very special schools for very special children Erasmus Project

Project Title

very special schools for very special children

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Pedagogy and didactics; Disabilities – special needs

Project Summary

• Context/background of the project;
Part of the school population of special schools is passed to the regular school circuit. In Belgium we have the M decree, in Bulgaria the special schools turned into “centres for educational support”. In both cases, this represents a major adaptation of the target group. This change makes only children who need a lot of support, remain in schools for special education. The special schools and “centres for educational support” will focus on children with very special needs. We have to adapt our visions and educational methods. It is important that teachers have sufficient knowledge and skills to teach these children.
• Objectives;
We created manuals for beginning teachers and teachers who have to get used to a new target group in the classroom. The handbooks included methodologies, best practices, experiences of experienced teachers, theory, etc.
The manual provides an initial security for the teachers who work with these children for the first time.
We made clear to teachers what knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to teach these children, to stay motivated and to have satisfaction in daily work.
We looked for achievable learning outcomes for very weak students. Together with the parents we looked for other types of learning outcomes.
We investigated whether the current school system has led to behaviour problems. How can we adapt the classroom / school system so we see fewer behaviour problems.
• Number and profile of participating organisations;
VBS Sint-Franciscus is a primary and nursing school. Together with BuSO Sint-Franciscus (Secondary school) and BuLO Sint-Franciscus they form the VZW scholen Sint-Franciscus. At this moment the VZW have 539 students and about 200 staff-members.
They give education for children from 2,5 till 21 years old
3 types of education for children with moderate and severe disability, severe emotional and / or behavioural problems, autism spectrum disorders.
The school is a key provider of special education in the region and the only school offering education to children with multiple disabilities and children with severe mental disability. The school specializes in teaching children with autism.
The school Stefan Karadza was founded in 1952. At present there are 110 children and 44 staff members, 30 of them are pedagogical staff.
During the project the school is reformed to a centre for special educational support.
• Description of undertaken main activities;
We wrote a starters manual for the items:
– Relational and Sexual Education (for students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities).
– Education of children with AUTISM and intellectual disabilities.
– Education of children with a severe behavioural disorder.
– Education of children with severe multiple disabilities Preparation of the 4 transnational meetings.
Organising a symposium in Plovdiv.
• Results and impact attained;
For the schools:
Teachers will be inspired to think about inclusion for these children. We found that a better understanding of the disability and the deviant behaviour motivates the teachers to find a place in society for these children.
By having manuals there is more job satisfaction for teachers. They remain more motivated, less burnout.
The project improved the image of the special school in Plovdiv
For the teachers:
The teachers from the two schools are very motivated to think together about educational problems with these children. The manuals provided more certainty to (beginning) teachers. The way in which they can respond to an acute crisis, gives them confidence.
The dissatisfaction of teachers in connection with the changing target decreases, so that they will find joy in their work.
For the children:
The children were provided with a better support of the development.
For the participating parents, it was an opportunity to have a voice in the way in which their children are educated.
After the symposium we get during the workshops a lot of good reactions of the participants. They were very curious and asked a lot of questions about visions and materials they found in the manuals.
• If relevant, longer-term benefits.
The image of the schools for special education will be improved .
For parents of children with very high care from our schools: they influenced the way of working in the school and together we looked for customized learning goals. They are an essential stake holder.
The project is an important link between the schools for special and mainstream education. The professional knowledge built up over years in the special schools, will not be lost.
The school is (even more than now) a specialist school for children with very serious problems. They offer their professional knowledge to the other schools in the area.
The manuals will be given to schools for teachers (Appointments are made in connection with internships)

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 25856,35 Eur

Project Coordinator

VBS BO – Sint-Franciscus & Country: BE

Project Partners

• Center for Special Educational Support