Prospectus
Introduction A very warm welcome to the British Primary School of Wilanow, the new independent British-curriculum school serving Warsaw’s English-speaking community. BSW is a member of COBIS, the Confederation of British International Schools, and will be regularly inspected by ISI, the organisation which inspects UK independent schools. For the school year 2015-16 we offer top-quality education for children between the ages of 2 and 8. Starting from September, 2016 we will run through to age 11 (UK Year 6). The following year, our Secondary school will open its doors. Our school is friendly, broad-minded, welcoming and focused. The motivated and impressive pupils are a delight to teach; the staff are talented and highly professional. I am thrilled to be leading this exciting venture: we are here to provide the best of international-minded British education and to rank amongst the best schools in Europe and the world.
Our school is friendly, broad-minded, welcoming and focused.
I hope this prospectus gives you an idea of the sort of school we are—but nothing I can put on paper will do the real thing justice. Please do come and visit: we’ll be delighted to meet you.
Christopher Nicholls Principal
Behind our school lie ďŹ elds and woods, where nature provides a rich environment for learning and where our sports grounds roll into the middle distance
Where is BSW? The British Primary School of Wilanow is an independent British-curriculum primary school in Warsaw for boys and girls aged 2 to 11. It is situated in the upscale residential district of Wilanow, where the grand history of Polish royalty meets the twenty-ďŹ rst century in a popular, lively, safe and sophisticated community. Behind our school lie ďŹ elds and woods, where nature provides a rich environment for learning and where our sports grounds roll into the middle distance. While many of our families live locally, our school buses travel throughout the city, bringing children from every point of the compass.
The Nursery Our Nursery is open to children from the age of two and provides a safe, stimulating and fun environment for everyone. Between 7.30am and 6.00pm our Nursery classrooms hum with the excitement of young children on their fascinating journeys not just through education but through life. The purpose of our Early Years education is to encourage inquisitive play and to lay the social and linguistic foundations for what is to come. Our children learn to play, experiment and create happily together. Here, the fundamental building-blocks of literacy and numeracy are gently put in place, at a speed that accommodates everyone. Human beings do not learn at a constant or uniform rate and our teachers pay particular attention to each child’s personal development in that context. We are registered as a Polish and a British nursery so children really can get the best of both worlds.
Our children learn to play, experiment and create happily together.
The focus is always on making sure that your child gets both the attention and the freedom which he or she needs personally in order to ourish.
Primary School Our Primary School begins in Reception class, at age 4. There is a clear focus on literacy and numeracy but also on enquiry, creativity and independence. Each class has a British-qualified and experienced teacher as well as Polish-trained staff. We also have specialist teachers in Music and PE, as well as Learning Support, English as an Additional Language Support, a school psychologist and a speech therapist all on site. The focus is always on making sure that your child gets both the attention and the freedom which he or she needs personally in order to flourish. The National Curriculum of England forms the basis of what we teach, both philosophically and practically. This is informed by Polish requirements and by our particular context in Warsaw. Class sizes are kept to a maximum of eighteen and our teacher-mentor programme encourages all children to reflect on and take control of their learning, at the same time allowing staff to monitor progress in a particularly focused way. Parents who are internationally mobile can be confident that, when they have to move on, their children will be able to transition to any other British school around the world.
The benefits of a vibrant programme outside the quantifiable curriculum are evident to all
Beyond the Classroom Learning doesn’t start and stop at the classroom door. Our children benefit from rich environments for play within the school site as well as the wider world of nature on our doorstep. Independence, maturity and the spirit of enquiry all flourish in these conditions. The range of co-curricular activities available to our pupils includes sports as well as karate, chess, music, art, drama, coding and much more. It is important that children interact with each other, and with adults, in a variety of contexts and the benefits of a vibrant programme outside the quantifiable curriculum are evident to all. Warsaw presents us with many opportunities to visit its exceptional parks, museums, galleries and theatres. Outside the capital, the extraordinary history and geography of one of Europe’s most fascinating countries is easily accessible for discovery and exploration.
“Staff are hard-working and caring about pupils’ well-being”
“Pupils are involved in discussing long-term learning” — ISIC, 2015
— ISIC, 2015
The British Primary School of Wilanow ul. Hlonda 12, Miasteczko Wilanow 02-972 Warszawa, Poland info@bsww.pl , tel.: +48 22 111 0062