Szkoła Podstawowa im. Henryka Sienkiewicza in Stare Babice, Poland
The Polish primary school is situated in a village of Stare Babice, 6 km from the capital city of Warsaw. The village is partly surrounded by the Kampinoski National Park, the only park in Poland located near a big city. Actually, the area is gradually becoming the suburbs of Warsaw, where many new houses are being built and newcomers are moving in.
It’s a huge school with even a bigger number of students, which is around one thousand in 2020. Apart from that, the teaching staff includes about 100 teachers and educates children from the age of 6 to the age of 15. We’ve got a few pre-school as well as 1st – 8th grades. There are approximately 20 students in each class. In lower grades there is usually one teacher who conducts all lessons and subjects, except for English and Religion. Beginning in the fourth grade, children are educated by various teachers of one subject. They don’t stay in one classroom but they move from one to another during their school day. Almost every classroom is dedicated to one subject so there are a few English classrooms, Polish classrooms, Maths classrooms, IT labs and one Chemistry laboratory etc. Each lesson lasts 45 minutes and there is a break of 10 minutes after each one. There are also two lunch breaks at 12:35 p.m. and 1:40p.m. that continue for 20 minutes. Children either eat lunch in the school canteen or have their own home-made sandwiches and drinks.
The school day starts at 8:10 a.m. and finishes around 2 p.m. Of course it depends on a class and their school timetable. Older children learn the following subjects: Polish, English, German, Maths, Biology, Geography, History, Chemistry, Physics, IT, Music, Art, Technology, P.E. and Religion or Ethics. They also attend after-school clubs, e.g. Theatre, Music, Art, Chess, Teakwondo, Football, Basketball and other activities. When the lessons are finished, younger pupils may stay in common rooms until their parents pick them up after their work. Outdoor learning belongs to one of students’ most favourite activities at school. During the whole school year, they go out for short walks and ride to remote places in Poland.
In the 7th grade students may choose to attend an English-language class. Before they have to pass a language test which checks if they have linguistic talents. When the teenagers are in this class, they learn English five times a week and at certain lessons, they are taught elements of English vocabulary related to the topic. Furthermore, they practise German classes three times a week. The linguistic class is usually part of the Erasmus+ project and visits German and English- speaking countries.
Other students start learning English in the pre-school grade and in the fourth grade, they study English four times a week and German once a week. They learn German twice a week, starting from the 7th grade.
There is a private music school for children from the Stare Babice school as well as outside. Professional musicians hold lessons of the piano, the guitar, the cello, the violin, the trumpet and the record etc. The music school students learn rythmics, singing and dancing with some elements of the ballet, too. Apart from the private studio, we have several music classes in our primary school where children learn playing the record, and get to know various types of music, and famous composers and musicians.
The school is very friendly, full of nice and kind teachers who love and care for their students, and want to develop their intellectual and physical abilities to the highest extend.
