Testimonials

Testimonials

Ms Victoria Casaletto

Dear Chiswick House School,

I hope this email finds you well. I feel compelled to write to you to express my sincere satisfaction and to extend my thanks to you for the summer programme my son has just attended. Giovanni has really enjoyed the summer school in Ms Sharon’s Super Sims class. Miss Sharon went to the personal effort to meet us, socially distanced, outside the school the day before the programme officially started, to put him at ease so he would feel less nervous and upset about walking into an unfamiliar environment with no one he knew. She was so kind and welcoming, that by the next day he was happy to go straight into school with no fears or tears. He is absolutely drawn to her kind and attentive nature. He’s been keen to attend school every time, which, has never happened to us before with any other school, and as a very shy boy, is praise indeed!

I extend my sincere gratitude to you all for having the motivation and determination to go ahead and produce this amazing summer programme. You’ve done so under the most challenging of circumstances. I’m truly impressed. I admire Miss Bernie, Miss Esmerelda, Miss Joanna, Miss Rita, Miss Sharon, Miss Nicole, and all the teachers and assistants who have put themselves out there, and dedicated themselves to this school and the education of children, in spite of the potentials faced. They’ve done so with conviction, grace, reassurance, and organisation. It’s gone smoothly, and through your hard work and attention to detail and protocols you’ve got everyone through safely. There’s no other praise higher than that. You should feel vindicated and rightly proud of your accomplishments here.

 

We hope to see you again soon.

In the meantime, please accept my sincere thanks once again.

Best wishes for the new school term.

Victoria Casaletto

Ms Irina Hajiyeva

Dear Teachers,

I have been waiting for the official letter of confirmation in order to finally come up to you saying my gratitude. Yesterday we have got a good news that Anna has been granted a scholarship, so she is not coming back to SMC next year.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to say our big THANK YOU to all teachers and staff who devotedly carried out their duties at school. I was always a loyal advocate of quality of education provided in CHS and SMC and will stay such. It is not possible to overestimate the contribution you made in Anna’s growth and learning – not only in subjects but in general life knowledge and skills. Your education is genuinely 360 degrees.

We brought her to Malta when she was 5, an absolute angel, and now I am impressed seeing how she can read people’s actions and understand their motivation. It is incredible and it is totally your achievement – THANK YOU!

Thank you for being so sensitive and supportive in all events occurring during school life — without your involvement Anna wouldn’t be able to demonstrate her abilities, and your kind encouragement pushed her forward. Thank you for always acknowledging her good ideas and helping to bring them true. At the same time, you managed to keep her working, not to fly high feeling “a big star”. THANK YOU INDEED!

As a foreigner, having no allies in the country whatsoever, it was not easy to start, but I can say that it was really a God’s blessing that we’ve got to the big and nice family of Chiswick, where we always found understanding, empathy and support.

I wish you all the best in this challenging times. Your work online is super-impressive.

Kind regards,
Irina

Ms Irina Hajiyeva

Dear Mr. Padovani,

Again, I would like to thank you for a great support you provided to Anna and us.

Here is some words of thanks from our family we would like to say to the school:

Finding a good school has been one of the parents’ challenges at all times, probably. Issues happen in any school in the world, even in the most expensive ones. The whole difference lays is how these issues are addressed. We feel really lucky to get into Chiswick School when we arrived to Malta, and being now in St. Martin’s College – because any of our concerns, regardless small or big, was looked into with care and the action taken was always directed onto wellbeing of our child. This is our huge parental THANK YOU to all staff of both schools for being such a great place for children from different corners of Earth.

With best regards,

Irina

Mr and Mrs Seraqui de Buttafoco

Dear Mr Padovani,

We wanted to take the time to personally thank you and your staff for an extremely successful and positive first year, for us as parents and also for both my children.

Normally, the first year is the toughest and most stressful for the whole family; not only because of the change in the school system and the language but also because of the cultural shock and the social implications on us all. But both of my children have passed and both of them have made extremely good friends. This is largely due to you and your team, (teachers & secretaries included) who have been so incredible understanding and supportive, always ready to listen and to accommodate us and our specificities, which caused this transition to be motivating, encouraging and exceptionally smooth. Thank you so very very much.

But our real gratitude that we would like to express is directly directed to you Mr Padovani, for your incredible support, flexibility, and understanding that you showed to us in general. You have always been there for us, with sincerity, and you have on each occasion reacted as quick as you can and as best as you can: that is a very rare and precious quality! We have been to a couple of countries, and we have seen 4 systems, each one very different than the other. But although St Martins College is known to be of a high standard, and I can vouch for that too, the staff and children are all gentle, polite, and hardworking. There is a real willingness to perform well, and a universal collaboration to bring out the best in each child.

So, once again thank you for this past year, and may next year be the same.

Know that you can contact us whenever you wish: no matter will be to small or to big.

Alessandro La Fauci, Emanuela Morabito and Andrea La Fauci

Dear Ms. Zammit Briffa,

I’d like to thank the entire staff at Chiswick for the incredible quality and professionalism showed during the past year. We’ve been impressed by the outstanding performances and qualities of “our new school” and by the exceptional improvements that Alessandro, thanks to the teachers, made during the academic year. It’s been a pleasure meeting you all and we really hope to meet you again soon.

Amanda La Rosa

Dear Mr Padovani

I would like to thank you, all the teachers and staff at SMC for making my kids transition from CHS an extremely enjoyable adventure that they will cherish for many more years to come.

The sense of independence that SMC gave them is helping them mature and become responsible young adults.

Once again, I thank you all and wish you all a relaxing and enjoyable summer.

Simone Azzopardi

Dear Ms Bernie,

My daughter Valentina is now in Level 9 and is being prepared academically for the Matsec syllabus at St. Martin’s College. I have just been to the school and met with each of her teachers, for all subjects, on Parents day. I felt compelled to write to you to express my great satisfaction, and indeed delight, at the attention and care my daughter is receiving at school. Each teacher, even those who are teaching her for the first time this year, showed an understanding of her as a person, not just as a student. They are fully aware of her abilities, her character and her potential. Considering the number of students these teachers work with on a daily basis, I am impressed by their individual attention and understanding, of each student.

I also had the opportunity to meet with your headmaster, Mr. Padovani, to discuss a specific issue regarding my daughters academic syllabus. I was given time and attention and a solution in the best interests of my daughter on a scholastic level. This constructive approach was given to me across the board and I can only say that it is highly commendable.

Valentina has made the transition from CHS and to SMC very smoothly CHS gave her solid academic foundations and for her, it was home from home. She has wonderful memories of her early years there. Now that she is in senior school she continues to receive the highest standard of education together with a caring personal approach from all your team there. Maintaining such an all-round high standard requires hard work and dedication and I feel this deserves due praise.

Through their efforts I am confident that Valentina is being given every opportunity to further her academic qualifications in an environment which nourishes her individuality and, as far as I am concerned, that is the best education that she can get.

SMC Parent

Dear Mr Teeling,

I just wanted to express my gratitude for the way you teach history. From day one, my daughter has enjoyed each and every class of yours and comes home talking about your lessons. By making the lessons innovative, you not only helped her in getting good scores in history, but also helped in developing a keen liking for the subject. I also thank you for encouraging her to participate in the class plays which she thoroughly enjoys.

I thank you again for all the wonderful work you are doing with these children and wish you all the best for the rest of the academic year. Keep up the great work.

Jolanta Rozmislova & Michele Montalbetti

Dear Ms Roberta,

We thank you and the entire school’s staff for the wonderful education, service and care provided to our daughters during the past 5 years.

We have really appreciated the professionalism and very helpful attitude of all the teachers and the supporting organization and we wish you to continue offering this very high quality service to pupils and families.

Lonneke van der Plas

Dear Ms Arrigo,

Thank you very much for the information and your prompt reply. I would also like to thank you and the rest of the team for the school viewing of this morning. Visiting Chiswick House School was a very nice experience. It changed my concept of school! I had no idea that education could be so all-embracing, and professional. It truly made me very enthusiastic.

Nadia Scerri

Dear Ms Audrey

I wish to thank you and all the team at CHS for the wonderful Learning Journals we have received. Well done to the teachers and assistants for the great dedication and beautiful work they do with our kids. Amazing, I am so happy for my kids who are experiencing this educational journey.

Angelica Micallef Trigona

Thanks for the newsletter – lots of wonderful achievements: Well done. I can’t believe this is Adam’s last year at CHS! While we look forward to new adventures and opportunities at SMC, we will certainly miss our beloved CHS.

I wanted to say ‘well done’ in particular for the teachers’ panto which Adam loved. What a great idea. CHS has been a joyful experience for us from Kindergarten 1 to date.

We love the warm, welcoming and nurturing environment, the genuine care and concern for the children and all the opportunities to learn and grow. And things like the teachers’ panto just add to that! I am happy to be a ‘CHS ambassador’ with friends and acquaintances. I shall always cherish Adam’s time at the school. He is loving Level 5 – many thanks, Ms Krista. I know he is enjoying the topics being covered and that he is very much looking forward to starting the Lego robotics work when he starts this year’s Design and Technology class!

John Faley

Dear Mr Tabone

I believe we have met briefly once this year but I am sure you meet parents on daily basis.

My name is John Faley, I am Harriet Faley (KG2 Miss Marthese) and Esme Faley’s (reception Miss Karen) father.

We moved to Malta in September last year and we were advised to either enrol our two girls in Chiswick House and Verdala. After asking and talking to a lot of people in Malta including Miss Roberta, we were very happy and confident that Chiswick was the right place for our girls to attend. Previously Harriet was attending a very well respected school from an academics perspective in Ireland call Mount Anville in Dublin.

Our expectations were that if we could find something close to Mount Anville in Malta, our girls would thrive. I believe that Chiswick matches Mount Anville and more in most respects.

Another concern we had as expats moving to a foreign country was our daughters’ ability to adapt to their new surroundings and fit in with the local culture and people. If I am to be honest, this was probably our greatest concern. Harriet our eldest daughter is a lovely, generous, caring and smart little girl but she is very sensitive and sometimes a worrier.

From the first day our girls entered Chiswick, we were astounded by the love, attention and dedication given to make our girls feel at home. I understand the school has quite a few expat students but to be honest we were expecting a very hard year in terms of adjustment. It has made our adjustment to life in Malta so much easier and quicker, knowing that our girls are in such good hands.

To give you one example, one of many:

One day I was called because our youngest daughter Esme was sick. At the front door of the school, I was greeted by a lady who recognised who I was immediately (I don’t know how) and she informed me that Esme was not feeling well but not too worry. As I was walking down the hall towards her class, another lady (I believe it was Anita, who I didn’t know at the time) said the same to me. Once again when I reached her class, Miss Karen reassured me. As a parent who would move mountains for his kids, this is so important to know that my children are in safe and responsible hands during the school day. If I am to very honest, I was blown away by the caring nature and the amount of people that knew that my daughter was not feeling well and that I was coming to collect her. Just amazing, I have never experienced anything like this before, even at schools where the fees are considerably higher.

In particular, given that the school year is coming to an end, I would like to bring to your attention the affection and appreciation we have for one teacher in particular, Miss Marthese. It is not very often that you find a teacher who is so caring, loving and to us an absolute joy to deal with on a day to day basis. Our daughter Harriet adores her so much and she really plays a big role in her life. We could not have asked for a better teacher for Harriet to make the transition to a new country. I am a firm believer in credit where credit is due and we are so appreciative that we have had the opportunity to get to know her over the last year.

In closing, our girls are looking forward to summer school tremendously and moving into Junior one and KG1. Thanks for everything and please pass on my appreciation to the teachers. Without them, our year could have been terribly different.

Eva Eberhartinger

Dear Ms. Anita, Dear Mr. Patrick,

My two sons, Moritz and Jonas, have spent one year in J5 and J4 respectively – now it is time for us to go back to Austria, as was originally intended. I would like you to know that this year in Malta was a complete success for us, thoroughly enjoyable, and a very positive experience – not only for us parents, but also for the boys. They came here, not knowing anybody and hardly knowing the English language. Now, they have close friends and are fluent.

The fact that our year here was so successful is, to a large extent, attributable to CHS, to the international programme, and to the class teachers. Ms. Maria (J5) and Ms. Celia (J4), each in her own way, wonderfully lead the class, academically and socially. From the very first day they managed to make the boys fell appreciated and understood. Moritz and Jonas always enjoyed going to school, and they learned a lot. Also the international programme, with EFL as a core element, enriched with counselling and support, was extremely helpful. Ms Gillian is a caring teacher who takes into consideration the very different levels of English in her EFL classes.

To make a long story short: I already had the opportunity to express my thanks to Ms. Maria, Ms. Celia, and Ms. Gillian. I also would like to thank you as the school leaders for providing strategic consideration, infrastructure and support to the school, and to international families needs.

SMC Parent

“Attending Saint Martin’s College has been a great experience for William*, and I know he has enjoyed his time at school here in Malta. Everyone on staff has been wonderful to both William and myself, and the teachers have been really fantastic as well %u2010 they truly appreciated him for who he was. They didn’t try to stifle his creativity or his sense of humour. I also really appreciate the consideration for his issues with ADD, and will miss the benefits and philosophy of Saint Martin’s compared to U.S. schools he’s attended in the past. I am so grateful to have found such a wonderful school as yours. I feel we have been very fortunate to encounter life abroad, and our family has enjoyed getting to know the Maltese people and learning about the culture of Malta. We would really like to thank everyone at Saint Martin’s College for helping to make this such an amazing experience for all of us! Thank you!”

*Name has been changed

Professor Charles L. Mifsud, MPhil(Cantab), PhD(London)
Director, Centre for Literacy, University of Malta

Dear Ms Anita Seguna,

On behalf of the delegation from Estonia I would like to express to you our deep gratitude for the warm hospitality that you showed them. They were deeply impressed by your highly professional educational leadership, by your school and staff.

Helene (Eigil Heldager, Form 1 Blue)

First of all I would like to thank every one at the school for giving Eigil such a warm welcome! It was a pleasure picking him up from school yesterday – he was all smiles and said he had made friends with all his class mates! Fantastic! I really hope he will continue being this happy at school 🙂

We really couldn’t have asked for a better treatment and it has given Eigil a smooth start.

CHS Parent

Sports Festival 2013 – Junior 1 & Junior 2

I would like to thank Ms Anita and all the teachers and organising staff for the wonderful event of this morning. My daughters and I really enjoyed it. Beside the fantastic weather, the enthusiasm of all participants, small and adults and the efficient organization made the festival very successful. My father used often to tell me “mens sana in corpore sano”and this is indeed very true.

Mr & Mrs Noel Maclang

Dear Mr Padovani,

Thank you for your support, it was a very beneficial and fruitful seven (7) school years that Francisco spent at Chiswick and St Martin’s College. Your school provided him with the right values and educational foundation that will equip him in his further education and journey in life. We never regretted choosing St Martin’s College as the collaborative partner in bringing up Francisco in the academe. We will always value this partnership.

SMC Student

Dear Mr Cini ,

You are the best and most inspiring teacher!!
Being in your class has been the biggest bonus for me.

Our drama classes are out of this world, you have inspired me and given me confidence to enjoy drama. I cherish the monologues I’ve written and learned and will keep them at the tip of my tongue, one never knows when one nee z““““` ds to recite a piece off the cuff!

It’s been a great year. 7 Yellow …… THE BEST!!!!!
Thank you for everything that includes the fabulous drama trips and live-ins.