Rotary Club La Valette Malta (RCLVM) and Playmobil joined forces to set up a literacy project based on research in language and reading development for young children. The project was launched at Vittoriosa Primary School.

Allan McLeod, former Superintendent of Schools for the Vancouver School District in Canada and Rotary La Valette member, is coordinating the project with the support of Salvina Muscat, Cottonera College Coordinator. He is enthusiastic about the partnership with Playmobil and the excellent opportunities that will be provided for literacy development. Mr McLeod, who was an educator for 43 years and is now retired, decided to use his skills to assist the community through The Rotary Club. He has a great desire to promote literacy as he considers it the foundation for all future education.

Through his experience as a teacher and principal, he realised that traditional education methods were not sufficient to ensure successful learning. He gave as an example teachers telling students “Don’t talk, be quiet!” and went on to explain that children must develop their oral language and we have to encourage them to talk. The art of the teacher is the ability to create activities that lead to productive talking and interaction.

There is a very large body of research about early literacy and the most appropriate practices in language education. This research shows that young children should learn literacy through meaningful experiences. Children need to develop a rich language and conceptual knowledge base to become skilled readers. The best way for the teachers to help them to acquire these skills is to respect the children’s home language and use it as a base on which to built and extend their language and literacy experiences. “Young children have to learn language in ways that have personal meaning and value for them,” said Mr McLeod.

With this project, the RCLVM, Playmobil, the Cottonera College and Vittoriosa Primary School will try to put into practice these observations. Using a variety of kits developed and donated by Playmobil, children will be encouraged to create stories and use this experience to stimulate oral and written language. Mr McLeod commented, “Children naturally want to play. By eliminating this aspect, we lose the excitement and enthusiasm for learning. We have to take into account this natural process of learning. In fact, play enables children to express and represent their ideas and new knowledge, making it their own.”

By using the Playmobil kits, children will be encouraged to develop their oral language and their vocabulary. They will create their stories in groups of two or three and then tell it to a teacher or volunteer who will put their story on paper. Back home, they will be able to read it to their parents or friends. Throughout this activity, children aged three to eight will improve their vocabulary by discovering new words. The older children will also learn to read and write them.

“In addition to the learning aspect, this experience also offers the opportunity to develop other skills,” explained Mr McLeod. “First, by working in groups children learn to share and listen to others. It is a form of socialisation. Secondly, it will help them develop their creativity and their imagination.”

When the children discovered the Playmobil kits they were very excited. “It was amazing to see them and their great interest in the Playmobil materials,” said Mr McLeod. But they were not the only ones who were excited. Parents, teachers and all the people involved in the project were delighted to launch it, convinced that it will be a successful experience. “This is a pilot project,” stressed Mr McLeod. “Other teachers will be invited to see what is happening at this Vittoriosa school and hopefully such a practice will extend to other schools.”

Minister for Education Louis who was present when the project was launched, congratulated the college administration and the Vittoriosa School for taking up such an initiative as it was not only an

innovative way of teaching children but also showed how the school and the

college can team up with the private sector and NGOs, augmenting the resources and know-how available.

Mr Galea augured success for the project saying

he hoped that as more schools work together

within the college framework “we will see many more such projects that will surely help to reach more children and help them succeed” adding that “if this project is a success in the Vittoriosa school, other primary schools in the college could learn from this experience and share it”.