Cvit Mediterana

„Cvit Mediterana” is a public institution specializing in preschool and early childhood education. It consists of 2 separate educational facilities located in the city of Split, some smaller consisting of one group and others much larger, where as many as 13 groups coexist. Altogether there are 57 groups in which there are 1236 children. The total number of the employees is 196, 100 of which are preschool teachers, there are eleven members of the expert team – two psychologists, a speech and language therapist, two special education therapist, three pedagogues and two health officers lead by the headmistress, who is also an experienced pedagogue. The rest of the employees are basic services staff such as food service personnel, cleaning and maintenance. There are different programs in terms of the length of the stay of children and special group within the Department of Pediatrics of the Split University Medical Center. The developmental vision of our institution is focused on understanding a child and preschool teacher’s role in the child’s experience; changing and adapting child’s and teacher’s working strategies in order to make the right choices about the best ways of implementing the development, education and learning for each child. A very important and distinctive feature of the

In “Cvit Mediterana” kindergarten there is a large number of children with special educational needs who are included in classes with other children where they benefit socially and developmentally through adapted approaches and with educated teachers altering their teaching styles to assist the child.

Another important feature of the organisation is the extracurricular class for the potentially intellectually gifted children in which four teachers, supported by the expert teamwork with two groups of the children who have been identified as potentially intellectually gifted. “Cvit Mediterana” has an active role in training of future preschool teachers in cooperation with the University of Split and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Department of Preschool Education. Croatian national curriculum for early childhood education implies inclusion of children with special needs, the potentially intellectually gifted ones as well as those with developmental difficulties. Early intervention is the key starting point in identification and providing the right response to the needs of all those involved in this process which is why we strive to deliver the highest possible standards and continually educate all the subjects involved in creating the optimal environment.