Poland

The Primary school number 41 is one of the most respected schools in Czestochowa. Languages taught: English, German, French, Russian. e-Twinning projects, Polish-German exchange project, Polish –French exchange project, programs for high-ability students, tablet lessons, interactive whiteboards, different after school clubs. There are 13 forms with 5 departments: language, journalistic, mathematical-economic, general and integration, where our 326 students can gain knowledge. Support teachers working in three integration forms look after 6 children with special educational needs who also attend revalidation classes. 33 students are under care of Psycho-Pedagogical Centre. 73 of them are diagnosed with dyslexia and adjustment of requirements. 10 children are half-orphans and 66 are being brought up by divorced parents. 12 students are in difficult financial situation and they receive social benefit. Municipal Social Welfare Centre provides those children with dinner at school canteen every day. 20 students declare that their parents work abroad which is the result of the unemployment in our town. 15 students are being raised by alcohol abusing parents. 6 students are under supervision of court guardians who monitor their notes and behavior by contacting school psychologist once a month. In accordance with judicial decision 2 students live in the dormitory because of difficult family situation. 6 children are being brought up in foster families. School psychologists cooperate with institutions which support the school in the process of education, such as: District Court-Family Department, Psycho-Pedagogical Centre, police office-district constable and Polish organizations dealing with addiction problems such as MONAR, Powrot z U. The children of immigrants from such countries as Ukraine and The Republic of Armenia are integrated in regular school classes. Students have the opportunity to take part in carrier guidance activities. These activities are held according to an action plan arranged by the school counselor. Students regularly consult a professional career counselor and express a great need and interest in planning their future educational and working career in the labour market. We take over the main responsibility for:

- Evaluation and improvement of the teaching methods and of the cooperation between teachers - students; students -students; teachers - teachers.

- A classic board game

- Interactive activities

Our school is focused on getting the students familiar with different aspects of Polish and European cultural heritage. Whenever possible, teachers try to emphasise it during their lessons. Cultural heritage is crucial not only during foreign language lessons. It is also present during Polish, History, Religious Education/ Ethics, ICT, Art, Civics classes. Our teachers do their best to: - promote tolerant attitudes by understanding the cultural aspects, demonstrate knowledge and a sense of unity within classes/groups, - draw the students’ attention to advantages of learning about cultural heritage of our country, - get to know different cultures and engage pupils with special educational needs to participate in tasks and in the life of our school, - show the students how to work in a team showing respect to other members of their own group, as well as participants of other teams, - encourage students to acquire knowledge in an interdisciplinary manner in order to gain a broader view, -improve the ability to search for and select information from all available sources, - stimulate creativity of students in the search of ways to present knowledge, - improve the ability to use information technology, - develop the students’ and teachers’ awareness and interest in learning about other cultures. Subjects such as English, German, French, Russian, Polish, History, Religious Education/ Ethics, ICT, Art and Civics will provide the necessary basis for the acquisition and application of valuable knowledge in the search for cultural similarities and differences between the partner countries. Our school undertakes a great number of different tasks to promote Polish and European heritage. Some of them are: -school trips to meaningful places in Poland, for example Auschwitz, Cracow, Warsaw, etc. -visits to theatres, museums, - taking part in environmental projects, - celebrating Polish and European festivals by our school community (for example Nativity, the beginning and ending of World War II, Patron’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and many others). We believe that key persons involved in the project are experienced in the following areas and can share their experiences with:

• high quality professional development and ready-made resources

• cross functional learning and teamwork learning

• ICT skills and competences in English, Literature, History, Geography, Religion, Science, Art, Music, Phisical Education and Citizenship

• activities focused on understanding and respecting diversity

• projects based learning and CLIL methodology We plan to gain new experiences with improving other different skills.

We are also interested in sharing good practices concerning students with learning disabilities.