Evaluation

It was a great project! We learnt about your life and got to know the other schools. We hope that we will exchange ideas next year too. Have great holidays! :)
Cheers,
Daria, Ola and Kuba

evaluation

Thanks for working on this project with us:) The project has been really educational and, of course, we enjoyed ourselves a lot. We hope we'll be able to carry out a similar project next school year and we'll get to know each other even more! Maybe one day we could start a student exchange, who knows?:):) I especially liked the videos you posted - well done. We'll try it next time too!
Have a great time during holidays!
Enjoy the sunshine and freedom!
Greetings from Poland
Jo

High School

In Szamotuły we have three secondary schools.Some students go to schools in Poznań (it is a city not far from Szamotuły) but I will tell you briefly about our school.The education lasts three years.In high school lessons start at seven forty and finish at 4 pm. There are usually six or seven lessons.There are five classes with leading subjects as follows: A -mathematics, physics and astronomy, B-biology, chemistry, C-biology, geography, D-Polish literature, history, civics, F- English, geography.

After each lesson there is a break. We also have many extra activities for example: volleyball, basketball, arts, drama classes.

Studies
In Poland to go to university we must pass the matura exam (the school leaving exam). Studies last four or five years. You can study daily or not:

- classes are held daily from Monday to Friday evening - every day

- there are also evening studies or weekend classes for students who work during the week (extramural studies).

Jacek:)

We are from Szamotuły, but we are going to describe Poznań because it is bigger and more interesting than Szamotuły. This city is on the Warta river in the west-central Poland. It is one of the oldest cities in Poland. There are a lot of historic buildings and sights in Poznań. They are mostly concentrated around the Old Market Square and other parts of the city centre. Perhaps the most important cultural event in Pozań is the annual Malta theater festival, which takes place at many city venues usually in late June and early July. It is famous for modern experimental off – theatre performances, often taking place in squares. It also includes cinema, visual, music and dancing events. Poznań hosted the 2009 European Young Adults Meeting of the ecumenical Christian Taize Community. The city centre has many clubs, pubs and coffee houses, mainly in the area of the Old Market Square.

("Bursztynowy słowik")

When visiting Poland you can't miss the most exciting music festivals: "Sopot Festival" and " Krajowy Festiwal Piosenki Polskiej w Opolu". Krajowy Festiwal Piosenki Polskiej w Opolu is organised every year in June. During the festiwal people can find out about the most important music achievements of the year ("Super Jedynki"). It's also possible to listen to the most amazing songs ("Premiery") and you can laugh with the most popular cabarets. The second most important festival is "the Sopot Festival" that takes place in "Opera Leśna" in Sopot. Since 1992 it has been one of the best-known festivals because of foreign singers invited to take part in it. "Bursztynowy słowik" is the best prize at this festival.

Malbork
Malbork is a gothic castle. Its volume is 250 000 m³. Teutonic Knights were building it from 1274 to 1457. Malbork was the capital of Teutonic Knights from 1309 to 1457. It was written down to the UNESCO list in December 1997. There wiil be a special performance in the castle called „With cross and sword”. It will be from 15 April 2010 to 15 September 2010. Today in Malbork there is a museum with a set of amber and thematic exhibitions showing life in former centuries. UFO is hiding in vaults of the castle - some people say that. The woman was bricked at one time in the tower called the „Maślankowa” tower.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malbork

The Międzyrzecz Fortification Region
It is a fortified military defence line in Western Poland, between the Odra river and Warta river. It was built between 1934-1938. It was the most technologically advanced fortification system of Nazi Germany, and remains one of the largest and the most interesting systems of this type in the world today. It is also the largest European underground bats refuge, giving shelter to about 32,000 bats of 12 species in the wintertime. In other seasons tourists can tour bunkers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs4ueaxXrsk

As for nature in Poland, we have 23 national parks, above a thousand reserves and over 120 landscape parks. The national park called Wielkopolski National Park is nearest of Szamotuły - our small town :). I think you should find out somethin' special about this place.

Wielkopolski National Park was estabilished on 16th April 1957. It's located about 15 km from Poznań. The area of park amounts 7620 ha and includes 4550 ha of forests. Some parts of the Park's area are under special protection in the strict reserves. The Park protects forests growin' on the ground moraines, and the hills of the head moraine.

The Park is one of the biggest tourist atractions in the vicinity of Poznań. This part of Great Polish Lake District is known for its noteworthy landscapes which include pictureque lakes, as well as the Warta River. The most valuable parts of the Park (from the ecological point of the view) are protected as 18 strict reserves, including 10 forests and 8 water and swamp reserves. The Park's Museum of National Science is located in Puszczykowo.

Those who favor the photography of wild animals could, with a bit of luck, enrich their collections with pictures of stag, roe deer, wild boar, badger, fox, marten, or hare. The rich world of birds is represented by over 200 species, which may be either indigenous or migratory. Among those rarer are the European roller, kingfisher, black woodpecker and buzzard. About 35 species of fish, including bream, tench, pike and eel, live in the lakes. The impressive fauna includes above 3000 species of insects.


sources

The most popular musicians in Poland

There have been a lot of good musicians in Poland.

Fryderyk Chopin - (1 March 1810- 17 October 1849) was a Polish composer and pianist. He was one of the greatest masters of Romantic music. He was born in a village called Żelazowa Wola. Chopin was the first to write ballades and scherzi as individual pieces. He also took the example of Bach's preludes and fugues, transforming the genre into his own Préludes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef-4Bv5Ng0w

Czesław Niemen- (real name Czesław Juliusz Wydrzycki) was born on the 16th February 1939. He was one of the most important and original Polish singers and rock balladeers of the last quarter-century. Niemen was born in Stare Wasiliczki. His song ,,Dziwny jest ten świat" (Strange Is This World) is the most important Polish protest song of that era.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzACDJCfQvs

Andrzej Piaseczny-

was born on the 6th January 1971. He represented Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2001. The song received 2 points from Sweden, 3 points from Slovenia, 5 points from Germany and 1 point from Denmark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHLAsI1bdz8

Dorota Rabczewska- (Doda) was born on the 15th February 1984. She was born in Ciechanów in Poland. She is a Polish singer with one of the largest number of awards in Poland. She has an older brother Rafał. In 2006 she lent her voice to the dubbing for Asterix and the Vikings (as Abba). On March 5, 2005, Rabczewska married a Polish goalkeeper Radosław Majdan but now she is in a relationship with Adam Darski ( he is a singer in Bohemonth).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it71O2KupEE

Czytelnik ( IT revision )

Szamotuły

Szamotuły is situated in the Poznań Upland, in the immediate vicinity of the Poznań county. The town, inhabited by 18,700 people, is 35 km to the south-west of Poznań. For thousands of years the Szamotuły commune teritories have been characterized by unusually favourable conditions for settlement, which is surely due to its convenient location on the river Sama and in the Warta estuary.
The history of the town was strongly connected with two famous families of the Wielkopolska Upland: the Nałęcz and the Górka families. The remains of the house of the Górka family are: a 16-th century castle and a tower and a dungeon of Halszka-now the seat of the Górka Museum and Castle.
THINGS WORTH SEEING
*The Museum-Castle of Górka, tower and dungeon of Halszka
*Post-collegiate church
*The Baroque post-Franciscan complex with a Parish Church of the Holly Cross
*The palace and park complex in Gałowo near Szamotuły

WHAT MAKES SZAMOTUłY COUNTY SO ATTRACTIVE?
Favourable geographical location:
*transportation routes
*easy access to Poznań
*spectacular views and tourist attractions
*ecological purity
Successful investment ventures:
*the Hochland Company
*the Amica Company

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS AND FACILITIES
*Two swimming-pools
*Three lower secondary schools
*Tennis courts
*Restaurants
*The Wacław Sports Hall
*Football pitch
*Parks
*The Nałęcz Sports Hall

Famous inventors in Poland

Hi :) I'm writing about famous inventors in Poland.

Jan Józef Ignacy Łukasiewicz (1822-1882) was a
Polish-Armenian pharmacistand petroleum industry
pioneer. He built the first oil refinery in the world.
He’s famous for the inventionof the modern street
lamp in Europe.Thanks to his inventions he became
a wealthy man and one of the most prominent
philanthropists.

Kazimierz Prószczyński (1875-1945)was a Polish
invector active in the field of cinema.He patented his
first film camera called Pleograph. Later he went on
to improve the cinema projector for the Gaumont
company. He also invented the widely used hond-
held Aeroscope camera. 





Henryk Zygalski (1908- 1978) was a Polish
mathematician  and cryptologist who worked Marian
Rejewski  and Jerzy Różycki.Together they developed
the methods and equipment for breaking the Enigma
coded messages.
After the war he remained in exile in the United Kingdom.
He was prevented by the Official Sectets Act
from speaking of his achievments in cytology.


Stefan Drzewiecki (1844-1938) was a Polish
scientist, journalist, engineer,constuctor and inventor
working in Russia and France. He invented such
useful tools as the kilometric counter for cabs. He
constructed an instrument that drew the precise
routes of ships into a map. He developed the theory
of guiding flights. His work “Theorie generalede
l’helice” was honored by the French Academy of Science.

Ludwik Łazarz Zamenhof (1859-1917) was an
ophthalmologist, philologist and the inventor of
Esperanto, a constructed language designed for
international communication. For two years he
tried to raise funds to publish a booklet decribing
the language. Zamenhof wrote the first
grammar of the Yiddish language. Later he published the Yiddish magazine “Lebn
un visnshaft”. He translated the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament into Esperanto. Zamenhof was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by four British Members of Parliament and
Professor Stanley Lane Poole.

Ola :) + Czytelnik ( IT revision )

School life

We're students the Lower Secondary School of Ks. Piotra Skarga in Szamotuły.

We want to show you our school life.

We usually start school at 7.40 but sometimes we go to school later for example at 9.30.

Ok so now we'll show you our school rules

1.We can have 3 tests a week
2.Our grades depend on these percent range:
0%-39%- 1 (failed)
40%-54%- 2
55%-69%- 3
70%-84%- 4
85%-100%- 5 (very good)

In our school lessons continue from 7.40am to 3pm or 4pm

Every lesson lasts 45 minutes.
We have a lot of breaks. 2 breaks last 15 minutes and the others are 10 minutes long.
We have a school shop in which there are a lot of sweets and drinks.
We have also 2 gyms and a health club.
We have a lot of extra classes, like religious education classes, math classes, biology classes and history classes.

After lessons you can take part in karate classes, Iado lessons and aikido lessons.

We believe in Poland lessons are interesting.

Teachers are nice and they think of fascinating topics for studying.

They check tests fairly and when we have a problem they always try to help.

Good manners are also taught at our school.

Claudia, Agata and Maciej ;]

The most popular actors in Poland

There are a lot of good actors and actresses in Poland. I think the best ones are Julia Kamińska and Filip Bobek because they have won two ''Telecamery Awards 2010'' for the best acting. They acted in ''Brzydula'', a very popular soap opera.

The most famous actresses in another popular Polish TV serial- ''M jak miłość'' are Małgorzata Kożuchowska, Joanna Koroniewska and Katarzyna Cichopek. They are very interesting people and this is why they have got plenty of prizes from their viewers. ''Barwy Szczęścia'' is another soap worth watching. The best actress in ''Barwy Szczęścia'' and my favourite one is Katarzyna Zielińska. Her part is surprising and fantastic!

In Poland we also like some foreign films, especially action ones. The most popular foreign celebrities in Poland are Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom. In my opinion, their acting is really astonishing!

Hello,

My name is Ola and I’m 15 years old.I have blond hair and blue eyes. I am about 160 cms tall.

I live with my parents and my brother in Szamotuły in the west of Poland. I have a small family. I'm a student of Piotr Skarga Lower Secondary school. I'm in class 2A. On weekdays I get up at 6.00 and go to school from 7.40am to 3pm. My favourite subjects are Maths and Music. I hate Science.

I love music! My favourite singer is Beyonce. My favourite song is „Empire State Of Mind”. I like singing. I play the piano and the guitar. In my free time I like going to the ciemna with my friends and I enjoy reading books. My favourite film is „Step up”. At the weekends I meet with my friends. In the summer I often go to the seaside.

Please write to me and tell me about you and your life.

I hope to hear from you.

Best wishes

Ola

Hi! ;] My name is Claudia. I'm 15 years old and my birthday is on 15th January. I'm from Poland (Szamotuły). I don't have any brothers or sisters.


I have blonde hair and blue eyes. I usually wear a shirt, a pair of jeans and a pair of trainers.


My favourite songs are: "Hard" and "Where are you now". I like the band called Paramore.


My hobby is music. I can play the cello and the piano. Sometimes I ride a horse.


At home I have a pet-this is a cat. His name is Bazyl. He's 2 years old. He's grey and he has orange eyes. He's very beautiful. He likes playing with me and loves eating meat.


Please write and tell me about you.
I hope to hear from you.


Claudia

Hello

Hello,
my name is Wlodek Kaplon, and I'm 14. I live in Szamotuły(Poland), like my classmates.
I have long hair, green eyes (in the class photo I'm the boy on the left wearing the hat and green glasses). I like playing World Of Warcraft(I'm a Tauren) and listening to Red Hot Chilli Peppers. I sing in the school choir called Alla Breve).
That's all for now:)
Take care