Comenius meetink - Diepenbeek 2013

Ve dnech 5.-9. června proběhlo poslední setkání projektu Comenius Partnerství škol v rámci projektu Příběhy pomáhají s komunikací. Do belgické školy BuBao St. Gerardus jsme jeli již podruhé, tentokrát v šestičlenném týmu. 

Do města Genk, kde jsme byli ubytované jsme tentokrát dorazili velmi brzo (daň za vstávání po 3. hodině ranní) a tak jsme s radostí využili nabídky belgického koordinátora Krise k projížďce na kole krajem Limburk. Prázdninovou atmosféru doplnil úspěšný geocaching, 

projížďka na kole a geocaching

Ve čtvrtek ráno nás přivítali děti a učitelé ve škole BuBaO St. Gerardus úvodní slavností, Comenius hymnou - Óda na radost se slovy v Dutch a děti nám předaly naše jmenovky. Celý program pobytu byl velmi přátelský a inspirativní, fotografie dokáží říct víc než slova.

OMI VISTA - interaktivní projekce, kterou budeme mít i u nás

ukázka hipoterapie s dětmi na vozíku

projížďka parkem

aktivity s dětmi

smyslová stezka pro bosé nohy

vystoupení dětí

FRIENDSHIP - VRIENDSCHAP - PŘÁTELSTVÍ

DĚKUJEME za přátelskou atmosféru a výbornou organizaci celému týmu BuBaO St. Gerardus.
DANK u voor een vriendelijke sfeer en een uitstekende organisatie hele team BubaO St. Gerardus.

photogalery

Evaluation from Podebrady 2013

UK

Belgium

Czech Rep

Evaluation Form

1. What did you like the most?

The traditional celebration to chase Winter away and welcome Spring and the involvement of the whole school.  Working in class with the pupils, communicating and being involved in their learning.  Meeting students with similar needs as our school and gaining confidence in the practise we use.

Learning about the therapies used in the school through workshop sessions. 

Communicating with the staff both inside and out of school and sharing between different countries and different lifestyles.

The variety in the program. We had all kind of activities that were interesting. The therapy sessions  were very good.  There was just enough time to learn what the therapies were all abought. The colour therapy was something totally new for us. The activities that we did in the classes were great. It was fun to work with the children.  The game in Podébrady was good prepared and great  fun.  We learned more about the town where we stayed. The visit to  Jedličkův ústav a školy in Prague was interesting for us. The way the school was organised was almost the same as in our school.

It was fine that meeting was on our school made. We enjoyed all activities. We were proud of our students, which prepared the meal for our guests.

Very funny afternoon with "geogame" activity, art workshop with UK colleagues, Belgian sports activities

Meeting in Podébrady

Van 20/03 tot 24/03/2013 waren we te gast in Podébrady. De eerste activiteit, die we donderdag meededen, was het verjagen van de winter. De winter wordt voorgesteld als een pop van stro. De kinderen zingen liedjes om de koude weg te jagen. De pop wordt verbrand en in het water gegooid. Dan wordt de lente verwelkomd met muziek en liedjes. Het is een mooie traditie die we volgend jaar in onze school gaan proberen uit te beelden. De Engelse delegatie is dan meegegaan naar de school. Wij brachten een bezoek aan Jedličkův ústav a školy een school voor type 4 onderwijs. De school ligt in het oudste gedeelte van Praag. We kregen er een zeer interessante rondleiding. De werking lijkt heel sterk op die van Sint-Gerardus. Er is ook een hechte samenwerking tussen school en dienstencentrum. Deze school werd gesticht in 1913. Ze vieren dit jaar hun honderdjarig bestaan. Vrijdag kregen we uitleg over verschillende vormen van therapie. In de kleurentherapie wordt door middel van gekleurde vloeistoffen nagegaan hoe het kind zich voelt. Bij aanvang van een sessie kiest het kind vier verschillende kleuren van vloeistoffen. De volgorde van kiezen is belangrijk. De therapeut geeft dan feedback. Hier vind je meer info. Muziektherapie: door middel van muziek worden allerlei vaardigheden geoefend, zowel motorisch als cognitief. Therapie op de trampoline: vooral oefeningen op de motoriek, kinderen uitdagen om te bewegen, spieren bewust en onbewust activeren en oefenen. Met Biofeedback wordt geprobeerd om beide hersenhelften te activeren en te laten samenwerken. Het zorgt er voor dat het kind dynamischer kan werken en zo op een hoger niveau kan presteren. De rest van de voormiddag hebben we in de verschillende klassen een activiteit gedaan. De activiteiten moesten te maken hebben met de lente of Pasen. Het was zeer fijn om met deze kinderen te werken. In de namiddag hebben we tijdens een viering vol muziek en dans afscheid genomen van de kinderen in de school. We hebben daarna een oriëntatietocht met opdrachten gedaan. Op deze manier leerden we Podébrady beter kennen. De verschillende teams bestonden uit collega's van de drie verschillende landen. Het was een heel leerrijke wandeling. We kregen er 's avonds, tijdens een gezellig paasmaal in de school, nog een aantal vragen over in een kwis. Op zaterdag bezochten we het Bokrijk van Tsjechië, het ligt in Prevor Nad Labem Het openluchtmuseum stond helemaal in het thema van Pasen. Het is niet zo groot en uitgebreid als Bokrijk maar het heeft dezelfde sfeer en opbouw. 's Avonds werd er nog lang nagepraat bij een gezellig afscheidsdiner. Het was weer een zeer boeiende en leerrijke meeting. Bedankt, Tsjechische collega's. Nu kunnen we de laatste meeting in Diepenbeek beginnen voorbereiden. Foto's vind je in de photogalery op deze blog.

2. Comenius meeting - CR

Společně s kolegy z britské a belgické speciální školy jsme od 21. do 24. března prožili několik krásných a inspirací nabitých dní při Comenius setkání, již po druhé v rámci dvouletého projektu "Příběhy pomáhají s komunikací". 

Motivačním a spojovacím prvkem tentokrát bylo nastupující Jaro (i když to tak rozhodně nevypadalo) a velikonoční svátky. Právě proto proběhlo první setkání na břehu Skupice a Čábelny při společném vynášení Zimy a přivítání Jara.

"Winter, Winter, go away...",Spring festival, inspired by the folk traditions

Po té se aktivity na přání hostů rozdělily. Zatímco kolegové z Belgie navštívili Jedličkův ústav a školy v Praze (jsou z podobného zařízení pro děti s fyzickým postižením), seznamovaly se britské učitelky v naší škole se systémem práce s dětmi s poruchou autistického spektra.

visit Jedlička Institute and Schools for physically disabled young people in Prague

Odpolední aktivity byly ve znamení kreativity. Pod dohledem našich nadaných výtvarnic a při vzájemné spolupráci si hosté vyzkoušeli zajímavé výtvarné techniky s tiskem. 

art workshop

Páteční ráno otevřely ukázky terapií - muzikoterapie, barevná terapie, trampolínink a biofeedback. Většina terapií byla pro hosty plná nových informací a naše šikovné terapeutky sklidily zasloužený obdiv. 

the therapies - demonstration with children

Následovaly aktivity ve třídách, kdy si kolegové z obou zemí připravili pro naše děti různé zajímavé aktivity s tématikou Velikonoc. Výsledkem byly výrobky s jarními motivy, velikonoční dobroty, ale také sportovní aktivity a hledání vajíček, ukrytých v zahradě. 

the activities in the classrooms

Společný program byl odpoledne završen slavností s nástupem vlajkové čety, předáním dárečku a slovy uznání na obou stranách. Naše skvělá taneční skupina "Spešl Stars" roztančila všechny zúčastněné a závěr patřil opět naší "Comeniusovské hymně" na melodii Ódy na radost. Slova v češtině i angličtině (verze v Dutch přibude v červnu), Radost máme, že jste přišli...., vehnala mnohým z dospělých slzy do očí.

farewell party with children

Pleased to meet you...

Už bez dětí odpoledne proběhla týmová hra s poznáváním Poděbrad, volně inspirovaná geocachingem. Jak to hostům šlo a co si zapamatovali o Poděbradech, se ukázalo v zábavném vědomostním testu v průběhu společné večeře pro celý pedagogický sbor. 

"geogame"

Abychom dodrželi jarní a velikonoční tématiku a pro další seznámení s našimi tradicemi, jsme v sobotu společně navštívili skanzen v Přerově nad Labem.

Etnographic Museum

Tanis, J.A. Comenius, Lenka, Kris 

Přestože počasí bylo po celou dobu setkání všechno, jen ne jarní, nemohlo ovlivnit inspirativní sdílení společných radostí i starostí v naší práci a hřejivé pocity přátelství a vzájemné spolupráce. 

Although the weather was very cold, I think, we all felt the warm of friendship and the spring in our hearts :)

Comenius meeting UK

V termínu 21.-25.11. jsme,  již podruhé, navštívili, společně s belgickými kolegy, partnerskou školu Lakeside v britském městě Welvyn Garden City. Protože podobná setkání proběhla již několikrát, bylo to jako návštěva u dobrých známých. Hudba a zpěv Ódy na radost, inspirované anglickým překladem našeho "speciálního" textu v květnu 2012 u nás zahájila třídenní zajímavý program.

Please To meet you here in Lakeside

Zčásti pracovní a inspirativní - ukázka terapie v bazénu, tvorba smyslových příběhů, terapie těžce postižených dětí prostřednictvím výběru vhodných metod krmení, návštěva ve škole podobné našim praktickým třídám 2. stupně...

workshop - sensory story

visit - St.Luke school

A protože šlo o setkání přátel, tak také s humorem a odpočinkovými aktivitami - snowtubing na umělém povrchu, výlet do přímořského města Brighton, nebo třeba pravá anglická vánoční večeře s krocanem a vánočním pudinkem.

snowtubing without snow

Christmas party

Thank you for your hospitality and excellent organization :)

The Evaluation form - Czech republik meeting

UK - BELGIUM - CR

Evaluation Form

1. What did you like the most?

The school had a very warm and welcoming.  Very organised and prepared for our visit.  Dog therapy was an interesting experience and it was clear it had some benefits for the pupils which seemed to link into physio programmes. 

The tour of the school showed us the similarities and differences between our schools. 

The work stations for the ASD students and seeing the pupils use.

Enjoyed working with the staff and the students in their classroom

The children’s enthusiasm during the ceremony and the warm welcome.

The hospitality and the efforts from the teachers to make themselves clear all the time. The introduction to the Canis-therapy

The working with the I-Pad’s.

The characterplay in the class (teachers being autists)

The endgame with all the teachers

The well-organised and varied program.  The trip to Kutna Hora

Cycling to school was a very good idea and great fun.
The participants the most appreciated friendly atmosphere and opportunity to speak about the common themes of special education. We liked that the visitors interested in our work. Jindriska and Iva loved sport activities like bocca and kin-ball and they were glad that the visitors liked trip to Kutna Hora.

2. What can you use in your own school?

Displaying work on strings.  ASD workstations.  Ipads were a very important teaching tool in the Podebrady school and we saw students using a variety of ipad apps which will be useful for some of our students at Lakeside. Thanks to Lenka we now have an extensive list of recommended ipad apps!!

Working with autists : working according a taskplan, enhanced with images.

We could use that in our school too. Children would be helped with this plan.

The I-pads would be interesting to work with in our school. 

We are thinking about setting up a project and program to  introduce I-pads in the school. Physical handicapped children could have many benefits from the I-pad. Not only for learning but also as help in their daily life.

The sensory stories are very inspirate. Especially about Queen Elisabeth and her celebration. We definitely will try the similar stories.
We would like to use the sport activities which we saw. Our children love it very much.

3. What did you learn about stories and communication?

The use of IPads for stories and communication is interesting tool.  The Ipad books were also easy and quick to create. 

Communication is promoted throughout all activities in the Podebrady classrooms. Teachers were very sensitive to the needs of their students and work very herd to encourage and develop the communication skills of their students, using symbols  and ipad communication based apps to consolidate learning and understanding. There was a wide variety of story based activities evidenced in the school. The Dragon Story was very impressive and students hard worked very hard on this. 

Communication is cross-border, with word, sound, gestures, signs, expressions. 
We would to learn from our students about communication without the border :)

4. How could the visit be improved?

The visit was well planned and enabled us to get a good feel of the school.  Next time it may be beneficial to see a story/communication being taught in two different classes e.g. ASD and PMLD.  This will enable us to compare the similarities and differences between the schools.

More time to chat with the other teachers from the school to evaluate and plan future interschool and class to class projects.

More opportunities to work with staff in their classrooms to observe good practice and to interact with students.

It was a very well organized meeting so we don’t have any comment on that.
The meeting would be even more useful if they could remove the language barrier for all participants. We must to improve English!

5. What would you like to learn more about from Podebrady Special School?

The use of workstations in the classroom e.g. how long does the pupil work at the station and how much social time they have and are the results better when the pupils work at a station rather than in a group?  I would be interested to know how the school is planning to harness the educational opportunities facilitated by the internet. Are there interactive educational learning sites available in the Czech Republic?

We like to learn more about the school system, the class-system, evaluations, parental contacts,

Interesting pedagogical applications for the I-pad. 

A specific visit to a class with first-grade readers and more time to see the working with the I-pad’s.
We were glad, that all teachers are able to cooperate and to prepare interesting programme for our visitors.

COMENIUS VISIT TO PODEBRADY FROM THE UK

For all of us it was our first visit to the Czech Republic, so we were very unsure about what we would encounter.  Many of us expected grey buildings and factories, and of course we were VERY wrong.  The Czech Republic was full of colour, warmth and welcome.  We encountered helpful friendly people throughout our trip, before we even reached the school! 

The trip was so well organized and we had opportunities to enjoy Czech life through, cycling, traditional music, singing, dancing, food and conversation.  

Educationally the school was extremely welcoming.  We toured the school, visiting different classes and bringing back ideas to use at home.  The staff and students were very enthusiastic and eager to learn form us, and teach us new skills.  We particularly enjoyed learning new words and phrases in Czech. 

Our school is now learning to use new Apps on the Ipad and using Ipads as educational tools in a range of curriculum areas.

Thank you Lenka and Iva for a organizing the visit so well.

Comenius setkání v ČR

Ve dnech, 30.5. až 3.6. 2012, jsme přivítali naše belgické a anglické přátele u nás ve škole. Setkání jsme zahájili slavnostním shromážděním na školním náměstí. 

assembly in the school square

ceremony with the flags

V průběhu setkání se hosté seznámili se systémem speciálního vzdělávání v České republice, prohlédli si naše třídy a zúčastnili se části výuky. Páteční dopoledne bylo věnováno aktivitám, které si pro naše děti připravili. Belgičtí učitelé nás seznámili se sportovními aktivitami, vhodnými pro všechny bez rozdílu - Kinball a Boccia. Britské kolegyně s námi oslavili významné jubileum královny Alžběty.

Kinball and Boccia

Queen Elisabeth Universary

Odpoledne bylo věnováno ukázkám canisterapie a možnostem využití iPadů ve speciálním vzdělávání. A také výletům po okolí.

dog therapy and using of iPads in special education

V sobotu se skupiny rozdělily na zájemce o účast na Učitelském summitu pro speciální školy a zařízení, druhá skupina strávila den prohlížení památek v Kutné Hoře.
Večerní program napomohl navazování partnerských vztahů mezi učiteli, což je jedním z velmi důležitých předpokladů pro smysluplnou spolupráci mezi našimi školami.

FRIENDSHIP - VRIENDSCHAP - PŘÁTELSTVÍ

Evaluation contactmeeting BuBaO Sint-Gerardus March 2012

UK

Belgium
Czech Rep

1. What did you like the most

The opportunity to find out about the school and non- school system.

The school building, the use of space and all the student’s equipment.
The whole school topic – The Circus
The school and other services working together.
The hospitality and organisation of visit.
The staff and children.
The meeting started Wednesday evening with a cozy dinner. It was great to meet again. 
The good atmosphere between the visitors and our colleagues.
Colleagues are more and more convinced that this Comenius project gives great opportunities  to our school (children and teachers).
The activities that the visitors did with the children in our classes.
The visit to Ter Heide and the talking afterwards about inclusive education and the needs of children with severe handicaps and needs.

- very friendly teachers

- a big space for the movement of children in wheelchairs and a lot of different  mobile devices and special bikes

- good scheduler with interesting activities

- the school circus performance

- the activity for trying the role of disabled people

 

2. What can you use in your own school

How multi agencies work together to help all pupils access the curriculum and achieve their full potential.

Get local secondary school to make sensory boards for Lakeside.

Use of steps attached to chair legs, by a simple hole for legs.

Grids to be used as Communication aids – particularly for lunchtime.

For students of different ages to work together in a collaborative manner on a shared topic. 

Activities for staff training to increase understanding of difficulties faced by our pupils, including physical and communication difficulties. 

Morning routines.

Equipment ideas.

During this visit there was a lot of attention for intensive interaction and the use of sign language. This was because of the job-shadowing that Pauline did in our school. She visited and worked for two weeks in our school Both are working fields we still have to explore in the future in our school.

- To think more on the promotion of independence and self-care of children on the wheelchairs
- Adapted sports activity for all children

3. What did you learn about stories and communication?

Learning some basic Flemish, was very useful.
How the use of technology has transformed the way some people with disabilities can communicate e.g. use of Tellus and Mind express. 
How kindness and friendship can be communicated whatever your language or disability. 
To link stories into the children’s learning, in different areas of the school.  (Work shadowing – Pauline T)
Communication grids.
The use of stories in the class is very interesting for all children of different mental level. Children and adults are always very pleased with stories. They are bringing a special atmosphere and children are learning a lot of storytelling.
We will try to make a sensory story with  children to use in the classes for children with a lower mental level. Children will learn to think about witch objects  can be interesting to use in the story.

Beyond the borders of languages people are able to communicate whether it is the using of sign language, your own language or without words. Pupils are very attentive to communicate and have several ways to get into communication. It opens new worlds for them.

It was amazing how our children were driven to use some English or Czech words. They tried to interact with our guests. It is good for their self-confidence. They enjoyed to experience that they were understood by peoples that speak a foreign language.
There was a good interaction between the colleagues of Sint-Gerardus and our visitors.

 - It was interesting to meet children who helped to prepare those stories. We will try to make the other stories and we will share it with you.

- We saw Tellus computer and Mind Express program and the first photostory by children made.

    

          4.How could the visit be improved

Excellent Programme.

A little time for emailing photos or skyping to own schools.

Twin bedrooms!!

Time in classroom to see literacy lesson / story being taught.  (In social and learning classes.)

To speak to parents.

A little time between scheduled activities to reflect and gather thoughts.

We would like to be more with children in classes and to see teachers work with them. We would like to see aqua therapy for example...

But we loved everything. It was a visit full of amazing impressions.

   5. What would you like to learn more about from St.-Gerardus? 

To know more about the organisation.

To see lessons being taught for stories and communication. 

To observe practice from your school staff.

Assessment of students and record keeping.

Thank you for a really enjoyable and educational experience.

- next year we would like to talk more about curriculum in Belgium, CR and UK and to compare it. And to learn about possibility of other teachers education.

2. Comenius setkání

Ve dnech 14.-18. března jsme ve čtyřčlenném složení navštívili partnerskou školu v belgickém městě Diepenbek. Naši milí hostitelé nám připravili zajímavý a podnětný program a dovolili nám stát se na pár dní součástí školní komunity. 

Škola BuBaO St. Gerardus se stará o žáky převážně s tělesným postižením v kombinaci s různými stupni mentálního postižení. Velmi inspirativní pro nás byl systém rehabilitační péče a výchovy k co největší pohybové samostatnosti všech žáků. Obdivovali jsme zejména velké množství běžných i elektrických vozíků a jiných mobilních zařízení pro nejmenší i starší děti. Vzdušná a velkoryse projektovaná budova poskytuje možnost rozvíjet i žáky s velmi těžkým tělesným postižením. 

Prostřednictvím prezentace a diskuze s kolegy jsme měli možnost seznámit se s belgickým školským systémem a péčí o děti s postižením v různých typech škol. 

Společně jsme zažili krásné okamžiky při přípravě na páteční cirkusové představení, kterým vyvrcholil několika týdenní projekt. Vzpomínáme na dětská vystoupení plná nadšení, radosti a maximálního nasazení a na tým učitelů a dalších pracovníků, kteří dávají dětem pocit úspěšnosti a bezpečného zázemí.

Děkujeme našim belgickým přátelům za pohostinnost a kolegům z obou zemí za možnost sdílet své zkušenosti a   navzájem se učit.

Visit to Saint Gerardus March 2012

Six members of staff from Lakeside School visited Saint Gerardus School in Belgium for 4 days.  We also met our colleague, who spent two weeks work shadowing within the school, sharing her knowledge of Intensive Interaction and learning more about teaching stories and communication. 

We were greeted at the school by all the students and staff who made us feel very welcome.  We learnt about the oganisation of the school and funding of the whole establishment.  It was interesting to see how the multi-agency approach works, all within the campus of Saint Gerardus. 

The school building was very well planned for the needs of the pupils, there was plenty of space for independent movement. All students were entitled to equipment to help them increase their mobility and access the curriculum. We visited Ter Heide provision which provides care for people with multiple difficulties.  This highlighted the different approaches to SEN education in the UK and Belgium, which was interesting to see.

We had a presentation prepared by a secondary student in English, using his Tellus computer.  He was a nonverbal student with multiple physical difficulties, who used his foot and hand to operate a computer programme to communicate with us. We were very impressed with this technology, and will investigate similar equipment in the UK.

Staff from Lakeside and the Podebrady, then  taught a planned lesson around the theme of the Circus, through out the school.  In the afternoon students presented their activities to the whole school. We said good bye to all the students and staff and thanked them for their hospitality.

Through out the visit we were made very welcome and enjoyed the planned hospitality from the whole school. 

Onze meeting in België is achter de rug. We hebben onze partners ontvangen in onze school. Op donderdag maakten ze kennis met de kinderen. In de namiddag brachten we een bezoek aan Ter Heide in Genk. Vrijdag verzorgden onze gasten een activiteit in de verschilllende klassen. De kinderen genoten ervan en probeerden enkele woorden te zeggen in het Engels. In de namiddag genoten we samen van de zelf verzorgde cirucusvoorstelling die ons circusproject afsloot.  Aan het einde toonde elke klas wat ze gemaakt of gedaan hadden tijdens de voormiddagactiviteit met de Comeniuspartners. We waren allemaal verrast toen de Tsjechische partners het lied "Vrolijke vrienden" volledig in het Nederlands zongen.
Zaterdag bezochten we Brussel waar onze directeur Ludo een rondleiding gaf. Natuurlijk was er ook  nog tijd om te shoppen. 's Avonds werd de meeting afgesloten bij een lekker maal.
Er werden weer heel wat ervaringen uitgewisseld tijdens deze meeting. We kijken dus al uit naar de volgende.

Contactmeeting in Belgium

Van woensdag 14 maar tot zondag 18 maart zijn onze Tsjechsiche en Engelse partners in België op bezoek. We kijken er naar uit om hen kennis te laten maken met de kinderen van onze school.

From the 14th of March until the 18th our Czech and English partners will visit Belgium. It will be our second meeting. We are looking forward to let them meet the children of our school. We will show them how we work and let them be part of our school for a few days.

What our children said at Lakeside!

Evaluation - Lakeside November 2011

UK

Belgium

Czech Rep

LAKESIDE, UK – Nov 2011

Evaluation Form

1. What did you like the most?

The friendliness of visitors and finding out about their schools.

      Discussing the way the staff teach.

Our students working with male teachers.

Discussing cultures.

Learning about different communication aids used in Belgium and Czech Rep. Opportunity to share photos and share good practice, resources and experiences.

How students with autism communicate in the partner schools.

How well the visitors interacted with our pupils.

How well our visitors spoke English!

Final assembly sharing work.

 

The Lakeside school received us very warmly. We had enough chances to be in contact with colleagues from the Lakeside school and our Czech colleagues during the meeting.

The program made for the meeting was varie.

We had different learning moments and the evening program was great for informal contacts.  d

The way the sensory stories are used in the classes.

The way the teachers and teacher assistants work together. 

We highly evaluated the teamwork of all staff Lakeside School and positive atmosphere at school.

The best experience for us was meeting many interesting and inspiring people and communication with colleagues.

We admired sensory corners in every classes and especially sophisticated methodology of work in Sensory room. 

Omni Vista is amazing device. We saw it the first time and we loved it very much.

Teachers and all staff were very nice. And yours program was really great prepared.

  

2. What can you use in your own school?

Apps for the Ipad from Lenka for communication as this is an area at Lakeside we would like to develop.

Keep signing as the visitors were very impressed by this means of communication. 

Sensory stories and also rhymes and songs from other countries.

Possible Boccia link with Belgium School

We will use the sensory story that we had from our partners.

We can use the intensive interaction we need to learn more about that.

The idea of an assembly starting the school day and ending the school day : We will propose this to our colleagues and want to do this on a weekly basis in our school. Start the week on Monday and end on Friday. Set a child or a class in the picture for something special they did during the week.

The way the sensory room was equipped all the materials are interesting to use. The way the teacher worked with the children in the sensory room. Each child had a specific approach. The way the session was started and ended. We hope we can have our own room very soon.

We dream about an Omnivista.

Certainly we would like to use the Sensory stories, because we use it only little in this form in our school.

And we often talked about method Intensive Interaction.  It seems to be very inspirational method for better progress of every child with special needs. 

We were also interested in aids for MOVE and verticalization of child. This all is inspire for us and our colleagues.

3. What would you like to learn more about?

Learning strategies used in our partners schools.

How they work with VI and ASD students.  ICT programmes used for this group.

Opportunities for 14 – 19 year olds, and progression. 

Specific strategies used in schools for communication.  

To see how Ipad Apps are used.  Also VOCAS. 

The structure of their schools – classes / timetables / curriculum. 

How they assess pupils ability and make decision for placement.  

Organisation and planning for literacy at different ages / stages in Belgium and Czech Republic.   

How special schools are lead and managed.

PE in partner schools

Learn more about the making of a sensory story. What is important, valuable tips,  how do you keep the attention from the children…

The use of intensive interaction.

Specific activities in the sensory room.

We would like to have a workshop about both during our next visit.

Forms of open discussion about school (content, organisation…) and school life.

We learned a lot of information during non formal meetings and chatting.

We interested in methodology of MOVE therapy for translating to Czech language.

To learn more information about success of inclusion SEN students in the mainstream school.

4. What did you learn about stories?

Use of Belgian Sensory Story – learning about Belgium.

Fantastic stories and rhymes from other cultures.   The children enjoyeds the stories. 

We knew the importance of storytelling but a sensory story adds so much more for children who are mentally retarded. We experienced that you have to practice this way of storytelling. The same story can be told many times and every time you will discover other things to do. Each reaction and intervention of a child was encouraged. The teachers took time to tell the stories.

The stories are very interesting experience for us. We want to inspire our colleagues to using in classes for students with severe disabilities.

We admired the lesson for children with several handicaps, which we saw.

5. What did you learn about communication?

Ipad Apps – Czech School  Can be cheaper and effective communication device.  Particularly English language ones. 

How much we do already as a school to try to allow all to communicate at their own level. 

How fantastic our visitors were at speaking English.  We need to learn Czech and Dutch!  We all need a method to communicate when we visit a country and do not speak the language – use of symbols for staff?

We learned that you can communicate in many different ways and on different levels.

We saw that the use of intensive interaction stimulates children even if they are on a mentally low level. We can use this intensive interaction for some of our children who can’t speak or children who have difficulties with interaction. Everyone took time to get contact with the children they didn’t force it.

Communication and interaction with other is important for everybody.

Our students can show to us that words don´t the most important for understanding. This is the same for UK, Belgium and Czech Republic too.

  

      6. How could the visit be improved? 

It was excellent!  Well organised.  Visitors having a little more time to observe and reflect in school ; to discuss communication with Speech and Language Therapist, the Sensory Zone, control and communication skills. 

First of all we would like to say that is was a good meeting that we all enjoyed. 

The Comenius team members of the host school should have more moments of contacts between them and the visiting team. This can only when these members are free of lessons during the visit, if this is possible for the school organisation of course.

Program, hospitality, care and accommodation were perfect.

First meeting was excellent. Tanis and her team did a great job.

Thank for all.

We hope that we too prepare the same successful meeting for us in Czech Republic.