Dear Community Members, 

Well Done All!

I am very happy with the cooperation and responsible way in which St Edward’s parents have reacted to our requests. Social distancing at the gates in the morning is excellent. The manner in which parents, who might have been in contact with a COVID + person, contact us and give honest details to Mr. Moore is praiseworthy.

If you are travelling over the mid-term break enjoy your holiday but be sure to let us know should there be any health concerns.

Sustainability

There was a worry before we opened that the initial excellent behaviour might result in ‘pandemic fatigue’. I have emphasised that we can control matters at college, but it is only as a community that we can ensure that, as a community, we will all remain as safe as possible.

During the day in college, bubbles are maintained, teachers stop one bubble when needed so the other can pass, boys are automatically keeping 2m when moving from one area to another. IB students, once we had a discussion with the need for them to be role models, have really ‘stepped up to the plate’.

Other

We will soon be receiving 24 new interactive white boards, (IWBs, (these are actually not white anymore but look like massive tablets!)). We have also invested heavily in new laptops for staff, the porta cabins were delivered this past week and over the coming weekends will be assembled and kitted out with IWBs, IT connections, ac, and electricity cables.

Thanks to the cooperation with staff, students and Paramount supervisors and drivers, not forgetting private van drivers our, ‘dry run for a wet (rain) day’ went off very smoothly.

You will soon receive guidelines for the change (or not) to winter uniforms or SEC track suits. I have observed boys coming to college on the rainy day we had without a SEC rain jacket. Please be sure that your son has the rain jacket which is part of the SEC uniform.

Masks! Please have your child wear the SEC colour coded mask. These make life here easier for us to recognise whether a student has moved away from his/her bubble. I know that there are specific exceptions re wearing a mask. Not liking the colour is not one of these.

New members to the Board of Governors.

I am delighted to inform you that the St Edward’s Board of Trustees have endorsed Professor Camilleri’s, Chairman of the Board of Governors, recommendation, to appoint three new members to the Board of Governors of St. Edward's College. Along with Professor Camilleri I met with the new members yesterday, rest assured St Edward’s is considerably strengthened with our new Board members.

Prof Valerie Sollars

Valerie Sollars is an academic member of staff at the Faculty of Education within the Department of Early Childhood & Primary Education. Her interest in and promotion of early childhood education and care has led to her authoring several policy documents (2006, 2013, 2014), contributing to an Early Years Framework as part of the National Curriculum Framework (2008-2012) and developing the first undergraduate programme of studies for early years practitioners (2009-2016). She also co-ordinated the development of a post-graduate degree in Early Years with colleagues from six European institutions and subsequently was a member of an international consortium delivering an Erasmus Mundus Master in Early Childhood Education (2010-2016). In line with one of her research interests, Valerie has conducted research focusing on emergent literacy and young language learners and led a number of language-related projects at the ECML in Graz (1998-2007). Valerie has recently published articles focusing on parents satisfaction about early years settings and transitions from kindergarten to compulsory school. Forthcoming publications include a comprehensive report on the early years workforce drawn up for the SEEPRO-R project and which follows from previous work (Sollars, 2007) and an article for Oxford Bibliographies entitled Early Childhood Education in Europe. She has also authored a chapter on children's use of spaces and places to be included in a publication by the President's Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society. Her current research focuses on quality issues from the perspective of parents and staff and the history of early childhood education in Malta.

Valerie was a Head of Department (2004-2011) and the Dean of the Faculty of Education (2007-2015). She has also served on various national and international boards including the Council for the Teaching Profession; the Institute for Education; the National Institute for Childhood and the European Network for Teacher Education Policy (ENTEP).

Prof MaryAnne Lauri

Mary Anne Lauri graduated from the University of Malta after reading for a first degree in Psychology and proceeded to read an M.Sc. in Social Psychology at the London School of Economics (LSE). She obtained a Ph.D. from the University of London under the supervision of Professor George Gaskell at the LSE. She joined the University of Malta as Assistant Lecturer in 1992. She was promoted to Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and later to Associate Professor. Between 2006 and 2016 she was Pro-Rector responsible for Students and Institutional Affairs.

Her research interest is the study of theoretical and empirical applications of social psychology to everyday societal issues such as religion, health and the media. One of the main theoretical frameworks she uses is the theory of Social Representations.

She has been appointed to serve on several national committees and boards such as the Editorial Board of Public Broadcasting Services, The National Bioethics Committee, The National Commission for the Family, The Maltese Psychologists Profession Board, the Adoptions Board and the Board of Ethics for the President's Foundation. She was also president of the Maltese Psychological Association between 2004 and 2008.  

Professor Richard Muscat.

Old Edwardian (1967-1976) – captained the school football teams from under 13 to under 15 and finally under 17 and received half and then full colours. 

He moved to the UK to complete undergraduate studies in Pharmacology at Liverpool and then moved to London to complete Masters, doctoral and postdoctoral studies in the field of neuroscience. 

His postgraduate studies resulted in the development of a model of depression that is one of the most used in the scientific literature to date. 

He moved back to Malta in 1993 to join the Physiology Department at the University and is now Head of Department and also Director of the newly inaugurated Centre for Molecular Medicine. 

Between 2006 and 2016 he was Pro-Rector for Research and Innovation during which time the University revamped most laboratories and this resulted in part to the increase in quality and number of research publications in high impact journals. 

During this period he also sat on the San Anton School Board that culminated in his appointment as Chair for the last two years when the School started to build a new block that included new labs and also a multipurpose hall. 

Finally, his tenure as Chair of the National Addiction Advisory Board within the Ministry for Social Policy has resulted in the launch of a National Drug Policy as well as in 2018 a National Alcohol Policy. In January 2021 the first centre for adolescents will open to help those with substance use problems.  

Wishing you all a very good weekend.

Sincerely,
Mr Nolliag Mac an Bhaird
Headmaster