The WMS English Experience
English is inseparable from everyday life at Wieliczka Montessori School. Spend a few minutes walking through the school and you are likely to hear children discussing a project, asking a teacher for help or chatting with friends in English. For our pupils, English gradually becomes another language in which they communicate, learn and make sense of the world around them.
This is possible because WMS is a multilingual and multicultural school community. Our English team includes four native English speakers, three international teachers who communicate exclusively in English and three Polish teachers of English. English is not confined to English lessons; our Polish English teachers also use it throughout the school day, and many other members of staff communicate with pupils in English whenever the situation naturally allows. As a result, children encounter English continuously in meaningful, everyday situations.
In the early years, children grow together with English through conversation, stories, movement, songs, games and carefully prepared Montessori materials. Over the years we have developed our own extensive collection of Montessori language resources, enabling children to build vocabulary and confidence through hands-on experiences before moving on to reading, writing and increasingly complex language. Alongside the morning programme, our afternoon English sessions include drama, storytelling, recitation, movement and games in an atmosphere where children are actively involved in learning. As one child explained:
“I love these classes because I didn’t realise I was being taught.”
As pupils grow older, English increasingly becomes a language through which they learn as well as communicate. From Years 6 and 7, many pupils work with materials closely aligned with the first-language English curriculum taught in UK primary schools. Alongside English lessons, subjects including Information Technology, Music and Geography – and, in some groups, History, Mathematics, Physics and Art are taught bilingually, allowing pupils to use English in meaningful academic contexts.
This approach provides an excellent foundation for secondary education. Over many years our pupils have consistently achieved an average Grade 8 English examination result of around 96% with almost half of the present cohort achieving 100%. Since 2020 we have also gained six finalist titles in the Małopolski Kuratoryjny Konkurs Języka Angielskiego, together with one Olympiad finalist and one Olympiad laureate, achievements that give our pupils the widest possible choice of secondary schools.
Many of our graduates begin secondary school with a level of English well beyond that expected for their age. As a result, from this year we have introduced English classes for WMS alumni, allowing them to continue developing their language skills after leaving our school and ensuring that their progress continues rather than levels off.
For us, the greatest measure of success is seeing our pupils with the confidence to use English independently – as a language in which they can communicate, study, build friendships and continue discovering the world.
Everything our pupils experience is underpinned by our own WMS English Programme, an original bilingual Montessori English curriculum developed by the teachers of Wieliczka Montessori School over more than fifteen years. Covering both Years 1–3 and Years 4–8, it is, as far as we are aware, the only bilingual Montessori English programme of its kind in Poland. Every part of the programme has grown out of classroom practice and has been refined by the WMS teaching team. It reflects our belief that children learn languages best when they use them for real purposes in a supportive and engaging environment. (Read more about the WMS English Programme.)
