La Salle keeps its annual appointment with UNESCO’s Associated Schools Network

In 1979, a group of students armed with notebooks and a camera set off from De La Salle College to explore and map the coastline of four Maltese fishing villages – Kalkara, Birzebbuga, Marsaxlokk and Marsascala.

Their journey of discovery took them round these localities where they met the locals, conducted interviews, compiled albums about traditions, crafts and the everyday life of these communities. Little did they know that they were starting a tradition which is kept alive to this day – and 35 years down the line and in the same spirit, students at De La Salle still embark on a journey of discovery which leads them to explore and learn about themes outside the confines of the classroom.

1979 had been declared by UNESCO as the International Year of the Child and soon De La Salle found itself involved in an initiative sponsored by this agency of the United Nations – the UNESCO Associated Schools Project which encourages its members the world over to explore different themes and to lead to learning and initiatives which will improve the quality of life of their pupils. To date, De La Salle has kept its yearly appointment and this initiative has now become a household item in the College’s calendar of activities.

Themes which are not normally tackled in the classroom provide a wide variety of subjects to choose from. This year the students explored Senses, Games, Famous People who made a difference, Famous Inventions and Music. Pupils, teachers, parents and many other people join forces to make this a truly educational experience in which the students carried out research, created models, took part in educational outings and designed experiments.

The results of this year’s efforts were put up for show in an exhi- bition which was inaugurated by Dr Joe Vella Gauci – Malta’s Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO last month.

The guests were treated to a show in which the students displayed their talents and gave a short description of the work they had been doing during the year. In his speech, Dr Vella Gauci read an address sent by UNESCO as a token of appreciation for De La Salle’s membership and participation in the UNESCO Associated Schools Network.

This year’s inauguration was also enriched with the participation of the Band of the Armed Forces of Malta – which performed a display and held workshops about the different sections of the band with the Grade 6 Students and the local band Tribali – which held a workshop with Grade 4 pupils.