Parent and other school professional's opinion on the winter school programme in elementary school Gustav Šilih for children with special needs

This graduate thesis focuses on parents and professionals´ opinion on winter school in special education programme at Gustav Šilih Elementary school for children with special needs in Maribor. The theoretical part describes children with special needs, children with mental disabilities, education of children with moderate, severe and profound mental disability, and the aims and areas of special education programme. The domain of physical movement and physical education at the beginning levels, and sport and recreation at higher level, is introduced in detail as a valuable part of holistic education. Further I describe the locomotion, physical activity, and sport activities and discuss their importance for children with mental disabilities. Finally the winter school is introduced, with its goals and impact on children. The main topic is winter school as an educational form, which entails sports activities (alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, sliding) along with leisure-time activities (dancing, art workshops, night-walks, social games). The research part of the thesis is based on questionnaires for parents whose children took part in a winter school and professionals working in this programme. Research results illustrate that both parents and professionals are inclined of winter outdoor schools, since it positively affects the children with mental disabilities. Both study groups evaluate winter school as highly satisfactory, with positive impact on all areas of child development. Data collected shows that children’s participation at outdoor school influences their locomotion abilities, social behaviour, independence, socialisation, teamwork, self-image/self-esteem, speech/communication, and integration in unknown settings. My graduate thesis presents winter schools for children with mental disabilities as a contribution to a general child development and to a better quality of life