Participation by the SMC Middle School in the Book Champion Schools award

St Margaret’s Middle School Cospicua is once again participating in this competition which has become one of the driving forces of the school.

This year is totally different due to the Covid-19 restrictions but we have tried our best to make the most of it and have even introduced new reading opportunities because of it.

So basically, students are coming to school and going directly to their classrooms where they wait for the first lesson with a supervisor. For this time we have come up with a scheme called “Reading Boost” in English and “Aqra u Stagħna” in Maltese, in which students who spend their time reading are signalled to us by the supervisors by means of an email, a message in Teams or verbally. Ms Farrugia (Maltese HOD) and myself (English HOD) keep record of the students who read the most in the 2 languages and at the end of the term, we choose the most avid readers and present them with book prizes. We gave out the first Term’s books during the Christmas Activities on the 21st December. The Head, Ms Elshout, is totally on board with this, constantly reminding both staff and students about this initiative and insisting that students should have a reading book in their satchel.

Moreover, when we proposed the above to Ms Elshout, she was the one who suggested organising a Drop Everything and Read Activity. I identified different times during different days of the week in which the school could do this. I tried to do it in such a way as to avoid lessons like Maths and Science and even lessons in which the students are not in their home-class. Sometimes it was impossible to do so but on the whole I came up with 10 different lesson times in which we could dedicate 10 minutes to reading, both students and staff. (It was inspiring for the students to see us adults read and I also took the opportunity to talk to my class about what I was reading when I happened to be involved in this activity.) The Head directs all the proceedings through Teams and the staff and the students stop the lesson and read. I am attaching the schedule of this activity as it appeared on our school calendar since we know about it in advance so as to take a book with us. This activity will also be held during the third term, God willing, and we shall use the times we used in the first term avoiding dates when there is the Council of Heads. Additionally, this activity also enabled Ms Elshout to hold Assemblies in which she encouraged reading and reminded students countless times about the Reading Stars competition.

So, our students are continuously being reminded and encouraged to bring a reading book with them to use when necessary. They also use this reading book during the first 15 minutes of Study lessons. This is an established practise at our school now. Teachers supervising encourage this time of reading before allowing students to do other works. Still, there are some students who do not have books with them on a regular basis. Before, we had introduced Reading Boxes with varied reading material but these cannot be used because of the Covid-19 regulations. To make up for this, myself and Ms Farrugia have supplied teachers with websites that have ebooks, books being read out, etc. The English one is called “11 Free Reading Websites for Kids” and the Maltese one is called “Ħoloq għal Kotba Moqrija bil-Malti” and both are attached at the end of this document. These are being used successfully by teachers with the CCP and weak classes and I had already sent you a photo of some students listening and watching a book being read out to them as these links had immediately been a hit!

Another thing worth noting, is that our school always participates in the countless initiatives organised by the National Literacy Agency. First and foremost, teachers of English and Maltese started off the year by sending on their classes’ Team, the Reading Stars Campaign 20-21, as well as explaining it in class. We have also used the mini posters on your website and created visuals around the school to act as reminders.

We have also shared your Facebook posts on our school Facebook page to make parents aware of it too! Moreover, teachers remind students about it from time to time. We have had some students participate in this, but to be honest not as many as we would want. That is why, when one of my students showed me a book that he had written and illustrated, I made a big deal out of it in front of the class and photocopied it and sent it to Mr David Muscat. I will also make a fuss about the token given to this student so that others will participate voluntarily.

We have also sent names of Year 7 readers every year to participate in the Reading Champions initiative. This year we are planning on giving the 3 winners their books during the 2 days of activities which will be organised before we break up for the Easter Holidays so that the head can call them in front of her office and we can make a celebration out of it during a school assembly on Teams of course! Such displays encourage students to follow by example. We are seeing this happen right now.

English and Maltese teachers also told their students about a competition organised in conjunction with the Special Olympics. We explained what students had to do, sent the circular on Teams and left it up to the students to participate or otherwise. Unfortunately, again the response was not so great, so when another competition came along, the World Book Day 2021, which perfectly matched one of our Learning Outcomes (I can participate creatively in activities based on literary texts I have read or listened to), we decided to tackle it differently. Ms Farrugia and I chose a Year each. I choose Year 7 and Ms Farrugia took Year 8. We told our teachers during the subject meetings and they in turn informed the students in class. Again we sent the circular on Teams for further reference. But this time, the competition was given as a homework task. It could very easily be combined with the readers we do in class but students were told that they could make an alternative cover for any book they chose.

Today, Friday 12th March was to be the unofficial deadline to enable us to collect more works from the students in the coming week, at least. Unfortunately, it is also the last day of physical lessons and so I have just given the school clerks the number of Book Covers (both in Maltese and English) that have followed the instructions issued by you. They will be posted later today.

Even during our English Lessons, we teachers give a lot of importance to books and reading. We have some established practices that I have introduced some years back in relation to the class libraries. One of these is a reading log (attached) which we sent on Teams and also as a hardcopy to those students who requested it. When it is filled in, the students get a book prize and a new log to start filling in again. Also, Year 7 students will be asked to do a presentation about a book they have read recently. We usually do it over the Easter holidays so that the students will start with the presentations in the 3rd Term. We will now discuss this during a subject meeting and will also need to see what’s going to happen. I need to add here that the class libraries are being sorely missed!!

The Maltese department works very hard at promoting reading too. They have also introduced a Reading Log (also attached) and have already started giving out books to students that have returned it filled in. The activity underneath was going to be held during the last 2 days before breaking up for the Easter holidays. Now it is still going to be held, with the students following from home, rather than from their classroom!

Ms M. Lilian Oliva Mifsud

HOD, St Margaret College, Middle School, Cospicua