by George J Elbaum

The British School Warsaw was founded in 1992 and has become the leading international school in Warsaw, delivering high quality innovative education in a rapidly changing environment.  Its current enrollment in Year 1-13 is 1152 students, of which 42% are Polish.  Based on a foundation of British culture and the pursuit of excellence, the school takes pride in its history and heritage.  This is evidenced in its curriculum and uniforms, its discipline, culture and values. Like the best British schools globally, it challenges its students to live by its values – “Respect, Honesty, Diversity and Community.”

The school’s modern facilities include classrooms, science laboratories, indoor and outdoor play facilities, sports halls, art rooms, music technology suite and practice rooms, and mobile computer facilities linked to a fully functional wi-fi system across the school.

The high academic standards of the school are demonstrated by the fact that since 2001 The British School Warsaw has delivered the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme, facilitating entry for its graduates to the finest universities worldwide.  The school’s IB Programme is centered in the IB Learning Centre for senior students.  Another example of its academic achievement is its collaboration with top international universities in specific areas such as STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics).  Specifically, MIT provides The British School with STEAM challenges developed by MIT professors, and which it uses to guide its STEAM curriculum and engage as many students and grade levels with these challenges as possible.

My talk to Year 9 students was organized by Richard Bridges, the school’s Head of History, and was also attended by Paul Mitchell, Head of Year 11 and Math, and Rob Prokic, Head of Year 9 and Math.  It was arranged by Violetta Tarnowska, who arranged my first talk in Warsaw at her school in 2014 and many subsequent talks.

starting the talk