Tag Archives: National Literacy Agency

Soul Speak – Writing, Reading and Reflection

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The National Literacy Agency, in collaboration with Spiritual Development in Schools, is organising four sessions of writing, reading and reflection in a new programme entitled ‘Soul Speak’ for primary children from Year 4 till Year 6 (8-10 year olds).

These sessions are an excellent opportunity for children to train in the Writing Process through imaginative and reflective activities which help children to pray in a creative way. Throughout these sessions, the children will be provided with resources in both English and Maltese to help them express themselves in their preferred language. Age-appropriate level in both English and Maltese is expected from applicants.

At the end of the programme, an exhibition of the childrens’ work will be organised and a celebration activity where a certificate is awarded to those who attend and participate in all four sessions.

Applications will be accepted until Friday 29th April 2022. If the activity is oversubscribed, applications will be processed on a first come, first served basis.

Payment should be made by cheque payable to the National Literacy Agency and should be sent together with reference to the applicant’s details as per the application link to The National Literacy Agency, National Curriculum Centre, Joseph Abela Scolaro Street, Ħamrun ĦMR 1304 by the closing date.

For further information email us on mwp.nla@ilearn.edu.mt or call Mr Samuel Galea on 2598 2997.

Artificial Intelligence in Education – Pilot Project for Schools

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The National Literacy Agency has teamed up with the Centre for Literacy of the University of Malta and the Malta Digital Innovation Agency to run a project using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education. The project: AI puppets for Literacy Education is in line with the National Strategy and Vision for AI in Malta 2030.  The main purpose of this project is to develop and promote AI in education projects with children (8 to 10 year-olds), educators and parents.

The project seeks to demonstrate what is within the realm of possibilities using AI during the Gost il-Qari/Reading for Pleasure programme.  A number of learning scenarios for the use of AI Puppets during shared reading sessions have been planned and developed.  Mini-computers called microbits and laptops are being used to demonstrate machine learning. The project, which includes language and literacy tasks and games involving speech and text recognition, is being piloted at the Hamrun GP primary school.

Workshop on Language Development of Babies and Toddlers in a Bilingual Context

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The National Literacy Agency is organising workshops for childcare centre managers, educators and carers entitled: Language development of babies and toddlers in a bilingual context. These workshops will be held online via MS Teams. The workshops will be dealing with the following topics:

  1. Promoting bilingualism in the childcare centre by Dr Lara Ann Vella on 8th March 2022, from 16:00 to 17:00;
  2. The development of emergent literacy skills in Maltese and English by Ms Miriam Schembri on 15th March 2022, from 16:00 to 17:00.

Participants are to fill in the online form to book their sessions by clicking on this link:
https://forms.office.com/r/PT4sYg2FEc

An invitation to attend these sessions will be sent the day before each session. Participants who take part in these workshops will be presented with a certificate of participation.


For further information, please send an email to Dr Lara Ann Vella on lara.ann.vella@ilearn.edu.mt or call on
25983328.
Thank you for your attention.
Sandra Ebejer
Director,
Directorate for Learning and Assessment Programmes

Raddiena Kliem

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In the coming weeks, the National Literacy Agency will be organising again the on-line spelling game in Maltese, Raddiena Kliem. This activity aims at encouraging and helping our students to spell better in Maltese. Due to the present COVID-19 restrictions, this activity will take place virtually via MS Teams. This activity will be offered to Year 5 and Year 6 students. It will be held during Maltese lessons and will last about one hour-.

Heads of Primary Schools are hereby invited to encourage their teachers to participate in this activity together with their students. The Primary Schools that are interested in participating in Raddiena Kliem are kindly asked to send an email to Ms Nicolette Borg on the following email address nicolina.borg@ilearn.edu.mt or else phone on 25983312 by not later than Monday 28thFebruary 2022.

Read me a Book – Aqrali Ktieb

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​The National Literacy Agency has launched a virtual video library ‘Aqrali Ktieb/Read me a Book’.  The library offers a range of recorded Reading for Pleasure sessions for children aged 0 to 11 years. These sessions were produced in English and Maltese by the reading animators of the Agency.

Educators and parents may borrow up to two recorded sessions, one in Maltese and another one in English every day. These clips, which will be pro​vided free of charge, will be time-barred for a limited period of circa 3 hours.  Applicants may choose the video clips from the below catalogues. 

To borrow a video clip kindly send email to kurt.lee.azzopardi.2@ilearn.edu.mt.  Please provide the following information:  
          
Title of video clip;             
Age of child (0-3, 3-7, 7-11);​             
Date and Time for viewing (Monday to Friday 9:00, 12:30, 4:00p.m or 7:00p.m, Saturday 9:00am or 12:00pm). ​

A link and password will be provided through email by Mr Kurt Azzopardi, tel.no 2598 2997.​​​

Click on the following links in order to access the catalogues with the available books:

0-3 Aqrali Ktieb – Read me a Book Catalogue updated 05-11-2021.pdf
4-7 Aqrali Ktieb – Read me a Book Catalogue updated 05-11-2021.pdf
7-11 Aqrali Ktieb – Read me a Book Catalogue updated 05-11-2021.pdf

Reading Recovery Programme – Malta

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This scholastic year, the National Literacy Agency (NLA), in collaboration with University College London (UCL), is implementing Reading Recovery in state primary schools in Malta and Gozo.

Reading Recovery is a literacy intervention programme in English, based on twelve to twenty weeks of instruction, designed to meet the needs of children who have the lowest achievement in literacy learning within a specific 6-month age range in Year 2. Children are taught individually, by a specially trained teacher, for 30 minutes each day. The goal of Reading Recovery is for children to develop effective reading and writing strategies to be able to work within the average range of classroom performance.

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Online Family Writing Activity – Ġgantija Temples

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This year, the National Literacy Agency will be organising again free of charge Family Writing activities, in Maltese and English, for children and their families. These activities offer families a positive experience of the writing process in a fun and relaxed setting. In the present circumstances, the National Literacy Agency, in collaboration with Heritage Malta, is organising an online Family Writing Activity about the ‘Ġgantija Temples’. This online event will be delivered in Maltese.

Families who wish to participate are to apply as follows:

Families who wish to participate in this activity are asked to fill in an online form, by clicking on the link provided above, by not later than Friday 21st January 2022. Applications will be processed on a first come first served basis.

For more information about this activity, kindly contact us on 2598 2997 or by email to mwp.nla@ilearn.edu.mt

Seven Reading Recovery Teachers Graduate with MA from the University College London

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The National Literacy Agency congratulates the seven Reading Recovery teacher leaders Anna Vassallo, Doreen Scerri, Eleanor Vella, Janet Maria Cristina, Roberta Galea, Rosanne Delceppo, and Rosanne Talbot, on their graduation which was organised virtually by UCL (University College London).

Reading Recovery is an evidence-based early intervention for children who are not getting underway with reading and writing after one year in school. Most children catch up to age-expected levels in a short period of time and no longer need extra help. Reading Recovery teacher leaders receive a high level of training (at Masters level) about literacy learning and teaching of young children. Under the aegis of the Agency, they train prospective Reading Recovery teachers.

Read me a Book – Recorded Reading for Pleasure for Children Aged 0-9

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The virtual video library of the ‘Read me a Book/Aqrali Ktieb’ programme of the National Literacy Agency offers recorded Reading for Pleasure sessions for children aged 0 to 11 years. These sessions are produced in English and Maltese by the reading animators of the Agency. The virtual library of the Agency is accessible to all educators and parents. Applicants may borrow up to two recorded sessions, one in Maltese and another one in English, every day. These clips, which will be provided free of charge, will be time-barred for a limited period (circa 3 hours).

Parents may choose the clips from the catalogues which can be found at: https://education.gov.mt/en/nationalliteracyagency/Pages/Resources/Lets-Read-Together.aspx. To borrow a video clip kindly send an email to kurt.lee.azzopardi.2@ilearn.edu.mt and please provide the following information:

•Title of video clip;

•Age of child (0-3, 3-7 or 7-11);

•Date and Time for viewing.

The viewing times are as follows: Monday to Friday: 9:00 a.m., 12:30 a.m., 4:00 p.m. or 7:00 p.m. Saturday: 9:00 a.m. or 12:00 p.m. A link and password will be provided through email by Mr Kurt Azzopardi. For more information please call 2598 2994.