In the current school year, winter break in our voivodeship took place at the same time as in most other voivodeships. Is that good or bad? Opinions would probably be divided, but I must note that this year the Department of Education and Social Affairs of the Municipal Office, unlike the previous year, recorded no attempts by parents dissatisfied with the timing of the break to intervene on behalf of their schoolchildren (our Department is sometimes confused with the special government administration).
What was this year’s winter break like? Did our children gain enough strength to meet the challenges of the second school semester? How much richer did they return to school internally?
An analysis of the proposals for spending free time specially prepared for children and young people during the break can provide at least a partial answer to these and other questions. A significant part of the leisure activities was free of charge, and I particularly want to write about those, for the simple reason that they were available to everyone.
Those interested in volleyball and basketball could use the gymnasium of the School Complex of Commerce and Services on Zgorzelecka Street, while badminton could be played in the gymnasium of Primary School No. 5. Aerobics classes were held in the facilities of the Municipal Sports and Recreation Centre.
The Municipal Sports and Recreation Centre’s offer of corrective gymnastics was particularly significant, especially in light of the results of a study conducted in Bolesławiec by the Body Posture Defects Laboratory of the Physical Education and Sport Faculty of Wrocław University of Technology at the initiative of the MOSiR director, Mr Zbigniew Samonek (60% of the children examined have postural defects).
The Bolesławiec Cultural Centre also prepared a variety of proposals for children during the break; among the free activities were theatre workshops, art classes, games and activities, a ball, and video screenings. In addition to recreation and entertainment, these activities also provided an opportunity for artistic self-expression.
This year, the Board of the Municipal Society of Friends of Children in Bolesławiec came forward with a particularly valuable initiative by organising day camps for children during the break. The Society employed a qualified team of educators who provided not only proper care but also organised corrective-gymnastics classes when necessary and took care of the children’s aesthetic experiences, for example by arranging group visits to the Museum of Ceramics, which is also known for its educational activities. The participants in the museum trip, supervised by Ms Wiesława Olczyk, will certainly remember their experiences for a long time.
As the above shows, one of the conditions of the agreement between the Municipal Board and TPD was well judged: the provision of an appropriate team of educators. Under the agreement, the Society received funding for organising the winter camp from the municipal budget.
The winter camp gained allies in the persons of school principals Krystyna Bojko (Primary School No. 6), Stanisław Patreuha (Primary School No. 2), and Edmund Maliński (General Secondary School No. 2), who made their schools available for the camp. The camp was also supported, in agreement with the Municipal Board, by MOSiR director Z. Samonek, who regularly made the swimming pool available three times a week for recreational swimming.
The offer of our Municipal Public Library was so interesting that parents brought their children there even from outside Bolesławiec. Literary games and activities were particularly popular with the children.
The drawing competition entitled “A Great Journey with Koziołek Matołek,” which concluded with an exhibition of the submitted works, provided the participants with many exciting experiences and brought Makuszyński’s works new readers. For those interested in mental recreation, the Library offered literary crossword puzzles under the name “Krzyżówkolandia.”
The “A, B, C of Book Knowledge” competition was prepared with a broad circle of readers in mind.
As part of a series of events for primary schools, the Library prepared drawing and literary puzzles.
The Library staff went to great effort and showed extraordinary ingenuity in preparing a complete set of materials—puzzles, rebuses, and so on—for every participant in the aforementioned competitions. It is no wonder that the children’s interest in the Library’s activities was enormous.
Moreover, Primary School No. 2 was the only school in the city to take part in the “Winter Break at Home” competition organised by the Ministry of National Education. As part of this form of recreation, activities included ballroom-dance club classes conducted free of charge by Piotr Skowroński.
Some schools, including Primary Schools No. 1 and No. 9, used the break in lessons to carry out necessary renovations in their facilities.
To conclude, I will invoke a principle that, I believe, has lost none of its relevance: “Teach through play.” Perhaps next year we will add to the register of proposals for children during the break, for example, mass events promoting locomotor education, which schools cannot afford (it is good that teachers introduce the basic principles in schools without looking to any additional funding), or events similar to the “Preschoolers’ Spartakiad.”