Hello everyone. I read somewhere that there are a few multilingual gymanizium's (secondary schools) in Warsaw. Meaning: half the subjects are taught in Polish and half are taught in English. I was hoping that someone has come across one of these schools and can help me find more information.
Many thanks in advance!
Regards,
Tomek
No response? I would be thrilled if any expats with kids in public school would contact me or respond. I'm having trouble making a decision on this.
Hi! I've worked at some of such schools and they need to be distinguished. The British School and the American School are very good, very serious and very expensive. The French school which is very good depends upon the French Ministry of Education. I don't know about the German School but it may be like the French School for the Germans. As to the others, there are Polish private schools, often expensive (over 1,000 euros/month) and often bs (unqualified and underpaid teachers (most often murduring the foreign language they are supposed to teach)who don't stay long, mismanagement. If money is no issue, I recommend the British or the American schools, for French, the French (nursery and primary at Sadyba, next to British School, and gymnasium + lyceum at Saska Kępa - as there are 2 or 3 other bs Polish private nursery schools calling themselves "French something") and probably the German School for German as most socalled "international" schools in Poland are no more than pure bs and the quality of foreign languages taught (by Poles) is a tragedy....
I am not disagreeing with the above post but the American and British schools do not have a Polish curriculum. As well the American school follows the American system- I don't need my children learning less in maths and sciences, no thanks. And they certainly don't need to know American history. The facilities in the American school are top notch but when the fees are 60,000 pln per year they bloody well should be.
We are happy with the school our kids go to, the curriculum is good and if my eldest gets good marks her fees go down.
Quick question to Warszawski: do you have any experience with the schools that you mention in your post? ... I'm curious how this works. Do I just call the school to get information or is there a standard practice?
Warszawette, thanks for the post. I will definitely try to stay away from mismanaged schools with poor teachers. I'm not as concerned with my kids ability to speak languages (they speak a few already). Instead, I want them to be comfortable without me going bankrupt to pay for it. I want to explore the public schools together with the international ones.
Newpip, I'm really curious where your kids go to school. Sounds like a good one. I'll definitely contact you during this process.
All IB schools in Warsaw have feeder schools, the kids are taught in both English and Polish. Bednarska is another one. Just go to the three schools I have listed and ask them what is required from your kids. After visiting the schools you will have a good feedback. Good luck with it all.
do you have any experience with the schools that you mention in your post?
Yes one of my children is in one of the schools I mentioned. The other one is in the British school.
I contacted batory, but he feels that my son will struggle because the school teaches the Polish National curriculum. He suggested that I contact Kopernika instead since they are English based. I sent them a note.
I also sent Bednarska a note per your suggestion above.
No Probs, good luck with it all. Noticed on your profile you are from Brussels if your son is french speaking add this school to your list:
zmichowska.pl
Nearly all the schools with all language classes will also have local classes. If you find a school which your sons heart is set on and he comes short on the tests, you can always buy or rent a home in the catchment area for the school.
Yes, several. They are all rather expensive. There's also a state high school which runs mainly (exclusively?) in English but competition for places is very very intense.
XXXIII Liceum Ogólnokształcące im Mikołaja Kopernika, ulica Bema 76, Warszawa. Their website seems to have crashed. They have a Wiki page but it's in Polish, does have all the contact details though.
I graduated from this school way back in 1986 and I highly recommend it :-)
Merged: Best International School in Warsaw (English language, regardless of the fees)
Hi, my family and I will move to Warsaw in May. First priority is to find a shool for my son (6 years old). I've been doing some research though Internet but I don't have a clear picture for the time being. The big issue is that a lot of them pretend to be an international school but I am not sure whether some of them are really international.
The list: British School, International American School, American School, Canadian School, European International School. Pls kindly let me know where you would send your children if price were not an issue. Thank you
Thank you very much Harry for your precise and clear answer. I need to build up and strong opinion regarding this topic so your response is much appreciated.
If anyone else has an equaly strong opinion pls let me know.
The American school has amazing facilities on the edge of town, also the school trips and extras are pretty amazing from what I've heard. I don't know if the British school offers the indoor swimming pool and skiing in Austria. International American School is a cheap knock off of the real American school, many of the teachers there do not actually come from the U.S. I think that IAS is trying to capitalize on name similarity :)
@Bebo: there is no such PUBLIC school in Poland. Poland has its own language, Polish ;) and therefore, uses its language to educate kids. There are some public schools with (English or French or German) bilingual sections but 1. they are for much older children, 2. teachers in foreign language are Poles (so not top and 2nd foreign language is lousy - I know several kids currently attending Batory, Twarda and the teaching of French, German or Spanish is pathetic...) and 3. need for children to know Polish.
Basically only private American and British schools.
Hello, I am moving with my family in Warsaw in Aug and would like your opinion regarding nurseries. My son was in a Montessori nursery in London and would like to know if Montessori nurseries in Warsaw are indeed English speaking or should I go for a British nursery (in that case The British School of Warsaw or the British Primary School of Wilanow). These are the ones I found on the web... My son is 20months old and he is bilingual so I am trying to avoid confusing with bad english or Polish at this time since he just learns to speak... Thanks!
@Taxi: witam! Do avoid the socalled 'Montessori" schools in Poland! They may have the "Montessori" label but that's all. Most teachers are not even Montessori trained, hardly speak English, and don't stay long since pay and conditions are terrible. If you can afford, do go to the British School (or American) School!
Could anybody recommend a good International school in Warsaw for a girl of 14?
Hi everybody. My grand daughter with her parents is moving to Warsaw from Minsk ( Belarus) and we need to find a good school for her . She studies well, in July she'll be 14.As she does not speak Polish ( so far) we are thinking about an International school, but completely at a loss. May be somebody could give us some guidance in order to choose the right school?
It might be hard to pick up Polish just on site. Perhaps she should take some private instruction beforehand so that she is prepared for his first school term.
So many teachers complain that a large number of pupils enter their first year of school and barely even know the target language of class instruction.
Can't speak for Poland, but in neighboring Germany, a majority of future primary school teachers have quit the profession out of sheer frustration of not being
able to communicate with their charges in German! So far as I can tell, US-style "bilingual instruction", such as being taught German or other subjects in, say, Turkish,
is rare.
We wish you the very best of luck and certainly don't wish to dampen your prospects!
