Zespół szkół im. Adama MickiewiczaMade by Hubert Duszkowski

and Grzegorz Falkowski

The Polish school system is divided into three main stages: primary school, lower secondary school and secondary school. The education is obligatory from the age of six when children attend year zero in kindergarten or primary school . Then at the age of seven they start primary school and stay there for six years. At the end of the year six there is an exam they have to pass if they want to go to a lower secondary school. Lower secondary school lasts 3 years. At the end of the lower secondary school students have to pass another exam. The results of this exam determine if a student will be accepted into his or her dream secondary school. Students can choose between comprehensive secondary school , vocational school and vocational high school . At the end of the secondary school students pass a very important exam called „matura” . It consists of two written exams and two oral. When they pass these exams they can go to university.

Our school was found in 1975. At the beginning it was only a primary school, and students learnt there for 8 years. In 2002 according to the resolution signed by the local authorities lower secondary school was established. Since that time two schools function within one building primary school nr 4 and lower secondary school nr 2. Our school is the biggest in the town . It consists of three levels of education junior primary school – children aged (7-9), primary school children aged (10- 12), and lower secondary school children aged (13-16). The building consists of more than 70 classrooms, we have got modern IT labs, well –equipped library and gym. 74 teachers teach 703 students: 437 in primary school and 266 in lower secondary school.

There are 74 teachers in our school. The head teacher of our school is Irena Zinkiewicz. The deputy head in primary school is Eugenia Gałka and in lower secondary school Tamara Korycka.

Our students take part in many international and nationwide contest and they win a lot of prizes . Here are the most popular ones.:

International contest of songs „W Podlaskiej Krynicy” - Our students won the first and second prizes.

National Art Contest „My Grunwald” our student won the third prize.

Contest of the province - Ukrainian world. Our students won the first, second , and third prizes.

NATIONAL CONTESTS Nationwide contest „Our relatives, our history, our

memory”. Our school won the third prize Nationwide contest „Young editor for the

enviroment” Nationwide contest of the Internet knowledge Nationwide contest in Chemistry Nationwide contest „ Eco-teams decrease

ecological trace” The 14th reading tournament in orthodox church

language . Nationwide contest in Polish language.

CONESTS OF THE PROVINCE PODLASIE

Province contest in Chemistry Province contest in Biology Province contest in IT Contest of knowledge about the

local autorities ACHIEVEMENTS IN SPORT Tournament of the province in

volleyball (girls). Our girls won the first prize

Tournament of the province in volleyball (boys). Our boys won the fourth prize

Championship of the province in volleyball. Our girls won the fourth prize.

e Twinning We have already cooperated

with several European schools in the projects of the eTwinning programme:

- “Green and happy planet” with Romanian school Tudor Vladimirescu in Targoviste

- “Love stories” with Portuguese school Escola Básica 2,3 André de Resende, in Évora

- “Culture in the eyes of a teenager” with Greek school Anthoupoleos Gymnasium, in Nicosia, Cyprus

„Fables and Legends of the Neighbouring Nations”- Polish and Lithuanian’ is a bilateral project of Youth in Action programme. 12 young people from Poland and 12 from Lithuania take part in it. We have started cooperation on the topic of fables and legends which appeared to be very similar in the cultures of both nations. We have already noticed some common characters and events present in fables and this conclusion caused our further interest in the subject. So the project aims at broadening the knowledge of our own local and national legends, but also of our partner’s; intensifying mutual understanding and attachment between the Polish and Lithuanian youth taking part in the project; finding common values in spite of the cultural differences. We want to meet in Białowieża, Poland, and during 10 days we will analyse the most interesting legends, exchange information concerning our national fables, display interactive presentations, explore the places connected with local legends, visit museums, interview elderly people, participate in drama workshops and prepare a performance of the legend or fable which shows common values of two nations.

„Bring the memory back” - Students of junior secondary school have conducted a project „Bring the memory back” since 2006. While working on the project students have learnt a lot about Bielsk Podlaski as a multicultural town. Together with teachers they get involved in the learning of Jewish history and culture. The other aim of the project is taking care of ruined Jewish cementery. As the result of work on the project a guide book which promotes a visit to the synagogue in Orla and Jewish bath in Boćki was published. Our students issued a calendar in which we can find Catholic, Orthodox, and Jewish holidays.

Comenius project „Health for the forest and man” - During 2005 and 2008 our school together with Bulgaria, Germany and Portugal conducted Comenius project.

The Ukrainian ensemble Ranok was found in 1995. The members of the ensemble are mainly the students of the school by the name of Adam Mickiewicz in Bielsk Podlaski who attend the lessons of Ukrainian, the native language. The repertoire of the ensemble Ranok includes the traditional folk songs, lyrical and various Ukrainian songs. In 2000 the cassette was issued that recorded mainly the songs of the northern parts of Podlasie and the Ukrainian parts of Polesie. The ensemble has taken part in many different local, international competitions and festivals and won many prizes.

A lot of students of our school attend different clubs. They usually meet after classes . Here are the most popular clubs:

BIOLOGY CLUB

Students who attend the club broaden their knowledge about the subjects in order to prepare well for the province contest which is held every year at the begining of January

MATHS CLUB

Students who are good at Maths attend the club. Doring their meetings they solve different problems and of course broaden their knowledge about the subject.

ENGLISH CLUB

Students who attend the club learn to speak English well and study the grammar which is not easy as it’s seems to be.

POLISH CLUB

Students who attend the club broaden their knowledge about Polish language, and about its grammar which is considered to be one of the most difficult in the world.

IT CLUB

Students who attend IT club broaden their knowledge about the Internet, learn how to design the websites and write computer programs.