Project participants
There are six participats: Lithuaniai, Turkey, England, Finland, Bulgaria, Greece
Lithuaniai Kedainiai Special School
Our institution is a modern school which has 126 students with mental disabilities and special needs. It is situated in a very beautiful town called Kedainiai. Our students have problems such as mental disability, attention deficit disorder, learning disabilities and emotional/behavioral problems. Most of the students come from families with economic and social issues and some of them stay in dormitories. The school employs 47 teachers, psychologists, social workers, speech therapists, vocational therapists etc. The school provides pupils with a general and practical training mainly according to their abilities and capabilities. There are many extracurricular activities such as: music, art, theatre, sports and health, IT, foreign languages. Also our pupils have an opportunity to attend various clubs: capella “Linksmuoliai”, choir “Varpelis”, art club, ceramics, flower-growing club, dance club and many others. Our institution has expanded and updated special measures and health services for children with disabilities to improve the quality of life. Our school has many beautiful deep traditions. In May, the school’s pupils celebrate Thanksgiving Day. They sing songs, dance for their parents, guardians and teachers. Since 2006, the school has participated in the largest Lithuanian charity project "Dreams Come True”. The pupils present handmade Christmas cards to Lithuanian people. No students are excluded from participating in the project; they are more than welcome to take part in any activity included in the project as the project aims to involve children of all abilities. Being partners in this Comenius Project gives to our students the opportunity to collaborate and interact with students of different countries.
Turkey
Isparta Special Educational Centre
In our school, there are 150 students between the ages of 6-23 with slight mental disabilities.Our students have learning difficulties and emotional problems.Most of them come to school from villages and surrounding areas by school buses.The school supplies lunch for all of them.There are 56 teachers and they teach at a school environment where they have both classes and attoliers such as ceramic, carpentry and wood products, handicraft and plastic products.There are staff including a nurse and a driver.Our school is quite big and located in the centre of Isparta.Our city is in the lake district in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey.
England
Alfreton Park Community Special School is situated in Alfreton Derbyshire. We cater for pupils aged 2 -19 years of age with special educational needs. We have 78 pupils on role at the moment and we mainly work with PMLD/ SLD and ASD pupils.We are situated in the middle of a park and have great access to our local community. The curriculum is based upon personal centred learning and developing independence and self-help skills for life after school, as well as following the National Curriculum and Quest assessment for learning. Our pupils benefit from the specialist teaching, knowledge, and expertise of our staff. We have small classes of between 6 and 10 pupils, each with a teacher and at least 2 Teaching Assistants. Classes are divided into Early Years, Primary, Secondary and ALFE (Post 16) departments. We aim: to provide an exciting, interesting, stimulating and high quality education with interesting and relevant inclusion opportunities for our pupils. To develop social and communication skills, personal independence and self-advocacy, to provide education for all; valuing and respecting cultural diversity, gender and disability, to provide a safe, supportive and appropriate environment that promotes learningWe have been involved in two previous Comenius projects centred on art and we are now a part of this project Save Our Songs. We are a part of the Comenius project as it enables our pupils to develop an awareness of other cultures, music within many genres, independence and the opportunity to travel and be a part of the European Union.
Finland
Luovi Vocational College is the largest special needs VET provider in Finland. Luovi operates nationwide in over 20 locations. Luovi has 1470students in initial VET and staff of 850 people. Luovi also has 1 000 participants in continuing VET. Luovi is a part of Organisation for Respiratory Health in Finland
Luovi offers vocational special needs education and training (VET) for young people and adults. We believe that each individual is special and deserves equal rights and opportunities in society.
Vocational education and training is provided in six fields of study:
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Culture,
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Natural resources and environment,
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Natural Sciences,
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Social sciences, business and administration,
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Technology, communication and transport,
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Tourism, catering and domestic services.
Luovi provides preparatory training for initial VET and also for work and independent living.
Luovi offers continuing VET options for adults who need support in their studies to update and develop their vocational competence.
Additionally, Luovi offers specialist services, such as training, consultation, publications and teaching materials, to mainstream VET and associates.
More details: www.luovi.fi
We are the kindergarten “Svetulka”- which means “firefly”, located in the biggest residential area in Shumen - the tenth largest town in Bulgaria. Our country has more than 1300 years of history and it was founded in the lands around our town. The first capitals of Bulgaria Pliska and Preslav are only about 15 km away from Shumen. The symbol of our country – the unique rock relief Madara Rider - is also near Shumen. Madara Rider is the only one of its kind in Europe and dates back to the Middle Ages.The rock relief was included in the UNESCO Heritage List at a session of the Committee, held in the city of Luxor, Egypt in 1979.“We bring light for the children’s future” is our motto. That is because we, teachers and parents, believe that every child deserves their great future. The children are 362 in number, grouped in 16 groups according to their age. We encode their future by the contact of the children with the Bulgarian and world culture, the songs and dances of our people, our traditions, beliefs, rituals, fairytales, fables and customs. The children belong to different ethnical groups – Bulgarian, Turkish and Roma, and many of them come from families with a very low social status. We want to share our experience with our partners and help them see the richness of the Bulgarian spirit. What we expect is to learn from them more about the world we live in. Our children should realize that Europe is our common home – in its diversity, and its citizens, who, in spite of being different, have their own place among us, and the right of happiness. Website
Greece
The Special Vocational Education Laboratory (E.E.E.E.K.) of Agios Dimitrios is a public vocational school in Athens. It trains boys and girls with different special needs such as mental difficulties, autism, various syndromes and psychological problems from the age of 12 to 23. The school offers training in 4 different fields such as pottery, gardening, plumbing and cooking and pastry-making. The school provides students with general and practical training mainly according to their abilities and capabilities, specifically seeking comprehensive and effective development, integration in the production process, mutual acceptance in the community and equitable social development. The students also attend lessons of Greek language, maths, social skills, art, music, physical education, and computers. They can also attend speech therapy and occupational therapy sessions if needed. Emphasis is given on workshops and training on every day skills. Website
