BEDNARSKA
Jam Saheb Digvijay Sinhji
First Charter High School
THE BEDNARSKA STORY
1989 marked the end of communism in Poland
and the beginning of the political and economic
transformation that continues to this day.
KRYSTYNA STARCZEWSKA, a Polish teacher,
philosopher
and
member
of
various
anti-
communist organizations, immediately decided to
start an independent school that would follow the
ideals of the prominent Polish educator JANUSZ
KORCZAK (1878–1942). In 1989, just a few
months
after
the
government/opposition
Roundtable talks and the first democratic elections,
Starczewska, along with a group of other
opposition leaders, founded Bednarska, the first
non-governmental
Krystyna Starczewska
Poland.
school
in
post-communist
THESE ARE THE IDEALS
ON WHICH THE BEDNARSKA EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IS BASED:
● DEMOCRACY: Representatives of students, parents, teachers and
graduates are members of the School Parliament, whose mission is to
develop and set norms for life in the school community.
● TOLERANCE: Each member of Bednarska community has the right
to freely express his or her opinions and convictions. Our motto is that
we are all unique - different but equal.
DIRECTORS OF
BEDNARSKA
Jan Wróbel
(2004 – 2014)
&
Wanda Łuczak
(since 2014)
● COOPERATION: Teachers and students respect one another,
enriching the teaching and learning process with an interactive
relationship. The atmosphere at Bednarska is friendly but
academically competitive. The student-teacher relationship is based
on partnership, and often friendship. Some of the teachers are alumni.
There are now seven schools in the Bednarska group, all located in Warsaw:
• Jam Saheb Digvijay Sinhji FIRST CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL
• Ingmar Bergman INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE SCHOOL
• Jacek Kuroń MULTICULTURAL HIGH SCHOOL
• Raszyńska JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
• Startowa JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
• Hispaniola JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
• Kawalerii PRIMARY SCHOOL
More information at w w w . b e d n a r s k a . e d u . p l (Polish only)
OUR PATRON
JAM SAHEB DIGVIJAY SINHJI (1895–1966), a Hindi
maharajah, was a great friend of Poles. During World
War II he saved around 5,000 Polish orphans, previously
deported to Siberia in the Soviet Union, from starving to
death. The maharajah invited them to live on his estate
and provided them with housing and education, offering
them the opportunity to be brought up in Polish culture,
religion and tradition. When the Polish communist
government asserted claims to the children, Jam Saheb
adopted them and helped them continue their education
and find new opportunities abroad.
OUR INSPIRATION
INSPIRATION
JANUSZ KORCZAK’S CREDO:
- Rejection of any type of violence, either physical or verbal
- Educational interaction between students and teachers
- Deep conviction of equality that exists between a student and
an adult
- Individual approach towards each student
- Each student has the right to express and maintain his opinion
which can never be undermined by an adult
- Each student has the right to be respected by an adult, to make
Janusz Korczak
mistakes and correct them, to fail and start again
- Each student has the right to protect his privacy and property
In the 1998/1999 school year, Prof. Krzysztof Byrski, director of the Oriental Institute
and a friend of the First Charter High School, suggested giving the school the name of
the Hindi maharajah. In a referendum at the school in 1999, the whole community
decided to adopt Jam Saheb Digvijay Sinhji as their patron. This name obliges us to
maintain an atmosphere of openness and support for young people in need, whose
fate is similar to that of the Polish orphans adopted by Jam Saheb. We strive to help
refugees as well, allowing them a free education at our schools.
former building of Bednarska First Charter High School
2/4 Bednarska Street, Warsaw
1990-2012
The 2012/2013 school year was a memorable and
significant time in the history of our school. After
spending 12 years in a historic building near the Old
Town, we moved to a building at ulica Zawiszy 13, in the
Wola district. It seemed like a huge challenge to transfer
Bednarska, so well-rooted in the Old Town, to the
completely different post-industrial atmosphere of Wola
and a building that typified the communist brutalism
style of architecture. Yet the results surpassed our boldest
expectations. In less than a year, thanks to the joint effort
of students, teachers and parents, we managed to make
the new space our own. Now we feel at home again. The
school is not self-centred, but seeks to integrate with the
whole neighbourhood. It is the beginning of the road, and
there is still plenty of work ahead. We look forward to it.
ZAWISZY STREET IN THE WOLA DISTRICT OF WARSAW
winter view
ZAWISZY STREET IN THE WOLA DISTRICT OF WARSAW
autumn view
FIRST FLOOR HALLWAY
colour range designed by students
LIBRARY
one of the school’s cosiest places
CINEMA ROOM
GYMNASIUM
TEACHERS’ ROOM
teachers’ hiding place
ALL ABOUT BEDNARSKA … PHOTOGRAPHICALLY
STUDENTS’ OMNIPRESENT ARTISTIC AND EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION
WHAT MAKES OUR SCHOOL SPECIAL:
SPECIAL:
● An individual approach to learning.
● Each grade and each class has an original name which is given by students and
their tutors.
● A wide range of foreign language classes (English as well as French, German,
Italian, Russian, Spanish or Latin).
● ECO TRIPS for students in the first year, in two stages - one at the beginning of the
school year, in September, and another at the end, in June. In a rural area of northeastern Poland, students learn how to live an ecologically sustainable life. They
travel by bike or walk, take part in daily activities such as collecting brushwood and
cooking their own meals, and sleep in tents or barns. They have no internet
connection!
● 11th November INDEPENDENCE PICNIC, a yearly artistic event organized by
Bednarska teachers and students to commemorate Polish Independence Day.
● Volunteer activities, which are an important element of the school’s curriculum.
● Electives in the arts (drawing, painting, filmmaking, acting).
● Close and respectful relationships between teachers and students.
● Support for students’ individualism, in all its forms.
SOME OF THE PROJECT WE CARRY OUT AT BEDNARSKA
► EKIPA ŚWI
WIĘTEGO
WI TEGO MIKOŁAJA
MIKO AJA
Santa Claus’ Christmas Charity Group
► DEBATY OKSFORDZK
OKSFORDZKIE
Oxford-Style Debates
► COMENIUS EUROPEAN PROJECTS
TRESS (2013-2015), a partnership with schools from Germany,
France and Sweden
TOGETHER IN EUROPE (2010-2012), a partnership with schools
from Germany, France and UK
► SHALOM POLIN
forming closer Polish-Jewish ties
w w w . b dnr . p l
w w w . fac eb ook. c om /1S LOBednarsk a
em ai l : l i c eum @b ednar ska. edu. p l