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.

First photostory from Podebrady

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.

Twin Space

I have just linked Twin Space to our blog.  May be I should also put a link on e twinning.