Presentation of Viitaniemi school

Viitaniemi School One of the nearly 50 schools in Jyväskylä giving basic education 50 teachers and 10 assistants Principal Olli Lehtonen Vice-principals Tero Kamppi and Anne Keihäsvuori

Our personel

Pupils 7th-9th graders who come from certain parts of the city Special groups: international classes (taught in English) and autistic pupils 500 pupils altogether (24 pupils in international classes and 5 in autism education)

Our basic principles The pupil is met as an individual Encouraging atmosphere A democratic community where everyone’s respected

Aims and emphasis Supported learning International connections CLIL-teaching Environmental research projects Wide variety of optional subjects (pupils are free to choose) Student association and parents’ association are an important part of school work CLIL: Betimmte Unterrichtsstunden finden auf Englisch statt.

School building Totally renovated 2007-2008 Designed for 450 pupils 30 classrooms and other teaching premises Latest teaching equipment (dataprojectors and computers), also some Smart Boards Some of the computers run in Linux New furnishing

The 2nd floor Rooms for Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Foreign Languages, Computer Science and Autism Education

The 1st floor (main entrance floor) Rooms for Textile Handicrafts, Arts, Special Education, History, Social Science, Finnish and Home Economics

Basement Rooms for Mathematics, Religion, Health Science, Music, Students Association and, next to Sport Hall also Crafts

Periods and concentration of subjects 4 periods with schedules of their own Subjects are concentrated in different periods (usually 4 lessons=2 double lessons a week) P.E. is an exception (there are PE lessons in every period) The idea is to reduce incoherence and increase target-oriented learning (every course is assessed) Schuljahr ist in 4 Perioden aufgeteilt. 4 x ein neuer Stundenplan. Eher Wahlfachprinzip, Lernende werden als Students betrachtet, kein Klassenverband mehr. Dafür mehrere zusätzliche Unterstützungsformen: Gesundheitsschwester, Psychologe, Lern-und Studienberatung (OPO), Sozialarbeitet, Heilpädagogen, Assistenz-Lehrpersonen, OHR Team, Software WILMA, welche direkte und schnelle Kommunikation Zwischen Schule und Eltern erlaubt. Software WILMA wird ab 1. Schuljahr eingesetzt.

An example of concentration Das Modell mit den 4 Perioden erlaubt vertiefende Arbeit. This pupil has only 2-4 subjects a day which makes 8-9 different subjects a week instead of around 15, which is the total amount of subjects pupils study yearly. She can concentrate on studying Maths, Finnish, English, Social Science, Physics and Geography in the 3rd period. Moreover, she’s got P.E. and Pupil Guidance in her schedule.

Special-needs education Two different types: part-time and full-time special education No big difference – the aim is to integrate pupils into regular education Pupils who attend full-time special education usually have other than learning problems, too Pupils get support also in regular education (assistants, individual education plans) Integration takes also place in autism education