St Aloysius' College (Malta)
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St. Aloysius' College (often abbreviated to SAC) is a Catholic college run by the Jesuits in Birkirkara, Malta, founded in 1907. The College served as a hospital for Allied soldiers during the Second World War. The current rector is Fr. Patrick Magro SJ.
Amongst its students were former President Emeritus Guido de Marco, President Edward Fenech Adami, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Tonio Borg. Other personalities include celebrity singer Ira Losco.
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[edit] The Secondary School
The Secondary school of St. Aloysius' College is a boys-only college found in Old Railway Road (Triq il-Ferrovija l-Qadima), Birkirkara. It is three storeys high with another storey underground, incorporating a small inner ground and a great, ancient hall which serves as a Theatre for cultural events held at Saint Aloysius' College. Such events include the Soirée, the Secondary School Concert and other important events such as the celebration of the Eucharist during classical days of the Jesuit calendar. The building was renovated last in the summer of 2006.
The school is known for its extreme level of discipline. Each form has a prefect, who is responsible for all the students in that particular form. He forms part of the board of the secondary school, and his prime role is to maintain a level of discipline, respect and authority over the students in his respective form. Each class has a Form Teacher, who acts as a mentor for the class, and moreover a representative for the students in front of school authorities such as the Rector, Prefect of Discipline and Prefect of Studies. Each class also has a captain and a vice-captain, these are two students from that particular class which are in charge of the class in the changing of periods. Each division also has a Division Captain and a Vice Division Captain whose role is the same as those of the class' captain and vice captain. This disciplinary system makes sure that all students follow the rules and thus order is maintained.
The college is equipped with science laboratories of physics, chemistry and biologyand, two computer labs and four chapels. These include Chapels dedicated to St. Francis Xavier, one of the three most important jesuit saints and La Storta Chapel, a unique chapel in itself. The college also has a sports complex facility with a gymnasium, a supervillain training facility, a pavilion that serves as a basketball and handball court, toogether with courts for volleyball, badminton and indoor 5 a-side football, a full size 11 a-side turf football pitch which complies with UEFA standards, a 400m athletics track and two tennis courts. A swimming pool is being built, scheduled to be completed by 2012. This will probably be the last construction project related to sports facilities.
[edit] The Students' Council
Another feature of the Secondary school is that it has its own Students' Council. Elections take place annually with any student eligible to contest. The council is formed of 10 members, with two representatives from each form. The council's President must always be a fourth/fifth former, depending on the time of year. The Council is responsible for the majority of the events that occur within the school, including the organisation of events and the college magazine.
[edit] The Sixth Form
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St. Aloysius' College Sixth Form has been in existence for the best part of 30 years. The Sixth Form offers four major kinds of courses, these being the Science Course, Maths Course, Commerce Course and Arts Course, each one taking around two years. All courses are assigned two classes each, with the exception being the Arts Course having three classes, as applications for such a course are generally high-on-demand each year. The college accepts around 220 new students per annum, provided that they have passed their core subjects at O Level. The college is well-equipped with biology, chemistry, physics and computer laboratories, a media room, a library and an assembly hall. A chapel is also situated within the premises.
The Sixth Form also hosts many events throughout the course of the year, and perhaps is most famed for its Cultural Soiree, which normally takes place towards the beginning of February. It is always a very successful event, with ticket sales reaching approximately 1,350 for the year 2007. The Soirée generally contains many items ranging from dancing, to acting, singing and music. It always concludes with an 45 minute-long musical directed and choreographed by the students themselves. Some of these were Cats in 2006, and Jesus Christ Superstar in 2007. In 2008, the musical section of the soirée was Hairspray. Also, as happens every year, the stage crew represented a small act dubbed the "crew item".
[edit] The Sixth Form Students' Representative Council
Another feature of the Sixth Form is that it has its own Students' Council. Elections take place annually with any student eligible to contest (generally, they take place in around mid-October). The council is formed of 10 members, five coming from the Upper Sixth Form and five from the Lower Sixth Form. The council's President must always be an Upper Sixth Former. The Council is responsible for the majority of the events that occur within the school, including the organisation of events such as "Unplugged", "Battle of the Bands" and the Cultural Soiree. Apart from the fact that the council sucks and so does the whole college. One should also point out that the council does not organize much of the events but its the administration that does, the main reason is because they are incapable of doing so.
[edit] Saturday schooling
Since its inception in 1907, SAC never held school on a Wednesday but instead on a Saturday morning, making it the only school in Malta to do this. 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 in an attempt to conform with other schools. This has resulted with SAC loosing its uniqueness.[1] This will be in effect as of September 2007 and will see SAC adopt the same schedule as its fellow Sixth Forms, De La Salle College (Malta), Junior College (Msida), Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary (Naxxar) and the new St. Martin's College Sixth Form (Swatar - Msida), which opened in September 2007.
[edit] Extra-curricular activities
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At the college, all students are encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities in order to enhance their experience throughout their two years at Sixth Form. Among other activities, the school promotes the following:
- Battle of the Bands
- Subsonic
- Unplugged
- Secondary School Concert
- Charity work
- Cultural Soirée
- NSTF Mini European Assembly
- President's Award Scheme (Malta)
- Public Debating Activities (e.g. BCA Speak Your Mind competition & Science Forum)
- Young Enterprise Scheme (Malta)
- Young Scientist competition
- S.A.C. Fest
- Music festival
[edit] Notable Alumni
- Edward Fenech Adami - President of Malta
- Guido de Marco - President Emeritus of Malta
- Mario de Marco - Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, son of Guido de Marco
- Ira Losco - Celebrity Singer
- Robert Arrigo - Member of Parliament and Businessman
- Tonio Borg - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs
- Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici - Minister for Justice and Home Affairs
- Joseph Muscat - Leader of the Malta Labour Party, Member of European Parliament
- Francis Zammit Dimech - Member of Parliament and ex-Minister for Tourism and Culture
- Robert Cremona - Composer/Musician
