Visit Turkey and Polish in Finland
Warm welcome in "warm" Finland
Visit to Porvoo in Finland from 5 of June to 9 of June
2013, in a country where students gain excellent results in all international
tests and where education is on the highest European level. Mrs. Marzenna
Bolińska - the headmistress of the nursery, Mrs. Ewa Smolkowska and Mrs. Gabriela Sadowska have participated in the visit.
5 of June 2013, the beginning at 17.00, the local
time, we landed at the airport in Helsinki.
After one hour,
we came to the hostel in Porvoo. In the evening, all the representatives
of the partners: Turkey, Finland and Poland, met with Finnish teachers in
Porvoo. We were surprised, everywhere was so silent, peaceful and green.
After talking about the tasks for the next day we
returned to the hostel in full sun, which "never" set. We were lucky
to see, so called, "polar day".
The next morning we were greeted by the hosts in a
beautiful nursery, with the traditional Finnish costumes. They sang us songs in
Finnish, English, Turkish and Polish. Children played the drums and other
wooden instruments. The headmistress showed us the kindergarten. The system of
childcare extremely surprised and intrigued us. This system allows the child to
plenty of space and fun, adults do not help children in basic activities and
children are not surrounded by their over-protectiveness.
A child can walk the halls barefoot, "the more
dirty, the more happy."
At the meeting, the Finnish coordinator Niina
discussed in detail the schedule for the visit. We visited several
kindergartens, where the main language was Finnish and one kindergarten, where
the dominant language was Swedish. In all kindergartens were similar rules
relating to the organization of work with a small child. Children have a choice
of several meeting area (paint room, design room, theater, gym, music, dining,
room to rest), and each child can decide which room he or she want to choose
and what he or she want to do. Children in the nursery are in the age of one to
seven years.
Each Nursery School gave to each home gifts imported
from their countries, which enriched preschool exhibition of Comenius. We
received merchandise with the logo of the city of Porvoo. We enjoyed the hospitality and warmth of the
community of Finnish pre-school, good knowledge of English and a very good
environment for learning, fun for the kids (well-appointed themed rooms, a
library, a gym, technical workshops, where you can do the work in wood, metal,
garden and children's play area and separate room to work for teachers
(teachers' lounge, teaching materials). Interesting and worthy to emulation is
a way of spending the time outdoors - all children regardless of the weather go
out to the playground and actively spend
time there, such as ride on scooters, bikes, walking on stilts, playing the bowls with water and sand, use a variety
of garden equipment, climb trees, break fruit straight from the trees and
bushes.
In Finland, as we found out during the talks, one
teacher teaches all activities - music, singing, gymnastics, playing musical
instruments, art and English. Books and transport to kindergarten or school are
free, children eat meals with teachers (teachers pay at a small surcharge for
nutrition).
The teaching profession enjoys great prestige.
After the dinner in the school canteen we went to the
local department of education to meet the head of the education department. We
talked about the organization of the Finnish education. Almost all schools in
Finland are public schools and for non-public schools parents do not pay,
because it is financed by the state. Also all universities are state-owned,
some of the existing universities are nationalized universities that were once
in private hands. In Finnish schools there are no marks for the first three
years of the elementary school, you can
not leave your child for a second year in the same class, there is a prohibition
of discrimination on any ground: the origin, financial status of the parents,
etc. Kindergarten attend children aged 3-6 years, they are funded by the state
and supported by local authorities. Kindergarten is obligatory for children.
Children are provided with the care of qualified staff and medical care. The
overall objective is to develop and strengthen social skills and promote individual
development of children. Learning of English is compulsory from the primary
school, the school forced to learn Swedish (and you can choose at the end of
primary school third language.)
We have presented a system of education in Poland and we
learned about the system in Turkey, we discussed with all the partners every system
of education. As a thank for the warm welcome we exchanged gifts. On the way
back to the hostel we were able to enjoy a very green city. In the evening we
walked in the full 'brightness' along the river Porvoo. The next day we visited
the old part of the city with a guide. Afternoon and evening we spent in the
garden of one teacher. There was actively organized time for us: playing the
guitar, singing, playing sports - mölkky is a Finnish game which is a
combination of bowling and bocce, darts, partner dances and traditional Finnish
food. During the meeting we all agreed the objectives and deadlines mobility by
the end of June 2014. Then friends from Finland gave certificates of attendance
to all participants of the Comenius project.
The next day we went to Helsinki. We visited the Lutheral
Cathedral and the square of the Senate and the Orthodox Cathedral of the Mother
of God. We walked the main shopping street Aleksanterinkatu and visited
Stockmann department store from 1930. We sailed a ship in the Gulf of Finland.
The beautiful marine landscapes accompanied us on a sunny cruise. Kauppatori,
the fish market, which stretches along the harbor area stocked with fresh
fruits and vegetables, fish straight from the boat, and various crafts.
In the evening there was a working meeting of the
Comenius, where all partners presented a brief report of project activities and
the project coordinator presented the annual summary of the tasks in the form
of evaluation, which was approved by all partners.
From Polish partners Turkey and Finland received a
menu book containing the recipes from all the partner countries.
A delegation from Poland and Turkey presented its
T-shirts with the logo. In the evening during the “good bye” dinner we exchanged
our impressions, we thanked the Finnish teachers for the warm welcome,
About 12:35, 9 of June 2013 we returned to the
country.
Report prepared by: Marzenna Bolińska
Translation
into: English Gabriela Sadowska
Photos:
Ewa Wachowiak-Smolkowska
