End of Primary Benchmark 2023 – Timetable for First Session
Monthly Archives: November 2022
The National Theatre Schools Programme
DECEMBER 2022
Monday 5th, Tuesday 6th, Wednesday 7th, Friday 9th at 930am & 11am: Carols at Christmas–A theatrical romp with Carols, three Carols to be precise. Meet Carol Kanzunetta, Carol Żfin & Carol Drammatiku. All three Carols are competing for the solo in the TOI TOI sell out Christmas Show for young audiences. A participatory event with singing, movement and laughs. Ideal for Primary School children, suitable for all ages. 40 minutes duration.
FEBRUARY 2023
Thursday 16th & Friday 17th at 10am & 12 noon: Macbeth for Schools –Director Stephen Oliver’s TOI TOI adaptation of the Scottish play, a Main Stage production designed for Secondary schools, specifically as an introduction to Shakespeare targeting Years 7 & 8, (11-13 years old). Duration 85 minutes.
MARCH 2023
Thursday 2nd & Friday 3rd at 9.30am & 11am. MEET CUTE–A TOI TOI Jukebox Musical, an introduction to New Musical Theatre written and Directed by Petra Sant with music chosen from an array of current musicals on the West End and Broadway featured throughout this unconventional RomCom. Suitable for Primary and Secondary School age children, specifically 8-13 years. Duration 40 minutes
TOI TOI tickets are capped at €6 per school child, teachers tickets are free of charge. For all queries teachers should email education@teatrumanoel.mt or to make a booking bookings.mt@teatrumanoel.mt. We hope to welcome back a lot of children this year and to introduce the magic of live theatre education into their learning.
Webinar: Outdoor Learning Benefits & Challenges
Presenter: Sabina Sixsmith
Date: Thursday, December 15th 2022, (Online) 6-7.30pm
Outdoor Learning gives children the opportunity to learn through a hands-on approach where they can enquire and experiment. It creates a safe, non-judgmental nurturing environment to give children a chance to engage in activities and take risks. This session will help educators understand the benefits of outdoor learning, as well as discuss the challenges, thus inspiring deep and meaningful connections to the world and an understanding of how a child fits within it. Outdoor Learning offers children opportunities in a natural environment that allow for a holistic view of the child, as the educator focuses on all aspects to contribute to the various abilities.
If you are interested in joining this online session, please register through our website: https://ecdam.org to reserve a place. The Zoom link will be sent to you a couple of hours before the session starts. Only individuals registered will be sent the link and assigned an attendance ticket to count for the issue of the CPD hours certificate
German Event 2022-2023
The Directorate for Learning and Assessment Programmes in collaboration with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Austrian Embassy, is organising a German activity about notable people from the German Speaking World: Made in DACH.
Who may participate?
•Students in Year 6
•Students in Year 8 who do not learn German at school
•Students learning German in Year 7, Year 8, Year 9 andYear 10
This is a great opportunity for our students to explore the world of famous people from German Speaking Countries and find creative ways to describe them. All participants will get a certificate of participation and a pack of resources will be given to all schools during an official ceremony at St Ignatius College Middle School, Qormi on Tuesday 31st January 2023. Schools (Primary and Secondary) with most entries will get an extra pack of resources. Interested teachers are kindly requested to send the students` videos, photos or presentations by Friday 16th December 2023 to Ms. Erica Kawka Armeni on erica.kawka.armeni@ilearn.edu.mt. Collaborative work is also encouraged. Participants will get the opportunity to showcase their work during the ceremony. For further information please either access the following link: https://education.gov.mt/en/foreignlanguages/german/Pages/Main.aspx or contact Ms. Erica Kawka Armeni on erica.kawka.armeni@ilearn.edu.mt.
Magic of Stories/Seħer l-Istejjer and Pleasure of Reading/Gost il-Qari Programmes in Schools
During the current scholastic year 2022-2023, the National Literacy Agency is organising reading for pleasure sessions through the programmes ‘The Magic of Stories/Seħer l-Istejjer’ for Kinder to Year 2 classes and ‘Pleasure of Reading/Gost-il-Qari’ for Year 3 to Year 6 classes. At present 43 primary schools in Malta and 9 primary schools in Gozo are hosting these programmes.
Each reading session features the sharing of stories from books as well as other interactive activities animated in such a way that stimulate the children’s interest and imagination. These stories and the corresponding activities help the children to interpret, discuss and analyse stories in a critical way. Reading sessions are held in Maltese and in English.
Policy on the Use of Social Media in the Public Service
The Policy on the Use of Social Media in the Public Service which was issued in terms of OPM Circular 21/2015 has been revised and may be accessed from the following link.
The aim of the policy is to provide guidance on the proper use of social media by individuals,
both for official purposes and for personal use, whilst ensuring that such communication does not degrade, degenerate or in any way jeopardize the reputation of the Public Service. The policy is applicable to Public Officers or any other Public Employee or person on a position of trust performing Public Service duties; persons forming part of Boards and/or Committees addressing Public Service exigencies, working on a full-time/part-time, temporary/back-to-back, or on an apprenticeship basis, including student workers; as well as any individual who is authorized in writing by the Permanent Secretary or Head responsible at Law, as applicable, to engage in social media for official use
Thematic STEM Debate for Primary Schools
The Science Centre (Pembroke) within the Directorate for Learning and Assessment Programmes is launching the 4th edition of the Thematic STEM Debate within Primary Schools. The aim of this initiative is to engage students to become active critical thinkers and skilled debaters. Through active participation in the debate, students will:
•Examine ideas, reports, audio-visual material and policies;
•Verify the value of evidence for concepts;
•Recognize strengths and weaknesses of arguments;
•Engage with opposing views and speak strategically.
This year’s Thematic STEM debate for the primary sector will focus on Space Exploration. In preparation for the Thematic STEM debate, student participants together with their mentors are requested to carefully read and analyse the document ‘Space Exploration: Is it worth the investment?’. The document, which includes related audio-visual resources and links for further research/reading can be accessed through the Primary Science website under the section Thematic STEM Debate. The following criteria will be used by a team of professionals to adjudicate the debate:
•organization and clarity –main arguments and responses presented in a clear/orderly way;
•use of argument –response given to support the arguments;
•use of cross-examination and rebuttal –identification of weaknesses in other’s arguments and ability to defend own arguments;
•presentation style –tone of voice, clarity of expression, precision of arguments.
The Thematic STEM Debate will be held on Wednesday 25th January 2023 from 10.00 am to noon at St Clare College, St Julians Primary School. The full programme of events can be downloaded HERE. Each school can nominate one Year 6 student by accessing the registration LINK by Friday, 16thDecember 2022. Registrations are on a first come first served basis. Kindly note that travel to and from the venue should be coordinated by the participating school. Three participants will be presented the Top Debater Award. Winners will be announced towards the end of the debate. Certificates of participation will be presented to all students while winners will be awarded a set of Wireless Headphones each, sponsored by the HSBC Malta Foundation.
Any queries can be put forward to Mr Christopher Buttigieg, Head of Department, Primary Science on christopher-john.buttigieg@ilearn.edu.mt.
Scientix Webinar
Scientix (the largest community for science education in Europe http://www.scientix.eu/home) Malta will be organizing a webinar for educators regarding animal welfare and the three R’s (refinement, reduction, replacement) . The webinar may be of interest to educators teaching early years, primary, middle and secondary school who would like to learn more about how to communicate values and knowledge related to animal welfare and the three R’s. The three R’s are principles which need to be respected by scientists and researchers conducting testing which may involve the use of animals. Further information about this European project may be found here: http://www.scientix.eu/pilots/pilot-3rs
The webinar will explore both principles related to this subject as well as various resources available on the Scientix platform. The webinar is going to be delivered by Alexia Micallef Gatt, an ambassador for Scientix in Malta who has worked on this project with Scientix as a Pilot and Lead Teacher. For more information you may contact Alexia on alexia.micallefgatt@gmail.com.
Registration and application
The webinar is going to take place on the MS Teams platform on the 5th of December between 4.00pm and 5.30pm. Registration can be completed by submitting this form: https://forms.gle/WvXmyqitXyftv7YX9
Attivita’ Għall-Istrina fil-Kulleġġ San Nikola
Is-Sinjura Miriam Vella ħadet ħafna gost tiltaqa’ mal-istudenti mill-iskejjel ta’ Ħad-Dingli, l-Imġarr u l-Imtarfa li bi kburija kbira bdew jirrakkuntawlha kif qed iwarrbu xi ħaġa fil-ġimgħa biex jitfgħuha fil-karus tal-Istrina #BOV Piggy Bank Campaign. Hija ħeġġet lit-tfal kollha biex huma wkoll jaħsbu fi tfal u familji oħrajn li tant għandhom bżonn l-għajnuna ta’ The Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation. Ritratti ta’ tufigno.com.
Mrs Miriam Vella thoroughly enjoyed meeting students from the schools of Dingli, Mġarr and Mtarfa who with great pride told her that they are saving a little money every week to put in the piggy bank of the l-Istrina #BOV Piggy Bank Campaign. She encouraged all children to also think of other children and families who really need the help of The Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation. Photos by tufigno.com.
Webinar: Supporting Students To Plan Their Learning Journey
The MFHEA is organising this webinar as part of the European Qualifications Framework National Coordination Point Malta 2021 – 2023 Project. The webinar will be presented by Dr Carlos Grima, the expert responsible for preparing the Lesson Plan on the MQF. In light of this, anyone related to guidance and supporting students is invited to attend this online webinar on Wednesday 7th December 2022 from 4.00pm till 5.00pm. PSCD teachers are particularly encouraged to attend due to their role in career learning and development.
Location: Online on Microsoft Teams. For further information kindly contact us on mqf@mfhea.mt. Registration can be done here. See draft: Agenda.
St.Nicholas College Malta 
