The recent merger of St Aloysius' College, Birkirkara, and Stella Maris School, Balzan, has led to the abolishment of entrance requirements for pupils from the school to proceed to secondary education at the college. This is in line with the Ministry of Education's recent recommendations regarding the transition from primary to secondary education.
Both schools have over the past year taken up the challenge of responding to the various issues arising from their recent merger. They have been working closely to help prepare pupils transfer smoothly and successfully from the primary to the secondary sector. The history of each child's education in the primary years is being reviewed in order to offer pupils with diverse needs an appropriate and individual educational programme in secondary school.
Another initiative that the college took is to give its primary and secondary staff the opportunity to get together and discuss issues and areas where the college still needs to develop. Through consultation with its staff, the college has identified several areas where practical knowledge is still required to promote pupils' potential. These include cooperative teaching, differentiating the curriculum, assessing formatively together with summative assessment.
The college decided it should share this experience with other professionals in the field of education by organising a national conference entitled 'Promoting Potential', at the New Dolmen Hotel on February 19, 20 and 21. With the support of the Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education, the conference has been opened up to all schools - State, Church and independent, and to any other bodies or individuals with an interest in education.
Dr Gavin Reid, a consultant to the Centre for Child Evaluation and Teaching in Kuwait, is one of the keynote speakers. Dr Reid will speak about planning for effective teaching according to pupils' own learning styles. He will be providing insights on the use of different learning styles in teaching.
He will also be leading two workshops where both assessment and differentiation will be referred to. He will be presenting what he terms as the five signposts for inclusion, the key factors in motivation, and issues of assessment and learning.
Certified linguist Eleanor May Brenneker will also be tackling learning styles from a different perspective through two workshops, one of which is a light-hearted and very entertaining session which introduces educational kinesiology, or brain gym.
Another international keynote speaker is Dr Steve Chinn, who currently runs training courses for teachers in the UK. Dr Chinn will be addressing the issue of learning difficulties across the curriculum. He is also leading two workshops specialising in developmental maths for secondary school students.
The subject of dyscalculia has not been delved into deeply in Malta, and by way of response, two workshops are being held on the subject by Jane Emerson, who is specialised in Maths and runs her own centre that offers teacher training courses in Maths.
Various Maltese professionals have also been invited to give their contribution on related topics. To cover the vast subject of promoting potential, these professionals will be relating their fields of study and expertise through a series of workshops and by presenting their recent research findings.
The Education Ministry's September report regarding the transition from primary to secondary education had also recommended that all types of schools need to provide a quality education for all, which cater for each pupil's style of learning.
The ethos of both St Aloysius' College and Stella Maris School is based on the same foundation, that of providing an education of the highest quality by helping each child develop holistically whatever his or her potential. Each student is helped to achieve a balanced and well-formed personality so that the spiritual, moral, intellectual, social, affective, aesthetic and physical dimensions are integrated in a harmonious whole.
The characteristic of a Jesuit education is that education is a preparation for life, so success is not measured in the academic performance of students or professional competence of teachers, but in terms of the quality of that life.
Students are encouraged to distinguish themselves by their ability to work together, by the sensitivity they show towards one another and by their commitment to being of service to others through the use of their many talents.
To this end, the aim of St Aloysius' College is to offer a child-centered education, starting from the early years, where pupils develop and accomplish objectives at a pace suited to their individual ability, character or personality.
In a Jesuit school, in order to achieve these objectives efficiently, it is important to adapt the means and methods through school policies and practice. This reflects the Ignatian pedagogical paradigm, which encourages reflection on experience, followed by action and evaluation.
Through this ongoing evaluation of practice, both schools realised the importance of continuity in education.
On this journey of reflection, both schools found that the area of inclusion of children, regardless of their diversity, had been an issue for many years, and they embarked on drawing up a policy on inclusion. What did this mean for the primary and the secondary sector?
For the primary sector this meant recognising that not all children are orientated towards academic study and it is necessary to facilitate the needs of all, giving cura personalis (individual care).
This includes implementing individual educational programmes and the initiation of an in-house structured, multi-sensory learning programme for children with dyslexia.
In the secondary sector, a need was also felt for a support unit to help children who, for many different reasons, require individual care, so individual educational programmes have similarly been set up.
To receive the programme and other details on the 'Promoting Potential' conference, send an e-mail to info@saintaloysius.edu.mt.
The authors are inclusive education coordinators at St Aloysius' College junior and senior school, Birkirkara.