OUR MISSION AND VISION
We focus on bilingualism! Our mission is to educate students in a way such that they can fully develop their abilities and talents. When preparing the next generation of bilingual students, we make every effort to ensure that in the future they can speak, write and read fluently in Polish with confidence.
Mission
The mission of our school is to expand the pupil’s knowledge and skillset by teaching them to write, read and speak Polish. Moreover, we aim to familiarise them with the history and geography of Poland, Polish customs and traditions. Speaking, writing and reading in Polish makes a child fully bilingual, and the benefits of this should not be underestimated.
A handful of these benefits include:
- cognitive improvement (while reading, the child stimulates both hemispheres of the brain),
- linguistic skills (metalinguistic thinking, linguistic creativity, knowledge of Polish language at a higher level),
- educational benefits (taking the Polish as an extra Leaving Certificate subject, which provides up to 100 additional CAO points),
- professional development (working with both languages in marketing, translation, embassies, diplomacy),
- psychological awareness (the student understands their roots, builds a coherent ethnic identity, communicates freely with their family living in Poland).
Additional benefits of being a bilingual student of a Polish school abroad:
- biculturalism – when a child knows the language and culture of the country of origin of their parents (or even their own), it helps them to build a coherent ethnic identity,
- friendships – the possibility of making friends with their peers of Polish origin.
Source: Agnieszka Pędrak
Facts and myths about bilingualism
The earlier we teach children to speak a second language, the better – FACT.
The sooner our child starts learning a second language, the better. In the case of families where parents come from different countries, we use the OPOL (One parent, one language) method, in which each parent speaks to the child in their ethnic language.
Bilingualism contributes to speech delay and difficulties in reading and writing – FACT/MYTH.
Bilingual children have speech delay problems and may experience writing and reading difficulties. The younger the child, the easier it is to absorb or take in a new language, but the longer it may take to master these skills. With longer and more intense exposure to the second language, your child’s vocabulary will be substantially richer.
Learning a second language impoverishes the mother tongue – MYTH. According to research including Spanish linguists, early exposure to a foreign language does not result in loss of native language proficiency among children attending a bilingual school.
Source: Alicja Ortynecka