ONLINE WEEKLY GAZETTE CREATING AN INTERACTIVE COLLEGE COMMUNITY OF INFORMATION & DEVELOPEMENT

THE EDWARDIAN GAZETTE DECEMBER 2010 VOLUME 1 ISSUE 10

THE EDWARDIAN GAZETTE

ST EDWARD’S COLLEGE

BIRGU (CITTA VITTORIOSA)

BRG 9039

MALTA, EUROPE

www.stedwards.edu.mt

The Edwardian Gazette

Weekly Online College Journal

Chief Editor

Mr Chittenden - Headmaster

hm@stedwards.edu.mt

Design, Production, Photogra-

phy & Advertising

M Fenech - Marketing Executive

marketing@stedwards.edu.mt

Weekly Calendar

Celine Ellis - Secretary

hmsec@stedwards.edu.mt

Articles

Martin Bugeja OHS Officer Malta Air Traffic Services

Front Cover

‘Two Colleges—One Good Cause’

Taken during last year’s match,

St Edward's vs De La Salle

Message from the Head-master News from the Nutri-tionist House Shield Points Sports Department Articles Notice Board Middle & Senior School Retreat Yr 11 Science Department Miscellaneous Weekly Calendar

In this Issue

Kia Motors MALTA Teams up with Winter Moods’ Front-man

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Message from the Headmaster

Dear Parents and Community Members The PE and Sports Department works hand in hand with the traditional academic departments in the College. The fact that students can apply themselves to their studies more assiduously if they are fit and healthy would come as no surprise. The College, in many ways, promotes fit and healthy lifestyles and this is paying dividends. However, the problem of childhood obesity has become more significant in many countries of the world in recent years. For example, between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents in the USA are obese. Obesity is among the easiest medical conditions to recognise but most difficult to treat. Overweight children are much more likely to become overweight adults unless they adopt and maintain healthier patterns of eating and exercise. What is obesity? A few extra kilograms do not suggest obesity. However, they may indicate a tendency to gain weight easily and a need for changes in diet and/or exercise. Generally, a child is not considered obese until the weight is at least 10 percent higher than what is recommended for the height and body type. Obesity most commonly begins in childhood between the ages of 5 and 6, and during adolescence. Ways to manage obesity in children and adolescents include: start a weight-management program

change eating habits (eat slowly, develop a routine)

plan meals and make better food selections (eat less fatty foods, avoid junk and fast foods)

control portions and consume less calories

increase physical activity (especially walking) and have a more active lifestyle

know what your child eats at school

eat meals as a family instead of while watching television or at the computer

do not use food as a reward

limit snacking I have invited Ms Caroline Scerri, a nutritionist, to write a monthly article on health issues. The first article has some surprising facts about apples. Some of the information is quite technical but I think you will enjoy it. Best wishes

Michael Chittenden

Headmaster

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News from the Nutritionist

Some sure facts about apples….

The good old saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away!” still holds……

Over 7,500 varieties of apple are grown throughout the world.

The average person only eats 65 apples in a year……far from the saying an apple a

day…..!!!

An apple is a carbohydrate food with a low glycaemic index (GI). Low GI foods are di-

gested slowly leaving your stomach fuller for a longer period of time. Once they are broken

down in the intestine, they are gradually absorbed into the bloodstreams as glucose, causing

a gradual rise in blood sugar levels….the ideal situation! They may help with weight con-

trol, as well as improving diabetics' long-term control of blood sugar levels.

Apples are packed full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, especially vitamin C for

healthy skin and gums - one apple provides a quarter of your daily requirement of vitamin

C, and Iron, a very important mineral for our bodies.

Did you know that the iron content in an apple is the main reason for apples to turn dark

when exposed to air…..so the minute you start eating your apple and it turns brown, it

means it is a good quality apple, since some apples nowadays NEVER turn brown, no mat-

ter how long they are left exposed to air!

Apples also contain a form of soluble fibre called pectin that can help to lower blood choles-

terol levels and keep the digestive system healthy.

Quercetin is a valuable anti oxidant found only in the apple skin. The apple skin also con-

tains more antioxidants and fibre than the flesh does, so try and eat your apples with their

skin on!

That’s all for today….see you next time and till then……. Happy Apple Eating!!!

Caroline Scerri

B.Pharm.(Hons.) P.Q.Dip.Nutrition & Dietetics

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House Points Updates CONGREVE 10pts Yr 8 Inter-house Games (Football) CAMPBELL 25pts Yr 8 Inter-house Games (Football) DUCANE 15pts Yr 8 Inter-house Games (Football)

House Shield Points

3rd 2nd 1st

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  Sports Department

House Points Yr 8

Campbell 25 points Ducane 15 points Congreve 10 points

Inter-house Competition Ducane vs Campbell 2-5 Campbell vs Congreve 3-0 Congreve vs Ducane 4-6 Ducane vs Campbell 2-1 Campbell vs Congreve 8-6 Congreve vs Ducane 5-5

Football Yr 8

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After the success of last year’s fund raising event, teachers from De La Salle and St Edward’s will once again take part in a 5-a-side soccer game in aid of L-Istrina. Students will be asked to donate 1 Euro. Last year the sum collected was of 1,100 Euro. Students are encouraged to get flags and horns to make the 15

December another memorable experience.

Sports Department

Two Colleges - One Good Cause St Edward’s vs De La Salle

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Articles

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY – (6)

At Home and Everywhere Else

If you look up the word occupation, ‘work’, ‘task’ and ‘activity’ are among the definitions. Therefore,

much of what we’ve been talking about up to now also applies to (but not solely)

Unpaid (mainly voluntary) work

Any work carried out in the home e.g. housework, decorating, maintenance etc – and on the

computer/laptop

Sports, hobbies and the countryside

Holidays abroad

Means of transportation, including our two legs

Since serious injury (or worse) isn’t restricted to salaried activity, it pays one to always

Plan ahead and pinpoint any hazard (s) that are just waiting to transform one’s life into the stuff

of nightmares in a split second

Make use of one’s grey matter to think up suitable risk control measures for them i.e. think

“Prevention is better than cure”!

One final word: we squander good money on worthless objects and yet sometimes balk at purchasing

a fire extinguisher, first aid box and a place on a basic first aid course that may avert a calamity

in our own (and neighbours’) homes.

Martin Bugeja OHS Officer Malta Air Traffic Services

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Notice Board

Casual Clothes day for JS is Tuesday 21 December

Casual Clothes for KG, Middle, senior and 6th Form Wednesday 22 December 2 Euros if students wish to participate. Proceeds go directly to technology.

Quote of the Week

Plan for the future because that's where you are going to spend the rest of your life."

Mark Twain

Dropping Students off at College Please do NOT drop your child off at College at the Main Gate. The North and South Gates are to be used. Mr M Chittenden Headmaster

Football Match Two Colleges—One Cause

St Edward’s versus De La Salle College 11.40 Students assemble in the Volleyball Area 12.00 Departure from College 12.20 All Seated 12.30 Football Match begins 13.30 Return to College Students from Yr 4 to Yr 11

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Middle & Senior School

 Fort Manoel

Last year, we were invited along with several other schools to see the restoration taking place at Fort Manoel and to give us an opportunity to draw parts of the fortifications on-site. We were also given the freedom to choose any part of the fort. In my case, I chose St. Anthony’s Chapel which was heavily damaged in World War II bombings, along with the barracks and ramparts, but had recently been re-stored beautifully by MIDI. After taking down notes and sketching there, we continued our projects at school to create a final piece. Some of the projects could be chosen for a possible exhibition and the creation of a MIDI Calendar to promote restoration work in Fort Manoel. Recently we found out that three of St. Edward’s final pieces had been chosen. Three out of a possible twelve is a strong statement considering such a large amount of applications. We were invited to a prize-giving ceremony at the Point Shopping Mall where we were congratulated along with the other nine winners whose paintings were also on show and awarded an in-teresting art-related book to aid our future studies. Max T. Year 10

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Midi students Luigi F

Midi students Max T

Midi students St Edward’s College

Please follow this link for the newspaper article

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Retreat Year 11

Retreat at Savio College – Dingli Last week, on Wednesday 24 November 2010, Year 11 students - accompanied by Mr. Gregory Sammut and Mr.George Psaila - were taken to Savio College in Dingli for a half-day Retreat. The theme of this Retreat was: ‘Our Commitment as Christians’. A football match against our hosts was also organized by the College Chaplain, Fr Alfred Sacco SDB, who was once the Headmaster of Savio College. At 8.45 am, we boarded the coach which was waiting to take us to Dingli. We knew it would be a long drive, but none of us could have imagined just how long this journey will take. A traffic acci-dent, involving five cars on the Mrieħel Bypass had a snowball effect, and traffic was at gridlock for around half an hour. We all saw the bright side and laughed about the situation, and we even took the chance to disembark from the coach and stretch our legs. By 9.50 am, we arrived at Savio College and were welcomed by Fr. Alfred Sacco SDB and Fr. Eric Cachia SDB, who was to conduct the Retreat. We settled down immediately and Fr. Sacco intro-duced to us the Director of the Retreat, Fr. Eric Cachia, a Salesian priest who is the Director of the Sale-sian Youth Centre in Sliema. After, as short introduction on the theme of the Retreat, Fr. Eric divided us into four groups of seven to eight students. We were told that we would be playing a ‘game’ where we were to imagine that a tsunami was fast-approaching and will hit our shores the next three hours. There was no time to waste. We must pick the most important possessions to take with us and we flee for a safer place on the island. The game would be in the form of an auction. We were handed $275 (in fake money, of course) by Fr. Eric’s helper, James, who was acting as auc-tioneer. The items up for auction were all different and these included: a guru, a bible, a family mem-ber, food, a house, a Mac Book Pro, a car, mobile credit (without the mobile!), a compass and one bottle of Vodka. Fr. Eric went on to explain that the tsunami symbolized life which we have to face after we leave College at the end of this Scholastic Year and that we must all be prepared to move on and make progress to the next level. From corruption claims in Group 1 to the expenditure of a staggering €175 on a sole bottle of Vodka in Group 4, this auction was not short of controversial decisions! Heated, but controlled, discussions en-sued after all the items were auctioned. Group 1 had invested in their religious beliefs.

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They bought a bible, the guru and a family member. Group 2 looked at the technological value of the objects offered for auction: the Mac Book, the mobile credit and the car. The group managed to buy these, feeling themselves secure in obtaining these objects. Group 3, on the other hand, concentrated on securing the basic necessities: food, a compass and a house. The group clearly gave a serious thought before deciding what to buy. Group 4 was left with just the bottle of Vodka. Fr Eric expressed his belief that the choices made in Group 1 were wise, but that Group 3 had done well in securing the basics. Group 2, according to Fr. Eric, had chosen materialistic values which, apart from the car, would be of no particular use on an island struck by a tsunami. Group 4, unfortunately, miscal-culated their fortunes and their ‘business strategy’ proved a disaster. They finished with just a bottle of vodka. Fr Eric revealed that he was impressed with the mature arguments which we raised during this activity. He said that even though some students had lost sight of obtaining values in a fair manner, oth-ers provided a transparent and ideal way of handling all the groups’ dealings. He stressed the need for teamwork and mutual beliefs within the group. The activity was followed by Holy Mass, which was celebrated the College chapel by our Chaplain, Fr. Sacco. After Mass, the eagerly anticipated match versus Savio College took place on an eleven-side gravel pitch. Our team succumbed to an undeserved 4-0 defeat. However, credit must be given to Savio College students who played a terrific game. The game was played with great friendly spirit and was enjoyed by one all. At 2.00 pm, we all made our way back to College, and fortunately this journey was uneventful. The Re-treat was a great success, and through Fr. Eric’s practical approach, we learned that being a Christian is not conditional. If we believe in Christ, we must hold on to our Christian values forever, and we must not abandon them in times of difficulty. We must be Committed Christians! I would like to take this opportunity to thank Fr Eric on behalf of all Year 11 students for providing us with such an eye-opening insight, as well as Fr. Sacco for organizing this retreat. Please follow this link for more pictures

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Science Year 8 Mr Azzopardi's boys working to build electric bells.

Science Department

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Science Department

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Miscellaneous

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Christmas Raffle 2010 APPEAL

Many Old Edwardians will fondly remember Ms Josephine Spiteri who was a Year 2 class teacher for many years. She is now retired and does voluntary work at the ‘St Jeanne Antide Foundation’ in Tarxien. Among the many services offered by this foundation is the Homework Club. Ms Spiteri forms part of the Homework Services Team.. The club is for children and young persons who cannot cope with their school homework because they may not have enough support at home or for some other reason approved by the social worker. One-to-one homework assistance is given to families selected in consultation with the social worker from the Centre. The assistance is tailor-made to the needs of each child. Ms Spiteri told us that the Foundation is always in need of monetary and/or educational resources and we have decided to fund raise for this noble cause. We welcome any gifts you could donate We will use these gifts as prizes for this year’s Christmas Raffle. The nicer the prizes the more tickets we shall sell!!! Please help us help the less fortunate this Christmas Ms Tania Sultana Ms Anne Tabone Librarian Head of Junior School

The ‘St Jeanne Antide Welfare Campaign’ was officially registered as a Charity on the 24th September, 1974. www.antidemalta.com For more details please follow this link St Jeanne Antide Foundation

Miscellaneous

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This Week at St Edward’s College

Monday 13 December Public Holiday – Republic Day

Tuesday 14 December

8.40—9.20

9.20—10.00

11.00

15.00

U/16 Football Penitential Service for Year 7 students in the Chapel Penitential Service for Year 8 students in the Chapel SMT Board Meeting in the Conference Room

Wednesday 15 December 8.40 Beginning of Tests for Yr 12 & Yr 13 Mass in the Chapel for Junior School

Thursday 16 December

13.30

Tests for Yr 12 & Yr 13 Junior School Christmas Concert

Friday 17 December

Saturday 18 December

Sunday 19 December

Calendar Information Please follow this link for the Advent & Lent Calendar The latest version of the Calendar is on the website. Please do not refer to the College Student diary as it contains errors.