1. Tesomajärven koulu
Primary School:
Classes 1-6
(7-13-year-olds)

2. 540 pupils in 3 buildings
Also special needs classes and preparatory classes for immigrants
About 40 teachers, teacher’s assistants, a secretary, a nurse, a psychologist, a social worker, a janitor, cleaning personnel and kitchen staff
A principal, a vice principal and a vice leader, a leader

3. The educational system in Finland
(Kindergarten)
Pre-school in the year when child turns 6
School starts at the age of 7
9 years of comprehensive school: 6 years of primary and 3 years of junior high
High school or vocational school (2-4 years)
Universities and colleges are tax-paid

4. The school year in Finland
The school starts around August 10th
Autumn holiday in the middle of October (1 week)
Christmas holiday 1,5 - 2 weeks
Winter holiday at the end of February (1 week)
Easter
School year ends at the end of May / beginning of June

5. Subjects in our school Finnish maths
science (physics, chemistry, biology, geography)
history
religion / ethics
physical education
music
arts
crafts
English / German (from class 3)
Swedish (from class 6)
Voluntary foreign language: German or Swedish (from class 4), mother tongues of immigrants
In classes 1-6 class teachers teach most of the subjects, in classes 7-9 there are subject teachers

6. BASIC VALUES
EQUITY: equal opportunities & fairness
SUPPORT RATHER THAN CONTROL (both pupils and teachers)
Close relationship between teachers and pupils
TRUST: culture of trust (no inspectors visiting our schools, no school book control)
These have been the values of Finnish education for 3 decades, and they are still present in the new curriculum.

7. WHY FINLAND?
The ideal of equality in society
Differences between schools and areas are small (we don’t like ranking lists)
Support for weak students
Teacher education at the master’s level: quite highly valued professionals – a wanted job (not for the salary, though… perhaps for the autonomy)
Concentration on motivation and upbringing vs. superb learning outcomes (we’re not fans of standardized tests)

8. The new curriculum 2016
Why fix something that’s not broken?
The world has changed and it’s changing at high speed
PISA results, motivation and well-being of boys, growing areal and socio-economical diversity in learning outcomes
Finnish school system is open towards development according to outcomes of scientific research

9. Highlights of the new curriculum
(state level: guidelines and values - local definition of goals and implementation)
Student-orientation, personalisation (e.g. flipped classroom)
New learning environments
Digitalisation (tutor teachers), coding
Holistic learning, multidisciplinary approach, significance in real world
Broad-based competences

10. Broad-based competences
Thinking skills and learning to learn
Knowledge of cultures, interaction and impression
Taking care of oneself and everyday skills
Multiple reading competency
ICT skills
Working life competencies and entrepreneurship
Sustainable future: participating, effecting and striving to reach it

11. Is this reform going to bring us back to the top of PISA rankings?
Not necessarily…
… but do we even care?

12. Some information about the programme against bullying, KiVa
A video about special needs instruction in Finland