St Aloysius' College (Malta)

Saint Aloysius College
Motto Serio et Constanter
"Seriously and Steadily"
Established 1907 (1907)
Religion Roman Catholic (Jesuit)
Rector Fr. Jimmy Bartolo SJ
Location Triq il-Ferrovija l-Qadima
Birkirkara
MaltaMalta
Coordinates: 35°53′46″N 14°27′37″E / 35.895979°N 14.460183°E / 35.895979; 14.460183
Staff ~100
Students ~1000
Gender Boys
Mixed Sixth Form
Ages 5–18
Houses 3
Colours Blue, Green & Red             
Former pupils Old Aloysians
Website saintaloysius

St Aloysius College (SAC) is a Catholic college run by the Jesuits in Birkirkara, Malta. It was founded in 1907 to complement the seminaries and tertiary institutions already in existence on the island. Today it is a boys' primary and secondary school with a coeducational sixth form. The College compound also houses a parish church which is used by the school and opened to the public for daily mass. The current rector is the Fr. Jimmy Bartolo, S.J.

Amongst its students were former presidents Guido de Marco and Edward Fenech Adami, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, and former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Tonio Borg. Other personalities include international composer and musician Robert Cremona, children's author Saviour Pirotta, and celebrity singer Ira Losco.

History

On 8 October 1907 the Jesuits, at the request of Pope Pius X, founded the school with 139 boys. The College served as a hospital for Allied soldiers during the Second World War. The primary school was originally Stella Maris School, a separate school founded by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, and has been incorporated into the College: boys can now attend the school from kindergarten through to sixth form.[1]

The Secondary School

The secondary school of St Aloysius College is a boys-only college located in Old Railway Road (Triq il-Ferrovija l-Qadima), Birkirkara. It is three storeys high with another storey underground, and incorporates a small inner ground and a large hall which serves as a theatre for cultural events held at the College. Such events include the Soirée, the Secondary School Concert, and the celebration of the Eucharist on feast days in the Jesuit calendar. The building was last renovated in the summer of 2006. The college celebrated its centenary in the scholastic year 2007/2008.

The school is known for its emphasis on discipline. Each form has its own prefect, to maintain respect and discipline. He is a member of the secondary school board. Each class has a Form Teacher who acts as a mentor for the class and represents the students before school authorities such as the Rector, Prefect of Discipline, and Prefect of Studies. Each class also has a captain and a vice-captain for control during changing of periods, and division captain and vice-division captain to assist them. This disciplinary system assures order among the more than 100 students in each form.

The college is equipped with science laboratories for physics, chemistry, and biology as well as two computer labs and four chapels. The chapels are dedicated to St. Francis Xavier, one of the three most important Jesuit saints, and La Storta Chapel, a unique chapel in itself. The college sports complex includes a gymnasium, a pavilion that serves as a basketball and handball court, courts for volleyball, badminton, and indoor 5-a-side football, a full-sized UEFA-compliant turf football pitch, a 400m athletics track, and two tennis courts. A swimming pool is in the making but requires more funds.

Classes

In scholastic year 2009/2010 a new system for classes was introduced. Instead of letters (1A, 1B, 1C,...) each class has been named for a Jesuit (Francis Xavier, Pierre Favre, Aloysius Gonzaga, Ignatius Loyola, Giuseppe Pignatelli,...).

The Students' Council

The Secondary School has a Students' Council with members elected annually and all students eligible. It has ten members, two from each form. Its president spans fourth/fifth form. The Council is responsible for most school events, including the organisation of casual days and the Form 5 School Leaving Party, or "Social".

The Sixth Form

The Sixth Form Section

St Aloysius College Sixth Form has been in existence for the best part of 30 years. It offers four major courses – science, maths, commerce, and arts – each requiring about two years. There are two classes in each course, three for arts. The college annually accepts around 220 new students who have passed the core O Level subjects. Facilities include biology, chemistry, physics, and computer laboratories, a media room, library, and assembly hall.

Among the many annual events hosted by the Sixth Form, its Cultural Soiree in early February is most popular, with ticket sales for 2009 around 1,700. It includes dancing, acting, singing, and music and concludes with a 45-minute musical directed and choreographed by the students themselves. Productions have included Cats in 2006, Jesus Christ Superstar in 2007, Hairspray in 2008, Mamma Mia in 2009, Lion King in 2010, Moulin Rouge in 2011, "We Will Rock You" in 2012, "Grease" in 2013, "Wicked" in 2014, Aladdin in 2015. Each year the stage crew also presents a small act dubbed the "crew item".

The Sixth Form Students' Representative Council

The Sixth Form has its own Students' Council, with elections in late October and all students eligible. Since 2012 the Council includes four students from each of Lower and Upper Sixth Form, with the president from Upper. The Council is responsible for most school events including the organisation of "Unplugged" and "Christmas Dinner", and has an important say in the Soirée.

Saturday schooling

From its inception in 1907, St Aloysius College never held classes on Wednesday but instead on Saturday morning, making it the only school in Malta to do so. On October 13, 2006, a decision was made by Maltese Jesuit Provincial Fr. Paul Chetcuti and College Rector Fr. Patrick Magro to replace Saturdays with Wednesdays to conform to the practice of other schools. In the view of some, this deprived St. Aloysius' College of its uniqueness.[2] The change took effect in September 2007, with St Aloysius' Sixth Form also conforming to the practice of fellow Sixth Forms: De La Salle College (Malta), Junior College (Msida), Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary School (Naxxar), and the new St. Martin's College Sixth Form (Swatar - Msida) which opened in September 2007.

Extra-curricular activities

All students are encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities, which include:

  • Battle of the Bands
  • Subsonic
  • Unplugged
  • Secondary School Concert
  • Charity work
  • Cultural Soirée
  • NSTF Mini European Assembly 
  • EuroScola
  • President's Award [3]
  • Public Debating Activities (e.g., BCA Speak Your Mind competition & Science Forum)
  • Young Enterprise Scheme[4]
  • Young Scientist competition
  • S.A.C. Fest
  • Music festival
  • After School Sports

The college also has its own Scout group, one of the oldest established on the island.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ St Aloysius College - About Us
  2. ↑ The Malta Independent Online
  3. ↑ President's Award Scheme (Malta)
  4. ↑ Young Enterprise Malta
  5. ↑ University of Malta Governance
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