Projects

The Children’s Smile project continues (June 2024)

This is the ninth year that the Zahrádka Primary School has organized a series of consultations with dental hygienist Vendula Jaklová as part of the Children’s Smile project, which seeks to improve children’s dental health and to teach the correct techniques and procedures when caring for children with severe combined disabilities who are dependent on the help of a caregiver in this area. We firmly believe that prevention pays. We would like to thank project guarantor Dr. Hana Zallmannová along with Mrs. Vendulka Jaklová and her mother Ivana Hanus for the dedication with which shared their expertise with us. Many thanks also go to the mothers and fathers who regularly attend the consultations with their children and who are interested in this topic. This year, twenty-seven pupils registered to participate. 

Integration Upside-Down 2024 (March–May 2024)

Another year of the successful Integration Upside-Down project is currently underway. This year, we have partnered with the pupils, classroom teacher, and teaching assistant from a primary school in Prague 6. Over the course of three visits, the school’s children will get to know our pupils and what teaching looks like at a special school. Part of the program will be interactive and part experience-based.

Looking back on Integration Upside-Down 2024 (Mgr. Veronika Kočerhová)

Thanks to the “Integration Upside-Down” project, our school was visited by a group of third-grade pupils from the Petřiny-North Primary School – a total of twenty-four pupils, accompanied by their classroom teacher and two assistants. Over the course of three meetings (March, April, May), we showed them our teaching methods and the support, therapy, and other activities that children with disabilities receive. As a result, the visiting kids experienced and got to know our children’s world while interacting with them. We introduced them to elements of basal stimulation, which helps pupils with disabilities to learn about and perceive their bodies. Our guests also learned how to properly position people with disabilities and tried out various aids, including a warm vibrating mattress. In the music therapy studio, we focused mainly on encouraging interaction, cooperation, and communication among the pupils as they tried their hand at playing non-traditional musical instruments.

The visiting pupils could also explore tactile stimulation using tactile memory games and a tactile trail. They played games blindfolded or tried out riding a wheelchair. During our final get-together, the kids from the mainstream school had the chance to watch canine therapy in action – i.e., to see how dogs can help people with disabilities. At the very end, they each made their own musical instrument. All in all, they experienced new things and learned about unconventional aids they won’t find at a regular school.

All three meetings were attended by seven pupils from the Zahrádka Primary School along with their teachers. Each visit began with us singing together. The kids from Petřiny gave us feedback (mostly positive) on what they saw and experienced at our school. On their last visit, they brought us a painted picture on silk along with many interesting messages, from which we made a collage. The collage now decorates our hallway, where can enjoy it for the whole next school year.

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Fruits, vegetables, and milk for schools in the 2023/2024 school year

IT equipment (March 2024)

In 2020, 2022 and 2023, was able to purchase new teaching aids thanks to funding received from the Ministry of Education as part of the National Renewal Plan’s component 3.1 “Innovation in Education in the Context of Digitalization.” The project is financed by the European Union’s NextGenerationEU fund, which the Czech Republic distributes to schools from the European Instrument for Recovery and Resilience. The programs were: Equipping Schools with Digital Technologies (Objective 172), Purchasing IT Equipment for the School’s Fund of Mobile Digital Devices for Disadvantaged Pupils (Objective 173), and Purchasing Digital Technologies and Equipment for the Promotion of Digital Literacy and the Introduction of Educational Programs in the Field of IT (Objective 174). For 2024, we were allocated funds for the purchase of mobile digital devices for disadvantaged pupils for the purpose of mitigating the digital divide. We used these funds to purchase laptops, iPads, printers, conference microphones, webcams, and more.

Integration Upside-Down 2023

In April, May, and June 2023 our school was visited by pupils and two teachers from class 4A at the Radlická Primary School in Prague 5. Over the course of three half-day visits, they had a chance to see how kids with handicaps learn and what teaching aids they use. They could try out basal stimulation, practiced the senses (in particular touch, sight, and hearing), rode in wheelchairs, played original musical instruments, and learned about the job of canine assistants. In the end, everybody made their own musical instrument to take home as a souvenir. They also brought us a picture they made as a group, along with some little ceramic birds that we used to decorate the classroom and the outside terrace. We really enjoyed their interest in our pupils and also how they tried to engage with them. It was a mutually beneficial event.

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Safe Routes to School 2022

Our school has signed up for the Safe Routes to School project, as part of which, from 16 to 22 September 2022, we will be participating in the Walk to School campaign. In view of our pupils’ special needs and the fact that children travel to our school from all over Prague and the city’s surroundings, we will have a special program with slightly different activities than on regular school days. 

Fruit in Schools 2022/2023 (September 2022 – June 2023)

Integration Upside-Down 2022

After an intermission due to Covid, our school is back to organizing the Integration Upside-Down project. As part of this project, we will once again be visited by 2nd-grade pupils from a regular primary school, this time from Prague 6, who will join our pupils for a fun range of activities during which they get to peek “behind the curtain” of the world of handicapped people. The project, financed by the City of Prague as part of the Support Program for Educating Children, Pupils, and Students at Schools and Educational Facilities, will take place in April–June 2022.

How did the project turn out? 

As part of the “Integration Inside-Out” project, our school was visited by 2nd-grade pupils from the Červený Vrch Primary School – quite a large number, in fact: 26 pupils, their teacher, and a teaching assistant. Over the course of three meetings, we showed our visitors our teaching methods and the support, therapy, and other activities kids with handicaps receive or engage in. The visiting pupils thus got to experience our kids’ world first-hand. They explored elements of basal stimulation, which helps pupils with handicaps to learn about their body. They also learned the proper reclining position for a person with a disability and tried out various massage aids and a massage and heating mattress. In the music therapy studio, the program focused primarily on promoting interaction, cooperation, and communication. We also practiced playing unusual musical instruments.

The visiting pupils could also try out touch stimulation using tactile memory cards and a “haptic sidewalk.” They played normal games blindfolded and learned what is it like to ride a wheelchair. At their final meeting, the visitors could watch a canine therapy dog in action – how he helps people with handicaps. And in the very end, they made a tactile picture and a small musical instrument. Thanks to our project, they got to engage in activities and learned about unusual teaching aids they won’t find at their own school. 

All three meetings were attended by six pupils from Zahrádka with their teachers. Each visit opened with us singing together. The kids from Červený Vrch presented a song for us with pictures and also did an art project about what they most liked at our school.

The mutually beneficial visits were warm, friendly, and full of good vibes and enthusiasm.

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Templates II comes to an end (January 2022)

Our school project “An iPad in every classroom” (Templates II), which we launched on 1 September 2019, came to an end just before Christmas 2021. Thanks to this project, eight of our teachers took continuation education courses where they learned how to work with iPads and how to use them during instruction, the school purchased ten new sixth-generation iPads for its pupils, four teachers visited other special primary schools in order to exchange information and experience, and we organized four project days at our school. Although Covid restrictions sometimes made it difficult, we managed to meet all our obligations, had a fun and interesting time together, and learned many new things.

Fruit for schools (September 2021 to June 2022)

This year, our school signed up for the FRUIT FOR SCHOOLS project, which was organized in collaboration with the State Agricultural Intervention Fund. For the entire school year, we will be supplied fruit by the BOVYS company: fresh fruits and vegetable once every fourteen days for free. The project’s goal is to promote healthy nutrition and to increase children’s consumption of fruits and vegetables. The project has its own website, www.ovocedoskol.szif.cz, where schools, parents, and children can learn all about it. At our school, the project is being organized by the autistic classroom as part of its lessons in reasoning and work. Pupils will learn to identify various types of fruits and vegetables and will be involved in the process of distributing and counting out the fruit for their classmates. And of course, they get to taste them as a reward.

Cooperation with the Center for Visual Impairment at Motol Hospital, 2021

We are glad that despite the limitations caused by Covid restrictions, we were able to take our pupils to the Center for Visual Impairment at Motol Hospital for examinations. And it wasn’t just any old examination – a kind therapist was waiting for us, and each child spent just under an hour with her. It barely felt like a medical exam. The friendly doctor, Markéta Skalická, talked with the accompanying parent or teacher (or both) and then played and chatted with the kids while testing their vision (which could help improve their ability to pay attention in school), observing how they view the world, what strategies they use, what helps them during observation, what makes visual perception difficult for them, what might help them see better, room for improvement and other development, and finally what objects, pictures, and aids are the most suitable for them at the moment. During each visit, we learned something new and useful. After that, the kids get some drops in their eyes and went for an exam with Dr. Filip Beránek, whose bedside manner made even this procedure a pleasant experience that the kids looked forward to. While waiting, we passed the time watching an iPad, inspecting the decoration in the hallways, eating a snack, or going for a walk outside the medical building. Many thanks to all who helped make this useful event a success. 

Continuing with Templates II (December 2020)

Participation in the Templates II project

Integration Upside-Down 2019 (September – November 2019)

Fourth year of the Children’s Smile project in the 2018/2019 school year

During the 2018/2019 school, our school participated in the fourth year of the Children’s Smile project, and we are glad to say that our pupils’ parents have shown great interest in the subject of dental health. The project is organized under the auspices of Dr. Hana Zallmannová, with the patient support of dental hygienist Vendula Jaklová, who teaches parents and teachers how to properly look after children’s teeth, helps practice proper cleaning techniques, and aids in the selection of cleaning aids. Cleaning the teeth of children with multiple handicaps isn’t exactly easy, but increasing the quality of dental care is highly desirable, especially for preventative reasons.

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Integration Upside-Down 2018 – City-wide support for education

During the second year of the “Integration Upside-Down” project, students from Chelčického Primary School’s class 2D met with students from Zahrádka’s rehabilitation class in three sessions at the Zahrádka Primary School.

The project’s aim is to bring together students from a regular primary school with their handicapped peers, and to familiarize them with how we teach handicapped children, including their support, therapy, and other activities. Thanks to these contacts, the project helps to remove any barriers that might exist between the two groups of students.

These objectives were met through self-experiential activities in which students from both schools participated. During the first meeting, the children could try out what it is like to perceive the world with all their senses, but with a focus on touch, taste, and smell. They explored a broad range of scents (for instance during aromatherapy), tried out various tactile aids, and experienced what it’s like to walk across interesting surfaces. As a result, they learned many new things about spatial orientation.

During the second meeting, the kids tried out various alternative forms of communication (signs, gestures, picture systems, photographs, sounds…). All these tools promoted mutual interaction, cooperation, and functional communication among the students from the two schools.

One interesting experience was learning about elements of basal stimulation during the third meeting. Basal stimulation can help students – and not just those with handicaps – to discover their own body and teach them to be more aware of it. The students from Chelčického learned about proper positioning and tried out various vibrational aids, a vibrating heat mattress, weighted blankets, and therapeutic pillows and tube cushions.

One important part of the program that was also a pleasant experience for all involved was the shared lunches that our students, aided by their teachers, prepared for their guests. At the end of each meeting, we engaged in a summary of what we did that day. All students could share their feelings and views on the day’s activities, and these talks naturally led us to focus on the main skills and information we learned, which can be applied to future interactions with handicapped individuals. Besides these social benefits, the visiting kids could also experience and learn about non-traditional activities and aids that they wouldn’t otherwise encounter at their school.

Also as part of the program, the students from Chelčického Primary School created interesting aids and objects that might help in daily instruction of Zahrádka’s students while also bringing them joy. For instance, they created a picture book with photographs of Chelčického’s students, showing how they were creating the various aids. Another creative product was a book of pictures and poems or songs, to be used for alternative communication. These books are still being used during classroom time with our students.

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Integration Upside-Down 2017

As part of the “Integration Upside-Down” project, three meetings were held with 2nd-grade pupils from the Chelčického Primary School, specifically from a class for children with learning disabilities. Five pupils from Zahrádka Primary School attended as well. The project’s aim was to introduce pupils from regular primary schools to the world of children with handicaps, to show them ways of supporting people with handicaps, to see their strengths, and to experience joy from being with them. These objectives were fulfilled through self-experiential activities that they engaged in together with the pupils from Zahrádka. The pupils could try out a simulation of various visual impairments, how to move around with a cane, or play regular children’s games while blindfolded. They tried out riding in a wheelchair and learned how to use one. The kids from Zahrádka and a physical therapist showed off some of their physical therapy techniques, which the kids from the regular school could try out for themselves.

In the music therapy studio and the snoezelen room, we presented a program focused primarily on promoting interaction, cooperation, and communication among the pupils from the different schools. The program was structured in a way so that pupils could try out working with aides that you won’t find in a regular school (a massage pool filled with plastic balls, aides for visual stimulation, non-traditional musical instruction, a vibrating podium etc.)

We also covered the subject of self-care, which is one of our pupils’ learning priorities. With their movement limited, the pupils moved from place to place, climbed onto a wheelchair, and put on clothing. At the end of our get-together, we created silk scarves and rainmakers that the kids used while in the music therapy studio. The pupils from both schools worked together to paint the scarves and make the rainmakers from cardboard tubes and beans. Each pupil got to take both products back to their school.

Every meeting concluded with a summary of the key information that the pupils should remember for the next time they encounter people with handicaps. There was also time for pupils to reflect on their experiences from the day and to ask questions and have then answered.

We also enjoyed refreshments together, which were prepared by pupils from with help from their teachers.

From the many photographs taking during each get-together, the pupils from Chelčického Primary School created a 3D folding cardboard book showing the most important and, for the pupils, most interesting moments from the meetings. The book was put on displace at Zahrádka Primary School.

Lectures on teaching girls with Rett Syndrome

On 9 June, 22 September, and 3 November, the Zahrádka Primary School hosted an educational series on selected aspects of “Comprehensive Care for Girls with Rett Syndrome.” Our special education teachers and their colleagues from the integration center prepared an introductory seminar on this extremely rare genetic illness, followed by a discussion of the topics of communication, physical therapy, ergotherapy, and relaxation techniques (especially basal stimulation and music therapy). The series was financed by a grant in support of education within the City of Prague in 2016. A total 48 teachers attended the workshops. 

We would like to thank all participants, colleagues, and guests for their interest, and we wish team all the best and much success in their important and difficult work.

The “Children’s Smile” project

One of our key words for the new school year is “health.” That includes healthy teeth, and so we and our school have joined the “Children’s Smile” project by the Czech Green Cross. The project, which is already active at many preschools and primary schools, takes a playful approach to explaining to kids at school the connection between good tooth-brushing habits, nutrition, and the formation of cavities and periodontitis. As part of each lesson, pupils practice proper tooth-brushing skills.

For the Zahrádka Primary School, the project has been adapted to reflect the needs of our pupils and their parents. It consists of six visits by a dental hygienist, Mrs. Vendula Jaklová. The introductory meeting focused on explaining the project’s goals and presenting practical examples. The subsequent meetings will focus on individual work with the children, their parents, and the school’s teachers and their colleagues from the integration center. Since we are the first special education school with pupils with multiple handicaps to participate in the project, we will be working with the project organizers to find try to find the best approach. In any case, we welcome this possibility and are looking forward to it. We are also glad that parents have expressed an interest and are actively involved. Thanks go to Mrs. Jaklová for her patience, enthusiasm, and constant smile!

New Pathways to Practice

“New Pathways to Practice.”

The school is participating in the project “New Pathways to Practice: Innovation in Special Education” by the European Social Fund’s Prague Adaptability Operational Programme. 

About the project
Project team

Music therapy studio

Building the SNOEZELEN room

Conference: “Comprehensive Care for Pupils with Combined Handicaps”

Publication on Rett Syndrome