Czech Academy of Horticulture Melnik - secondary school and college, state funded organization

GENERAL INFORMATION

The school is situated on the river terrace above the confluence of the Labe and the Vltava rivers in a quiet park near the centre of the town of Mělník. Since its foundation in 1885, it gradually has become a significant educational institution in the field of horticulture.
It is a complex of school buildings, a dining hall and large plant collections. The school is a public institution, its founder is the Regional Government.

The educational system of the Czech Republic

Diagram: school year 2009/2010

FORMS OF STUDY

Vocational (apprentice) training - secondary school

• A three-year course called Horticulturist, with a certificate of apprenticeship in horticulture, for pupils from primary school

Study fields – secondary school

• A four-year daily course of Horticulture, with leaving examination, for pupils from primary school and older applicants for the school educational programme Ornamental and Production Horticulture
• A five-year part-time course of Horticulture, with leaving examination, for pupils from primary school and older applicants
• A two-year daily study of the subject Horticulture, for school leavers of secondary vocational study with a vocational certificate in a related branch of study

Study programmes, study subjects – professional college, university

• A three-year daily higher professional study within the study programme of Garden and Landscape Maintenance, for school leavers from secondary schools
• A three and a half year part-time higher professional course within the study programme of Garden and Landscape Maintenance, for school leavers from secondary schools
• Bachelor study within the study programmes of Horticultural Enterprise and Garden and Landscape Maintenance (in cooperation with the Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech Agricultural University Prague)

Subjects

Besides general subjects (Czech language, English or German language etc.) the following specialist subjects are taught:

• College of Horticulture

general botany, landscape gardening, technical drawing, architecture and art, dendrology, town planning, firm management, applicable law, landscape architecture, landscape floriculture, practice etc.

• Secondary school of Horticulture

floriculture, landscaping, fruit growing, vegetable growing, viniculture and viticulture, floristry and flower arranging, plant protection, economics, ICT, chemistry, biology and ecology, machinery and equipment, practice etc.

Teaching floristry

Floristry is taught as one of the special subjects within the secondary school educational programme “Horticulture” (see above) or in the form of individual practical training:

• As a specialist subject

2nd year – compulsory subject for all students
theory 1 lesson a week, practical lesson - 2 lessons a week
practical training - 12 lessons a school year (takes place at the floristry department at school or at school farm department)
lesson content: theory – history, aesthetics, aids, plant material, basic techniques, basic types of arrangements, practical lessons – preparatory works, binding wreaths, bouquets, pricked decorations

3rd year – compulsory subject for all students
theory 0.5 lessons a school year – thematic floristry – e.g. wedding, funeral, All Saints’ Day arrangements, Christmas, Easter, running the shop, marketing
practical training – 12 lessons a year – wedding, Christmas arrangements

4th year – chosen subject, for students specialized in floristry
taught in blocks – 4 lessons a week
content: projects on interior decoration, advanced techniques and arrangements
practical training – 12 lessons a year, compulsory for all students

• As individual practical training

- practice within the school year – 1 week
- summer practical training – 4 weeks - depending on the student’ s specialization, after the 3rd year – 4 weeks in a florist centre in the Czech Republic or abroad

Courses, seminars

• Comprehensive Tree Care
• Applying Chainsaw and Brushwood cutter
• Floristry - thematic weekend courses
• other courses and workshops depending on the professional public demands – e.g. Plant Protection

Teaching staff

Besides internal teachers teaching predominantly at secondary school, the school employs qualified specialists from the research field, from professional firms and universities. Many of teachers are graduates from the Mělník school of horticulture.

International cooperation

Exchanges, placements, field-trips, international students’ meetings and other events are organised within the EU programmes (Leonardo da Vinci, Erasmus).
Students and pupils with very good professional and language competences can take part in a-few-month placements in Switzerland or the USA.
The school has been cooperating with a number of study-related schools in Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Great Britain and other European countries.
In 2005 the school became a member of FLORNET.

School facilities

• classrooms equipped with an interactive board and three ICT classrooms (all-day-long
  access to ICT for students, Internet use and e-mail is free)
• auditorium of a university type, landscape design studio
• specialized language classrooms (English, German) and some special subjects
• study and information centre (library, study room), College study department
• plentiful outdoor and indoor collection areas
• school dining hall (possibility of full-board), school buffet
• boarding house for secondary school students (within the School farm area)
• driving school (driver’s license type B and T – car and tractor)
• school florist shop Na Polabí
• school summer house in Josefův Důl (in the Jizerské mountains)

School farm

The practical training for all forms of study takes place in the school arboretum and in the following school farm departments:

• floriculture
• landscaping realizations
• fruit and ornamental nurseries
• garden centre
• vegetable-growing
• fruit-growing
• viniculture