AGM 2025 MINUTES

Date:  Tuesday 25th February 2025
Venue: ACE School of English
 
MATEFL Committee members:
 
Present: Jean Theuma, Ana Aleksic, Rebecca Portelli, Ian Scerri, Julia Pearson
Bob Bejdak
 
Number of members present: 19 at start of meeting/ final number 29
 
Although a quorum was not reached at the start of the meeting, a decision to continue with the AGM was nevertheless approved by 24 members.
 
Proposed by Matt Done and seconded by Nella Xerri.
 
AGENDA:
Approval of Minutes
Presentation of reports by the MATEFL Committee
 

• President Keynote Address
• Secretary Report
• Treasurer Report
• Membership Report
• Newsletter Report
• Social Media Report
• IATEFL Report

 
Election of Committee 2025-2027
Any Other Business 
Workshop - Josianne Block – Bringing Linguistic Landscapes to the ELT Classroom
 
AGM opened at: 5.39 p.m.
 
Approval of Minutes
 
Comments/Questions: 0
Proposed by: Matt Done
Seconded by: Nella Xerri
Approvals: 19
Objections: 0
Abstentions:0
Presentation of reports by the MATEFL Committee
 
President’s Keynote Address
Jean Theuma welcomed everybody for attending, she noted that MATEFL is an independent association which has been running for 25 years. Since Covid the association had struggled to recruit new members and indeed the numbers had dwindled, but she was pleased to announce that numbers have since recovered to almost full strength. MATEFL is not affiliated to any schools or council, neither to any organization but is a space for teachers to meet, and for teachers to support teachers survive in this challenging industry. She noted, however, that MATEFL continues to rely on the generosity of schools and through this generosity we can continue to work together and to host events. Thanks were due to ACE for hosting us this evening. This year was an Election year and Jean also highlighted the fact that Bob Bejdak will not be joining the committee this time, however he was thanked for his years of service and his time and effort given to the MATEFL committee.
 
Proposed by: Matt Done
Seconded by: Nella Xerri
Approvals: 24
Objections: 0
Abstentions: 0
 
Secretary’s Report (See PPT of the report which highlighted MATEFL’s work over the past year)
Comments/Questions: 0
Proposed by: Ana Aleksic
Seconded by: Julia Pearson
Approvals:27
Objections:0
Abstentions:0
 
Treasurer’s Report (See handout prepared by Ana)
 
Comments/Questions:
Proposed by: Bob Bejdak
Seconded by: Joseph Gouder
Approvals: 27
Objections: 0
Abstentions: 0
 
Membership Report (See notes prepared by Julia)
Comments/Questions:
Proposed by: Alice Depiro
Seconded by: Bob Bejdak
Approvals:
Objections:
Abstentions:
 
Additional Reports which did not require approval but were presented are as follows;
 
IATEFL Associate Membership Report (see PPT prepared by Ana)
 
Ian’s Report on Social Media – Ian reported that he is responsible for the majority of posts and managing the MATEFL Facebook page, and that Ana also contributed to this page. He noted that MATEFL will not post to advertise job vacancies for schools, or advertise, however we welcome posts from members that could include advertising workshops or other ideas. This year we have transitioned from a closed group to a public page, and the artwork has also been improved on the page with contributions from Jean’s daughter.
 
Comments; Jean mentioned that there is now also a Linked In page for MATEFL should anyone wish to connect with us via Linked In.
 
Election for committee

1. Jean Theuma
2. Rebecca Portelli
3. Ian Scerri
4. Julia Pearson
5. Ana Aleksic
6. Hunida Busefi
7. Wendy Steciuk (was not present by Ana was able to present her profile and outline her past contributions to the industry).

 
Proposed by: Alice Depiro
Seconded by: Manuel Ferraro
Approvals: 29
Objections: 0
Abstentions: 0
 
Workshop (Josianne Block) – One Hour Session
Josianne Delivered an interesting session on language, exploring the use of language in private and public spaces. She highlighted the use of language in private and public spaces, and also gave examples of how we can use language that is around us as authentic input in the classroom.
 
AGM closed at: 19.56