Třinec, Koperníkova Primary School and Kindergarten

As a result of the project, our children are fully and happily committed to learning

We have been involved in the Helping Schools Succeed project since 2017, when we started a reading team. That team brought positive changes at the school, and the experience gradually led to us become a reading school. This means we place great emphasis on developing reading and writing skills – a natural and openly managed extension of our reading culture has resulted in children who are now fully and happily committed to learning.

In 2020, we became a project school and started guiding recently affiliated schools in our area on the same journey.

We have deepened peer collaboration

The project has resulted in significant collaboration between colleagues. Special learning groups have been formed to work together on individual topics. In our case, these specifically involve reading, writing, formative assessment and enquiry-based groups. The experience gained by these groups is then used by teachers in their teaching and shared with other schools in open classes.

Some of our teachers regularly attend project workshops held as part of experiential or professional conferences held nationally. These are opportunities for them to improve their work and enables them to become internal mentors at the school. They help us further develop writing skills, experiential reading and other disciplines.

Inter-school sharing also inspires us

Sharing experience with other local schools has also greatly benefited us. In groups where we sense a safe and sharing atmosphere, such as in Most, we have often identified valuable ideas and passed them on to our own teachers and even used them in schools in our area.

Consultants provide vital support

Project consultants work regularly with our teachers in preparing and considering reading lessons. They  provide support in preparing open classes and also run teacher learning groups. Teachers appreciate that this is a long-term and individual collaboration and are aware of how much it contributes to their professional growth.

To be as helpful as possible, the consultant team maps the situation at the school at weekly meetings. They find out what goals the teachers have set themselves and how they can help them achieve these goals. Likewise, they observe what our affiliated schools need and devise programmes to develop them as best they can while also providing a platform to share their experiences.

Feedback makes better teachers

The main benefit we see from the project is that it fosters an inspirational environment at the school for the teachers. They engage in activities voluntarily, work on topics of their choice, are able to address specific questions regarding specific work by students, and above all, receive meaningful and constructive feedback on their work. Overall, the school is a better place to teach and learn – and we see this in the students’ results and their attitudes towards learning.

Go to the website of Třinec, Koperníkova Primary School and Kindergarten