In the second part of June I had a great opportunity to take part in Comenius project and spend one week in West Kirby, near Liverpool. After a three-hour journey I arrived at Grammar School in West Kirby, where my host family after a nice welcome took me to their house.
For a week I stayed at their home and attended school every day to find out what is similar and what is different in English and Polish system of education.
The school was situated in a quiet area, only a 20 minutes’ walk from my host’s house. Its building was really nice and large, consisting of two main parts an old and a new one, and everyone often had to go out to get to another part of the school.
I could see that students had very good conditions for learning. Behind the school there were 4 tennis courts, and opposite the school there was a big football field. The classrooms were more spacious than in my school and better equipped. In chemistry lab, for example, there were big desks with sinks and sockets, so students could make experiments on their own. In Polish schools we do not have such possibilities.
I really liked the idea that students in the Sixth form could choose only four subjects they were interested in to learn. In this way they had enough time to prepare very well for their final exams. In Poland we have more subjects to learn before our Matura exam.
Days at school started at 8:50 a.m. with registration (which took about 20 minutes) during which a form master checked students’ attendance and discussed current affairs. Lessons ended at 3.40 p.m. There were six lessons every day, which lasted 50 minutes, not 45 minutes as it is in Poland. Very often they were doubled, with no break between them. But I saw that students did not have problems with concentration. Maybe because they had enough time to relax between the lessons. There were 10-20 minutes’ breaks and one lunch break lasting 1 hour 20 minutes. During lunch break students ate their sandwiches prepared at home or could choose something they liked in the canteen. There teenagers had several types of meals so everyone was able to find something for themselves. Breaks were also a chance for students to spend some time talking with each other, joking having fun, or discussing about the universities which they would like to choose.
When a lesson started, everyone listened carefully to the teacher and asked questions if they needed some explanation. Students and teachers were polite to each other and they had a very good contact, so the atmosphere in classrooms was really nice. Working in groups went smoothly because students knew exactly what to do and everyone was friendly, with good sense of humor. It was really nice to work in a group like that. I took part in an experiment during a physics lesson in a team of 5 people. Everything went really fast one person wrote the results, the second checked them, the third prepared everything to make the experiment etc.
Students learnt not only in classes but they also spent time in the school library to use computers and find some information.
I enjoyed staying with my host family, wonderful people who were nice and helpful to each other. I felt like a member of this family, especially during the meals. For breakfast we ate cereals or cornflakes, but scrambled eggs or toasts with cheese ham or jam too. We usually drank orange juice, pineapple juice or coffee. In Poland people eat similar food, but we prefer tea or coffee for breakfast. I also took sandwiches to school like in Poland
The members of the family spent their free time together watching tv, playing musical instruments or doing some sports, for example playing football, but also talking about politics and economy. They liked reading books too; everyone was reading some kind of book, even the youngest member of family always read comics during breakfast. After school they showed me some interesting places – one of them was a beautiful, old town Chester.
During my stay in West Kirby I got to know nice and hospitable people, improved my English and saw how well English system of education is organized. I realized that English students are similar to Polish because they also enjoy telling funny stories, talking about friendship, parties and films.
It was a really great experience for me.
Michał Dembski |
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