Study guidance follows the City of Oulu Curriculum. Students are guided in terms of their studies cooperatively by all teachers throughout Basic Education. In grades 7-9, Student Counselling is a separate subject taught by the Student Counsellor. 

 7th graders receive class-based student counselling 0.5 hours per week, and in grades 8-9, 1 hour per week. In addition to class-based lessons, students have opportunities to receive guidance one-on-one or in small groups. 

Student guidance consists of support for the student's growth and development, guidance for learning and career choices in various forms during grades 7-9. During their work practice periods (TET, työelämään tutustuminen), students get first-hand experiences of working life and professions in authentic work environments. The work practice periods are 1 day in gr 7, and 5 days in gr 8-9. 

Student Counsellor Anneli Jokelainen, tel. 044-7039 703

Office hours Mon-Fri 9-15

Student welfare encompasses services to promote, maintain and facilitate successful learning, good mental and physical health as well as social well-being in the school community. It is important for a child to feel safe and comfortable studying at school, and to receive help in any problems they may encounter.  

Student welfare is the common task of all those who work in the school community. Student welfare is primarily preventative, communal well-being work that supports the entire school community. Its objective is a thriving school community that can support the learning and well-being of every student, head off potential problems and offer support at the earliest possible stage through risk mitigation. A thriving school community is a place of trust and interpersonal openness: each member feels they are part of the community and are being heard. 

Each student has the right to individual student welfare. Individual student welfare refers to student-directed school health care services, school psychologist and social worker services as well as multidisciplinary student welfare services directed at the individual student. Individual student welfare services are always carried out in cooperation with the student and their guardian. 

The communal student welfare working group seeks to develop, evaluate, plan, and coordinate student welfare work being done in the school. The student welfare working group in our school meets to discuss communal student welfare matters around every four weeks. 

The student welfare working group in our school is composed of the principal, the deputy head(s), the school nurse, the special education teachers, the school social worker, and the school psychologist. In addition, other experts, teachers, or counsellors may be invited to the meetings. The coordinator of the pupil welfare working group is the MYP special education teacher Tiia Seppänen. You may find the contact information below. 

For the individual student’s welfare meetings, the attendees will always be selected as appropriate to the meeting and selected together with the student and the guardian. 

School social worker and school psycho­logist 

The purpose of the work of the school social worker and the school psychologist is to promote and support a student’s well-being, healthy growth, and development, as well as to ensure learning proceeds smoothly. They may be contacted about any question concerning a child’s or a youth’s growth, development, learning, or any other school-related matter. They are open to questions from the student themself, a guardian, a teacher, or another party. 

The tasks of the school social worker and the school psychologist include, among others: 

• working on any problems that emerge in a student’s development, school attendance, learning, mental health, or social relationships, and evaluating the need for support and other action to remedy them 
• promoting the well-being and safety of the individual student and the entire school community, as well as a positive learning environment, in cooperation with the teachers and other school personnel 

• supporting a pupil and their family if necessary when cooperating with other parties and services. 

  Contact information of student welfare professionals:

School Nurse (Mon/Wed 11:30-12:30 without appointment) 

Jutta Huotari 050 3712018  jutta.huotari@pohde.fi

School Psychologist 

Recruitment in process

School Social Worker (Walk-in hour on Tuesdays 12:00-13:00 in the third floor)

Mari Kanyagia 044 7039672   mari.kanyagia@pohde.fi

School Doctor

1st, 5th and 8th graders health check-ups only

The student must receive support and guidance for their learning and schooling without delay as soon as the need for support arises. Student-specific support is always built in cooperation and interaction with the guardian and the school. Granting of support varies depending on the need, from temporary support to continuous, from little to stronger, or from using one form of support to using several forms of support. The forms of student support are divided into general support, intensified support and special support. 

SPECIAL EDUCATION

Special education is given to students who have difficulties related to learning and/or concentration. Teaching takes place individually or in small groups. A special education teacher can also be in the class as a simultaneous teacher. A learning plan or a personal teaching organization plan (HOJKS) is drawn up together with the guardians for a student who receives regular support, in which learning goals and the need for support are recorded. 

The special education teachers are Saija Laukka in grades 1-5 and Janne Heinonen in grades 1-4 (Individual learning path group) and Tiia Seppänen in grades 5-9.

We have a Transition Class (siirtymäluokka) to accommodate children who move from abroad but do not have the required English skills to attend OIS mainstream teaching full time. These students may attend the Transition Class for a maximum of two years. Their full integration to the mainstream class takes place through a passed language test. The maximum number of students in the class is 10. 

 The Transition class is for students who

• live temporarily in Oulu

• have a guardian working or studying in the Oulu region

• are not Finnish citizens

• were not born in Finland

• did not pass the Language Proficiency Test

• do not have Finnish skills to attend a Finnish school 

 All of the above conditions must be met in order for a child to be admitted as a student to the Transition Class. There is no waiting list in the TC; students are admitted as a vacancy opens.

School assistants support students in such a way that they are able to take responsibility for their learning and school attendance. The work of a school assistant includes education, guidance and care work as well as general promotion of studying and well-being. If necessary, the student can receive the support of a school assistant in addition to other forms of support. The assistant acts as the teacher's work partner. 

At OIS, we have 4 permanent school assistants.