Our Project Timeline for the First Year

Traditional Maltese Games

During lessons of Maltese, students looked back and saw how their parents and grand-parents used to play. Especially with so many technological equipment in their hands, very often the younger generation fails to realise that the most simple of games can be fun too. Hereunder, some students present to you a few traditional Maltese games. They wrote in Maltese and therefore it might be interesting for you to see the written Maltese language.  The photos and English captions will help you understand how they were played.

Il-Borża

"Il-Ħamis it-2 ta’ Mejju morna ħarġa ġor-Rabat. Meta konna hemm morna ir-‘’Roman Domus’’, l-katakombi ta’ San Pawl u l-ġnien publikku ħdejn id-dħul ta’ l-Imdina fejn lagħbna logħob antik Malti.  Il-logħba li kont ħadt mieghi jien hi l-borża. Il-logħba ‘BORŻA’ kienet tintlagħb l-aktar           fiż-żmien San Martin u L-Millied għax f’dak  iż-żmien kienu jimpurtaw il-qastan , ġelewż  u l-lewż. Xi ħadd kien jkollu borża taċ-ċarruta li kien ikun fiha il-lewż jew xi ħaġa oħra u jorbot il-borża ma’ biċċa ħabel irqiqa. It-tfal kienu joqogħdu dawra tond madwar it-tifel jew it-tifla li se jdawwar           il-borża mimlija bil-lewż. Dak li qed idawwar il-borża għandu jżomm il-borża fil-baxx ħalli ma tkunx daqshekk diffiċli għal dawk li għandhom jaqbżu. Ma’ min taħbat joħrog mill-logħba u jirbaħ l-aħħar wieħed li għadu qed jaqbeż." by Nicholas Pullicino

A child holds a bag made of cloth which is attached to a string. S/he turns around holding this bag whilst keeping as low as possible enabling the other children to jump over it. If someone touches the bag, s/he is out of the game. The last one to remain is the winner.

Ix-Xixu

"Waqt ħarġa ma’ tal-iskola waqafna l-ġnien tar Rabat biex  nilagħbu xi  logħob tradizzjonali Malti. Waħda mill-logħbiet kienet ix-xixu.  Ix-xixu jintlagħab b’ injama twila ċatta u ppuntata f’tarf minnhom, kif ukoll injama żgħira b’żewġ ponot.  Il-persuna li tkun qed tilgħab trid tagħti daqqa bl-injama l-kbira fuq l-injama ż-żgħira biex din togħla fl-arja bid-daqqa.  Min jirnexxielu jtajjar l-injama ż-żgħira l-aktar il-bogħod ikun ir-rebbieħ jew rebbieħa.  Sħabi u jien lagħbna din il-logħba flimkien.  Kulħadd kellu ċans jagħti d-daqqa u tgħidx kemm ħadna pjaċir.  Din logħba Maltija tassew ħelwa u interessanti." by Sophia Xuereb

One needs a flat piece of wood for this game, which is pointed at one end and a smaller one pointed at both ends.  The  player must hit the smaller wood with the larger one so that it is thrown high up in the air. The player who manages to reach the longest distance is the winner.

Among others, traditional Maltese games include:

Skipping the Rope

Girls play with skipping ropes individually or in groups. In one popular game a girl calls out a series of possible attributes of an imaginary future husband as she skips and, when the rope hits her legs, she stops on the word assumed to predict the type of husband she would have.

Glass Marbles

Several varieties and forms of games are possible with marbles. Before the advent of glass marbles, children made do with hazelnuts. Pre-war Codd-Stoppered ginger bottles had a plain glass marble as a stopper and children often broke bottles to get it out.

Il - Passju

Prehistoric Malta...amazing!

Grade 9 outing 

to the 

Hagar Qim & Mnajdra Archaeological Park and to the Tarxien Temples

Monday the 20^th of May 2013 was a special day for the Grade 9 students of San Andrea School since they spent the day visiting some of Malta’s megalithic temples to complement what they had already learnt in class about Maltese prehistory.

We started the day by visiting the Visiting Centre at the Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Archaeological Park.  At this visitor centre, the students had the opportunity to learn from the various interactive displays available.  The students then proceeded to visit the megalithic temples of Hagar Qim and Mnajdra where they viewed all the various unique features of these UNESCO World Heritage Sites. 

In the afternoon, the students visited another world heritage site, the megalithic temples of Tarxien.  During their guided tour of this site, the students learnt, amongst other things, about how the site was discovered, who excavated it and the various unique decorative elements of the temple.

This outing was truly enjoyable for the students since it was very informative and fun at the same time.

A Special Invitation from our young students of Italian

During a special Italian lesson, dedicated to typical Italian food, beverages and dishes, the four classes of  Grade 8 were divided in 5 teams. Each team had to bring Italian food and drinks from home and prepare a restaurant-like display in class. Every group gave a name for their restaurant and at the end of the activity, all the food was shared.

The different groups voted for the best display. This project was a huge success, so much so that it was appreciated also by members of staff who visited the classroom and joined in the food-tasting activity. Well done Mr. Mark and students!

A journey in time: a visit to St. Paul's Catacombs and the Roman Domus

·         The teacher of History, Ms Maria Zammit, organised an educational outing for her students. Hereunder are the Students reviews about this outing.

 St. Paul’s Catacombs

We had a school outing to the catacombs. They were used to bury people underground in sections dug in walls. These catacombs were once located just outside the walls of the ancient city of Mdina. When you enter the catacombs you immediately see 2 agape tables, which were used to do a feast celebrating that the dead person went to heaven. There are 3 types of catacombs in this complex.

As we continued going in, we saw more tombs which were of higher standards. Most of the tombs we saw were the Canopy tombs which had a space for an adult and a space for a 2-3 year old child on top of the adult. While we were walking out, some people couldn’t help not scaring someone else! To me this was one of the best outings I ever had as a student at San Andrea.

Matthias Bartolo 8.2

St. Paul’s Catacombs were built around the 3rd and 4th century A.D. When we went to the catacombs, we were so overjoyed and some were scared as there were ants and it was very dark inside. Our tour guide was very friendly and answered all questions including some crazy ones. We learnt that people used to be buried there and they used to use a nail and chisel to dig the holes perfectly for the people and they made pillows out of rock, so they would have a fantastic afterlife. We learnt that there were more than 2000 slots and that people at that time used to meet  there. What we saw was amazing especially the place where they buried doctors, surgeons and more, along with their tools made out of clay. I must say that this was an experience that I will never forget even though some students gave frights to everyone and scaring them and me. It was an awesome day and that day did not end as we also went to the Roman Villa.

Emily Abela 8.2

The St. Paul's Catacombs, located in Rabat, was a burial place for the dead that can be entered through four entrances. The Romans respected the dead and when a person died they used to leave meals for the dead, which was an ancient roman custom. This fascinating labyrinth of the 3^rd century AD is dedicated to St. Paul because of the church built above it. The style of these catacombs is Paleochristian where we can find 5 types of tombs such as the Lucullus, Canope and the Saddle back. When these structures were built, no space was wasted and the tombs were either double or single. There were also tombs for children because most children at that time used to die before the age of 5. During the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire, the Christians that lived in Malta used to pray in secret in the catacombs and gathered around a table called agape. These are a good example of the catacombs that are found around the Mediterranean and are a must see for the historic enthusiast.

Katrina Deidun 8.4

The Roman Domus

On Thursday 2^nd May we went to the Roman Domus. We saw many interesting things such as ancient roman coins, statues of emperors and much more. We saw Islamic tombstones and mosaics which are tiles glued on rocks or the floor to make a picture. This Villa was transformed into a museum. It is the only  substantial building found in the city. It is also the richest example of Roman house found in Malta. The statues and mosaics are the finest found in the Mediterranean. This Domus served also as a business place were most business was conducted. It was built in the middle of the 1^st century BC. This fascinating museum was open to the public in February 1882 more than 131 years ago. It consists of pottery used in the roman era.  It was mainly used in the republican and early imperial periods.  On this little island there is a lot to learn about roman times.

Krista Spiteri Lucas 8.4

·         

Students from Ks. Kwiatkowski School in Bychawa on a trip to the Open Air Village Museum in Lublin

Last week students from the 1st grade of the Lower Secondary School (Gimnazjum), aged 13, visited the Open Air Village Museum in Lublin. It's a place where everyone can see how life looked like in the Polish countryside in the 18th and 19th century. Some of the exhibits, like old churches and chapels, date back to 17th century.

Our students could learn more about works done by villagers at that time: 
- farming land, growing crops and harvesting, raising animals,
- baking bread and crude biscuits,
- weaving 
- pottery
- basketry 
- blacksmithing 

They heard interesting stories about daily life and farmwork of Polish peasants, about their traditions and ritual events. They could see displays of disappearing crafts, thatched cottages, a manor house and the exhibition featuring life of a middle class landed proprietor, an old firehouse with the equipment of the District Fire Brigade from Bedlno in 1936, a 17th century church from the village Matczyn, a presbytery, a granary and traditional windmills.

Our students were really impressed with what they saw:

"The old houses are great, they are so simple and at the same time so naturally beautiful. I really liked the animals too: cows and goats on the pastures, they were cute." (Aneta)

"The most interesting things for me were the animals, the goats and the horse by the windmill. I also liked the smithy where the blacksmith made a horseshoe for us." (Anna)

"What I liked most was the interior of an old cottage, the ornaments, the basic furniture like beds and tables. I was really surprised that even six people could sleep in one room. It must have been very uncomfortable." (Piotr)

"The old architecture and buildings are so interesting. They could make everything using wood only. They didn't need any iron nails. This is so amazing." (Patryk)

"Life in the past wasn't easy and comfortable, they all had to work really hard, even the kids helped their parents on the farm. But they were able to spend a lot of time together. This is really good." (Ilona)

A traditional farmyard

Inside a cottage

A weaving loom and other traditional machines used by 19th century farmers

The blacksmith at work