• The Department of Assessment together with subject Heads of Department within the Secretariat for Catholic Education, and all educators at St. Elias College, St. Francis School, and St. Albert the Great College, came together to discuss and share practices of how ‘Assessment for Learning’ can be implemented in their teaching.

  • Hosted at St. Elias College, a group of over 150 educators from all three secondary schools attended a session conducted by Ms. Joanne Grima (E.O. Assessment for Learning). Ms J. Grima spoke about Assessment for Learning in general, the importance of effective questioning, and formative feedback provided to students; feedback that scaffolds them to the next step in their learning.

    Research shows that schools adopting Assessment for Learning, or Formative Assessment, as it is also referred to, have improved a great deal in upgrading students’ motivation and sustaining interest in learning. Teachers implementing AfL strategies help students to develop critical thinking and independence in learning. Such skills would consequently promote lifelong learning, which is undoubtedly one of our current necessities for success in life.

    • This session was followed by workshops catering for all subject areas taught at secondary level. Subject Head of Departments teamed up to coordinate these workshops, with educators from the three schools and actively engaged themselves in practices to implement these strategies. Getting the three schools together was a first time initiative from the Secretariat for Catholic Education: an experience which was very much welcomed by all teachers, since this gave them the opportunity to share and discuss good practices and daily concerns which they encounter in their profession.

  • Although many teachers would very much like to adopt AfL techniques in their teaching practices, they are also rather concerned with their subject syllabus. The always and ever question of covering a subject content in a stipulated time frame – a much debateable issue which has been and still is a stress related factor in a teacher’s life. Acknowledging this reality, Assessment for Learning is a long process, and not a one-time event, which provides ample time for teacher and students to implant the strategies involved. Only thus can real changes in learning and teaching be implemented and henceforth, improvement recorded.

    The Secretariat strongly and actively encourages Church Schools to work collaboratively together by making the utmost use of the building capacity across the church school sector. Only through such collaborative practices would it be possible to create learning communities so much needed for fostering positive attitudes towards learning and teaching. This venture would never have been possible without the constant support of our Director, Dr Rose Anne Cuschieri, and Mr Stephen Spiteri, Service Manager for Student Services. Of utmost importance were also the subject HoDs and the respective Heads of Schools. Last but not least, all educators of the three schools, who were open to this experience and who have already expressed their wish for similar future collegial endeavours.