Address: Březinova 31, 586 01 Jihlava,

Contact: phone: +420 56 733 36 44, + 420 777 813 879

e-mail: pomskola@quick.cz

Company ID: 70 88 83 96

Banking account: 1467174359/0800 Česká spořitelna a.s. pobočka Jihlava

Director: Mgr. Zuzana Šimková:

· graduated from the Olomouc University, major „Education of children with special needs“

· over 15 years of experience working with handicapped children

· 2 months of internship in Sweden (1996)

· Management study at Brno University’s School of Philosophy (2002- 2004)

Number of students: 56 (most of whom are between 9 and 18 years old)

The school was established by Jihlava city council in January 2001.

The school provides special education for mentally retarded children, physically disabled

children and autistic children.

The mission of the school is:

Ø to give children the opportunity to develop and use their skills and abilities to the

fullest extent allowed by their conditions

Ø to support the child in such a way that he can live a meaningful and
productive life in society

Children are divided into 8 classes. Two of the classes are attended by mentally retarded children, three classes are designated for both physically and mentally handicapped children, and two classes are reserved for children with autism. All classes begin at 8:00 a.m. and end at 1:00 p.m. Children can visit the school club which is open from 6:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. every day. Fifty percent of our students live in Jihlava and its suburbs, other children commute to school from various places in the country. The school provides different types of recreational, cultural and sport activities. A variety of special pedagogical methods, such as art therapy, music therapy and canine therapy, represents an integral part of the habilitation provided by the school. We also use computers equipped with special educational software. For those children who cannot understand or speak, we use alternative and augmentative ways of communication.

The Special school for children with severe disabilities in Jihlava is a regional institution providing basic education for handicapped children.

Considering their serious disabilities, mentally ill children cannot be integrated into regular primary schools. The Special School of Jihlava continues the education provided in special nursery schools. Education, physiotherapy and helping children compensate for their handicaps are essential activities of the school. An overwhelming portion of the pupils holds special cards providing invalidity benefits for handicapped people. Presently, there are educated 14 immobile pupils at our school. One may suppose this number is going to be higher in a near future.

The school has a sport club "Kamínek" (Stone), which is a member of the Czech Asssociation of Special Olympics. Children practice table tennis, athletics and other sports.
Every year we host an art exhibition of ceramics and paintings by our students.