Literacy News Updates

News Item No.1

The Literacy Unit is running a series of  Family Literacy Programmes.  The first Programme was launched on Tuesday 16th May at the Senglea (Isla) Primary School.  This will run throughoutMay, June and July.  The sessions are being held with 13 parents and a number of grandparents and a number of children. The intention is to help parents and other relatives to be in a better position to help the literacy development of their children.  Most of the sessions for the parents and the children are being held parallel to each other, but a number of sessions will involve both parents and children together, working alongside each other.  These Family Literacy Programmes are being co-ordinated by Josephine Milton and Charles Mifsud.  The team of tutors is comprised of a number of BEd and MEd students.  Ms Josephine Milton has very ably trained this team in the
last few weeks.  This project is a follow-up to a successful adult education project conducted by our colleagues of the Adult Education Programme: Dr Peter Mayo and Dr Carmel Borg in Senglea last year.  The parents had insisted that they would like to have specific training in how to assist the literacy and English Language development of their children.

News Item No. 2

The Literacy Unit has finalised two technical reports as a follow-up to the Malta National Literacy Survey Report published earlier on this year.

These are:

  • Report on Using the Year 2 Reading Attainment Study as a Basis for a 'School Effectiveness" or 'Value Added' Study.
  • Prediction of Reading Attainment at Age Seven without a Baseline Pretest.

    • Both reports are co-authored by Charles Mifsud and Josephine Milton of the Literacy Unit and Dougal Hutchinson and Greg Brooks of the NFER, UK.