Pupil welfare in pre-primary education
In Tampere, nearly all pre-primary education groups work in school premises, and cooperate with both early childhood education and care and basic education services to organize support measures. Support for growth and learning as well as pupil welfare services are part of the upbringing and educational work undertaken by pre-primary education. The pupil welfare services promote a child’s successful learning, mental and physical health, as well as their social well-being. They support the everyday activities in pre-primary education as well as the comprehensive welfare of the children.
Communal pupil welfare is the primary method of organizing pupil welfare services in pre-primary education. It works to promote the participation of children and guardians, the upbringing and educational work of pre-primary education, as well as everyday care and well-being. Communal pupil welfare is preventative and multidisciplinary in nature. The school’s pupil welfare team is responsible for planning and carrying out the work.
Individual pupil welfare services are always carried out in cooperation with the pupil and their guardian. They are organized to observe and promote a child’s development, well-being, and learning, as well as to better carry out individual support measures. The objective is to, as early as possible, prevent, identify, mitigate, and remove obstacles to learning, learning difficulties, and other problems that may arise in the course of pre-primary education. Individual pupil welfare services within pre-primary education make use of school social worker and psychologist services along with multiprofessional pupil welfare work.
Whenever a diverse breadth of expertise is required to organize the support measures necessary for a pupil, a multiprofessional team of experts can be convened to plan support measures for the child. The guardian will have an input on what specialties to include in the team.
School social workers
It is the task of the school social worker to provide a child with the support and guidance of an expert in social work. The purpose of the work is to prevent and remove social and mental obstacles to the child’s development, as well as to promote learning, well-being and social capability.
The child is provided support with issues related to behaviour, social relationships, emotional balance, family affairs, and free time. The school social worker collaborates with the child and the family, pre-primary education personnel, various public services, and other actors.
School psychologists
A school psychologist may be summoned to provide a child with support or evaluation at developmental or emotional turning points, as well as learning-related matters, attentiveness, or social relationships. The initiative to start working with the psychologist may come from either the parents or a pre-primary education staff member.
The school psychologist may provide guidance to the child’s parents and those participating in their upbringing at home, as well as working with the child themself. The child’s opinion must be heard in any matter concerning them. The school psychologist will also observe and support the child’s position with regard to their group and as part of the school community.
The school psychologist’s work is particularly confidential in nature. Any transfer of information requires the guardian’s permission. Most often, the best supportive measures and solutions can be found through negotiation and agreement, collaborating between the home, the pre-primary education provider, and any other treatment or rehabilitation providers.
Contact information for school social workers and psychologists
If necessary, parents may directly contact the school social worker or psychologist at the child’s respective pre-primary education venue and make an appointment for a meeting.
Contact details can be found on The Wellbeing Services County of Pirkanmaa website.