Something extra

Faculty school of Charles University’s Faculty of Education (September 2021)

The Zahrádka Primary School’s long-standing collaboration with the Faculty of Education at Charles University was reconfirmed by the dean’s approval for the school to continue using the title “Faculty School.” After discussions with instructors from the department of special education, we put together a program for students of the departments bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. Let us hope that the epidemic situation will remain favorable, so that we can fulfil our plan. Over the years, we have found that these student visits are generally the first time that they gain first-hand experience teaching children with multiple handicaps or autism spectrum disorder. Future special education teachers 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.

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 Lee Květoňová, head of the special education department, and Jaroslava Zemková, under whose auspices the student visits take place. Further thanks go to Pavlína Šumníková and Miroslava Bartoňová, who teach special education at the faculty and regularly visit us with their students.

Educational event for parents (November 2019)

Our pupils’ parents are great! They asked us to hold at least one lecture or workshop for them. Their wish is our command, and so on the afternoon of 21 November 2019 we had a get-together on an interesting and lively topic: Our ergotherapist colleagues from the Integration Center, Lucka and Eva, put together a program for the parents about how to take care of their bodies so they won’t ache and will remain fit for as long as possible. We would like to thank everyone for coming, and we hope that all mothers and grandmothers looking after their family’s little ones learned some interesting tips and advice for their everyday care!

PICTURES

Enjoying the RADOST (JOY) exhibition (November 2019)

The moment we heard that the traditional RADOST art exhibition was being held, we knew that we would participate. After all, we enjoy making things, so why not? The picture is a joint work by kids from Petra, Oldřiška, and Kačka’s classes. Do you like it? We sure hope they like it in Kolín, too.

Participation in the NAUTIS 2019 conference (October 2019)

On 10 and 11 October 2019, the National Institute for Autism held a conference titled “Autism in Practice.” As in previous years, the conference took an in-depth look at subjects related to the question of people with autism spectrum disorders. This year’s conference was special for our school because we were represented among the many speakers!

Two special education teachers from the Zahrádka Primary School, Tereza Šafránková and Marie Řeháková, put together and presented a talk on “Going to Work with My Education” – i.e., about exchanging your school bags for working clothes and overalls…

As the title of the presentation indicated, the talk focused on the specific working activities of an adolescent young man, a pupil at our school. It featured photographs and video clips in which the conference participants could see how he managed to incorporate the things he learned at school into practical working activities (separating the recycling, self-care skills,

gardening, carrying a “burden,” delivering meals).

Another aim of the talk was to provide inspiration for special education teachers – to show them an example of the possibilities of creative thinking, alternative forms of work, and how to make instruction “attractive” so that it will better reflect the pupils’ age, needs, and interests.

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.

Controlling a computer with your eyes

On 25 April, Mr. Tomáš Hrdinka from the Spektra association gave a presentation on the new (Swedish) Tobii computer, which is controlled with the eyes: He spent all day explaining the computer and demonstrating it to us, and also patiently answered questions from parents and teachers – not only technical ones but also those related to possible grants for the computer’s purchase and how to apply ...

Past and future events

In June we had the rare and wonderful chance to get to know Mrs. Lamminen and her daughter Maruška (pictured), who came with their physical therapist all the way from Finland. The meeting between ...

Meeting of friends and parents of girls with Rett Syndrome

This was our first meeting after a longer break, and so the participants’ level of interest was all the greater. At first we heard a presentation about the Tobii computer, after which we talked ...