60 years ago

I take you today on a voyage to my primary school days, back to 1963, 60 years ago. We had just started classes in a brand new school in St. Julian’s, a much needed investment in an ever-growing town. Before that we had classes in two regular houses in St Elias Street. That’s where I had my elementary classes, until Standard 3, the American equivalent of Grade 5, when we happily moved to our new school. The first photo shown here is during a Eucharistic Day procession we held in June, in which all the teachers and students participated. All the altar boys dressed up for the occasion as well as the children who had just received their First Holy Communion a few days earlier. I was one of the altar boys seen in the photo, as well as my brother Paul, 3 years younger than me. It was customary to hold a special day dedicated to the Eucharist, as we had Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, at which time each class would dedicate 15 minutes in private and communal prayer, and everything would end with this procession.

The second photo shows the visit by the Governor of Malta, Sir Maurice Dorman, as students greeted him, all lined up, nicely dressed, and well behaved. I was probably one of the boys you see looking down from the balcony, outside our classrooms. Those were the days, but the school is still running smoothly, and who knows how many children have passed through those doors and classes, most of them now parents and grandparents, raising their children and grand-children, attending the same school, and probably sitting in the same benches as their ancestors.