Claire Marie Vassallo, Head of Department for Assessment, presented her ongoing research, AI-Enhanced Formative Reporting: Transforming Early Years Teaching and Assessment in Maltese Schools, at the Institute for Education International Conference held between 27 and 29 November 2025. Centred on the conference theme Inspire, Foster, Educate: Global Research in Education Today, her presentation showcased key findings from a two-year action research study conducted in a Maltese Church school. The study demonstrates how AI-supported narrative reporting can strengthen formative assessment practices, enhance teacher agency,  home–school collaboration and significantly improve efficiency by reducing the time and workload traditionally associated with report writing. This research will be published in July 2026 in the Malta Journal of Education, contributing to national and international discourse on innovative, evidence-based reporting practices in early years education.

On 11 March, at the Valletta Design Cluster, Church School teachers of French, led by their Head of Department at the Secretariat for Catholic Education, Ms Prescovia Deidun, followed Continuous Professional Development training involving two interventions by UM academics. Dr Anne-Marie Bezzina Busuttil, Head of the Department of French at the Faculty of Arts, gave a corpus-based presentation explaining how teachers’ questioning strategies influence or even pre-define learner responses in whole-class foreign language interactional exchanges, leading to suggestions for effective foreign language classroom elicitation.

This fed into a workshop on questioning strategies, prepared and coordinated by Ms Anna Scicluna, Coordinator of the French subject area within the Department of Languages and Humanities of the Faculty of Education. In this workshop, Ms Scicluna illustrated model practice and stimulated participant teachers to balance and correctly sequence display and referential questions, also by using probing questions that induce learners to produce longer, more elaborate and more cognitively demanding utterances.

Source: UM Lecturers give CPD training to Church School Teachers of French – Newspoint – University of Malta

Archbishop Charles Scicluna, as President of the Maltese Episcopal Conference, has appointed Fr Mark Ellul as the new Delegate for Catholic Education to assist the Episcopal Conference in the Church’s work on education. Fr Mark’s appointment reflects the Church’s renewed commitment to strengthening Catholic education in Malta and Gozo. He is currently Head of The Archbishop’s Seminary School in Rabat.

The Archbishop expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Rev. Dr Charles Mallia O. Carm for his nearly 15 years of dedicated service as Delegate for Catholic Education.

In his new role, Fr Mark Ellul will oversee the Secretariat for Catholic Education, which operates under the jurisdiction of the Maltese Episcopal Conference. The Secretariat supports and coordinates 55 Church schools, and provides administrative, curricular, psycho-social and pastoral support to Church schools, collectively educating nearly 17,000 students, approximately one-third of Malta and Gozo’s student population.

Fr Mark Ellul, 45, received his priestly formation at the Archbishop’s Seminary in Rabat and the Faculty of Theology at the University of Malta. He also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from the University of Malta, and a Master of Science Degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Leicester. He is presently finalising his Doctorate in Educational Leadership at University College London.

Ordained a priest on 23 June 2010, Fr Mark has served as deputy head at The Archbishop’s Seminary for two years and as headmaster for 13 years. He currently serves pastorally at the Senglea Parish and is a member of both the MATSEC Board and the Church Schools Association.

In its mission to be an inclusive Church that welcomes, accompanies and serves, the Church in Malta and Gozo reaffirms the importance of providing Catholic education inspired by Gospel values. This commitment highlights the Church’s dedication to nurturing holistic development, fostering dialogue, and promoting mutual understanding within Malta’s educational sector.

Reference: https://church.mt/delegatecatholiceducation/