As part of the European Week for Waste Reduction activities held all over Europe during the last week of November 2017, the PSCD, Art, Music and PE teachers at Zabbar Primary B organised a week-long event with the Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 pupils promoting waste reduction and eco-friendly measures for a better world.
As a run up to the event, the pupils were asked to bring along recycled material to be used during the Art, PE and Music lessons. For the Arts lessons, each Year Group was assigned various recyclable material to work with on different topics such as creating villages with used boxes, creating super heroes out of empty cardboard tubes, making birdhouses with clean milk cartons and coming up with a painting on old newspaper collage. These projects were finalised during workshops with joined classes at the week-long activity.
With regards to Music, the children were asked to bring along empty plastic bottles which were decorated and filled with rice to be used as shakers. Another year group worked on rhythm using rhythm sticks out of wooden broomsticks. The younger group provided plastic spoons along with a small empty container which they filled with rice and assembled into a pair of maracas. All pupils learnt a song playing along their recycled instruments according to given rhythms in class. These sessions led to the music workshops during which they performed short slogans promoting recycling to given tunes and rhythms.
As part of the PE sessions, the pupils participated in a Treasure Hunt around the School premises where they had to look for recycled material following clues. The objects they looked for were plastic bottles, cereal boxes, yogurt cups, milk cartons and empty kitchen rolls. When each group found all the items, they discussed different ways to reuse or recycle the objects found.
Each year group gathered in the school hall for a PSCD presentation summarising what happened during the past days. The children were informed about the European initiative for Waste Reduction, this year focusing on the theme: Reuse and Repair – Give it a New Life. They were also given information and practical ways on the 3Rs – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle through the European campaign promotional material. Finally, the children could witness their participation thanks to the photos and videos taken during the past days.
At the end of the week-long event, the students could enjoy their own work being reused and set up in an Exhibition in one of the school corridors. During the following morning Assembly, the Whole School performed the song learnt using the Kodály method to celebrate their effort in promoting a Sustainable Environment.
A special thank you goes to the peripatetic team at school for this fantastic experience – Ms Sherryanne Gauci (Art), Ms Sherlene Caruana Dolce (Music), Mr Kyle Cesare (PE), Ms Charmaine Cassar and Ms Leonora Azzopardi (PSCD).