Royal Naval School Tal-Handaq

Royal Naval School Tal-Handaq

The Royal Naval School Tal Handaq was a school for children of personnel of the British Armed Forces posted to Malta between January 1947 and July 1978. Formerly known as the Naval Children's School and HM Dockyard Children's School, it had occupied sites at Ta'Xbiex, Cottonera, Senglea and the Dockyard before moving to Tal Handaq, a military camp, built during World War 2, to resemble a Maltese village when viewed from the air. Staffed partially by Royal Naval personnel the school was also used by children of personnel of the Military of the United States in the 1950s. When first occupied as a school in 1947 only the buildings in the southern and central area of the present day school had been built. The remaining buildings were constructed in the early/mid-1950s, initially with the objective of supporting a complement of some 800 British Forces pupils. The school was co-educational with similar numbers of boys and girls. It was also both a Secondary Grammar and a Secondary Modern school. Numbers at the school steadily increased until by 1960 the school held over 1000 pupils. Even so, class size was still not excessive with a typical class size of 25 pupils in 1960.

The school re-opened as a Junior Lyceum in September 1981 under the name of Liceo M. A. Vassalli. In 2006, new building began on completion of which the old buildings will be demolished. The new buildings opened in 2008 as Kullegg Sant' Injazju.