Preschool Preschool

Signing up for preschool

You can sign your child up for preschool during the period of 16 January 2017 to 27 January 2017.

If your child is in daycare, you can sign your child up for preschool with a specific form in the kindergarten. If you wish your child to begin preschool somewhere other than the current kindergarten, you will need to fill in an electronic application.

If your child is in family daycare or attends open early education activities, or if your child is not in daycare, you can sign your child up for preschool online. Please select the ‘Preschool registration' (signing up for preschool) option on the front page.

Preschool attendance is free of charge. If preschool is complemented with part-time early education, a fee of 60% of the full-time early education fee allocated to the family will be charged. The fee will be charged fully, if the family uses the service during brakes and between semesters. Those private kindergartens that have been accepted to give preschool education are financially supported by the City.

Preschool education is provided in daycare centers and on some school premises. The goal is to form groups that allow cooperation with the children´s future school. The formation of preschool groups and places is influenced by the number of children that have signed up for preschool. Families will be informed of the preschool place allocated to their child along with the preschool admission decision. Even if a child has been allocated a preschool place in connection with a school or in the vicinity of a school, does not guarantee this child a place in that school later on.  

The child´s parents, or a person authorized by the child´s parents, are responsible for taking the child to and picking him/her up from early education or from preschool education.  Children who attend free-of-charge preschool are entitled to free transportation in some cases. This transportation does not apply to preschoolers who also attend municipal or private daycare or who attend only private preschool. An application for transportation must be handed in by the end of April. 

Preschool education in the English language is provided by the Pikku-Ainon päiväkoti, on the premises of Oulu International School, for children who pass a separate language test. Preschool education in the English language will be provided if there are at least seven children who meet the selection criteria.

After attending preschool education in English in Pikku-Ainon päiväkoti, the children may continue their education at Oulu International School. The parents of the children in this preschool group are obliged to pay the costs of transportation themselves.

Bilingual preschool education is also organized in some other municipal and private centers. After attending preschool education in English, children can access Oulu International School via entrance tests.

Preschool education is also organized in Swedish and German. 

Preparatory education is for children, whose Finnish language skills are on the elementary level. Observation is used to specify the level of language skills and the levels are defined in Pienten kielireppu (the language rucksack for small). 

In Oulu preparatory preschool for basic education for 6-year old children is organized in municipal daycare centers. Those children who take part in preparatory education get tuition 5 hours per day on preschool working days.