Each year, our Sixth Form students complete an Extended Project Qualification, which is the equivalent of one AS Level, and has been praised by universities and employers as a valuable means of guiding students into higher education and the workplace. The Extended Project is a single piece of work that requires a high level of planning, preparation, research and autonomous study, based on a topic of the student’s choosing.
Year 13 student Lucyna has received great recognition for her EPQ, for which she chose to study and write about her family in Poland during World War II.
Lucyna was featured in a Newspaper article from the Tydzien Polski (a London-based Polish newspaper), which includes a photo of her and her Babcia (Polish for Grandmother) presenting her EPQ, titled ‘A Historical Biography in the style of Andrew Borowiec’ to the Consul General, Mr Mateusz Stąsiek. The presentation took place at an event commemorating 80 years since the first deportation from Kresy to Siberia (USSR).
The historical biography focuses on the experiences of Henryk and Halina Papowszek, Lucyna’s great grandparents (Pradziadzius and Prababcia in Polish), during the Second World War, starting by introducing their lives in pre-war Poland. Lucyna’s in-depth EPQ follows the period leading up to their deportations on the 10th February 1940 from the Eastern Borderlands of Poland (Kresy) to Labour camps in the USSR and their experiences in remote Labour camps in Siberia. It follows their journey to the Polish Army in the Middle East and their contributions in the Italian Campaign in the Polish 2nd Corps under General Anders, specifically the famous Polish success at the Battle for Monte Cassino. The historical biography concludes with their resettlement in the United Kingdom after the Yalta Conference and new communist regime in Poland which meant it was impossible for them to return to their homeland in the Eastern Borderlands (Kresy).
Lucyna received an email from the Consul General, Mr Mateusz Stąsiek thanking her for sending him the project. He praised her interest in all Poland related matters and for trying to make the most of her Homelands’ rich heritage.
The Newspaper article is pictured below, along with a photograph of the front cover of Lucyna’s Historical Biography, which acts as the Artefact for her EPQ. This was accompanied by an essay focusing on her use of Andrew Borowiec’s writing style and comparisons to other styles used by other authors of Historical Biographies.
This is a superb achievement for Lucyna and is credit to her hard work and time spent researching her family history. We are extremely proud of her for earning international recognition for this inspiring piece of work. Well done!
