Any (inexpensive) English Schools in Krakow?

HI,

I have two kids. My son is 5 and daughter is 10. I am moving to Krakow and looking for english medium schools or polish schools which can also teach in English to my kids.

I know couple of international schools are there..they are very expensive for my budget.

Any guidence would be highly appreciative. Thanks

Not going to happen. You might find some schools that offer additional English classes, but the vast majority of schools will still require heavy knowledge of Polish.

Polish law allows your children to receive one year "extra" Polish classes in order to catch up.

If you can't afford international school fees, then you don't have much hope.

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. May I also request where can I find a list of Polish schools which can offer assistance in Polish for kids.

I am seeking to secure the admissions, now. Thanks

All public Polish schools are obliged to offer such assistance.

However, bear in mind that this assistance is limited - and that you will certainly have to pay for extra Polish lessons on top of what the school provides.

Delph what about the STO (Społecznego Towarzystwa Oświatowego) schools they seem to be the choice for those who don't want to pay for an International school, as I understand they always have a second academic language English/French/Germany depending of the interests of the school board.

They do, and these schools are a good choice for younger kids (anything up to 9 in my opinion) - but a 10 year old may struggle with having to study separate subjects in Polish even if up to half of the timetable is in English.

In my experience, what tends to happen in these situations is that teachers will just give the child a pass - they won't give the child any attention, but equally they won't expect the child to do particularly much in the class if they don't have any Polish skills.

I'm - personally - of the opinion that if you can't afford a solely English medium school, then you shouldn't come to Poland.

warszawski
Thansk. Does it exist in Krakow as well?

They do. But it's worth bearing in mind that it's already very late for school admissions - schools are normally required to finalise their admissions for the year by the end of May. You may find that such schools will be already oversubscribed and closed for new admissions this year.

They exist in many of the large Polish cities, the rub is you must be accepted by the board of the school, then your child should be accepted by the children of the class they wish to join, thats the vetting process.

Do a google search ' Społecznego Towarzystwa Oświatowego Krakow' I am not based in Krk, nor am I in education industry, so I am not familiar with the standard of schools there. Delph is your man.


Spot on, all of the good STO schools in Waw have a waiting list, its siblings first then friends of friends, then the drop ins after. The boards of the schools are mostly profession based, so you may find most parents in one school are lawyers or accountants in another. That's how it works in Waw.

Which country are you arriving from shuklapx, if you are Israeli there may be another option.

Thanks. Thats allright, as my family can not join me until Dec anyways. I can have my kids to complete their school this year in India (which gets over in March) and then they can join me in April.

In the mean time, I can atleast do the ground do the ground work for this year and can enquire about addmission for next year in STO.

Thanks for your help. Really appreciate. I would like to personally visit any of STOs and then enquire.

This information is really helpful.

Generally speaking, standards are quite good. Of course, no two schools are the same, but I've rarely heard bad words about such schools. From what I gather, they do tend to be used by professional people who have no interest in sending their child to a school that requires a ridiculous uniform and endless petty rules.


The best advice I can give is to get them studying Polish intensively every day - they will need it. 9 months of intensive Polish practice should get them to a reasonable level.

Yes, and I am moving here on permanent basis...(at least for now)..and I have already started to like Krakow (haven't seen much of Poland as yet)

Thus I am also inclinded towards that my kids should pick up Polish lanuange...if not me or my wife (as I and my wife may be too old to pick new lanuange..:)..)

What I can do is get them to learn basic Polish lanuage (back in Pune, India..provided I find any teacher)..so that when they move here they have basic knowledge of Polish..atleast for my daughter.

Agree 100%, as an add on if you can join your kids up to any indian/Polish cultural groups in your home city or contact the Polish embassy in India requesting to be invited or to participate in any Polish cultural events in India, this will be educational for your kids and will be something on your resume when you have the parent interview for your childrens future school in Poland.

If I may ask Shuklapx, why are so many Indian's relocating to Poland?

I can answer that one easily :

Good IT professionals in Poland have been noticed in the West - they are throwing very very good money at Poles to join them there (particularly since the media noticed that Poland has been winning all sorts of international competitions) - and companies are now struggling to attract Polish labour at the right price. They invested very heavily in Poland - and now they need to look to India to fill positions. Ukraine/Russia is a no go because their IT wages are higher than in Poland - and getting paid in hard USD is common in Ukraine - they're not going to come to Poland to work for the relatively soft PLN.

Not sure about others really. Was speaking to my wife and got the questions.

These STO.what kind of education system they offer? Any idea?

Fully state approved and registered, there's nothing to worry about there.

It's only the system of governance that is different, that's all.

Okay. Thanks a lot for all the information provided. Cheers

It seems absolutely incredible that we stupid English pander to the likes of the Poles when swarms of them turn up with their kids all over the country. Although they are taught in English, many parents complain bitterly that the attention the Polish kids receive because they are so inept with the language holds back local kids education.

If teachers and parents dare to complain they are branded the usual guff about being racist, Nazi or fascist pigs. Why are the British so bloody stupid and stand for this crap? WTF happened to this country to make it the basket case that it has become?

I expect it works both ways as India is going through its worst financial crisis of the last two decades,the Indian government has now introduced currency outflow restrictions, that will do nothing to encourage FDI.

Merged: I'm looking teacher for English in Kraków, my native language is Spanish. Thanks.

I'm looking teacher for english in kraków, my native leanguage is spanish. thanks.

Merged: English schools in Krakow

Hello, I would be moving to Krakow in 2-3 months with my wife and 4yr. old kid. The company is offering me 12000PLN after taxes (after tax deductions)

1. Is it a good salary from Polish standard?
2. Are there any schools (non-international) in Krakow city which impart education in English medium or at least English as a language, and what would be the approximate monthly fees for these schools?

Thanks,
Sonusha

Come on! Most Poles have to get by with around 2,500/2,700 and you don't know whether you'll make it on 12,000 net! How indecent!

Thanks for your reply.
My second question is:
Are there any schools (non-international) in Krakow city which impart education in English medium or at least English as a language, and what would be the approximate monthly fees for these schools?

The general rule in Poland is that "English medium" schools are not very good (they dont' attract the best teachers).

If your kid is 4 years old they won't be going to school for a couple of years anyway, plenty of time for them to become fluent in Polish and education in Polish in Poland is far superior to what can be found in English.

Thanks @mafketis for quick reply.

I went through few blogs-sites and found that kids are admitted in class-1 after attaining 6 years of age, in that case for now I would admit my son in some kindergarten and there he shall learn to speak Polish.

Thanks
sonusha

Hi,
How much does it costs for international schools at krakow? ?? Will it be possible to save money if the salary is 12000 pln.(Inc rent and school fee)....Also I want to know whether we get Indian medicines in krakow. ...how about pollution and kids having allergy issues. ...is it a right place for kids having wheeze issues? ????

With international school fee (I would recommend such schools also to avoid racism and xenophobia, Polish kids not exposed to anyone different may be very rough to Indian (or other) kid and if you want to buy imported food and live properly, you won't save much ;). As to kid with respiratory allergies, Krakow (no. 2 or 3 in whole EU in terms of pollution), is not the ideal place ;).

It beats me when I read people accepting jobs thousands of miles away from home and then they ask questions as they have no idea what to expect. It seems to me that it would be more coherent to first 1. gather as much info as possible from reliable sources 2. look for a job and 3. take the decision to accept it or not...

Cough.....

Krakow is the most polluted city in Poland. Bad luck if that is a major worry. House the kids outside in the hills and you're in the clear - but in a rabid catholic environment in that case....

Sorry but that's a concise summary of Krakow for you.

@Yes, Doug! Alhtough Krakow is the worst, other places, for instance Zakopane or in Silesia are not much better ;)

Thanks for the quick response...will rethink on the aspect you stressed. ...This forum is too gud