Unbreakable Ukraine Foundation

Foundation President Victoria will be a speaker at the World Schools Summit, which brings together leaders and decision-makers from schools, academia, NGOs, and the public and private sectors including tech companies

(ENG below) Досвід «Першої української школи» визнано унікальним і потрібним на світовому рівні. Проте її засновники не раз були на порозі закриття проєкту через брак підтримки від донорів та української влади, а також через нерозуміння польською стороною, як увести такі школи в правове поле ⬇ Вікторія Осадча, Президентка фундації «Незламна Україна» розповіла, як школа сама інтегрується в польську систему освіти і яка проблематика роботи українських шкіл за кордоном на сьогодні. __ The "First Ukrainian School" initiative has been recognized as both unique and essential on a global scale. However, its founders have repeatedly faced the risk of shutting down the project due to insufficient support from donors and Ukrainian authorities, as well as challenges in gaining the Polish side's understanding of how to integrate such schools into the legal framework ⬇ Victoria Osadcha, President of the Unbreakable Ukraine foundation shared insights on how the school integrates into the Polish education system, navigating challenges that lack established practices, and what issues Ukrainian schools abroad face today.

Our school is the winner in the The World’s Best School Prize for Overcoming Adversity category ➡Watch a Radio Liberty story featuring the celebration https://lnkd.in/dx6m2MHc

⚡️🏆The First Ukrainian School in Poland by the Unbreakable Ukraine Foundation, which emerged as a charity school in March 2022 and now serves 1,500 Ukrainian refugee children in Poland, has won the World’s Best School Prize for Overcoming Adversity 2024. Vikas Pota Founder of T4 Education and the World’s Best School Prizes, said: “It is my great honour to bestow upon The First Ukrainian School in Poland the World’s Best School Prize for Overcoming Adversity 2024. In the darkness of war, you light a candle and give hope to the next generation. This prize recognises you for the lives you have changed and for the future they will go on to build. “It is my hope that governments now look to your shining example to see what can be achieved when education seeks to tackle some of the greatest challenges our societies face.” “We aimed to create a transition school where students would restore their psychological wellbeing and adapt to a new country and language at their own pace, without experiencing learning losses. The institution has been operating for the third year, in the 2024 academic year, out of 160 graduates, more than 150 entered Polish higher education institutions, and every year from 30% to 50% of students successfully transfer to Polish schools,” explained Viktoriia Osadcha, President of the Unbreakable Ukraine Foundation Despite this, the number of 1,500 students is always stable, because the need for such a transitional school persists to this day with the influx of new refugees as Russia occupies more and more territories in the East of Ukraine, as well as due to the unsuccessful experience of students' integration in Polish educational institutions. More than 4,000 students have studied at the school since it was established.

Tomorrow, the winners in 5 categories of the World Best School Prizes 2024 will be announced live. Our school entered the TOP-3 in the Overcoming Adversity category, from which one finalist will be selected to become one of the 5 world's best schools in 2024.

⭐The First Ukrainian School in Poland, steered by the Unbreakable Ukraine Foundation, has been named a Top 3 finalist for the World’s Best School Prizes 2024. The winners and finalists of the World’s Best School Prizes will be invited to the World Schools Summit in Dubai, UAE, on November 23-24, which will bring together global education leaders with the world’s best schools to help transform education 🌍 Vikas Pota, Founder of T4 Education and the World’s Best School Prizes, said: 💬 “Unless the world takes urgent action, it is set to miss UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 of universal quality education by 2030. The global education crisis is multifaceted and so must be the solutions. “That's why we must look to the grassroots, to our schools at the coalface, for answers. To exceptional Polish institutions like The First Ukrainian School, whose work should make governments around the world sit up and take notice. By spreading its innovations far and wide, we can inspire change where it's needed most.”

The Embassy of Japan in Poland handed over a bus to our school to transport students 🚌 This bus was purchased with the funds of a grant that the Embassy provided under a scheme named "Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects" (GGP). The meeting with the school community - students, teachers, and parents - was attended by the Ambassador of Japan to Poland Akio Miyajima, the First Secretary of the Embassy Kamio Nobumitsu, and the Vice Consul of Ukraine in Krakow Iryna Yaremchuk Mr. Akio talked about the task of the embassy to strengthen friendly ties between Poland, Ukraine, and Japan and shared that he was glad to see Ukrainian children happy. The students welcomed the guests and thanked the Japanese diplomats with a musical gift. Victoria Osadcha, president of the foundation, thanks the people of Japan for the opportunity to improve the daily lives of Ukrainians 🙏

We expect that from September at least 200 Ukrainian teachers will be able to find employment in Poland thanks to our project "Work for education, work in education" ⬇️ 110 teachers have already passed the nostrification or recognition of diploma in Poland. About 300 are awaiting. The goal of the project is from 400 to 500 employed teachers by the end of 2024 🔜 387 participants of the project are currently taking courses to improve the level of the Polish language. At the same time 220 project participants completed a 5-day intensive on employment in the Polish education system, where they will learn to search for a job, present yourself in a resume and at an job interview. 🆕 The acceptance of applications for participation in the program continues.The project will last until the end of 2024, and training programs for educators to study the differences in the Polish and Ukrainian education systems are also planned within it.

The Unbreakable Ukraine Foundation has completed a project to support the mental and physical health of refugee children and their mothers 🔽 The project "I discover myself" (Я пізнаю себе) consisted of regular classes for children in art therapy, yoga, and stretching and group classes with a psychologist for adults. It was financed by Google through the POP Fund of the Fundacja Polskie Centrum Pomocy Międzynarodowej (PCPM). 🌟 These activities became useful for children who spent most of their time on gadgets or other activities that did not involve communication due to isolation in an unfamiliar country. At the beginning of classes, many children could stand aside and didn't want to participate, but as a result of the program, they began to show initiative in communication, actively involved in games and group tasks. 🌟 The psychological state of women also improved, meanwhile, meetings with a psychologist turned into communication and support in their group outside classes. The participants even organized a joint photo walk and excursion for the group on their initiative. Before participating in the project, women felt lonely. They did not understand where to find advice on communication in the family, which had deteriorated due to the focus on solving the many practical difficulties in the new country. As a result of the project, mothers mastered their own emotions, learned to overcome stress, and improved their skills of communication with children. More than 200 Ukrainians received help in Krakow and Wroclaw, including 145 children aged 7 to 12 and 57 adults.

The first Ukrainian school in Poland completed the academic year and graduated 162 pupils 🎉 The school accepted the first war refugee students for the sixth week of the full-scale invasion in 2022, already for the third year teaching about 1,500 students in three cities ➡ Currently, the school is applying for the "The World's Best School Prize 2024" award in the Overcoming adversity category and is also preparing to implement the Ukrainian-Polish program for the integration of students into the Polish educational environment from the new 2024/25 academic year.