The Great Forest by Valinora Troy

The third book of this trilogy is simply wonderful. It starts off very mildly, with  the twins watching the lake and talking about their upcoming 11^th birthday. Several plots are weaved  and the reader moves between one plot and another.

 

Once the reader picks this book up, it is very hard to put iT down, as it is so fascinating. It was a pleasure to read, and this book is suitable for both adults and children, as it carries one into the world of these five children, who have diamond blood in them – even though it is only one small drop!

 

We meet Thule, the big kindly dragon and father of the firebird. This book also introduces us again to Marvin, the small mire-hog who Cathy had saved in the previous book. We are also introduced to Sylverine, the servant of Queen Rose. Contrary to what had been thought at the end of the second book, Queen Rose did not die. In this third book, the reader meets with Queen Rose in the Great Forest, as evil as ever!

 

The most exciting part of the book is that of the twins getting separated in the  forest and later on, Queen Rose urging Alan to stab his sister for a drop of blood. In the end, it was Cathy who stabbed Alan and one drop of blood was going into the concoction that Queen Rose had gotten ready. This was magically frozen by the arrival of Lucky and Charlie at the appropriate time.

 

This book leaves you on tenterhooks about what is going to happen next. In this book, Queen Rose was eaten by Thule. Who knows what will happen next? I do not want to believe that this is the last time that we have heard of the five children and Lucky and Charlie. I look forward to reading about the latter’s wedding and learning more about the children's future.

 If you were the Moon, my Love by Alina Loux

This short picture book is full of positive messages and fantasy. Its author and illustrator is Alina Loux, herself a mother. 

The book inspires young children to dream, to try to reach the moon, or to see a song as a beautiful tune. It exposes the children to nature. This appreciation of nature, is seen in the pages of the book which are full of drawing of the environment around us. Rather than depicting grey buildings, the book shows its positivity through its vibrant colours.

This is a short book which is good for parents or care-givers to read with their child. After all the comparisons with the different types of nature, the book ends with the wonderful words, 'But you are you, My darling Love, and that will surely do...'. This shows the amount of love that a parent or care-giver  shows to his child. It shows attachment and has a sense of acceptance; that one is accepting the child for whoever they are.

There is a sheet of music at the end of the book and the book can be sung as a lullaby to those children who enjoy music. This book is ideal to be read at bed-time, as the book sets the scene for a loving end of the day, where children and adults want to have cuddles and hugs after a long day. 

Revenge of Queen Rose

 

When I decided to read this book and review it, I did so with very high expectations. After reading the first book in this series ‘The Lucky Diamond’, which I reviewed last February, I was eager to get to know what happened to the five siblings, and how life was treating the diamonds. My expectations were met. I was very well entertained by this book. Within minutes of starting to read it, I was highly immersed in it. It was so gripping that I did not want to put the book down!

The story starts with the twins and with a description of the calm scenery, which gives one the sensation that everything is going well for the children. It could not have been further from the truth, as the following pages quickly immerse us into the different adventures that the five children go through. One must here mention Lucky the Diamond princess who was one of the protagonists in the first volume and her father, the Diamond King. Besides the children, there are other characters involved too. These all play a part in making the plot interesting.

 All the different sub plots merge to a point together, where the bad characters are quashed and evil, in the form of Queen Rose  is banished from the face of the Earth. The book ends with a feeling of well-being, of success and happiness. It teaches the reader to be courageous and resilient. One must never give up, but persist in reaching their aim. The book is enjoyable to read and is suitable for children and older persons alike. The reader is afforded the pleasure of being immersed into an absorbing story, where one will surely have fun trying to guess what is going to happen next. I am looking forward to the third volume.

Katy on Broadway

 

Katy on Broadway is a young children’s book written and illustrated by Ella English. I really enjoyed looking at the pictures, which add colour to the book. This story is ideal for parent and child bonding time, as the illustrations can be used in the form of question and answer, so that the child is encouraged to describe what they are seeing. The story is also ideal for the older child who is just beginning to read as they can read it by themselves.

 

The aim behind this story is that one must not give up. They must always do whatever they feel that is good for them. Katy was targeted by Gerry the squirrel and by the two birds who told her that she could not sing. Despite their claim and that of her owner, Lilian, who told her that she was making a  noise which was giving her a headache, Katy did not give up. This shows that one must be resilient in the face of adversity, and not to be afraid to wade against other people’s opinions.

 

In fact, Katy did just so. She escaped from her home, and even though she was afraid of the noise, traffic and all those people, she still did not give up. She meets Weasel who encourages her to follow her dreams. The story ends with Katy singing on Broadway. At last, her dream of singing to the public was fulfilled!

 

This is a captivating story which, through Katy the cat, seeks to encourage and instil in young children the realization that it is fine to believe in yourself, to walk alone and to never give up. All these positive messages are uplifting and once all the book is read, one feels satisfied that Katy has reached her aim. Each individual should seek to carve out a life for himself, regardless of other people’s opinions.

Dayana, Dax and the Dancing Dragon

 

 

Fantasy is rife in this book published by the Once Upon a Dance company. Its illustrations are fantastic, and eye-catching to both children and adults alike.

This story revolves around Dayana, her baby brother Dax and a dancing Dragon, Kadeena. Together, Dayana and Kadeena explore the different dance movements. These dance movements are emphasized in the same page by Ballerina Konora, who through words and photos of the different poses, shows step by step how these dance moves are done.

I found this book very interesting. It was the first time that I read something like this. Besides the beautiful illustrations where the children and Kadeena seem to pop out of the pages, the book teaches the readers, various ballet moves. The story aims to inspire the young dancers to imagine, fantasise and create. In fact in the opening pages, ballerina Konora tells the reader that there is no need to be a dragon like Kadeena to be able to do the dance moves.

Besides the dance moves pictured in every page, this book teaches us something else. This is that we should not judge on appearance. Dayana judged her baby brother as being useless. Likewise, she thought that Kadeena  was not good at dancing. This was a wrong judgement as in fact Kadeena had been to many places and knew a lot of different dances.

I found this book very inspiring as it aims to  instill in our children the values of treating others with respect and not judging others. The book also encourages children to take up dancing as a form of fitness activity.

'The Maker-Man of Merryville' by Pete Mesling

 

The Maker-Man of Merryville is written by Pete Mesling. This is a very absorbing book which I enjoyed reading. It has a very good intriguing plot which leaves you very curious as to how the events are going to unfold. It is like a jigsaw puzzle which at the end,  fits together.  Through the twists and turns of the story, the characters experience a lot of adventures, with some of them being very heart-stopping!

The setting of the book starts in Merryville, then it moves on to Skaate Dowe and lastly on to Dablos, which is the land of the moon. The main protagonists are Gilbert and his classmate Sarah. They are twelve years old and are not happy with the current sad situation in their town, where the people over there do not not smile or laugh. The arrival of the Maker-Man in their town, proves to be something of a highlight for these children who are being brought up in this dreary town.

 When the Maker-Man sells Gilbert some Away Putty and Sarah a monkey soft toy, the children are set on a marvellous exciting course. At the beginning of the story, they are class-mates. At the end, they are best friends, with a hint that the friendship might develop in the future into something more intense. Other protagonists include also Lester Morsoe, the children’s teacher, who had also fleetingly entered Skaate Dowe, as a child.  There are others, with the main one being the Maker-Man of Merryville, Belch the water-monkey who comes alive, and also Snarl the demi-ghoul. These characters have to battle against  Queen Mixie, Skinner and the pirate, Skrimshaw, who are on the bad side.

This books is a very good read for readers of all ages. Besides having a fascinating plot, the book teaches readers about good values, like being kind and that by working in teams, one has more chances of succeeding.  It teaches us that in life you have to be courageous and to take risks also. The future is in our hands to mould it as we like.

 

Breaking News

 

 

This story, written by Frank Morelli is a mystery and the reader is immediately immersed in the plot from the first few pages. This is because the starts with action almost immediately. One thousand dollars are stolen from the students gallery. This money was meant to be donated to children in Africa so that they would have enough drinking water for six weeks. The story is narrated through the eyes of two investigative journalists, Tony Morello and Liberty, aka Libby. Tony writes for the Roar while Libby, a previous member of the Roar, started her own newspaper, entitled the Rebel Yell.The mystery of who stole the one thousand dollars unravels in the last few pages of the book, and we also get to know the part that Libby and Tony played so that the money was stolen.

 

This book teaches us about teamwork and cooperation, because the mystery was solves when libby and tony joined efforts, and stopped writing against each other. The role of truth in journalism and how one must be true to oneself when writing for a newspaper and feeding the masses information. It teaches the reader to be ethical, and that one is true to oneself, so that the common good is reached. The book gives us a glimpse on the world of teenagers and how, sometimes it is very hard for them. In fact, Tony is a very hands-on brother to his seven year old twin siblings. There is a never a mention of the father in his household. Likewise, Libby only lives with her father. The latter had described her mum as a ‘lost cause’.

 

 

Through this mystery story Morelli has manages to give us an insight of today’s school life and the machinations to go on within a school. Besides, the values mentioned above, the story is also very interesting, and so I highly recommend this book.

Davy's Dragon Castle

 

This is a short story which is suitable for very young children, written by Mary and Michael Schmidt. It is an interesting book which can be used by parents or educators to introduce the topics of inclusion and equality.  The book introduces us to Davy the Dragon who lives in a castle in Dragon Town. Davy is very kind and inclusive. These two themes are found throughout all this book by using simple examples from Davy the Dragon and the way how he treats all those around him without any distinction of their skin (or fur) colour and even if they have a special need.

 

The story has a Christmas setting. The plot involves Davy and his wife Lily, and there are fairies, and squees. The story also introduces us to Tim, a squee who was born with half a leg and who uses a prosthetic one. There is also the Bub Bun Rabbit family who were at first refused entry into the castle by one of the fairies.

 

This story brings to the fore the values that should be instilled into our young generation – those of equality and inclusivity; saying no to bullying and racism. I enjoyed reading this book as, besides the inclusive message, the illustrations on each page are brilliant and very engaging! After reading each page, I stopped to look at the drawings in detail, to see Tim the Squee and his prosthetic leg, to check that Davy had eyes. I felt like a small child again!! Even though I work with 14 to 16 year olds, I could still relate to this story and to how important the values of equality and inclusivity are, whatever the age. We live in a world which is all the time changing and which, unfortunately, is becoming more and more intolerant. Such books as Davy’s Dragon Castle are one way how this intolerance can be countered.

A reflection:There is no covid in Malta during the electoral campaign

 Maltese society thrives on showing different facets to people, depending on who they are and also depending on what is occurring in the country.

Covid cases are on the increase again, especially since mass gatherings have been allowed again due to Malta being in a short electoral campaign. The party leaders and political candidates held mass rallies, and threw parties, dinners and shows, depending on the candidate's pocket. Photos are strewn on social media of people next to each other, crammed in places, with no masks, and touching each other, posing for photos.  An alien from Mars  would surely think that Covid does not exist on this tiny island. However, this is far from the truth. Covid exists here and the cases are going up again.

The only place where Covid remains is in schools. That is the laughable matter in this whole saga. In schools we are forced to wear masked all the time, students have to stick to their bubbles and all the protocols are applied. It is no wonder that students are at the end of their tether and that parents are frustrated. A  parent phoned to ask why her child was punished because she had changed places with her friend. Upon hearing my stock reply that it was covid protocol, she immediately protested, saying that outside, in the weekends, everybody was having fun. How does one convince such a parent that schools are different?

Will Covid be the talk of the town again, now that the election has passed? Only time will tell. It is a sure fact that Covid is here to stay, but all precautions should be everywhere the same, for the sake of fairness- if not for anything else.

KidVenture: Twelve Weeks to Midnight Blue

 
This book is a useful tool to persuade young children to become entrepreneurs. It teaches that everybody is capable and that mistakes can be done. The book teaches the reader about new ventures and to be bold, think and to never give up, even when the going gets hard.

The plot of the story centres around Chance and his family, with the mostly mentioned characters being his dad and his sister Addie, who then becomes Chance’s business partner in the pool cleaning business. The story takes us through the 12 weeks of summer and how their pool cleaning business,  evolves. It guides us through the mistakes, like when Chance had to clean Old Man Lee very dirty pool (as he had not asked about the state of the pool) or when he asked Francine for 30 dollars to clean her pool, and she turned down his offer. There are also the jubilant points in the kids’ venture, like when Chance went to Sir Larry’s home for the first time.  Chance was very happy when he felt the 20 dollar note in his hand. He felt encouraged and satisfied to do this work. Another high point was when the kids  got new customers, thus increasing their revenue.
 
The book also looks at friendships and how such friendships are impacted when business is involved. An example is when Amit started working for Chance, and he turned up late for Luisa’s first cleaning appointment. It also looks into how one can negotiate, and that one must not expect to have his way all the time. There are also examples of how the relationship between Chance and Addie works; the business partnership was built on trust, they had business meetings together and discussed their course of actions.

The books is a gold mine for jargon used in the business world. It introduces the young readers to such words as leverage, marketing, profit and expenses. I strongly urge that students read this book as it is very inspirational.

 

The Lucky Diamond by Valinora Troy

 

The Lucky Diamond is a story which leaves adults and children enthralled. It has a plot which is difficult to leave. Once you start the story, you feel the need to finish it  as soon as possible. The plot is engrossing, there are severe twists to the story and lots of sub plots which makes one very curious about what will happen next.

 

The story takes place in Nirvam and is about five siblings and their adventures with the lucky diamond. The story immediately puts you in the context, it starts five years earlier when the children's Uncle Matt was sentenced for treason against the state of Lowdar. Instead of being executed, Uncle Matt was thrown out into the great forest, where those who are left there, are never seen or heard of again.

 

Five years later, one of the siblings encounters a diamond which can talk. In reality, the diamond is a princess. The five children start their adventures persuaded by lucky the diamond to take her back to her diamond kingdom up Mount Slate. Along the way, the children have all sorts of adventures, they meet various types of monsters, the short people  'Nelkins’, witches and a flying canoe.

 

The five children and lucky the diamond are the main characters of the story. Then there is paul the king of Kyle, who starts off as bossy and arrogant, but who then becomes more humble and down to earth. One can relate a lot to Yvonne, the eldest of the five siblings who acts also as a mother to her younger sisters and brother. She is responsible and caring. It is through these adventures that we learn about the importance of loyalty, being kind and empathic to other people’s feelings.

 

This book is truly an enjoyable book and I highly recommend it

Covid and how it has affected youths

 In my job as assistant head of school, I am lucky enough to work closely with young people. I love my job, I get to know about the latest fashion trends, songs and popular slang words.

This year, I am in charge of year 9 students and these past two months since I have started caring for them have shown that Covid has left a dreadful impact on these young people's mental health. This year, I am seeing more depressed youths. When I talk to them to try and find why they are like this, one thing emerges. This is the fact that they were cut off from their friends at the beginning of the pandemic when schools closed abruptly at the beginning of March 2020. Many have been complaining of loneliness, others say that they have developed OCD conditions, still others are despairing that life can ever be the same again. This has caused great anxiety, with these 13 year olds asking me whether they will ever get to enjoy their youth without any restrictions whatsoever.

Students' mental health and well-being are very important as they also impact the students academic performance. I am grateful that I am being supported all around, I have had meetings with parents, and students are being looked after by guidance teachers. Next week, class interventions will be done in those classes which have the most number of depressed and anxious students. These interventions have been timed to happen before schools break up for the Christmas recess, to help cushion the effect that students might have if they are at home alone during the holidays. This is one small step in my journey with this cohort of students - as a school we care for their holistic development and that with time, slowly but surely, they will feel better,

Schools in Malta amid the pandemic

Six months after the first case of covid-19 appeared in Malta, schools are still closed for pupils. With Malta placing the third in the EU for deaths pro rata, the situation looks very bleak.  While schools opened last Monday for educators, students will start coming in to school in a staggered way starting from October 7th till the 14th.

The situation was under control at the beginning of July, but after airport was opened, and a series of mass events were held, the situation relapsed and the number of those infected started increasing daily. There have now been registered 35 deaths related to Covid 19, and more than 700 people are infected with the virus.

Schools closed immediately in March after the first few cases were diagnosed. Online teaching was implemented. However, now it is essential that schools open as students cannot remain cooped at home. They need to socialise and even though they will be in bubbles, there is nothing better than meeting one's friends face to face. This also goes for the learning. It is better to teach students when they are in  front of you and you can monitor their behaviour.

Looking forward to this scholastic year, with all the problems and obstacles it will offer!

Malta scores low in PIsa results

Once again, Malta has scored abysmally in the Pisa results. What is of particular concern to me is the fact that state schools still rank behind church and independent schools. This is an injustice to the majority of students on the Maltese Islands who attend state schools.

More needs to be done. Whilst one cannot deny that a lot is being done structure wise, with new schools being built, and older ones being refurbished, unfortunately, this is not the way to go.

Social justice for these children can be gotten by raising standards and expectations of all students, once again instilling discipline in schools, and putting importance on kindness, and respect, both towards authority, towards each other and also towards the environment.  Being smart is also a value which has gone with the wind.

Letting students come to school with their tracksuits, or letting boys wear earrings is not the way forward. Whilst I have nothing against equality, schools should be allowed to set their own policies and not have them imposed upon by the Education Department. Giving students everything they want is strictly not on. In life, one cannot get everything one wants. A rethinking of the way that Maltese state schools are heading is to be urgently done.

The full details about the Pisa results can be found in this link:

https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/education-system-in-the-dock-as-students-score-low-in-major-survey.

SAB POSTU F’AMBJENT TA’ TAGĦLIM ADDATTAT GĦALIH

A student speaking about his experiences at a vocational school. He says that he is very happy as this is the ideal place for him to learn and thrive.

This school is found in the central town of Paola and caters for students aged 15 to 18 years.

Education Exposed: Leading a school in a time of Uncertainty

I read this book, which was published at the end of January, in just three days. As an assistant head of school, I got to know about it through twitter. Further perusal of it, made me conclude that this book would be useful to me and I pre-ordered this book, so that I could read it as soon as it got published. Even though my context is different, as I live in Malta, I could very well understand and empathize with what the author was stating.

This book has many interesting topics which are all important for school leaders. The book starts with behaviour, which is a crucial aspect of any school. The salient point about behaviour is that behaviour has to be taught. I fully concur with this. The school should show to students where the boundaries lie and what it does and does not accept.

The author also comments on the learning outcomes. This method of teaching is being introduced slowly into Maltese schools, along with continuous assessment. I concur with Strickland in that the children knowing the learning objectives is not beneficial to them.

Strickland also mentions another point: that of the importance of team work among teachers in a school. It is also essential that the school head invests in the people who work around him. As he states, a good school is one where students have one good teacher after another.

I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to all those who like me are in a position of
leadership in a school, as it gives you much to think about.

Continous Assessment and changes in the Maltese education system

Last Friday, at school, we had training about continuous assessment. This will be introduced as from next scholastic year, in year 9 in all subjects. This change will affect all Maltese schools. The students will be made to complete between three to five tasks , spread over three years, that is, from year nine to eleven.

While I am not averse to continuous assessment per se, I have my doubts whether this system will be successful. The Education Department is assuming that we live in an utopian world where all students are keen to learn, where they will all do their tasks and complete them by the deadline date. The stark reality for those who work in schools could not be further away from this. Nowadays, with the inclusive system in place in Maltese schools, schools are co-ed, and all academic abilities are grouped together in secondary school. Students with challenging behaviour are always a force to be reckoned with. The intake in schools depends on the catchment area, which severely defines the school culture.

These changes being wrought to the Maltese education system have all been done in the last few  years. These changes have occurred at such a fast pace that sometimes, it becomes quite a headache to keep up. Thus, next year, teachers at my school will be facing the advent of the learning outcomes framework and also this new system of continuous assessment. Half yearly exams have also been scrapped.

While I will be there to support teachers in the implementation of these system, I have very grave reservations about these. Will they lead to a better education for our students? Are these systems equitable for all students? While I am in favour of inclusion, only time will tell whether these changes will be a success or not.

Working out the classification

These past few weeks, my time has been taken up by the classification of students.  As from next month, my year 9's will be starting their year 10 and as per school practice, I will be following them until the end of year 11.

One of the tasks which I had to do was to classify the students for year 10. It has involved a lot of work, but luckily, I am now ready. The basic subjects used to classify the students are Maths, Maltese, English and Physics. However, in a couple of cases, I also used my discretion. After a year chasing them up and down, I know the students quite well by now. I know their behaviour and attitudes. I know who should be in class with and who should not. Apart from being classified for the whole class,  students are also set for maths, maltese, english and physics,  a foreign language (either German, Irtalian, French or Spanish), PSCD, and two options.

The classification, done on excel, yielded interesting aspects, which were to be expected. One of them was that those who had spent the whole year laughing and chattering in class, did very badly indeed. Some went down by two or three classes. Those who put an effort, performed very well and went in better classes. I had been alerting my students that the classification would be done by marks since March and I had been urging them to study and prepare for the exams. Some started laughing in my face! Well, now it is really a case of what you sow, you reap!

So, I was very satisfied with the outcome and I am looking forward to seeing the looks on my students' faces, when I will call them out for their new class come the 25th September!

Creating the Schools our Children Need

Last month, I was approached by a Maltese magazine to write a book review of a recent book which is related to education. I accepted the invitation, and decided to write about Dylan Wiliam's recent book, which has the title of 'Creating the Schools Our Children Need'.

The process of preparing for the half yearly exams

These past weeks have proved to be a long stretch. There are so many things to do! So it has boiled down to prioritising.

Exams start on the 12th February and I have been extra busy. I had to do the exam schedules, prepare the special classes for each sessions, do the class lists also for each session... the list seemed infinite. Luckily, I managed to finish everything off last Friday. Tomorrow morning I will go to school to print out everything. The next process is to stick the class lists on designated boards in the corridor, so that all the students will know their room allocation for each and every exam.

My plans for this week are that I should finish sorting out the half yearly papers. These need to be counted and put into jackets. Then, they have to be transported to my office...to be put under lock and key in my office. All exam scripts will then see the light of the day on the exam day itself.

This week is also important because the Bishop will be visiting our school, as part of the pastoral visit that he is doing at the village where our school is situated. Another blog about this important event will follow later on this week!