact..... they are not!

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/15442/the-worst-healthy-foods/

Easter Cards from Scotland

As April's Easter cards did not arrive successfully in Malta for the three primary 6 classes, we thought the photographs of the Scottish primary 6 pupils' work would allow you to appreciate their artistic endeavors. Better late than never :)

Some photos from the Sweden meeting 10th-14th Sep

The second meeting was regarded as a great successs by the hosts as much as by the maltese and scottish guests. Swedish pupils were curious about our way of life, traditions and other cultures. Maltese and Scottish teachers were curious about the Swedish way.

We met Pippi, Sweden's favourite character and a special concert inside the school hall was held on Friday 12th September. We then went on to visit all classes and were particularly impressed that some classes are thought how to perform massages too!

Visit to Sweden

The third meeting of this project was held between Wednesday 10th and Sunday 14th September. The host venue this time was the Swedish town of Atvidaberg. On Thursday 11th, all participants visited the College school while on Friday it was the turn of the primary school at Bjorsater.

Meetings were held after school hours and and plans for the forthcoming scholastic year were agreed upon.

It was agreed that amongst other initiatives all threee participating schools must:

Establish Pen friends
(Children start communicating individually (or at least in class partnerships). 33 children aged 10/11, 25 children aged 8/9, 25 children aged 7/8 and 25 children aged 5/6. Every child needs to write one letter to both schools. Kinder classes will contribute by sending over work, drawings or photos. First letter to be sent by the 31st of October, 2008)

Send a School Calendar
(Calendar will include one traditional recipe for every month. It will also highlight both our school’s and Malta’s important dates. Christmas cards will be also sent together with the calendar) Target Date: 15th December 2008

Create a book of legends and traditions
(Focus on cultural aspects to present a book of traditional legends, fables or characters. Easter cards will be also sent together with the booklet.) Target Date: 20th March 2009

Take part in a Health Week
(Focus on sports activities. P.E. lessons highlighting also the theory aspect of physical activity. Encourage class talks on healthy diets and on the importance of physical exercise. Activities will culminate in holding a joint sports day simultaneously. ) Target date: End of May 2009

Press recognizes Project

Comenius Visit - Malta 2008

St. Venera Primary School in Malta hosted the second Comenius meeting of this project between May 22nd and May 27th, 2008. It was an event in which all those participating; including parents, students and teachers eager for more!

It was a full programme that characterized the stay of teachers from Scotland and Sweden in Malta. During their visit inside classes students had the chance to ask questions to the visiting teachers who were all willing to answer and explain their own background. Class teachers also had the opportunity to chat with foreign teachers and while doing so, could share practices and experiences. On Friday 23rd May, a concert was held outside the school yard during which all classes went on stage performing to songs or sketches around the theme of healthy living.

Following various meetings intended to review work done so far as well as setting targets for next year, all visiting contingent could appreciate what Malta had to offer. Visits to the silent city of Medina, Sliema, the capital city of Valletta, the centre of Mosta as well as a whole day trip to the sister island of Gozo made it an unforgettable experience not just for the guests but also for the accompanying party. Moreover on Monday 26th May, co-ordinators from all particiating schools were also invited on a special programme on a local educational TV channel during which they had a chance to expose work done so far and explain future plans.

Promoting excercise....

After an absence of almost 5 years and as part of our healthy living ambitions, we set out on May 16th on a fun walk that would see us go through some of our own countryside.

Emphasy is currently being placed on exercises and on the need to stay fit as much as possible. All the school took part in this walk and despite the great heat, it was a great walk and an enjoyable experience to everyone. All children partecipating also took the opportunity to sponsor their walk and money was collected to help create a literacy room inside our school.

Healthy Living Poster Competition

During the month of April, a healthy living Poster Competition was carried out amongst the children of Year 4 Orange. Children were allowed to use A4 papers and were encouraged to keep words on the poster to a minimum.

Underneath is a selection of some of the winners.

Moreover, the slogan written by Kareen Taroum was chosen as our motto for the rest of this scholastic year. It said..

Eat healthy food
cause it's for you really good..
everything has a vitamin in it

except junk food...

Exchanging Easter Cards

One of the first activities involved exchanging Easter cards

More photos from Glasgow meeting - Feb 08

First meeting of partner schools in Scotland

Following the first meeting held at St. Timothy’s Primary School in Glasgow, Scotland between last February 14th – February 18th each partner establishment will research the eating habits and typical food of their own country. St Venera Primary School was represented in Scotland through our head of school, Mr A. Mifsud and project co-ordinator Mr. J. Tabone.

It was agreed that children across all years will develop healthy menus using local produce and will share these with partners. ICT will be used to record healthy activities in each school including sports and physical education classes. A joint web page will be developed where children and staff can post ideas and good practice. In the second year E-Olympics will be planned where each school will participate in the same activities and post times and results.

Also, a celebratory meal for parents and local communities will be planned and prepared by children.

The final activity will be a Health Promotion Week in each establishment which will display and exhibit all materials of the project. Arrangements for a second meeting which will see both partnering schools being hosted in Malta in the latter stages of May, are currently in progress.