The author of two therapeutic stories about the power of parental love and fear was invited to the school by Elżbieta Furman. The writer visited the classes of Monika Krysa, Aneta Markiewicz, Leokadia Przykłota, Stanisława Hołowiak, Danuta Sypek and Gabriela Bytner.
Grażyna Hanaf held “Garbuska workshops” for class IC and an activity entitled “Where Does Fear Live?” for the other classes. The children, excellently prepared by their teachers for the meeting with the writer, became acquainted with an excerpt from the story “The Box Girl” and talked very seriously about fears. The reading prompted a very interesting discussion about why we are afraid and when fear is important and protects our health and lives.
“Fear and anxiety are emotions we experience every day, but we do not talk about them,” says Grażyna Hanaf. “Children watch horror films, play violent computer games, have nightmares and are afraid of many things, but they rarely have the opportunity to share this with adults and simply ask them about matters connected with fear,” adds the author of “The Box Girl”.
What do children learn during a meeting featuring a story about the most fearful girl in the world?
They learn to distinguish fear that protects us from anxieties that limit us, like the uncomfortable box shelter of the story’s character. Children also discover that our bodies react to emotions and that fear can manifest itself through stomach aches, goosebumps or sweaty palms. They can share their fears and observe that we are afraid of similar things—or, on the contrary, that we are not afraid of the same things. While painting their fears, the children bring them into the open, where they fade and become ordinary, learning in practice what it means to say that fear has big eyes.
About the School Complex in Gromadka
The quality of the School Complex’s work is measured by the numerous successes achieved by its students in competitions, academic contests and sports events, as well as by the fact that years later graduates say: “I finished school here; this was my school.” The School Complex in Gromadka carries out numerous projects, including the Student Academy at the lower-secondary school, Ekolandia—Green Academy, not only for the youngest pupils, “Between Us Girls”—education about girls’ sexual health, and Socrates Comenius, an exchange of experiences at the international level. The school is also equipped with computer rooms, a snooker room (a type of billiards) and a science classroom. More information is available on the website of the school in Gromadka.
Strengths of the School Complex in Gromadka
- the school is free from violence and aggression
- a good educational offer in terms of organising extracurricular activities and making good use of students’ free time
- competent and diligent pedagogical supervision by the headteacher
- the way the school is managed and administered
- promoting the school in the local community