NEWS

The School Starter Pack Project is an annual initiative, successfully conducted for four consecutive editions, with plans for a fifth edition during the 2026-2027 scholastic year. It targets all Year 1 students in 21 primary schools and 3 catechism centres within the region, benefiting approximately 1,200 children annually.

This educational project provides a sustainable stationery set containing eco-friendly items, this year the pack included a customised jute and cotton pocket, 15 cm’s wooden ruler, wooden sharpener, recycled wooden pencil, cardboard pen, ERA Pencil, A5 FSC Certified customised drawing book, set of crayons in customised seed paper packaging and a customised sprout pencil in a customised seed paper pencil sleeve. To further engage students, the character Bertu l-Ballotra, a representation of the rare and indigenous Maltese Weasel (Ballotra), was featured on the items. The weasel was chosen to further raise awareness of Maltese biodiversity while promoting environmental education.

For this year’s edition we brought this character to life as the mascot accompanied the Regional and Local Council representatives during the interective presentation session and distripution process.

The project emphasizes on the concepts of sustainability and recycling, while also shows families that there are alternatives to plastic stationery. The project also offers a financial relief to parents during back-to-school preparations.

We would like to thank our sponsors Transport Malta & ERA for their help in making this project possible.