Network of excellence to improve services for children, youth with complex mental health needs

Network of excellence to improve services for children, youth with complex mental health needs

A The Educational and Psychological Counselling in Jihlava cooperates with regional schools to improve services for children and youth with complex educational and behavioral needs. It focuses on diagnostic, therapeutic, reeducation, counselling and methodological activities for children and youths from 3 years to the end of secondary school, eventually higher professional schools, their parents and teachers.

B “We focus on assessing the prerequisites of children, pupils and students, not only when there appears to be a problem in the development of the child’s dispositions, but also when a certain acceleration in the development of skills or inequality can be expected,” the social worker Iveta Vrbková said. “We advise on how to work with children, how to develop them, what to offer. All this is not only in connection with schools, but with the whole development period and health of the children and adolescents.” The goal is to enable these children and youth to reach all possible services they need, and enable the services available in the community. “The objective is to engage youth, families and communities in working together to boost children’s educational abilities,” Vrbková explained.

C “Under the agreement with the parents, we also agree on individual steps with pupil’s teachers. We help solving difficulties also in other areas, as upbringing problems, starting school, connection with some diseases, family situation, selection of suitable employment, etc.,” Jarmila Prošková, director of the Educational and Psychological Counselling in Jihlava, said. “The aim of our institution is to help children, youth, and families develop strategies to improve prevention and early intervention, as well as treatment and services. To truly transform kids’ problems in educational area, we need to all be rowing in the same direction – children, families, and schools.”

D Meanwhile, the centre is issuing a request for enlarging the centre for children and youth with educational needs. Our centre helps assess and develop educational plans so that education delivered within all schools in our Region is as effective as possible. “We also offer further professional psychological or special pedagogical guidance, therapies and reeducation, individually or in a group, or in cooperation with the family. We provide full-consultations and advice. We offer one-off and repeated meetings, again as needed,” Vrbková said. “We organize consultations, lectures, discussions, seminars in schools, we work with classes focusing on the development of children’s social skills.”

E The centre works with a wide scale of groups. They have programs of individual reeducation, programs for preschoolers, preschoolers with the need for increased care, children with learning difficulties, groups where children can develop social skills and graphomotor development groups. Vrbková said: “Further, we provide relaxation programmes for children, family and individual therapies, we want to provide a continuum of educational and counselling services that best responds to children and youth with educational needs.”

Adjusted to (1)

 

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Prevention and early intervention are important

2 Introduction

3 Cooperation with families and schools

4 Target groups and programs

5 Offered activities

 

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 What is the Educational and Psychological Counselling?

2 Who is Iveta Vrbková?

3 Who is Jarmila Prošková? What does she say?

4 What does the centre offer?

5 What groups do they work with?

 

3) Explain the following words and phrases.

1 Educational and Psychological Counselling

2 acceleration in the development of skills

3 develop strategies to improve prevention and early intervention

4 children and youth with educational needs

5 individual therapies

 

Source:

(1)

Network of excellence to improve services for children, youth with complex mental health needs. New Nouveau Brunswick Canada [online]. 2013 [cit. 2019-04-14]. Available at: http://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/news/news_release.2013.12.1280.html

 

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkESo1U1Rao

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V6EPZ2AWCo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y48AY6r3kQU

Tips, rules:

http://www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health/

http://www.newbrunswickbeacon.ca/9659/youth-with-mental-illness-fall-through-the-cracks-richard/

When school's out, millions of kids go hungry

A A record 21.7 million American kids get free or reduced-price lunch during at school. But when summer vacation starts, the vast majority of them go without this essential, federally funded benefit. Fewer than 4 million kids – or just 18% of those in the school lunch program – are fed through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s summer food program. While that’s a record number for the 40-year-old initiative, many advocates and government officials say more needs to be done.

B “In the summer, when those school meals disappear, children find themselves hungry and with few options,” said Duke Storen, a senior director at Share Our Strength, which aims to end child hunger. “It impacts their health and well-being and contributes to learning loss.” One of the top hurdles for the summer meals effort is the federal requirement that the kids receive the food at an approved location and eat it on-site. The rationale is to ensure that the children are the ones actually consuming the meals. But it’s not easy for kids to get to the meal sites, especially in suburbia, where poverty is growing. Also, the weather can be a factor, as can violence in certain cities. The increased number of children in need has prompted some local officials to try new ways to reach them in the summer months. They are bringing meals to more locations through buses or trucks and adding activities to draw the kids there.

C Traditionally, the city provided federally funded summer meals at about 70 recreation centers and camps. This year, it launched GrubUp, which will expand its reach to 34 pools, playgrounds, libraries and other new sites through a food truck. Funded by $90,000 in grants, the truck will also attend festivals and other community events. Oftentimes, it will accompany the Roving Art Cart, which traverses the city offering arts and crafts programs for kids.

D “Where we can find the kids, we are going to take the meals to them,” said Jim Griffin, director of Pittsburgh’s parks and recreation department, which serves up to two free meals a day at most of its locations. Another new activity aimed at attracting and feeding children over the summer is the Kids Cook program, sponsored by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. In addition to receiving their summer meal, the children will learn about healthy eating and make treats to take home, such as black bean salsa, banana pancakes, flatbread and granola bars. It's the first time the food bank has offered Kids Cook when school is out of session.

E Through these efforts, city officials hope to boost the number of children receiving meals by 10% to at least 7,600 this summer. Still, that means only three of 10 Pittsburgh kids in the school lunch program will receive meals over the summer.

rationale – důvod

boost – zvýšit

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Children in the suburbs are hungry in the summer

2 Meals are offered in the centres and camps

3 Children are taught about healthy diet

4 Still only 30% children will get their meals

5 Poor children are fed through summer food program

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 Where do children in need in the US take their meals during the summer?

2 Where do they get food in the summer?

3 What factors influence their starving?

4 Who helps starving children? How?

5 How many children might be helped by the project?

3) Explain the following words and phrases.

1 summer vacation

2 learning loss

3 poverty is growing

4 children in need

5 recreation centers and camps

4) Answer the following questions.

How are children in need? What is the life in the suburb like? What kind of problems do the people have? Are there any similar places in Jihlava or other towns? Does our school cooperate with excluded localities? How?

http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/22/news/economy/hungry-kids-summer/

Video:

http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/22/news/economy/hungry-kids-summer/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Rl6u_HQ0_I

Tips, rules:

http://czechkid.eu/si1520.html

A project for schools about the Czech Muslim community and Islam which a local group tried to derail

A project for schools about the Czech Muslim community and Islam which a local group tried to derail

A Today we speak to Šádí Shanaáh – one of the founders of Muslims – about a concise handbook and course for secondary school students aimed at providing information about the country’s Muslim community and the history of Islam.

B “First though, I asked about the survey in schools which served as a foundation for the handbook and course.” “In our study we learned something which wasn’t altogether surprising, which is that very little space is given to Islam or the Muslim world. In Czech education, much time is devoted to pre-history or the origin of ancient civilizations but Islam is only dealt with marginally, which means in the 7th century Arab expansion or the period of the Ottoman Empire. There is also not much time devoted to the 20th century, either.”

C “Is it fair to say that one aspect of the whole project is to fight xenophobia, racism, and for students to learn more about their Muslim neighbours who are practically invisible, a very tiny community in the Czech Republic?” “The motivation is also that there is an overreach, that the skills learned or applied are not just limited to this one issue. As you rightly said, Muslims are a tiny minority here. Of course, we wanted to respond to what we see as growing anti-Muslim attitudes but the ambition is to show that issues are often not black and white, that students can develop a critical approach or reading of contemporary problems.”

D “At the same time, when we talk about what is going on today with terrorism and radical Islam, do the students get any sense of that?” “As I said we are flexible and aside from the three core subjects we also organize panel discussions or invite a Muslim guest.”

E “Many Czechs don’t know any Muslims so they get to hear from a person themselves. More and more we are organizing things outside the classroom as well, so we are changing the name of the project and the logo because there is a demand from governmental institutions, communal level leadership, social services, the judiciary, the police to have a better understanding. The information meets the needs of the different institutions.”

overreach – přecenit, přehánět

demand – požadavek

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Muslim guests are invited

2 Interview with Shanáah

3 Many people are involved in the project

4 Muslim world is described very briefly in our textbooks

5 Students should learn about today’s issues and take a critical approach

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 Who is Šádí Shanaáh? What does he think?

2 What kind of project does he introduce? Why?

3 What do students learn about Muslim world at school?

4 What activities are organized?

5 Who participates on the project?

3) Explain the following words and phrases.

1 survey

2 skills

3 critical approach

4 panel discussions

5 social services

4) Answer the following questions.

What are differences between Czech and Moslem culture? What is islamophobia? What are reasons for anti-Muslim prejudice? What is a multicultural centre? How does our school cooperate with this facility?

http://goo.gl/Lj8Gjh

Video:

https://goo.gl/NYFmSV

https://goo.gl/CGnh7M

https://goo.gl/7k1A51

Tips, rules:

http://goo.gl/1RF0yR

http://goo.gl/OghVeN

Czech Republic: More than 40 % of Romani children do not attend preschool

Czech Republic: More than 40 % of Romani children do not attend preschool

A Open Society Fund Prague has supported projects aiming to educate children from socially excluded communities, as a high percentage of children from such communities do not attend preschool and their families’ complicated situations lead to their children’s inadequate development. Many children from socially excluded localities do not attend preschool, which influences their lack of success in primary school. This increases the probability that these children will be placed into special education, newly termed the “practical schools”, where their chances at education and at finding good jobs as adults come to an end.

B “According to the Report on the State of the Romani Minority in the Czech Republic more than 28 % of the pupils in the ‘practical schools’ are Romani. Those schools are intended exclusively for children with light mental disability,” says Robert Basch of the Open Society Fund Prague. “Preschool education, which can equalize the initial handicaps of children coming from disadvantaged environments, is difficult for Romani children to access,” Basch says. However, around 40 % of Romani children in the Czech Republic never attend preschool.

C One solution is to work with Romani children directly in their homes and at parents’ centers, which can substitute state-run preschool facilities. At the centers, children can perfect their language and speech skills, train their attention, fine motor skills and memory, and practice basic tasks such as using buttons and tying shoelaces. “Experience from programs abroad shows that the earlier such work begins, the better chances such children have of becoming integrated into mainstream education,” explains Filip Rameš of Open Society Fund Prague.

D “In order for aid to Romani children to succeed, it must also focus on their parents so they can manage to ensure their children enjoy conditions for healthy development and are not exposed to the risk of social exclusion in adulthood,” Rameš says. This intervention method is financially the most advantageous. The highest return on investment occurs with children under three.

E These arguments were presented at a conference in Ostrava. The conference was an opportunity to find a solution for preventing the repetition of the discrimination of Romani children in the Czech schools, discrimination to which the current generation’s parents were also exposed. The conference was held by Open Society Fund Prague in collaboration with Ostrava City Hall and the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion.

Adjusted to (1)

shoelace – tkanička

advantageous – výhodný

exposed – vystavený

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Romani children might be educated at home or at parents’ centres

2 Children from socially excluded localities do not attend preschools

3 These solutions were spoken about at a conference

4 This method is financially convenient

5 More than a quarter of pupils in practical schools are Romani

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 What does Open Society Fund do?

2 What are problems of Roma children?

3 How can the problems be solved?

4 How can Romani parents contribute to the solution of the situation?

5 What kind of conference took place in Ostrava?

3) Explain the following words and phrases.

1 children from socially excluded communities

2 practical schools

3 equalize the initial handicaps of children

4 fine motor skills

5 integrate into mainstream education

4) Answer the following questions.

What are socially excluded localities? What are their typical problems? Who helps the people there? How does our school cooperate with Roma children? What is the difference between mainstream and practical schools? How are Roma preschoolers supported to attend mainstream schools?

Video:

https://goo.gl/E5nG0F

https://goo.gl/qVou2R

https://goo.gl/a4apqD

Tips, sources of information:

http://goo.gl/QciHP4

https://goo.gl/ls6enc

http://goo.gl/LjIIcz

Source:

ALBERT, Gwendolyn. Czech Republic: More than 40 % of Romani children do not attend preschool. Romea [online]. 2014 [cit. 2015-09-20]. Available at: http://www.romea.cz/en/news/czech/czech-republic-more-than-40-of-romani-children-do-not-attend-preschool