Finland
We, Sandra, Karin, Anton, Celina, July, Chris and Luuk visited Finland from the 30th of October till the 4th of October 2022.
This is one of the exchanges for the Erasmus SEPS-project about sustainability for European Primary schools.
After a long and nice trip we arrived at Ylivieska. We were welcomed there by Heli and the host families.
We visited two Finnish schools, the Ojakylän school and the Raudaskosken school together with 4 pupils of our school de Plantage. The children stayed with host families and we stayed in a hotel near the school.
Two children were staying at the Ojakylän school and two children were staying at the Raudaskosken school. We, the teachers have been to both schools. These schools have organized a warm welcome for the children.
Raudaskosken school Ojakylän school
The Finnish children also learn about sustainability. The children and teachers are getting a meal from school. In the context of sustainability, they teach the children to waste as little food as possible. They therefore weigh discarded food scraps. This weight is tracked and the goal is to ensure that it decreases. This is how the children learn it is better to serve twice and only take what they expect to eat. We have actually seen that little food is thrown away and that the meals are eaten completely. In addition, teachers can purchase a meal from the leftover food for a small amount, so they can eat it at home.
The school also believes it is important to create awareness in the field of waste separation.
During the visit to the school, the children had video contact with their classmates in Houten via Meet. They answered questions and reported about their visit to Ilyvieska in Finland.
On Monday and Thursday the children showed their presentations in English about their own Dutch schools back home.
On Tuesday the teachers went to the lake and the sauna. It’s a Finnish tradition. Almost everyone has a sauna at their homes. First we went to immerse ourselves in the cold lake, then we went into the sauna. After a while we jumped back into the lake, and then went to the sauna again. It was a special experience.
Wednesday we took the kids to an old town called Kokkola. This is a nice Finnish town, with traditional Finnisch houses. The children also had some free time to buy souvenirs for their family. We ended the day with a nice meal.
Thursday was our last day in Finland. The students had a nice goodbye at both schools.
We went to Kalajoki, which is a nice place by the sea. We walked there and had a delicious meal.
During the time the students did a lot of interesting things at the schools and in the host families. At the schools they were playing some games with the students. Also the students went to the forest to learn about nature.
Everyone was friendly and helpful. They took the time to answer all of our questions and to show how they work at their school.
