School Profile

Languages taught: All pupils learn two foreign languages: English and one of the following: German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Latin, and Japanese-voluntarily. The pupils within each school year learn foreign languages in interclass groups on six different levels, which provides the most effective way of learning a language. VIII Liceum has a multimedia linguistic classroom.

School patron: The school was named after Wladyslaw IV, the King of Poland in the years 1632-1648, also using the title of the Great Prince of Lithuania, the King of Sweden and the Tzar of Moscow. He was the son of King Zygmunt III Waza and Anna, a daughter of Grand Prince Karol Habsburg. He was thought to be one of the most skilled army leaders of the 17th century. He recognized the town status of Praga district in Warsaw, where VIII Liceum is located.

School symbols: The unique school symbols are: the standard and the school uniforms, which are the representative outfit in which pupils represent the School outside and at official school events, among others at the School Year Opening Ceremony, during which they pledge to be worthy to represent VIII Liceum.

Location: The School is located in the oldest district of Warsaw, in a historic building dating back to 19th century.

The celebrities who have visited VIII Liceum are, among others:

Our achievements: VIII Liceum im. Władysława IV is a member of the egalitarian Association of the Creative Schools. Among its graduates are numerous laureates and finalists of national school subject competitions. According to last year's edition of the annual ranking of the secondary schools in Poland run by the Perspektywy Publishing House, VIII Liceum took 12. place in Poland and 6. place in the ranking of Warsaw's secondary schools. The graduates of our Gymnasium im. Władysława IV proved to be the best in Warsaw while taking the entrance examinations to the secondary schools at the end of the school year 2003/2004.

Some of the European initiatives in VIII Liceum:

Model European Parliament - (17-25.04.2004) - Władysław IV co-organized the Model European Parliament Session in Warsaw for delegates from 28 European countries under the honorary patronage of President of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski. The MEP initiative for young delegates reflecting the structure and curriculum of the European Parliament came into existence in the Hague in 1994. Władysław IV was the place of the registration of the delegates and the ceremony of awarding the integration projects prepared by the delegates in front of the jury and audience. In the School, the sessions of the delegates of 5 MEP Committees took place. MEP delegates appeared on Channel 1 of Polish TV in the programme 'Rower Błażeja', parts of which were shot in the School. The pupils of VIII Liceum took part in the MEP session in the Polish Parliament.

XXXVI Annual Session The Hague International Model United Nations - (25.01-1.02.2004) - representatives of VIII Liceum took part in the Hague International Model United Nations for young delegates in the Congress Centre in the Hague. The Polish delegation represented St. Kitts & Nevis, a country in the Carribean Islands, according to the rule of representing a country different from the one of origin during the session. The curriculum was consistent with the United Nations curriculum for the year.

Participation in the National Conferenceon the Political System Dimension of the Constitutional Treaty of the European Union - pupils met Speaker of the Polish Parliament Marek Borowski. The meeting was devoted to the question Is the country in crisis? (12.01.2004).

Cooperation with the Special Olympics movement - as a part of the European Year of Disabled People, VIII Liceum hosted Krzysztof Krukowski, an experienced Special Olympics activist, who showed the pupils a multimedia presentation on the history and activity of the Special Olympics. His daughter, Agnieszka, talked about her experiences from the Special Olympics in Ireland, where she worked as a volunteer (12.09.2003).

Participation in the Seminar "The Education for Democratic and Open European Citizenship" as a part of an annual session organized by the Ministry of National Education and Sport and the Council of Europe. VIII Liceum hosted a group of teachers and representatives of educational staff from various member states of the Council of Europe. The meeting was devoted to human rights, child's rights, tolerance and fighting discrimination (2.10.2003).

Participation in the European Sport Conference in Warsaw - the School hosted participants of the Special Olympics and representatives of the International Bureau of the Special Olympics and the Ministry of National Education and Sport (2-5.10.2003).

Charity events organized annually by VIII Liceum in aid of Poles living in Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine; participation in initiatives in aid of disabled people - voluntary participation (since 2003) in a 25-year initiative run by the National Philharmonic Orchestra, organizing classical music concerts for the disabled; participation in the annual Christmas Food Collection, organized by the Foundation of Polish Food Banks (since 2003) and in the initiative Góra Grosza / Pile of Pence, organized annually by the Nasz Dom Society, supporting orphanages throughout the whole country, under the patronage of Ministry of National Education and Sport.

Participation in the initiative 'European Alert' promoting the idea of Poland joining the European Union - representatives of VIII Liceum travelled on the Eurobus to Copenhagen during the 15 European Union members' summit in Copenhagen (10-14.12.2002).

Organizing the Interschool Knowledge of Europe Competition in Praga District in Warsaw (12/13.02.2002).

within annual international seminar meetings of the Council of Europe organized by Ministry of National Education and Sport and CODN- holding thematic lessons - presentations on the topics: "Multicultural Education For a New Europe" (2002), "Location of International Youth Language Centre" (2001), "European Dimension In Education" (2000).

1. place in the National 'Knowledge About Europe' Competition - as a reward, pupils from the class with extended European educational programme went with Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek to Lachti, where Adam Małysz took 1. place in the ski-jumping competition (21.09.2001).

participation in the initiative European Days, organized by the Political Sciences Faculty in Pultusk School of Humanities, in which representatives of the Council of Europe took part (2-3.03.2000).

within the annual cyclical programme Europe- diversity of cultures - presenting chosen European countries and their politics, culture, history, and economics by pupils from classes with the European education profile: Ancient Europe -2001, Scandinavian Monarchies -2000, Now Poland/ From The Sea to The Tatras -1999, Spain -1998, Ireland -1997.

participation in II Congress Dialogue Forum entitled 'To be or not to be' in the European Union organized by the Committee for European Integration, Business Centre Club, the Polish R. Schumann's Foundation, AIESEC Poland, the Association of European Journalists, the Polish Council of the European Movement (27.11.1999).

1. place in the 'Knowledge of Slovenia' Competition, organized for university students (04.05.1999).

1. place in the 1. Knowledge of the European Union Competition over Mazowieckie Voivodship organized by Pultusk School of Humanities (20.01.1999). The victorious pupils from VIII Liceum acted as soldiers of the French Army throughout the competition.

First Summer School On the European Union and the NATO - pupils of VIII Liceum took part in the lectures in Pultusk School of Humanities (summer 1998).

Youth Academy for European Integration - the class with the European education teaching profile took part in the lectures for students of higher schools organized by Pultusk School of Humanities (19-21.03.1998)

Chairman of the Committee for European Integration Ryszard Czarnecki paid a visit to VIII Liceum (16.01.98)

Poland's Chief Negotiator with the European Union Jan Kułakowski met pupils at VIII Liceum (5.11.97).

Establishing the class with the European Education profile being 1st class of that type in Poland, the teaching programme of which comprises both general education and the history of the European civilization, the basics of the international law and economy, realized in cooperation with Warsaw University, the European Centre and Pultusk High School of Humanities (1997).

VIII Liceum hosted Jan Ciechanowski, a well-known historian, and the participants of the seminar "European Dimension in the School: Objectives and Policies", organized by the Council of Europe, the Polish Board for the European Education and Pultusk School of Humanities. During the session VIII Liceum presented the European education classes, being the first clasess of that type in Poland (14.10.1997).

Exchanges / partnership:

Newly established cooperation with Sint-Maartenscollege in the Hague/Holland and Saint-Gabriel College in Boechout/Belgium.

A group of youths from Regensburg in Bavaria took part in English and German classes in VIII Liceum (22.03.2003).

In 1998 representatives of the School visited as a form of cooperation the Waza Gymnasium in Stockholm.

In the years 1992-96 VIII Liceum cooperated with the Joliot-Curie Lyceum in Brittany.

Unique In-School initiatives:

The Week of Culture - an initiative with a ten-year tradition, whose aim is to create an opportunity for pupils to present their artistic skills and enable them to meet the most outstanding celebrities of the cultural and political life of the country. In the Week, classes are run according to the schedule, and additional events and meetings commence usually after 4 p.m. Within the Week of Culture, pupils in VIII Liceum have had an opportunity to participate in reviews of documentaries and feature films, as well as to meet the most outstanding film-makers known both in Poland and worldwide: Krzysztof Zanussi, Kazimierz Kutz, Agnieszka Holland, Andrzej Wajda, Marcel and Paweł Łoziński. In VIII Liceum, the premiere of 'Siostry / Sisters', later awarded at numerous international film festivals, took place. The climax of the Week of Culture is the Review of Youths' Talents, during which the pupils of VIII Liceum present their musical and acting skills.

The Linguistic Day - organized since 1995, it has become a core part of the tradition of the School. It is a day on which pupils display their linguistic skills in the languages taught in VIII Liceum (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and Japanese). The foreign language teachers with the pupils prepare various attractions - stagings of plays, quizes, scenes, sketches, and presentation of the cuisines of foreign countries.

The Earth's Day - celebrating it has been incorporated into the School educational programme after the summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1993 to update the pupils on environmental issues and ecological initiatives. The information prepared by the pupils of VIII Liceum is presented in the most appealing form of colourful posters, with numerous photos, maps and diagrams or as a display of ecological films and active methods of preserving the environment.

Władysław IV Race - organized since 1994; it takes place annually at the beginning of June in the forests in Zielonka near Warsaw. The route is 7 km long. On the starting line one can see teachers, usually the headmaster, pupils, former pupils-graduates and their parents. The winners are awarded with cups in respective competitions, and each participant receives a diploma. Finally, a barbecue finishes the day. There are more and more participants each year.

Classical music concerts - every month, in the representative hall of VIII Liceum, there are classical music concerts performed by the musicians of the National Philharmonic Orchestra and, occasionally, foreign performers, such as the young musicians of the symphonic orchestra from Bramsfeld near Hamburg.

Cooperation with the National Theatre, the Nowy Theatre, the Sheakspeare Theatre, the Prochoffnia Theatre, the Dramatic Theatre, the Studio Theatre, the Contemporary Theatre, the Rozmaitości Theatre, the Rampa Theatre, the Powszechny Theatre, the Ateneum Theatre, the National Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Museum, the Museum of Literature, the Polish Parliament, the Palace of Science and Culture, the Royal Castle, the British Council, Robert Schumann Foundation, Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the Political Sciences and Law Faculty at Warsaw University, the Institute of Classical Philology and the Institute of Polish Philology at Warsaw University, Pultusk School of Humanities, the European Education Centre, the Citizen Education Centre, the Society for Cooperation Between the Cities of Warsaw and the Hague.

Enabling pupils to get to know foreign countries' cultures through sightseeing excursions to, among others, England, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Ireland.

Prepared by I. Głowacka (teacher of English)