Support for learning and schoolgoing

Pupils have the opportunity to receive guidance and support for learning and school attendance. When considering the need for support, the pupil’s individual conditions and needs must be taken into account. The necessary support is given for as long as it is needed and according to the three-level support scheme including general, intensified or special support.

General support

The aim of general support is to address a pupil’s difficulties as quickly and early as possible. Support can include the use of diverse teaching methods, personal guidance, remedial teaching, personalised learning, extensive special teaching, and cooperation between home and school.

In general, support is provided by a class teacher or subject teacher who monitors the pupil’s situation and assesses the adequacy of the support. If general support is not sufficient, the teacher informs the guardians of the pupil and prepares a written pedagogical assessment, which will be discussed in the Pupil Welfare Entity. The Pupil Welfare Entity decides whether intensified support is needed.

Intensified support

Intensified support is more regular, intense, and personalised. The general support measures are applied but in a more intensified manner in order to avoid the increase and accumulation of problems. The pupil’s teacher or teachers, in cooperation with the guardian and the pupil, will develop a learning plan, where the required level of support, learning methods and the pupil’s needs and goals, among other things, will be recorded.

The aim of the learning plan is to provide the pupil with good preconditions to advance in their studies and to raise the teacher’s awareness of the pupil so that the teacher can plan and organise their teaching accordingly. Similarly, the learning plan gives the guardian information, which allows them to support the child at home.

Special-needs support

If the intensified support measures are insufficient, special-needs support will be provided. In this case, the persons responsible for the pupil’s teaching will prepare a pedagogical report on the pupil’s learning progress. The pupil and their guardian are heard before the report is prepared. The report will be discussed in the Pupil Welfare Entity. If the report states that the syllabus of one or more subjects should be personalised for the pupil or if the pupil needs mainly special education, they will be given a decision about special support.

The decision is made by the Special Education Headmaster. Pupils studying under a personalised syllabus or who are severely disabled or ill and study in accordance with functional areas are entitled to the special support services. The special support is rehabilitative in nature, and it is strongly personalised to the individual needs of the pupil. An individualised education plan (IEP) will be made for the pupil. The pupil’s teaching can be arranged either together with regular teaching or in a small group.