Project of the Primary school “Branko Ćopić”:
Improving the position of children and youth with difficulties in mental and physical development

Specific project’s objectives:

• To raise the level of inclusion in school for children and youth with difficulties in mental and physical development
• To improve the quality of education and upbringing in regular teaching process for children with difficulties
• To improve the knowledge and competence of teaching staff and professional associates in order to be able to recognize and work with children with difficulties
• To improve the level of awareness and sensitization in municipality, for people with difficulties in mental and physical development

Project’s main activities:

Awareness campaign

• Nine one-hour talk shows  on Radio Prnjavor with School’s journalism section will discuss on:
  • - status of children and youth with developmental disabilities in local community,
  • - types and characteristics of difficulties in mental and physical development,
  • - aims of the project, project’s activities together with statements of children with difficulties in mental and physical development, peer educators, teaching staff, mediators of workshops and trainings

Adapting a premise for work with developmentally disabled children and their stay:

• Teachers, dialectologist and personal assistants will use this premise for work and stay of children with difficulties in mental and physical development.  Pupils will be able to stay here when they are absent from classes for various reasons, such as lack of obligation to attend a class due to difficulties in development. It would be also used for trainings of professional staff, school section’s work and individual meetings of teachers and parents. The adaption of premise according  to pedagogical standards and needs of the pupils implies:
•  Construction of stair lift for wheelchairs, shelf, desk, chairs, audio and video equipment, didactical resources and similar.
•  Members of art section will paint the room in order to make the premise as comfortable as possible.

Capacity building

• Improving the competence of teaching staff and professional associate
  • - Organising four interactive educational workshops with 20 participants each with following themes
    • - Improving the position of pupils with difficulties in mental and physical development;
    • - Diagnosis and treatment of difficulties in mental and physical development from the area of defectology;
    • - Diagnosis and treatment of difficulties in mental and physical development from the area of speech-language pathology;
    • - Improving the quality of education at pupils with difficulties in mental and physical development.

All participants of the workshop will write an expert paper “Example of good practice” during the school year 2014/15. All the papers will be unified and printed in brochure.

Activities on theme “Acceptance of differences”

• Training of pedagogues and psychologists - trainers for peer educators. Continuous education of pedagogues and psychologists working in a schools leads to long-term improvement of student’s relationships and general social climate.
• Training of Peer educators - sixteen pupils, from seven to nine classes, who expressed interest to improve their knowledge and abilities and become peer educators.
• Thirty four workshops for improving relationship among pupils.  Peer educators will realize workshops on acceptance of difference in all classes in the school.
• Three mutual workshops with protégés of the Day Care Centre for children with developmental disabilities “Neven”.

Project’s closure:

• Presentation of project’s results for participants, parents, representatives from other schools and local community will be organised in Public institution “Centre for Culture” Prnjavor.

Project’s target groups:

• Direct beneficiaries: 20 pupils, children and youth with developmental disabilities, 40 teachers, 14 pedagogues and psychologists employed in local primary schools, 16 pupils - peer educators, pills – workshops’ participants, 15 children with difficulties in mental and physical development from the Day Care Centre “Neven”
• Indirect beneficiaries: 1500 pupils from other schools in our municipality, 500 parents, 2500 persons in municipality