• Polish Supplementary School Leicester

The Polish Supplementary School (former Polish Saturday School) was established in Leicester in 1953, and since then has been totally maintained by the Polish Parents' Association in Leicester. At present, the school is accommodated in the Polish Community Centre, Wakerley Road.

The main purpose for its existence is to give Polish and Anglo-Polish children the opportunity of learning the Polish language, to enable them to understand, to speak, to write and to read Polish.

Added to this, the children receive Religious Instruction and are taught the key outlines of Polish History and Geography. instruction in Polish traditions and culture, as well as singing of Polish songs and learning Polish folk dancing are also included in the school curriculum.

The syllabus is arranged in such a way that pupils are able to sit for the GCSE examination in Polish at the end of their school career. On average, 5-6 pupils pass this exam each year, achieving very good results. The A-level course was introduced 12 years ago; 3-4 students achieve passes in this exam each year.

Tuition takes place on every Saturday of the academic year. The children range from 4 to 18 years of age, and are divided into 7 classes, according to their age and knowledge of Polish. The staff consists of the Head teacher and 7 fully qualified teachers, some educated in Poland and some in this country. Approximately 45 children attend lessons on a regular basis. A relatively high standard of progress has been maintained in the various educational activities during the past years. Text books, exercise books plus any other teaching materials are supplied by the Polish Parents Association.

Many of our older students have gone on to complete university courses and become involved in business ventures where a knowledge of an Eastern European language has been extremely useful. For the future the school hopes to continue the same high standard of educational activities as well as developing a sense of cultural identity in the young Polish community. However the schools teaching materials are becoming worn and dated and need replacing, as well as adding some new equipment to make learning more effective and interesting to the pupils. After all they give up their free time on Saturdays to study and widen their cultural horizon.

Polish School celebrated its 50th Anniversary 4-5th June 2005

Click here for an outline of the events that took place.

Copyright @2002