Community

An ad-hoc committee was established in the late 1970s to prepare draft statutes and facilitate the establishment of a Parents’ Teachers’ Association for the College. The first General Meeting of the PTA as the Parents’ Teachers’ Association is affectionately known, was held  on Thursday, 8th February 1979 in the Marian Hall in the Senior School and was attended by around 200 parents. During the meeting, the draft statutes were read, amended and accepted by those present. The first PTA Committee was also voted in with Mr. Francis Flynn elected Chairman and Sisters Deguara, Pauline and Cassar sitting on the Committee as ex-officio members. This marked the start of a close and fruitful collaboration between the College and the PTA, a partnership that has been cemented over these many years through the work carried out together on numerous common projects. 

The PTA is a valued strategic partner at the College. It has a unique role in supporting the College administration to promote communication and cooperation among all the stakeholders at the College. As a parent body, it supports the education of the students at the College through organised parental involvement and by increasing awareness of the overall academic and formational programme at the College. It also aims to support the ongoing formation of the parents and teachers through cultural, spiritual and other activities. Through its much sought-after fundraisers which invariably sell out within days, if not hours, it brings the College community together, providing an informal setting which further contributes to strengthening relationships among all College stakeholders. Crucially, the PTA supports the College in the realisation of small and large-scale projects for the benefit of the students at the College.  

True to the original intent of its founders, every parent or guardian of any student enrolled at the College as well as all educational staff are members of the PTA. The PTA is run by an Executive Committee composed of 16 members, 8 of whom are elected from among the parents, with preferably a minimum of 2 parents from the Junior School and another 2 from the Senior School. The other 8 members are members of the College administration who sit on the Executive Committee ex officio including the College Director, the Head of the Junior School, the Head of the Senior School, the School Chaplain, one teacher elected by the Junior School teachers and another by the Senior School teachers, one Assistant Head from the Junior School and another from the Senior School. In practice, given the notable level of cooperation between the PTA and the College administration, all Assistant Heads in both schools attend Executive Committee meetings although only one per school votes in the event a vote is taken.    

The Chairperson of the PTA is elected from amongst the parents who are members of the Committee. The other officials of the Committee are the Vice-Chairperson, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer and Public Relations Officer (PRO). 

Members of the PTA Committee

Presently, the elected members of the PTA are the following: 

Activities of the PTA

During the year the PTA organises a number of very well attended events that have become a fixture in the college annual calendar. These are the pasta night in October, the Advent carol service in late November / early December, and the thanksgiving event at the end of the scholastic year in June.

Sacred Heart College in Malta is part of a much larger family of schools worldwide inspired and built around the vision and teaching of St Madeleine Sophie Barat. Since 1801 when St Madeleine Sophie opened the first school in Amiens, Sacred Heart Schools have spread to the five continents and to over 40 countries. The Society today is a vibrant global organisation active all over the world.

The Society is divided worldwide into Provinces. Sacred Heart College proudly belongs to the Irish-Scottish-Maltese Network of Sacred Heart Schools, a modern force for education within which we strive, alongside our fellow Sacred Heart Schools in Ireland and Scotland, to bring the best education to our students.

In 1997, given the ever-dwindling presence and involvement in the day-to-day school life of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, the Provincial Council of the Irish-Scottish Province set up the Network of Sacred Heart Schools to ensure that all Sacred Heart Schools within the Irish-Scottish province would retain their unique character and vocation. Malta joined this Network soon after setting up the Foundation in 2004.

The Network Office, based in Ireland, provides services and support to all Sacred Heart Schools in Ireland, Scotland and Malta as we endeavour to implement the core values of Sacred Heart Education. The office provides in-service training and induction for staff in all the Sacred Heart Schools. It also organises annual conferences for Heads and Deputies, termly meetings for school co-ordinators and facilitates inter-school contact, visits and shared curricular projects. Further engagement with the wider European family of the Sacred Heart takes place in Joigny, France, the birthplace of St. Madeleine Sophie. Our network schools are located in Armagh, Dublin and Roscrea in Ireland, St Julian’s in Malta and in Aberdeen in Scotland.

Every scholastic year, every school in the Network implements the same Goal. This is done in a spirit of mutual co-operation and coordination which is underpinned by all the schools’ common vision and commitment to the philosophy of Sacred Heart Education. Accordingly, there is free exchange of ideas between all the Network schools as to how to implement the goals in a manner that is as creative and contextually relevant as possible. A different goal is celebrated across Network schools every scholastic year.