Model for supporting attendance and intervening in school absences
BASIC LEVEL
Solid and functional basic level creates a sound foundation for attachment to school
Communal support
In a healthy and compassionate school community everybody feels important and appreciated. At the same time, each and every school community member has responsibility for how they confront and treat others. A healthy school community strengthens everybody’s attachment to the school and prevents absences.
School well-being can be strengthened in many different ways:
- By teaching emotional and social interaction skills at school.
- By supporting student participation.
- By agreeing on common rules and practices.
- By strengthening the well-being of the adults in school.
- By a functioning cooperation between home and school.
Source:
www.hymykoulut.fi
An annual plan for well-being has been compiled for every basic education school in Vantaa. The annual plan deals with aspects of well-being (such as friendship skills, strength skills and awareness skills). Based on these themes, emotional and social interaction skills are being taught in schools so that students learn to respect classroom order and to concentrate. By teaching emotional and social interaction skills we don’t only support smoothly flowing lessons but also strengthen the children’s and adolescents’ friendship building. Support by the school’s adults plays a key role, because they help children to face their emotions as well as to recognise and process them. Teaching emotional and social interaction skills also involves team building that should be performed continually. Team building is a continuous process in which the group members’ mutual acquaintance, confidence, safety and interaction skills are consciously developed.
At least one lesson per month is held in every school in Vantaa to teach emotional and social interaction skills. In some schools, these lessons take place weekly. In addition, emotional and social interaction skills are taught to the 7th graders for 0.5 hours weekly throughout the year. Schools use a variety of materials in the lessons: some schools have developed their own materials, but also ready materials are being utilised. Strengthening these skills support students’ attachment to school.
Schools have implemented an action plan to prevent and intervene in bullying on 1 Aug 2022.
Read more:
Action plan to prevent and intervene in bullying | Vantaa
Absence monitoring requires every teacher to immediately mark absences into Wilma/DigiOne. The responsible person for the coordination of absence monitoring for their own class in primary school is the classroom teacher and in upper school the homeroom teacher.
For the school to monitor absences is especially important because it supports students’ attendance ability and prevents absences. Warning signs of absences should be reacted to so that a possible absence cycle can be broken as early as possible. Even though it is important to monitor absences, also students’ school attendance should be acknowledged positively.
A positive classroom atmosphere and sense of safety should be maintained using different team building exercises. Team building and relatedness should be emphasised every school day. Talking about difficult issues should be permitted, and there should be safe adults at school who can help in problem situations.
According to the Basic Education Act, teaching should take place in cooperation with the homes. Cooperation is used to support the organisation of education and teaching so that each student is taught, guided and supported based on their own developmental level and needs. Cooperation promotes students’ healthy growth and development. The guardians’ involvement and possibility to participate in the schoolwork and its development is a key component of school culture. Educational cooperation between the home and school improves the students’, classes’ and whole school communities’ well-being and safety.
The guardians bear the primary responsibility for the upbringing of their child. They also have to make sure that compulsory education is completed. The school supports the homes’ educational role and is responsible for the students’ teaching and education as members of the school community.
Source:
Basic education national core curriculum 2014,
p. 35
When possible, student welfare personnel should participate in parent evenings and school events. Also, group-based targeted support may be organised regionally.
Student welfare personnel participate in multidisciplinary expert groups. Parent guidance, advice and support is offered by phone, in meetings and also by consulting the school personnel.
The basic composition of a school’s community welfare team (CWT) would include the principal/vice-principal, special education teacher, school nurse, school social worker, school psychologist and, in upper and comprehensive schools, a student counsellor. In addition to the basic composition, other members may be invited into CWT depending on the case at hand. For instance, in classroom-specific CWT meetings, the classroom/homeroom teacher is a key member of the CWT. Also the students’ and guardians’ involvement in the CWT operation and meetings is important. Singular student absences, for instance, are not discussed in the CWT meetings, but they may be discussed at a phenomena level. The CWT members who are to work on the subject with the teacher may also be selected.
Source: Teacher’s handbook for student welfare issues (chapter 3.5, p. 8)
Individual support
A healthy student learns better. Students’ well-being may be affected in many ways at school. Regular emotional and social interaction skills lessons and practising these skills is one key factor that improves well-being. Also, appreciative face-to-face meetings add to students’ well-being significantly. Relationships, support from home as well as a positive and well-functioning everyday life (including rest, nutrition, exercise and free time) also fundamentally affect students’ well-being.
One key factor affecting to and improving well-being is student participation. Participation means experiencing belonging, attachment, appreciation and the capacity to make a difference in the school environment. It also means opportunities for students to express their opinions and views. Student participation in planning their own schoolwork and group activities is a natural way to strengthen involvement and attachment to the school. Students feel involvement when they belong to a group that has significance to them, they find their own place and space, and they are seen and heard. When students feel they belong to the school community, they become committed to schooling and the risk of absences decreases.
Sources:
National engaging school community work (SKY) project, summary by the Student participation team (Osallisuus-ryhmä) that used the following sources:
Convention on the Rights of the Child | UNICEF
National core curriculum | Finnish National Board of Education (oph.fi/en)
In school life, every adult is there to meet and care. This increases the children and adolescents’ sense that they are important as individuals and part of the school community.
The following 5 factors can be considered key parts of interaction and meeting face-to-face:
- Interest is, above all, an attitude that conveys genuine appreciation for and curiosity towards others. Genuine interest makes others feel appreciated, seen and heard.
- Respect is not something that should be earned. Respect means that we don’t slander others’ opinions, we don’t belittle them and we aren’t appalled by them. Respect means valuing diversity.
- Asking is often the best way to help others. You should avoid giving advice and ready solutions; it is important to ask for the child or adolescent’s own opinion.
- Listening genuinely means that for a moment you forget your own truths and put yourself in someone else’s situation and thoughts.
- Encouraging includes all the positive feedback, such as thanking, complementing and encouraging. Encouragement strengthens children and adolescents’ self-belief.
Sources:
Avola P. & Pentikäinen V.: Kukoistava kasvatus – positiivisen pedagogiikan ja laaja-alaisen hyvinvointiopetuksen käsikirja. BEEhappy Publishing Oy. 2020
#KOULUSSA -läsnäolomalli, Kohtaaminen ja varhainen toiminta, Oulun kaupunki
In grades 7–9, student counselling consists of classroom counselling, personal counselling, small group counselling and job shadowing, according to the curriculum targets. Student counselling additionally includes counselling at transition stages and changes. Counselling also includes visits to companies and educational institutions. Issues regarding studies or life situation are discussed during personal counselling and may include e.g. the progress of the student’s studies and schooling or career planning and further learning. In addition to the student counsellor, students may also have personal counselling discussions e.g. with the homeroom teacher or subject teacher.
Some students will need enhanced personal counselling (Basic Education Act, Section 11 a) when applying for further learning after basic education. Enhanced personal student counselling provides students with personal counselling, small group counselling and enhanced familiarisation to working life and education. A personal continuing education plan is prepared of this counselling. Enhanced personal student counselling is provided to 8th and 9th grade students.
Assessment is a package that includes more than just giving grades and reports. With guiding feedback, students understand their own learning and recognise their strengths. In Vantaa, assessment discussions are held at least once a year with every student in every grade. In addition to the continuous guiding feedback, students get two interim assessments during the academic year and a year-end report at the end of the academic year. One interim assessment takes place as an assessment discussion, and the other as a written interim report.
The student, guardian and teacher participate in the assessment discussion. In secondary school, the homeroom teacher is responsible for arranging the assessment discussions. It is important to hear the child’s/adolescent’s thoughts and opinions of their own schooling. The subject teachers give the homeroom teacher feedback on the student’s schooling. This forms the basis for the assessment discussion. The assessment discussion gives an opportunity to common consideration of issues relating to the child’s/adolescent’s growth, development and learning as well as learning skills. If the student has a learning plan or a personal educational plan HOJKS, it is updated during the assessment discussion.
Sources:
Vantaa.fi – arviointi ja Vantaa.fi / assessment and reports in basic education
Basic education student welfare manual (2.2, p. 13)
The school healthcare supports parents and their educational role in health checks and e.g. follow-up visits. Parents and guardians may contact the school healthcare by phone also during school holidays. They can also visit the reception, and in the summer get summer nurse service.
The school nurse sees every student annually in connection with a health check, and the school doctor sees them during extensive health checks. An extensive health check takes place in the first, fifth and eighth class. An extensive health check is a joint reception by the school nurse and school doctor. Also the student’s guardian is invited to attend the extensive health check. An extensive health check covers the student’s and their family’s health and well-being as well as affecting factors. The purpose of the extensive health check is to identify families’ support needs and to target support to those needing it as early as possible. A perception of the family’s situation is formed in cooperation with the family. The guardians are informed of the contents and purpose of the check-up.
The school social worker is the school’s social expert. The school social worker helps children and adolescents in issues to do with e.g. family situations, friendships and education.
The school psychologist is there to help children and adolescents when they have problems with e.g. learning, adjusting, emotional well-being or working in groups.
The school healthcare (school nurse and school doctor) is responsible for promoting students’ growth, development, health and well-being, for supporting the parents’ and guardians’ educational role, for the early identification and support of students’ needs for special support or analysis as well as for referring to further examination and follow-up treatment, when necessary.
The school social worker, school psychologist, school nurse and school doctor are responsible for supporting the children’s and adolescents’ schooling, well-being, growth and development in cooperation with the rest of the school personnel. You can contact them during their consultation times by phone or through Wilma.
Learning support
In Vantaa, the support needed by students is organised primarily in the student’s enrolment area school with various flexible arrangements. When organising support, it should take place in cooperation with the student’s own teacher, all the teachers teaching the student as well as supporting personnel, when needed.
More information on support:
Support for learning in basic education | Vantaa
Support tree
Support kiosk
