An activity was organised within the Gozo College on Wednesday to mark Arbor Day. The event was held through the collaboration of the Hands on Farming Programme and the Anton Buttigieg Primary School in Qala.

This year’s activity presented a varied programme which included the participation of the school’s pupils through the reading of their literary works and singing. Later children and teachers filled the corridors surrounding the school’s central garden and followed two fellow Year 6 students who planted specimens of two of Malta’s protected trees, the Holm Oak Tree (sigra tal-Ballut) and the Bay Laurel (sigra tar-rand). These new trees will grow next to the already established specimens of the national tree, Araar, and the national plant, Maltese Rock Centaury.

A pupil from each class then planted a sapling of the Maltese Rock Centaury in various pots within the school while all the children were given seed packs and a sapling to take home. Such activities, including the wider Hands on Farming Programme, help foster the love for nature in children from a tender age whilst also contributing towards a more holistic approach in education.