Project of the  Primary school “Dr Ivan Merz”
Living room

Specific project’s objectives:
  • To improve existing activities aimed at pupils with special educational needs.
  • To improve knowledge and skills of teachers and professionals who work with these pupils.
  • To reduce the risk of social isolation through education about social skills.
  • To encourage acceptance of diversity and cooperative behavior in a broader collective (among pupils, parents and staff).
Project’s main activities:
Fellowship through music -  creating an inclusive environment

 Pupils will meet once a week after school in the Living Room. They will listen and play collective music in order to learn about different cultures, languages, customs (Roma, Macedonian, Albanian, Italian, German, Austrian, Hungarian, Bosnian music). Many pupils already attend music schools, most have their own instruments, while school also owns some (picks, strings, notebooks, notes and similar supplies). Members of the Primary school “Dr Ivan Merz” Association will be engaged to work with them throughout the year. The association works closely with the school, especially in music projects. The project will also indirectly activate foreign language teachers ​​and music teacher at the school. In this way pupils will learn to accept cultural diversity and develop cultural and intercultural abilities. Through shared music-making, they will learn to cooperate and to be united.

Capacity building – Learning how to learn

This activity aims to help pupils with learning difficulties through workshops for parents, teachers and pupils.

  • Workshops of NGO Brave Phone, Child protection centre of Zagreb
    • - Workshop for parents: “How does my child learn?”, raises awareness on parent’s role in child's education
    • - Workshop for teachers: “Children with disabilities” – explains how to recognize dyslexia, developmental reading disorder, dysgraphia, difficulties with handwriting and dyscalculia, difficulties related to the ability to calculate and work with numbers. These trainings should direct teachers not to declare pupils lazy if they avoid reading, writing and arithmetic; not to require reading out loud or  not to compare with other children
    • - Training for teachers on Individual differences / difficulties / disabilities (IDEM)
    • - Workshop for pupils
      • - “How to learn to learn”, from 1st to 4th grade for subjects: Croatian language, mathematics, science
      • - “Talk acceptance” - Child psychologist will teach pupils to active listening and empathy, how to develop mutual trust and respect, and distinguishing acceptance speech from rejection speech.
      • - “Respect for diversity” - workshop  on mutual understanding and practicing tolerance
Stop peer violence campaign
  • Workshops for pupils, run by child psychologist,  will have themes:
    • - “In someone else's shoes”,
    • - “How to get out of the conflict?”
    • - “Positive interdependence”
    • - “Assertiveness”, learning pupils to o recognize forms of behaviour in conflict and gain skills of assertive solving of problems;
  • Workshops for parents – Parents' role in protecting children from violence
  • Designing the Internet site – with key messages on peer violence, commitment to problems and problem solving in education and  links to the web sites of NGO Brave Phone, the ombudsman for children, CARNet, Srce, and similar institutions online
  • Brochures – on peer violence, virtual bullying and how to prevent it. The brochures will be implemented by pupils in collaboration with computer science teacher and the Primary School Dr Ivan Merz Association. Brochures would be actively involved in the project and shared among pupils of our school and neighbouring schools created by the pupils
  • Digital photography exhibition - in November of 2014 Primary School Dr Ivan Merz will hold an exhibition of digital photography – Exhibition "Unity through Photography" will show works 5th – 8th grade pupils’ works from all over the country.
  • Animated films-. Pupils will create animated films on , Non-violent conflict resolution
  • Visual and multimedia contest for pupils for International Day of Tolerance
Magic of knowledge - working with gifted pupils:
  • Workshop on Croatian sign language
  •  Making a film – about dangers on the Internet on script drafted by pupils
  •  Involvement of pupils in teaching process in higher grades - in certain school subject where talent is recognized.
  • In addition to all the activities, 4 teachers will attend the Spring School of Teachers in Opatija, of Croatian Pedagogic and Literary Society.
Project’s target groups
  • Direct beneficiaries: 426 pupils, 100 parents, 37 teachers, professional staff involved in the project
  • Indirect beneficiaries:  wider local community, approximatly 600 people), future generations of pupils and teachers