So a little bit about history, kinds of schools and grades

1. Admission Admission 2. First, some history… First, some history… 3. Preparing for „school life” Preparing for „school life” 4. Primary school Primaryschool 5. Lower secondary school (gimnazjum) Lower secondary school (gimnazjum) 6. Alternatives after „gimnazjum” Alternatives after „gimnazjum” 7. Matura (high school leaving exam) Matura (high school leaving exam) 8. Upper education Upper education 9. The most popular Universities in Poland The most popular Universities in Poland 10. Grading Grading 11. Foreign languages Foreign languages 12. Summary Summary

Education system in Poland was often changed in the past. Now is full of possibilities on almost every step. Schooling in Poland usually takes about 18 years (including studies), but in some cases takes only 14 years or, if someone wants to have a high degree, much longer.

The education of Polish society was a goal of rulers as early as the 12th century, and Poland soon became one of the most educated countries in Europe. The library catalogue of the Cathedral Chapter of Kraków dating back to 1110 shows that in the early 12th century Polish intellectuals had access to European literature. The Jagiellonian University, founded in 1364 by King Casimir III in Kraków, is one of Europe's oldest universities. The Polish education system was reformed in Primary school was shortened from eight to six years, and high school was changed from a four- year liceum into a three-year gimnazjum and a three- year liceum.

Żłobek (nursery) – place for children aged from 6 weeks to about 3 years, whose parents or guardians work outside home. The nursery children have food, constant care and participate in extra-curricular activities (e.g. swimming, foreign languages ​​ ). Przedszkole (Kindergarten) – place for children aged from 3 years to the beginning of primary school. The purpose of kindergarten is preparing kids for school duties and providing physical, mental, emotional and social development.

First step of official education. Primary school in Poland is compulsory. A child can go to primary school at 6 or 7 years. Learning in this school lasts 6 years. This is an introduction to further study on a much more difficult school level. During the first 3 years the child learns to write, read and also the foundations of mathematics, then takes to develop language skills and mathematics.

At the end of 6th class when the students are 13, they take a compulsory exam that will determine to which lower secondary school (gimnazjum, pronounced gheem-nah- sium) (Middle School/Junior High) they will be accepted. They will attend this school for three years for classes 7, 8, and 9. Our school – Gimnazjum nr 3 w Tarnobrzegu

Secondary education is provided in 3-year general lyceums or in vocational secondary schools such as the 3-year liceum profilowane (specialized lyceum) and 4-year technikum (secondary technical school). In addition, there are 2-3-year basic vocational schools whose graduates obtain the Certificate of Completion of Education in the Basic Vocational School. The only type of post-primary school that does not give access to higher education is the basic vocational school. The graduates of these schools may continue their education in different types of complementary secondary schools: complementary lyceum or complementary technical secondary school. Following completion of education in these schools they can pass the maturity examination and obtain a Maturity Certificate and thus become eligible for entrance to higher education

In the Polish education system, the exam is officially called egzamin maturalny, but it is commonly known as matura. It is taken on completion of high school, in May (with additional dates in June, and retakes available in August). The exam is not compulsory, although Polish students must pass it in order to be able to apply for higher education courses in Poland and elsewhere. Every student taking the matura takes three compulsory exams at "basic level" (poziom podstawowy) in: Polish language (including knowledge of Polish and European literature) A selected modern language (English, French, German, Italian, Spani sh or Russian) Mathematics

After a maturity examination people may follow several forms of upper education, leading to licencjat (the Polish Bologna Process first cycle qualification – 3,5 years), magister (the Polish Bologna Process second cycle qualification – 5 years) and eventually doktor (the Polish Bologna Process third cycle qualification)

Jagiellonian University in Krakow AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow The Warsaw University of Technology

In the early 1990s the system was extended by introducing new grades, 1 and 6. 1 (niedostateczny, insufficient) 2 (initially mierny, poor, later renamed dopuszczający, passing) 3 (dostateczny, sufficient) 4 (dobry, good) 5 (bardzo dobry, very good) 6 (celujący, excellent) In the new system, 1 is the failing grade, 2 to 5 are normal passing grades, and 6 means that the student exceeded the expectations. The system is used like the old one. Adding minuses to a 6 is extremely uncommon. The performance that is better than 5 but does not deserve a 6 is usually graded 5+. So the full scale is: 1, (1+ is rare) (2=), 2-, 2, 2+ (3=), 3-, 3, 3+ (4=), 4-, 4, 4+ (5=), 5-, 5, 5+ 6 (6- is rare too)

Students in Polish schools typically learn one or two foreign languages at schools. Generally, in 2005/06 the most popular obligatory foreign languages in Polish schools were: English – 67.9% German – 33.3% French – 13.3% Spanish – 10.2% Russian – 6.1% Italian – 4.3% Latin – 0.6% Others – 0.1% In 2005/06 there were 49,200 students in schools for national minorities, most of them in German, Kashubian, Ukrainian and Belarusian. Due to the education reform students of Polish lower secondary schools must learn two different foreign languages. The main language (usually English) is taught 3 times a week and it's the language that students must write the egzamin gimnazjalny in. The second foreign language is taught twice a week and it's additional. The reform introduces two different levels of the exam – the higher lever (if a student has been learning the same language as the main one at primary school) and the standard level (if a student has started learning the main language at lower secondary school). The result of the exam is held to account when a student applies to the upper secondary level school.

Music: Pink Floyd „We don’t need no education”