PTA INFORMATION BOOKLET FOR NEW AND RETURNING FAMILIES September 2022
CONTENTS SECONDWELCOME-HAND UNIFORM SHOP EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBERS MEDICAL ORGANISATIONSBANKINGBABYSITTINGACTIVITIESEATINGEATINGSHOPPINGTRANSPORTATIONSERVICESOUTINWITHKIDSANDGROUPS TO JOIN POLISH HOLIDAYS OTHER USEFUL WEBSITES AND GUIDES
2 WELCOME
Welcome to The British School Warsaw’s Parent Teacher Association! Every TBS parent and teacher are automatically a member. We collaborate with staff, families, and the Warsaw community to enrich the educational experience for all. The PTA organises school events, fundraisers, and activities for parents, students and their families as well as working with the school Community Officer in charitable actions throughout theschool year. understand how stressful moving to a new city can be and how overwhelming it can feel trying to complete seemingly simple tasks and errands. The aim of this guide is to provide you with useful and practical information to make your life easier. It also contains details of several other websites, Facebook groups and organisations with the same purpose. We hope that you find it informative and helpful. further information on upcoming PTA meetings, events, and volunteer opportunities, like us on Facebook and join one of our parent Facebook groups (Early Secondary, Buy&Sell page). These are great places to have your questions answered by other TBS parents and to discuss current happenings. We look forward to welcoming you! PTA
SECOND-HAND UNIFORM SHOP
The PTA second hand uniform shop is located at the far end of the basement corridor at Limanowskiego campus. We sell school uniform that is donated when children outgrow it or leave the school. We also hold samples of the school uniform and sports kit for sizing purposes. We are usually open: Every Monday 8.00am to 8.30am We also hold a selection of uniform stock at Dabrowskiego throughout the year.
Years/Primary,
We
Email us ptachair.tbs@gmail.com Facebook
page facebook.com/tbswarsawpta
For
3 EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBERS • POLICE 997 • FIRE 998 • Straz Miejska (Municipal Police) 986 • Mobile phone emergency telephone number 112 • Poland’s national ambulance 999 • Medicover Hospital emergency hotline 500 900 999 • Falck Medyczna 1 9675 or 22 535 91 51. Direct line to Warsaw dispatchers (English dispatchers). Falck has over 200 fully equipped ambulances operating in major metropolitan areas throughout Poland. You do not have to be a member to call for ambulance. • LUX MED (English dispatchers), 22 430 30 30. Lux Med Medical Centre has ambulances available 24 hours a day. You do not have to be a member to call for ambulance. For more information call their info line: 22 458 7000
way to plan your journey on public transport
the Jakdojade website. You can accessthe web page www.jakdojade.pl or
an app. Select your city and your language and then you can plan your trip by
4 MEDICAL SERVICES PHARMACIES You can recognize a Pharmacy, or ‘Apteka’ by its green cross. You may find that some products you can buy over the counter at home may require a prescription in Poland and vice versa. Even some products that do not require a prescription must be asked for at the pharmacy counter. DENTISTS Popular dentists include Astermed (Sw. Bonifacego 92) and Villa Nova (ul. Przyczółkowa 219). DOCTOR’S SURGERIES Healthcare International Chorągwi Pancernej 50. T: 22 858 01 01, 604 774 744, emergency: 606 336 677. English speaking family practice offering comprehensive medical care, prevention programs, prenatal and neonatal care, house calls. healthcarewarsaw.com TRANSPORTATION DRIVING IN WARSAW Polish driving regulations differ in many ways from those of other countries. Please familiarise yourself with the rules of the road before driving in Warsaw. In particular, be aware of rights of way at junctions, right filters onto roads with pedestrian crossings and the priority given to trams. TAXIS Taxis in Warsaw are plentiful and reasonably priced. Here are a few of the main providers: • Eco Car 123 456 789 • iTaxi 737 737 737 • Sawa Taxi 226 444 444 • Ele Taxi 228 111 111 • FreeNow Taxi app, UBER and Bolt also operate in Warsaw. PUBLIC TRANSPORT Public transport in Warsaw is very good and reasonably priced. An extensive network of trams and buses operates throughout the city and there are two Metro lines, M1 and M2. M1 runs North to South from Młociny, through the city centre to Kabaty. M2 runs from East to West from Dworzec Wilenski, through the city centre, to Rondo Daszynskiego.
your destination address as well as optional information about
The best is using there is the option of downloading entering the of
by
time
your journey, preferred mode of transport etc.
BIKE AND SCOOTER RENTAL
School children can apply for a Warsaw City Card through the school which entitles them to free travel on all public transport in the city. Please enquire at the school office for details.
Information on train timetables and routes can be found at portalpasazera.pl/en
Tickets can be purchased online at intercity.pl/en/ COACHES
OUTSIDE
SHOPPING SUPERMARKETS
Please note that Sundays are not a working/trading day in Poland. There will only be 3 4 working Sundays in any calendar year (mainly around Christmas and Easter), otherwise the shops are generally closed on this day.
TRAVEL OF
You can rent electric scooters from Lime li.me, Hive, Dott ridedott.com and Bolt bolt.eu/en/scooters
Biedronka Branches of Biedronka can be found all over the city. There is a large store at Ul. Syta 87. Other branches can be found at Ul. Sobieskiego 18, Aleja Rzeczypospolitej 23a and Dolna 3, to name but a few locations.
There are also a number of smaller convenience store chains such as Aldi, Zabka, Freshmarket, Lewiatan and Spolem.
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WARSAW TRAINS
Flix Bus is a popular coach company travelling to a wide range of destinations. flixbus.pl
Carrefour Branches in Sadyba Best Mall, the basement of the Royal Wilanow complex, Galeria Mokotow, Arkadia and Zlote Tarasy E.Leclerc – Ciszewskiego 15 and others.
Veturilo bicycles are available to rent throughout the city in the warmer months. They have smaller bikes available for children and even some tandems. veturilo.waw.pl/en
Lidl locations all over the city
Warsaw has a large selection of supermarkets. Stores range from large hypermarkets though to small express shops. The main large supermarket chains are: Auchan A large Auchan can be found at Pulawska 427. In the same building is a kids’ soft play called Sala Zabaw Lider.
Centrum Janki Ul. Mszczonowska 104/122 A retail complex where you can find IKEA, Castorama and a number of other large stores as well as smaller shops within the centre itself. chjanki.pl/en
Sadyba Best Mall Ul Powsinska 31 Sadyba mall is a two minute walk from The British School. There are a number of shops selling a wide range of items. There is also a small food court and an IMAX cinema sadyba.pl
Otherzlotetarasy.pl/ensmallermalls include: Mysia 3 mysia3.pl/en/o nas Plac Unii placunii.pl/en Vitkac vitkac.com/pl
Arkadia Al. Jana Pawla II 82 A very large Westfield mall with several large stores including a Carrefour supermarket. It also has a multiplex cinema, a largefood hall and an excellent kids’ play centre, Fikolki, where you can leave your children (age 6 and above) while you shop. arkadia.com.pl/en Blue City Al. Jerozolimskie 179 A wide range of shops including Toys R Us. Blue City also has a large children’s play area, and a number of children’s party venues. en.bluecity.pl
Most of the supermarkets offer an online shopping and delivery service; Frisco and Barbora are similar to Ocado in the UK. Some of them are listed below:
SHOPPING MALLS
Warsaw has several large shopping malls, where you will find a wide variety of shops all under one roof. The main malls are listed below.
Galeria Mokotow Ul. Woloska 12 A large shopping mall with shops selling a wide range of things from designer labels to electrical goods. There is a large food court, a cinema and a kids’ play area. galeriamokotow.pl
Klif Ul. Okopowa 58/72 A mall consisting of mainly designer clothing shops. klif.pl/en Promenada Ostrabramska 75c a large shopping mall with cinemas, skating area. warszawa.promenada.com/en
Zlote Tarasy Ul. Zlota 59 Next to the central train station. There are many shops selling a wide range of items. There is also a cinema, a gym, and a large selection of restaurants.
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auchandirect.pl/auchan warszawa/en leclerc.pl/ecarrefour.pl/zakupy/ barbora.pl/frisco.pl/
The four main take away delivery companies that operate in Warsaw are Room Service, Pyszne, UBEREATS and Wolt. You can order a variety of cuisines from many restaurants within Warsaw and have the food delivered to your door for a location dependent delivery charge. ubereats.com/enroomservice.pl/enPL/stores wolt.com/enpyszne.pl
EATING AND DRINKING
A great place to start is the web site Kids in the City where you can find details of things happening in and around Warsaw including locations of several parks and gardens and museums. To find soft play centres simply enter ‘sala zabaw’ into google maps and take your pick.
Warsaw has a vibrant and varied restaurant and bar scene. There are far too many fantastic places for us to recommend them all here. Instead, we encourage you to use the following websites where you will find details of restaurants, cafes and bars throughout the city.
There are plenty of activities available in Warsaw to keep your children happy in summer and winter. Favourites include the wide range of outdoor spaces and parks, indoor trampoline centres, soft play centres and child friendly museums.
Zalando is a great online clothing and shoes website that offers free delivery and returns.
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EATING IN zomato.com/warszawalikealocalguide.com/warsaw
ONLINE SHOPPING Amazon UK, Amazon DE and Amazon PL all deliver to Poland. Allegro.pl is an useful local website with a mix of Amazon and eBay like services.
For school uniforms, next.pl offers quick delivery on many basic school items including UKshoes.shops such as Marks & Spencer also offer international delivery to Poland. Glovo offer quick ‘fetch me’ service for food and non food items.
inyourpocket.com/warsawwarsawinsider.pl
ACTIVITIES WITH KIDS
Popular ones near The British School include Funpark Digiloo and Fikolki.
KENNELS AND CATTERIES
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Hangar 646, Airo and Stacja Gravitacja are popular indoor trampoline centres. In winter, a number of ice rinks open across the city.
Wodny Park is a great swimming pool complex with a 50m training pool, a baby pool, two slides, a small outdoor area and two crazy rivers. There is also a bowling alley and café within the building. It is adjacent to Funpark Digiloo. wodnypark.com.pl
BABYSITTING AND NANNIES
BANKING
INFORMATION FOR PET OWNERS
Vet surgeries include: wila vet.pl and animalcarecenter.pl/en
Most of the major banks offer accounts to expats. You can get both debit and credit cards. Payments in mostshops can be made via contactlessterminals. Payments to some local providers may need to be made via online bank transfers or via Blik transfers or credit card payments. You can also pay household bills at the Post Office. If you want to transfer money between your home and your Polish account, Transferwise is a popular service, though it is by no means the only one available. Revolut and other similar online banks offer accounts where currencies can be exchanged easily.
Please be aware that ticks are a potential issue for any pets that spend time outside. Please do your research and make sure they are properly protected. Current advice with the mild winters is not to take a break from tick medication. Please consult your vet.
Popular ones include: Dog Inn doginn.pl; Hotel dla Kotow hoteldlakotow.pl; Petlandia Englishpetlandia.pl/enspeaking
In the summer, there are a few outdoor swimming pools, including one at Szceszliwicki Park near Blue City and one in Powsin Park. A good guide is here: inyourpocket.com/warsaw/stay cool warsaws best swimming bathing spots_77937f
Babysitters and nannies are often passed from one family to another when they relocate. Word of mouth is a very good way of findingreliable babysitters, so ask around the people you meet.
9 A useful Facebook group for dog owners is facebook.com/groups/warsawdogowners/ An English speaking dog trainer can be reached here: en.dogfulness.com ORGANISATIONS AND GROUPS TO JOIN There are several expat groups and organisations you can join. Here are some of the most popular ones. IWG (International Women's Group) A women only group. They hold regular activities, language learning, book club, group trips, etc. They also have some good online resources. Mums and Tots of Warsaw facebook.com/groups/199055965404/about/ A useful group, where you can find a lot of information. Either ask a question and wait for other members of the group to answer, or use the search function. Warsaw Expats facebook.com/groups/750111925124070 POLISH HOLIDAYS Poland has many traditions and you will find the majority of official holidays are still family orientated. Major holidays include: Sylwester (New Year’s Eve) December 31 New Year’s Day January 1 Three King’s Day (Epiphany) January 6 Tlusty Czwartek (Fat Thursday) Last Thursday before the start of Lent, traditionally a day tobuy and enjoy donuts. The more donuts (pączki) you eat on this day, the luckier you will be inthe New Year. Wielkanoc (Easter Sunday) Smigus-Dyngus or Lany Poniedzialek (Easter Monday) Mother’s Day - May 26 Father’s Day - June 23 Children’s day June 1
10 Wszystkich Swietych (All Saints’ Day) - November 1. Poles usually congregate at cemeteries to commemorate the dead. Graves will be decorated with flowers and candles, and many people will travel long distances to visit the family graves. Wigilia (Christmas Eve) One of the largest celebrations in Poland. An extra place is always laid at the table for an unexpected guest. Christmas trees are decorated and the gifts are hidden from the children until the first star appears in the sky, and then the festivities begin. Boze Narodzenie (Christmas Day) - December 25 OFFICIAL PUBLIC HOLIDAYS 1 January New Year 6 January Epiphany March/April Easter Monday 1 May Labour Day 3 May Constitution Day May/June Corpus Christi 15 August Assumption of the Virgin Mary Day 1 November All Saints’ Day 11 November Independence Day 25 & 26 December 1st & 2nd Day of Christmas OTHER USEFUL WEBSITES AND GUIDES Below is a list of websites and guides where you will find information on various aspects of life in Warsaw and filharmonia.pl/en/aktualnoscieventim.ploddurbanthings.comspottedbylocals.comwarsawtour.pl/enPoland. likealocalguide.com/warsawinyourpocket.com/warsawwarsawinsidztm.waw.plteatrwielki.pler.pl
We hope this guide is useful and informative. If you think we have missed anything important or have any other questionsor comments,please let us know by emailing us at: TheThankptachair.tbs@gmail.comYouBritishSchoolWarsaw PTA