Monthly Archives: March 2021

Code.SprintMT Challenge for Secondary School Students

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Code.sprintMT is a competition about problem solving and programming for Computing students from the secondary, post-secondary and undergraduate schools/institutions. Students are given a series of tasks to solve within a time frame using the programming language stipulated by the syllabus. A judging panel will assess the participants’ solutions and a winner and two runners up, are announced. Also, students within the secondary category can achieve an MQF 3 certification. This year, it will be held between the 10th and 24th July 2021. In this 4th edition of code.sprintMT, all certificates issued to participants, finalists and top three will be issued in digital form via blockchain technology.

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Award in Engaging Families and the Community within Schools

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image002The Institute is offering an Award in Engaging Families and the Community within Schools commencing in April. This module  (3 ECTS at MQF 7) equips course participants with knowledge, skills and competences to create effective school-family-community links. Educators and school management teams have to respect the social and emotional needs of students when engaging with communities and families within the educational structure. These three components (school, family, community) are critical in the shaping and influence of the students’ education journey. As professionals, educators need to acknowledge that parents, as well as other members of the community, have knowledge and experiences that can help and equip the child with further resources.

Follow the instructions below in order to apply:

Visit our the Institute for Education Website: ife.gov.mt
Select CURRENT OPEN APPLICATIONS
Look for the Award in Engaging Families and the Community within Schools

#IfEMalta #IfEonline #standalones

Learning Leadership for Change: Erasmus+ Project at St. Nicholas College

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For the past three years, St. Nicholas College has participated in the Erasmus+ Project, Leadership for Change. The Project brought together schools from Malta, Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

screenshot l2cThe Learning Leadership for Change (L2C) project aims to move towards shared leadership, fostering a new culture in schools in which teachers, students and potentially parents willingly take responsibility for leadership in the school community. Evidence from research indeed shows that collaborative decision- making processes in schools can positively affect students’ learning. The project then encourages the dissemination and mainstreaming of school leadership-innovative practices and effective networking through capacity-building (self-assessment, training and sharing of best practices) within three key areas linked to the strategic development of the school: STEM education, Innovative use of ICT in teaching and Digital Citizenship.

For more information about the project, you can download the Project Leaflet and A4 Poster in PDF format. You may also email Amanda Debattista, contact person at St. Nicholas College, at amanda.debattista.ilearn.edu.mt.

Literacy Resources Virtual Hub on TEAMS

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The National Literacy Agency and the Directorate for Learning and Assessment Programmes would like to bring to the attention of all educators the Literacy Resources Hub on Microsoft Teams. This virtual hub offers resources for use in the Early, Primary and Middle Years in Maltese and English which can help educators in their work. These resources are grouped according to the different aspects of literacy, namely: alphabetic code, phonics, phonological awareness, reading, vocabulary building, tricky words, and writing.

The Literacy Resources Hub contains two channels (sections). In the second channel one can also find videos and lesson plans which form part of the Storytelling Schools Programme of the National Literacy Agency. To access this hub and all the resources it holds, educators are to click on the ‘Join or create team’ button in the main menu of MS Teams and insert the code fxl6zwz in the ‘Join a team with a code’ option.

Annual Competition: Piggy Bank for Istrina

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Although we are still going through a time of uncertainty, preparations for this year’s ‘L-Istrina BOV Piggy Bank’ campaign are already under way. Therefore, all children are invited to participate in the drawing competition we are launching in order to select the designs for the piggy banks, which this year will once again be made of recycled cardboard. The theme of the competition, which will pave the way for L-Istrina 2021, is ‘Seeking what unites us’

Children can participate, individually or in groups, by sending their original drawings on A4 white paper by 30th April 2021 to the following address: Kompetizzjoni L-Istrina BOV Piggy Bank, The Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation, Il-Palazz tal-President, il-Belt Valletta VLT 1115. While no writing should be done on the respective drawing paper, the participant’s name, postal address, school name, telephone number, and email address should be written on a separate sheet of paper.

Anyone who would like more information or have any questions can send an email to mccf@gov.mt or call on 22053317.

Open letter to the Minister for Education & Minister for Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Planning

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As part of the Litterless Campaign, Yr 6 students at St.Nicholas College, Dingli Primary School, sent an email to the Minister for Education and Employment, Hon. Dr Justyne Caruana and Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning, Hon. Dr Aaron Farrugia.   In their email, the students talked about the survey they had carried out at school regarding the Breakfast Club. They had investigated and assessed the type of food that is not being eaten and why, and also how much food is being wasted. Their findings were discussed and recommendations were planned. Through their email, the students proposed realistic solutions to the authorities with the aim of raising awareness amongst other schools too.  #litterlesscampaign.

You can view the full text of the emails here:

Letter to Ministers

STEM Initiative for Primary Schools: X’hemM? għal Dinja Aħjar

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xhemmThe Science Centre within the Directorate for Learning and Assessment Programmes recently launched the 10th edition of the annual STEM popularisation initiative entitled X’hemM? għal Dinja Aħjar.

Since the first edition in 2014, namely X’hemM? il-Birgu, over 13,000 primary students participated in this appealing engaging Mathematics and Science outreach initiative. During the launch, Ms Desiree Scicluna Bugeja (Assistant Director, DLAP) highlighted the positive transformation process in national STEM Education. During the launch, two personalities from the entertainment sector, namely Mr Dorian Cassar and Ms Rachel Lowell, shared their experiences and views of the importance of STEM subjects in all aspects of life. Dr Fabri (Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Education) concluded the launch by emphasising the pivotal role of STEM popularisation initiatives to strengthen national STEM education practices and outcomes related to International Studies.

During this 10th edition, a total of 33 schools will participate in a range of X’hemM? activities. All X’hemM? għal Dinja Aħjar activities will feature on the Teleskola portal.

Xkatapum: Science Experiments for Physics SEC Syllabus

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The Science Centre within the Directorate for Learning and Assessment Programmes recently launched the educational programme entitled Xkatapum Esperimenti tal-Fizika ma’ Rowena u Andy.

The programme comprises 20 episodes of experiments related to themes and topics within the Physics SEC syllabus. Indeed Xkatapum addresses a range of  scientific queries related to everyday life at home, at the supermarket, at the beach and other places.  The programme puts forward the physics concepts underlying such relevant contexts and provides an explanation of the concepts through experimental investigation and analysis.  The end-of-episode questions motivate and engage viewers to seek further information and to discuss the topic in more depth at class and/or home.  The programme can be accessed on YouTube (Xkatapum) and on the Teleskola portal (https://teleskola.mt/).  Students and teachers are encouraged to use and share the programmes to facilitate understanding, learning and achievement in Physics.

Digital Art Exhibition and Competition

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The Directorate for Learning and Assessment Programmes would like to invite students from all year groups at state and non-state schools to participate in a Digital Art Exhibition and Competition. Class teachers (at Primary level) and Art teachers, Media Literacy teachers and Information Technology teachers (at Secondary level) are encouraged to collaborate and guide students’ participation by choosing ONE of the below as a starting point to develop a digital artwork:

  • Infinity
  • Emotions
  • Colours
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