Implementation of “Noah’s Ark: A Modern Story” Program Between a Special and a General Primary School

Primary School of Ano Kalliniki, Florina, Greece

 Abstract: The educational program of the Patriarchal Foundation for Patristic Studies called “Noah’s Ark: a modern story” was implemented under the School Activities Program during the academic year 2022-2023 between the Special Primary School and 6th Primary School of Florina. It moves within the framework of environmental education, cross-thematic integration and inclusion, while it brings environmental awareness together with the biblical view of human as an integral part of creation. The teachers set as goal to raise the students’ awareness of the need to protect the endangered species of the fauna throughout their region. By implementing inclusive practices, they aimed at cultivating an atmosphere of recognition and acceptance of diversity. Once the core pillars of the program were set, each teacher would handle the issue separately according to their students’ needs. This paper discusses the approach followed by the teacher of the Special Primary School. Since those students used non-verbal and pre-verbal communication patterns, learning activities compatible with the curriculum and the Cross-Thematic Curriculum Framewok for autism were chosen and implemented, which promoted the learning of these children while encouraging interaction and communication. Finally, an overall Evaluation of the program is presented.