In September this year, during an assessment of how talents are discovered at the second secondary school, the school received 98 out of a possible 100 points. This high score opened the way to obtaining the elite certificate of a School Developing Interests and Supporting Talents.
Elite schools with a certificate for supporting talents (II LO will be the 54th such school in Lower Silesia) take a different approach to young people who are learning.
The primary aim of the talent-support programme developed at II Liceum by Beata Ulatowska together with a team of nine teachers is to create suitable conditions for discovering and developing every student’s potential and for their comprehensive development. The teachers assume that their students possess intellectual curiosity, creative motivation and predispositions for a chosen field of knowledge, as well as a passion for artistic, sporting or social activity.
The school audit was conducted by Halina Nawrotek, coordinator of the Lower Silesian System for Supporting Talents (DSWU), Mariola Kolan, an inspector from the Lower Silesian Board of Education, Joanna Kaczmarska (DSWU consultant), Ewa Wierbiłowicz (DCWU consultant) and Paweł Nowak (DCWU consultant).
“This is a high score; we saw all the objectives included in the programme, and the school genuinely supports students in an egalitarian and elite manner,” says committee chair Halina Nawrotek. “Every student can discover their talents, as was evident in the methods used during and outside lessons. The students told us that they can develop their passions and interests at different times. Meetings with students proved that the school creates conditions allowing them to spread their wings to the extent of their abilities. This is very valuable. We also asked teachers how far their skills enable them to help students develop. Here we discovered something exceptional, something not found in other schools. At the second secondary school, physics, mathematics and chemistry classes are taught in English. The teachers are seeking special language certificates in order to develop themselves. It is obvious that the conditions for developing interests exist here and, above all, the teachers support the students—in mathematical, artistic, social and many other areas. This is the 54th institution in Lower Silesia with such a certificate, and the superintendent always says that these are elite schools. Many schools apply to join the network of schools supporting talents, but not every school meets the high standards. What matters is how to discover that something in a child. After all, talented children already come to schools; in that case, their abilities are merely polished. Here, however, the aim is to work with all children, including those who do not know that they are good at something. And the more opportunities students have to touch, try and discover what they are talented at, the better,” explained the coordinator of the Lower Silesian System for Supporting Talents.
Beata Ulatowska’s team
- Dorota Kurowska
- Katarzyna Kwaśniewska
- Małgorzata Kędziora
- Joanna Turczyńska
- Iwona Florkowska
- Anna Lisiak
- Anna Sas
- Edyta Kwiecińska
- Mariusz Wierzchosławski
The editorial team of the istotne.pl portal and newspaper congratulates the principal and teachers of II Liceum Ogólnokształcące.