The specialised room is situated on the 3rd floor in Prof. Assen Zlatarov School. The facility is divided into three different areas for working with children: zones for relaxing, for sensory stimulation and for active learning. They will all be equipped with special facilities for encouraging the development of children with special learning needs.
Relax Zone
It will provide an area for rest and stress-relief. The ability to concentrate that children with special learning needs have is low and it is further reduced when they are stressed out. That's what happens in the normal learning process because teachers in regular classes can't provide constant change of activities while those children need that to be kept involved and interested. That's why there will be soft seats for sitting, place for lying, a swing (it provides movement for autistic children that they need), rubber ball, etc.
Sensory Stimulation Zone
This part of the room will help children know the world better through different activities, connected with the development of sensory perception. It has different textiles on the walls, different lights that will help children learn by experience, as well as get to know their own senses and perception better.
Active Learning Zone
It will contribute to the development of the learning potential of the children and their learning curve by cultivating skills for concentration, memory, attention, logic and fine motor skills.
School Resource Center
(specialised room)
in support of the process of integration of children with special needs in the educational process at P. R. Slaveikov Private School
Goal: creating the right environment to support and develop the educational, as well as the social integration of children with special needs in the learning process at the school
1. Nature of the project: supporting the children with special needs in the learning process
P. R. Slaveikov Private School has been working with children with special needs since 2006.
At present, there are 11 students with special needs who are integrated into the regular classes.
Our daily work with those children shows the need for a special place (a specialised room) that is suitable for them and meets their special needs. It will help reduce the tension in the classroom because of those children’s unmet needs.
This room will help in the following way:
• • it will give us the opportunity to customise the learning process to those children’s special needs; to work individually with them using flexible methods; to use the special corners for extra activities and stimulation;
• • it will meet the needs of those children for special environment for stress relief after they have been overloaded with the tasks in class, when they are over-emotional and hyperactive. We have had cases when children in such conditions have been led out of the classroom to relax and calm down due to their hyperactivity and over-excitement.
• • it will give the children the opportunity to change activities, take some rest and continue learning after they have released the overexcitement and the pressure. After the time spent in the Center they will be able to go back to the classroom and take part in the regular activities with their classmates and peers.
2. Realisation of the project: with the financial aid of the Program for supporting NGOs in Bulgaria
The project for the construction of a School Resource Center is an innovative idea and it has won a grant from the Program for supporting NGOs in Bulgaria, on the grounds of the Financial tools program from the European economic area.
The Program for supporting NGOs in Bulgaria is part of the application of the Financial tools program of the European economic area. It amounts to almost 11.8mln Euros, provided by the donations of Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway. The program offers funding for NGOs, registered in Bulgaria and supporting the civil sector and its part in improving social justice, promoting democracy and encouraging a more sustainable approach to societal development in the country.
Operator of the Program for supporting NGOs in Bulgaria is The Open Society Institute – Sofia, in partnership with Workshop for Civil Initiatives Foundation.