‘When you’ll come to Bled’

18. 6. 2021NerazvrščenoTina

‘When you’ll come to Bled’ is a famous Slovene song, which we sang on Wednesday, 16 June 2021, on school’s final excursion to Bled. The excursion was a donation to the organizer of the S-Factor festival by the Bled Culture Institute.

We started the day in Bled with an adrenaline rush as we visited summer tobogganing Straža Bled. We took the chairlift to a nearby hill, from which we had the most beautiful view of the Lake Bled. The bravest students descended into the valley on a sledding track, while the others preferred a panoramic footpath. After all the excitement there were pizzas waiting for us as well as a vanilla dessert for which Bled is famous for Blejska kremšnita from Kavarna Park.

When we refreshed ourselves (some even jumped in the lake), the bus took us to Bled Castle, from where we saw the most amazing view of the lake and its surroundings. Tired and full of wonderful experiences, we returned home with a promise to visit Bled again.

We would like to thank the Bled Culture Institute, the Bled Infrastructure, Camping Bled Restaurant & Pizzeria, Sava Turizem – Kavarna Park restaurant and especially Mr. Boštjan Ploštajner for a truly unforgettable day.

Colorful Final Event of The S-Factor 2021

1. 6. 2021NerazvrščenoTina

On Thursday, 27^th May 2021, we held the final event of the S-Factor 2021 International Video Festival. This year, apart from others, it took place via ZOOM app. This though, presented no obstacle for participating schools, as we got used to this kind of meeting, teaching and learning while online schooling.

We entrusted hosting of this year’s event to Robert Erjavec, who guided the video event with confidence and above all, he was fun. In the cultural program, some of the participating schools introduced themselves and their thoughts on the rainbow. The events highlight was definitely announcement of the best videos, fist thoughts from the winners and genuine emotions of joy and happiness seen on camera.

We truly thank Robert Erjavec, all participating schools, our donors and promotors, members of the organizing team and all people who carry a rainbow in the heart. THANK YOU!

Here are the results!

27. 5. 2021NerazvrščenoTina

The 4th S-Factor International Festival ended on 27^th May 2021, with a final event but in a different way. Due to the current epidemiological situation, we put the event online and invited all participating schools, members of the jury and other spectators to join a ZOOM meeting. The event was viewed by around 500 spectators and was hosted by Robert Erjavec.

The results of the international video festival S-Factor 2021 are:

1st place – RAINBOW OF HOPE Elementary School Tretja OŠ Slovenj Gradec

2nd place – LET’S MAKE A RAINBOW Elementary School Milke Šobar – Nataše, Črnomelj

3rd place – WHEN THE RAIN KISSES THE SUN Elementary School Minke Namestnik Sonje, s+Slovenska Bistrica

4th place, shared by YOUR COLORS Elementary School Voštarnica Zadar and SMILE OF THE COLOURS Elemetary School Dragotin Kette, Novo mesto

THE BEST VIDEO OF THE STUDENTS ‘CHOICE – RAINBOW OF HOPE Elementary School Tretja OŠ Slovenj Gradec

AWARDS presented BY THE JURY:

THE MOST INCLUSIVE VIDEO – YOUR COLORS Elementary School Voštarnica Zadar

THE MOST COLORFUL VIDEO – CHILDREN OF THE RAINBOW Elementary School Dr. Slavka Gruma Zagorje

THE MOST ARTISTIC VIDEO – FAVOURITE COLORS Special Educational Centre Janez Levec, Levstikov trg, Ljubljana

SPECIAL JURY AWARD for the video with the best message – A FAIRY TALE ABOUT RAINBOW PEOPLE Elementary School Stanka Vraza, Ormož

Congratulations to all the winners!

INTERNATIONAL ONLINE CONSULTATION OF MENTORS FOR THE S-FACTOR PROJECT

24. 2. 2021NerazvrščenoTina

On Thursday, January 28, 2021, Elementary School Milke Šobar Nataše Črnomelj organized an introductory consultation for school mentors that will participate in the S-Factor 2021 International Video Festival. 30 mentors from five countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Austria and Great Britain) were briefed with the project in which schools produce short music videos. In the videos, students with special needs, with the cooperation of regular schools and kindergartens, perform and co-create them. A special guest, Paul Oxborough, a longtime collaborator an organizer of the S-Factor event in England, introduced us to the positive impact of the festival on participating students, teachers, volunteers, their personal growth and even their professional decisions. Lecture by Vojko Veršnik, music teacher at III. Slovenj Gradec Primary School and mentor of all previous winning videos educated us about simple and practical approaches to making videos and musical background as well as ways of including all students, regardless of their ability and disability, in the video. During the exchange of opinions and experiences of participating mentors if was confirmed that participation in such a project has an extremely positive impact on students and on life and work of schools. As all students, both those with special needs and regular primary school students can hardly wait every year to be involved in the making of the video. They also love to watch all the videos several time and time again- this was especially true during online schooling. Through many years of cooperation in S-Factor, the mentors gained new knowledge and experience in terms of students’ participation in various stages of the video production. This knowledge has proven to be valuable during the pandemic and online schooling. Through cooperation with other institutions, schools have also become more recognizable in their environment and have been presented on local and national TV programs. Among other things, some videos were shown at the annual charity Miklavž concert on Slovene national television RTV SLO. One of the main goals of S-Factor, to spread the inclusion of people with disabilities through the production and display of videos, is thus achieved.

We concluded the consultation full of inspiration and examples of good practices, which we will certainly use in our further work. We are thankful for the praise of the mentors for the excellent organization of all previous S-Factors that took place.

You can watch videos of the previous S-Factor on the website of the Milke Šobar – Nataše Elementary School and you too will become an ambassador for inclusion of people with special needs.

Along the path in memory of Milke Šobar – Nataše

27. 2. 2020NerazvrščenoTina Štrekelj

On Saturday, January 18^th, 2020, pupils of the Milka Šobar – Nataše Elementary School set out on a hike to Gornje Laze. The path led us from Rožni Dol to the monument dedicated to the fallen soldiers in Gornje Laze. We also visited the home of the national heroine Milke Šobar – Nataše, where her great – grandson, Mr. Dušan Šmajdek, was waiting for us. He showed the students Milka’s home and explained why the monument in her honor stands there. We then stopped at her grave and lit a candle in her memory.