Best Language Practice of the Year Award 2003

The European Year of Languages (EYL), organised by the European Union and the Council of Europe in 2001, generated a lot of enthusiasm about language teaching and learning. Forty-five European countries participated, including Malta. But this was not a one-off occasion.

Viviane Reding, European Commissioner responsible for Education and Culture, insists that the European Year of Languages should serve as a platform on which to build in years to come. Indeed, thanks to the EYL, languages and language learning have a higher profile in Europe than ever before.

As a result, September 26 of every year has been declared the European Day of Languages. The idea is to continue to celebrate and share good practice on a local and European level.

The Language Development Focus Group in conjunction with the National Curriculum Council, true to their mission of disseminating good practice, came up with the idea of creating a language award which would celebrate good language practice in general and reward the school with the best language practice of the year. More than fierce competition, the rationale behind this award is to celebrate good practice, to sharpen inquiry, share visions, collaborate and positively infect one another.

The competition was open to all schools in Malta and Gozo, from kindergarten to secondary level. Seven schools took part: two Church schools: one primary, and one primary and secondary; and five government schools: three primary and two Area Secondary Schools.

The seven participating schools were asked to send a detailed write-up of their language project. The schools were in turn then visited by members of the panel. Materials produced by teachers and learners was also sent to the adjudicating panel. The projects were judged on their presentation, their organisation at school level, the teachers' and learners' contribution, the knowledge, skills and attitudes the projects managed to generate, their link to the SDP and NMC, their originality, creativity and transferability.

Originally, three prizes were to be awarded. But given the high standard of the projects presented, it was also decided to give a number of special prizes for especially good practices.

In fact three special prizes were awarded: the first to Lily of the Valley GSS for innovative approaches in language teaching and learning: as part of the project, the school set up a radio station which is managed by the students themselves; the second prize went to St Monica School, Gzira, for their whole-school approach to language learning: of particular interest was the initial phase of the project which targeted teacher training and a final stage of overall assessment; the third special prize was awarded to Dun Karm Sant Primary School, Tarxien, for the professional, high-quality production of materials by teachers and learners working in tandem.

And now we come to the first, second and third overall prizes. The third prize was shared by two schools: Nadur Primary Government School and St Benedict Government Primary School, Kirkop. Nadur Primary School presented an English literacy project which was very well organised in all its stages. The school used a thematic approach and the work was very well monitored and progress very professionally recorded. One could notice collaboration at all levels and close links to the whole Nadur and Gozitan community.

St Benedict Primary School participated with a project whose aim was to develop a literacy programme for parents of children in Year 2. The project was striking by the solid partnership it created between parents, teachers and pupils. Another characteristic of the project was the introduction of paired-reading which took place in the school library. In this healthy environment conducive to learning, parents and pupils joined forces to produce original story-books.

The second prize was awarded to St Joan Antide Primary School, Gudja, which participated with a bilingual project whose chief aim was to instil in learners a genuine love for reading. This project was striking in more ways than one: very good story-telling techniques, children's active participation at every stage, parents' involvement from the very start, ongoing evaluation by parents, organisation, teamwork, reflective approach adopted by all partners, links with the whole community as well as synergy and partnership with the local government primary school.

The first prize and the shield went to a Government Area Secondary Girls' School. The name of the project was Mixja Kreattiva. Its strongest asset was that it put the learners - a Form V class of so termed "underachievers" - at the very heart of the learning process. The idea was to exploit the Form V Maltese SEC syllabus in a way which made sense for the students. The bottom-up approach adopted helped to boost the learners' morale and self-esteem and to reinforce positively all the efforts undertaken by the students.

As in any true autonomy project, students and teachers became real partners. The result was a very neat booklet, nay a portfolio of creative writings, authored by the learners themselves. One could note that different styles of writing were used in line with the requirements of the Maltese SEC syllabus: these included personal profiles, dialogues, drama, as well as narrative, imaginative, reflexive and literary writings.

The proud winners of the first best practice national language award were Adelaide Cini GSS. A great prosit to the whole school and especially to these students who from "underachievers" became "overachievers" and worthy winners of the Best Language Practice of the Year Award 2003.

The prize-giving ceremony was held at the National Curriculum Centre, precincts of Maria Assumpta GSS, Hamrun. The prizes were presented by Charles Mizzi, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, assisted by Ray Camilleri, Director Curriculum Management and chairman of the National Curriculum Council, and Chev. Frank Gatt, co-ordinator of the Language Development Focus Group and o/c of the National Curriculum Centre.