"dream bigger dreams"
Post-Graduate Programme
On 23rd October 2009 St. Catherine's High School inaugurated the Malta-based post-graduate programme offered by the University of Sheffield. Indeed, after incessant coordination work and collaboration based on trust and confidence between the two entities, October 2009 saw this dream come true. Such affiliation to the University of Sheffield does great honour to the School.
It is both a pleasure and a sign of good trust that twenty-six students embarked on this post-graduate educational venture, and completed their first study weekend during the 23rd to the 25th of October under the tutorship of the academic staff of the University of Sheffield - Prof. Jackie Marsh, Director of the School of Education, Prof. Cathy Nutbrown, Director of the Malta-based post-graduate programmes, and Dr. Jools Page.
Given the successful history of Maltese students receiving their post-graduate education in the University of Sheffield, it was a delightful prospect for this institution to initiate a programme which would involve teaching students from Malta in the comfort of their homeland. The very fact that it is based in Malta, does not only allow for close-at-home accessibility so that students can dedicate time to furthering their studies after work and during weekends, without creating unnecessary burdens of having to travel abroad for study purposes, but would also enrich the educational programme through the fusion of the Sheffield and Maltese cultures and the direct experience of education in Malta. As Prof. Marsh said in her inaugural speech "this will offer an opportunity for students to become familiar with the latest research and scholarship and reflect on its significance in the light of the educational context in Malta." The teaching programme and the research are therefore "rooted in the local, regional, national and international context." As a result, the programmes offered will be locally relevant and engaging with educational issues and challenges pertinent to the Maltese context.
The teaching programmes offered by the University of Sheffield have consistently met the highest grades in the QAA Subject Review. The University has a long history of engagement in high quality research and values research that has an impact. It works towards influencing changes in people's lives and work, theory and society. Prof. Marsh explained how the University of Sheffield excels in Early Childhood Education, Literacy, Higher Education and Lifelong Learning, and Educational Psychology, and has research strengths in curriculum, pedagogy, and qualitative methodologies. Prof. Marsh assured that the students embarking in these Malta-based programmes will enjoy the "same high quality learning, informed by top-quality research, that our students elsewhere receive."
The joint partnership saw the launching of these post-graduate programmes as the first amongst many. In fact, a second intake is already being programmed for October 2010 and registrations are currently being accepted.
Further information can be obtained by visiting the Malta link in The University of Sheffield website www.shef.ac.uk or by sending an email on sue.mifsud.midolo@stcatherines.eu.
history of trav
Why Choose these Programmes?
There are various reasons why these post-graduate programmes are ideal:
· they are locally and internationally accredited;
· they are spread over weekend study schools (each
weekend starts on a Friday evening and ends on Sunday
at lunchtime);
· they are held in Malta to support home-based study;
· all teaching is undertaken by The University of Sheffield
academics;
· there is online access to library facilities of The
University of Sheffield;
· assessment is done by assignment and dissertation; and,
· fees are payable by installments.
The Masters in Early Childhood Education is eligible for STEPS Scholarships which are co-financed by the EU and the Maltese Government. Visit www.education.gov.mt/steps.htm.