Something extra

2019 APLAUS Awards (April 2019)

This year, the Zahrádka Primary School received its second nomination for the APLAUS Awards (the first time was in 2017). The competition, organized by the National Autism Institute (NAUTIS), recognizes people and organizations who are engaged in educating the public about autism and helping people with autism. There are three categories: individuals, organizations, and people with autism, and this year, the Zahrádka Primary School and Zahrada Integration Center were named the winning organizations of the 2019 APLAUS Awards.

Many thanks go to Mrs. Kubíková and Honzík, who again nominated us. Congratulations to the team from the autism classroom, who work with our kids with autism lovingly and patiently, but also flexibly and creatively.

The awards ceremony took place on 2 April 2019 at its traditional venue in the courtyard of the Parliament of the Czech Republic under the auspices of MP Vít Kaňkovský and with the participation of NAUTIS’s director Magdalena Thorová and its ambassador Mahulena Bočanová.  

Faculty school of Charles University’s Faculty of Education (March 2019)

With the first warming rays of spring, we bring you fresh news… In March 2019, the Zahrádka Primary School became a faculty school of Charles University’s Faculty of Education. In recent years,we have been increasing our level of cooperation with said faculty’s Department of Special Education. Zahrádka Primary School regularly hosts excursions by students of the department’s bachelor program. These visits generally are the first time that the students gain first-hand experience with question of educating children with multiple handicaps or autism spectrum disorder. Over the subsequent years of their university studies, especially if they go on to earn a master’s degree, some of the students visits us again (usually on more than one occasion) for ongoing practical experience during which they are given the opportunity to look behind the curtain at how our school functions. They familiarize themselves with various forms and methods of work, learn specific processes involved in teaching kids with multiple handicaps (with mental handicaps predominating), see how our school is interconnected with the Zahrada Integration Center as a provider of social services, try out their own educational ideas, and test their own patience and creativity. Sometimes we also host foreign students studying in Prague as part of the Erasmus+ program.

What the students said of their time at the Zahrádka Primary School:

“I learned many new things about children with multiple handicaps…”

“I got a close-up look at the world of children with severe handicaps and learned that working with them can be beautiful.”

“My practical experience gave me insight into the daily work of teachers and their assistants. I realized that such experience is important for my further education and for my future exercise of this profession.”

“The practical experience showed me new directions and also reinforced why I chose to study this field.”

We would like to use this space to thank Jaroslava Zemková, under whose auspices the student visits take place, and also Pavlína Šumníková, who teaches special education at the faculty and regularly visits us with her students.

Controlling a computer with your eyes

Past and future events

Meeting of friends and parents of girls with Rett Syndrome