Visiting schools and early childhood education and care centres in Tampere

The early childhood education and care centres, including pre-primary education, are located across Tampere. Information about the centres and their descriptions can be found in the Varaamo system (you can switch the website language to English).

First, check which ECEC centres are available for visits, then contact the manager of your chosen centre. The manager will decide whether a visit can be arranged at the requested time. The date and time of the visit, as well as the possibility of having lunch or coffee at the centre, will be negotiated with the manager. The best time for a visit is usually in the morning. 

Once you have agreed on a visit with the manager, please complete the form below carefully.

Booking form for visits to City of Tampere ECEC and pre-primary education

After the visit, you will be invoiced based on the information provided in the form. 

If the planned visit meets the criteria for a free-of-charge visit, a separate e-form must be completed for it. A visit cannot be booked unless it has first been agreed with the manager of the relevant ECEC centre.

E- form Free of-charge visits

Please note that visits are not possible in evenings or during holiday times. Bookings must be made well in advance (at least a month before the visit). The manager of the ECEC centre will decide on a case-by-case basis whether the centre can receive visitors at the requested time. The duration of the visit will be agreed with the manager. 

The maximum duration of an internship is one month. Longer internship periods can be  agreedbetween the intern and the manager of the ECEC centre. 

If you need further information or advice on the process, please contact [email protected].

Visits are subject to a fee in most cases. The price list below presents all fees and, at the end, lists the types of visits that are free of charge.

Basic visit packages

The price includes a guided tour of the facilities and a presentation of the activities in early childhood education and/or pre-primary education, led at the ECEC centre by the manager or a member of staff. 

Visit up to 3 hours

• 1–10 persons 200 €
• 11–20 persons 400 € 

Visit of 3-6 hours

• 1–10 persons 400 €
• 11–20 persons 800 € 

Longer-term visits

2 to 5 days

• 1–10 persons 300 €/day
• 11–20 persons 600 €/day

International interns, up to 1 month

• 300 € per student / internship period

A value added tax (VAT) of 25,5 % will be added to all prices.

Additional services

• A presentation or expert lecture on early childhood education and care and pre-primary education in the City of Tampere: 300€ + VAT 25,5 % (Please note: to be agreed separately. Send your enquiry to [email protected].)
• An expert lecture on supporting multilingualism and multiculturalism in early childhood education and care and pre-primary education in Tampere: 300€ + VAT 25,5 % (Please note: to be agreed separately. Send your enquiry to [email protected].)
• Lunch and/or coffee service (if it can be arranged at the unit) will be charged according to the price list of Pirkanmaan Voimia Oy*. The ECEC centre orders the meals and/or coffee from Voimia, and the amount charged to the centre will be invoiced to the visitor as an additional cost.

Visits that are free of charge

• No fee is charged if the visitors are representatives of another Finnish municipality or Finnish public administration.
• The visit is free of charge for a student in a Finnish educational institution, if the purpose of the visit is training in the workplace / work experience learning period. However, visits by groups of students will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
• The fee is not charged for an exchange student in early childhood education and care and pre-primary education.
• No fee is charged for job shadowing visitors. Please note that there may be a maximum of two job shadow visitors in each unit at a time. Job shadowing is a short-term opportunity to learn about a profession by following a professional’s daily work in practice.
• Partners participating in the same Erasmus+ project as the City of Tampere early childhood education and care are not charged. 

*) Examples of Voimia prices (2025): 

• Lunch from the lunch line 7,68€ + VAT 14%
• Coffee/Tea 2,90€ + VAT 14%
• Sweet pastry, e.g. pie 3,15€ + VAT 14%
• Butter bun 2,60€ + VAT 14%
• Filled roll/Sandwich 3,50€ + VAT 14% 

Job shadowing is a short-term opportunity to learn about a profession by following a professional’s daily work in practice. In ECEC or pre-primary education, one or at most two visitors at a time observe an employee’s working day to learn about tasks, working methods and the work environment without having any actual work responsibilities.

Job shadowing visits are intended for individual participants or a maximum of two people. Groups are not accepted as job shadowing visitors. Group visits are generally subject to a fee, and more detailed information, including pricing, is available on the City of Tampere website: Visiting schools and early childhood education and care centres in Tampere

All visits must be agreed in advance with the manager of the ECEC centre, who makes the final decision on whether the unit can receive visitors. Some locations are presented in the Varaamo service, but it is possible to inquire about job shadowing opportunities in any ECEC centre in Tampere. Contact details for all units can be found online on each unit’s own webpage, for example via the map service: Early childhood education | Units on the map

If the visit is approved and agreed with the manager of the unit, the visitor must complete an electronic form: E-form Free-of-charge visits to ECEC and pre-primary education 
Once submitted, the information will be automatically sent to [email protected].

When the visit meets the criteria of a job shadowing visit, it is free of charge. However, visitors are responsible for covering all costs related to the visit, such as travel, accommodation, meals and public transport.

Visitors must follow the rules of the ECEC centre or pre-primary unit as well as data protection and safety guidelines. Children must not be photographed or recorded without written consent from their guardians. Any photography must always be agreed in advance with the staff, and valid permission must be obtained for each child. This applies to all types of recording, including material for personal or learning purposes.

Please note that outdoor shoes are not worn indoors in Finnish ECEC centres, so visitors are advised to bring indoor shoes. Visitors should also bring weather-appropriate clothing and footwear, as Finnish weather can be variable. Outdoor activities take place daily in both ECEC and pre-primary education.

Job shadowing is based on reciprocity. This means that the visit is founded on mutual learning and cooperation. Visitors have the opportunity to learn about Finnish ECEC and are also expected to share their own expertise, experiences and perspectives, for example through discussions or short presentations with staff.

Reciprocity also includes the idea of continued cooperation: while a return visit is not automatically expected, it is considered good practice to offer an invitation for a reciprocal visit to the visitor’s own organisation.

Visitors are encouraged to familiarise themselves with Finnish early childhood education and care in advance. National and local curricula for ECEC and pre-primary education, as well as relevant legislation, are available online. However, please note that most of these documents are not available in English.

In order to visit primary or lower secondary education schools in Tampere (students between 7 and 15 year of age), please email us well in advance at [email protected] and tell us about your

• preferred dates
• group size
• professional background of your group (for example principals, teachers)
• special interests, if any (for example a certain grade levels or school subjects)
• whether you want to have a school lunch during your visit
• if you have a specific school in mind that you'd like to visit.

Half day visit, max 3 hours

• 1-10 persons 400€
• 11-20 persons 600€

Half day visit (max 3 hours) + expert presentation

• 1-10 persons 700€
• 11-20 persons 900€

Full day visit (max 6 hours) + expert presentation

• 1-10 persons 800€
• 11-20 persons 1100€

A value added tax (VAT) of 25,5 % will be added to all prices.

Please note

The fees are per visit per school, meaning that if you visit multiple schools during the same day, you will be charged for each visit separately.

The visits fees are not charged if the visit involves a reciprocal agreement or is a part of an operation between twin cities.

Most schools are not able to accommodate more than 20 visitors at a time. That's why groups of more than 20 visitors must split up to different schools.

If the visitors want to have lunch at the school, it is included in the price, but has to be arranged beforehand.

If you need an invitation letter, we can only send you one after the full payment of the visit has been paid. The invitation letter is only written for the days of your school visit. The invitation letter does not guarantee an accepted visa application. If your visa application is not accepted, the payment for the school visit will not be returned.

If you're interested in upper secondary education (students aged 16-19), you can read more and contact the schools directly here:

General upper secondary education

Vocational education