The past scholastic year was characterised by unprecedented challenges for local schools. The adverse situation brought about by the pandemic required schools to be creative in coming up with solutions in order to provide a quality education to all students under their responsibility.
Within this scenario, Senglea Primary school embarked on a project that worked in parallel with the school’s goals of helping pupils become responsible individuals while addressing a cross-curricular approach. An emphasis is made on the success criteria, wherein educators work on a growth mindset so that all pupils become more engaged and motivated.
The school strives to provide pupils with their entitlement to personalised support according to their needs, thus offering every individual equal possibilities of success. ‘Equity for equality’ is indeed a good motto to describe the philosophy underpinning the framework at Senglea Primary school.
Last January, the senior leadership team (SLT) at Senglea Primary, following discussions with Colin Calleja, who heads the Department of Inclusion and Access to Learning at the University of Malta’s Faculty of Education and coordinates the National Let Me Learn (LML) Centre, explored the possibility of collaborating. The common goal would be to encourage children to make sense of the world around them through strategies aimed at reducing barriers to learning.
Discussions and consultations with both teams led to the coordination and planning of a programme targeting pupils between Grades 3 and 6. This was followed by assessments and the identification of pupils who would benefit most from attending these sessions.
Every week, over 20 pupils had the opportunity to participate in individual online sessions with a LML educator, focusing on Maltese reading and writing, maths and English reading and writing, using the LML process. The assistance of educators from the school throughout the sessions was vital. In fact, educators who were present for the sessions provided continuous support to pupils not only during but also in-between sessions.
The project focused on the provision of equity rather than equality, thus giving participants additional impetus towards achieving their learning outcomes
Constant communication, feedback and collaboration between the LML educators and the SLT was a dominant factor that led to the success of this project. This was essential in order to devise a tailor-made learning path targeting the needs of each learner based on his or her learning profile.
Parents and guardians were roped into this process as important stakeholders in the education of their children. During the schools’ lockdown in March, this project could still be continued from children’s homes, with the additional benefit of directly involving parents and guardians in the process. Encouraging parents to actively engage in these sessions was a positive influence in understanding the learning process.
In spite of the many shortcomings of online learning, some parents commented that being present for the online sessions provided them with insights on how to further support their children in their learning process. Parents’ comments included: “Thanks for your help. My daughter has done a lot of progress”, “Thanks a lot because my son made a lot of improvement in reading”, and “A change in Maltese. My son is more capable of understanding, reading and writing in Maltese”.
As educators, we should always recognise the importance of understanding the learner. The LML process stems from the idea that every learner owns a unique learning ‘fingerprint’, and therefore, awareness of the learners’ profile is vital in providing a learner-centred approach. This is also a process that stimulates metacognitive thought, as well as encourages the use of learning strategies.
The project involving the LML process at Senglea Primary aimed at providing personalised support to learners while respecting and working in accordance with their learning profiles. The project focused on the provision of equity rather than equality, thus giving participants additional impetus towards achieving their learning outcomes. The personalised support given to pupils resulted in an evident rise in self-esteem and increased motivation.
When the children were asked to give their perception on the lessons they were receiving, the feedback showed that this was an extremely postive experience for them.
This process was vital to empower each pupil to achieve their educational goal through prompt feedback while encouraging active learning. We can only truly succeed if we make education work for every single one of them without leaving anybody behind. This is the goal that Senglea Primary and the LML Centre will continue to work towards in their future collaboration.
Anna Napier is head and Josette Debono Dalli is assistant head of Senglea Primary school.