1. In which school years will new syllabi using learning outcomes be implemented in 2019-2020?
2. Are these new syllabi using learning outcomes available online?
3. In which years has the Half-Yearly examination been replaced by Continuous Assessment?
4. Will the Annual Examinations change?
5. Will Science be introduced as a core subject in the Primary Years?
6. Will students and parents receive feedback reports about the students' progress during the scholastic year?
7. How will the annual mark of each subject be compiled in Years 4 to 9?
8. What is meant by formative assessment, continuous assessment and summative assessment?
9. Will support and training be provided for the educators to introduce the new syllabi using learning outcomes and the new continuous assessment system?
10. Which are the new vocational SEC and SEAC subjects being introduced in the next scholastic year?
11. Which forms of continuous assessment are being encouraged to take place during learning?
12. Will parents be informed about these changes to the education system?
13.
Will the Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) system change in the coming years to reflect the changes being introduced in schools?
14. Where can I give / obtain further feedback or launch a complaint?
15. The Learning Outcomes for Early Years promote an emergent curriculum. Does this mean that all the prepared work of previous years conducted by the KGEs is irrelevant?
The new syllabi using
learning outcomes will be introduced/ continue to be implemented in Kinder 1 and 2, Years 3 and 4 and Year 7 (Form 1) and Year 8 (Form 2). The introduction of new syllabi will continue
year by year in the subsequent scholastic years.
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| In 2019-2020, the Half-Yearly examinations will be replaced by
continuous assessment in Years 4, 5, 6 in the Primary and Years 7 and 8 (Form 1
and 2) and Year 9 (Form 3). At this
time the Half-Yearly examinations will be kept in Years 10 and 11 (Forms
4 and 5).
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No, Annual Examinations
will continue to be administered by the Educational Assessment Unit. In state schools, annual examinations are
prepared at a national level, by the Education Officers and Heads of Department
of each subject. The Annual exams will
continue in the same way as they are today.
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Yes, Science will be
gradually introduced as a core subject in the Primary Years, together with
Maltese, English and Mathematics. An
assessment made up of continuous and summative assessment in Science has been
introduced in 2017-2018 in Years 4, 5 and 6.
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Yes, with the
introduction of the new syllabi using learning outcomes, students and parents will receive information
about the student’s progress in all subjects.
This reporting will be received at the end of each term for core
subjects and once a year for the remaining subjects. The reporting system will report the level of
achievement of a limited list of learning outcomes per subject, per student. It will indicate the progress achieved by the
student during the term/year. Parents/ Guardians and students can access the MySchool information system using their eID.
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The annual mark of each
subject in Years 4 to 9 will be a single mark, out of 100, made up of a
percentage of continuous assessment and a percentage of summative annual
examination paper mark.
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Formative assessment is
part of every lesson when teacher and students interact verbally or through
assigned tasks and teacher provides feedback in the form of scaffolding
instructions to improve learning.
Continuous assessment occurs
several times over a period using different forms of assessment. Judgement results in a level of achievement
of a criterion and/or a mark/grade.
Summative assessment
occurs at the end of the learning period, to evaluate the students’ learning
through a mark/grade. The mark/grade may
be used to compare against some standard or benchmark.
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Yes, training and
support is being provided to educators through face-to-face training sessions,
throughout the year. This training is being organized by the
Education Officers and Heads of Department of the respective subjects. Further support will be provided to all
educators through face-to-face training,
in-class support by the Heads of Department of Assessment for Learning, and by
the Education Officers and Heads of Department in the respective schools and
colleges. Online resources are also
available for all subjects, as indicated by the respective Education Officers. Phase sessions in various aspects of pedagogy
and curriculum are organized throughout the year by the Institute for Education
(https://instituteforeducation.gov.mt)
for educators.
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As from 2019-2020, the following Vocational SEC subjects will be introduced in some of the state secondary schools - Media Literacy; Hairdressing and Beauty; Fashion and Textiles and Retail. All vocational subjects will also be offered as SEAC subjects. All vocational subjects (SEC and SEAC) will have a final certificate of accomplishment, set up by the MATSEC board of studies.
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Continuous assessment
can take various forms. It is encouraged
that educators use a diversity of assessment modes as part of the teaching and
learning process. Students will have the
opportunity to express what has been learned in different formats. Presentation, project, field work,
experiment, quiz, test, essay, multiple choice, report, oral, journal,
portfolio, self-assessment, peer assessment, group assessment, concept maps,
special HW, are some of the most common forms of continuous assessment used by
educators. These forms of assessment
provide an opportunity for students to develop competence in being critical,
analytical, entrepreneurship, collaborative, adaptive, leadership, persistent,
creative, together with other forms of 21st century skills (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/03/21st-century-skills-future-jobs-students/).
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Yes, parents/ guardians will be
invited to attend information seminars to be held in schools and colleges, in
the coming weeks and months. Parents can
also ask the School Senior Management Team and/or the College Principal for
clarifications and further information.
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Yes, the SEC
examinations in all subjects will complement the changes being introduced in
schools. As from 2020-2021, all subject SEC examinations
will include School Based Assessment in the form of continuous assessment tasks
which will be conducted in Years 9, 10 and 11 as a percentage mark of the
summative written examination at the end of Year 11. Further details of this important
change will be communicated to all stakeholders. Training and support to educators will be
undertaken during next scholastic year.
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A
helpdesk email address has been created to receive queries related to the
introduction of the new syllabi using learning outcomes as well as the new assessment
system. Queries can be sent to the
following email address: dg.dcle.mede@gov.mt
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| Surely not. “An
emergent curriculum is one which promotes interactive learning processes where
investigations, discussions and active learning are at the core of pedagogy and
where reflective practice is promoted. In the local scenario, early years
educators are encouraged to draw on different pedagogies to support and develop
young learners’ competencies while tapping into those pedagogies that instil
positive learning dispositions that ‘speak the language of learning’. By
extending children’s interest and targeting a holistic approach within a
consistently stimulating environment, reflective educators can freely observe
and positively discuss the next step that scaffolds learning. Access to
challenging and engaging teaching and learning experiences will ensure progress
regardless of the children’s age and stage of development” LAP document Early
Years Pg 30.
Children learn through an active process of exploring their
world, exchanging ideas and learning from and with each other. They learn when
they have opportunities to actively participate, explore and question. Thus all
KGEs planning, carried out in the past years, that respects learners’
creativity, their inquisitiveness, their interests and needs and which thus
place the young learners at the centre of this learning journey is relevant and
will continue to be used.
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Updated 1st July 2019