Hello, dear families!
As new families arrive in Kuopio and everyday life slowly begins to find its rhythm, the questions parents ask about school also begin to change.
During the first weeks, the questions are often very practical. What time does the school day start? What kind of clothes should my child wear? What does “dressing for the weather” really mean? How does school lunch work, and what should families know about it?
Little by little, these new and unfamiliar routines begin to feel more familiar.
Once the basics of everyday school life start to fall into place, a different kind of curiosity appears. In recent weeks, many of our conversations with parents have been about Wilma, assessment, and how the Finnish school system works more generally.
“How is my child assessed in preparatory education? Will they receive a certificate?”
“If my child attends English lessons with, for example, class 7B, will the English teacher give them a grade? Where can I see that assessment?”
“And are grades from different school years somehow combined later into the final school-leaving grade?”
These are very understandable questions.
Assessment in preparatory education works somewhat differently from assessment in basic education. It is continuous and takes into account the pupil’s individual study programme and progress. Numerical grades are not normally used in preparatory education. Instead, teachers follow the pupil’s learning and development throughout the school year.
A pupil in preparatory education may also attend lessons together with basic education groups. For example, a pupil may study English with class 7B while still belonging to preparatory education. The English teacher follows and assesses the pupil’s learning just like the other teachers do. However, simply attending lessons with a basic education class does not automatically mean that the pupil receives the same numerical grade as the other pupils in that class.
At the end of preparatory education, the pupil receives a certificate describing what they have studied and how their learning has progressed. When the pupil later moves into basic education, the knowledge and skills they have already developed during preparatory education can be taken into account.
But grades and certificates were not actually the main reason I wanted to write this blog post.
What I really wanted to talk about was feedback.
Feedback is an incredibly important part of school, but perhaps also of life in general.
Assessment does not only happen when a test is returned or when something appears in Wilma. In the classroom, feedback is happening all the time. Teachers guide, encourage, ask questions, and help pupils notice both what they already know and what they are still learning.
And sometimes the most meaningful feedback happens in very small moments.
When a pupil gives an incorrect answer, we do not always need to say, “Wrong!”
Instead, we might say, “Think about it a little more.”
Or we can ask another question that helps the pupil move closer to the answer.
The difference may seem small, but for a child it can mean a great deal. This becomes especially important when a child is learning Finnish.
For many pupils in preparatory education, speaking Finnish means using a language they have only recently begun to learn. A child may know very well what they want to say, but not yet have the words for it. The grammar may still be developing. A word may come out in the wrong form. Sometimes Finnish and another language may appear in the same sentence.
And that is simply part of learning a language.
If we waited until we could speak perfectly before daring to speak at all, very few of us would ever learn a new language.
Children need opportunities to try out words, build sentences, make mistakes, hear the language around them, and try again. A mistake in Finnish does not mean that learning has failed. Very often, it means that learning is taking place.
Feedback does not always mean telling someone how well they performed. Sometimes it means giving enough encouragement, time, and space for a child to realise that they have more to say, more to contribute, and more ability than they may have first thought.
Learning requires trying, and children have different strengths. One pupil may be very good at mathematics, while another may find languages easier.
Of course, children should be encouraged to develop their skills and strengthen the areas they are interested in. But skills are something we have and something we can develop.
They do not define our worth as human beings.
Being better at mathematics does not make one child more valuable than another. A school grade tells us something about learning in relation to certain educational goals. It cannot describe a child’s whole intelligence, personality, potential, or value.
It is wonderful if a young person already knows at the age of 16 what they would like to do in the future. Some children and young people have clear interests and dreams from an early age, and those dreams should absolutely be encouraged.
But it is also completely acceptable not to know yet.
In Finland, learning and education can continue throughout adulthood. People return to education, gain new qualifications, develop new skills, and sometimes change careers entirely later in life.
We can still learn something new at 30, 40, 50, and beyond.
When a child repeatedly experiences that they can answer without feeling embarrassed, make mistakes without feeling that their value has diminished, ask questions without being afraid of being seen as foolish, and receive guidance without feeling judged, something very important begins to grow: a safe learning environment. A place where mistakes are part of learning, not something to be ashamed of. A place where a child’s strengths can be recognised without making someone else feel smaller.
Yhdessä kasvaen eteenpäin!
Delia ja Jenni
Yhdessä kasvaen -hanke saa rahoituksen Euroopan unionin AMIF-rahastosta. AMIF on EU:n turvapaikka-, maahanmuutto-, ja kotouttamisrahasto. Hanke toteutetaan tiiviissä yhteistyössä Kuopion kaupungin kasvun ja oppimisen palvelualueen kanssa.
