Welcome to school!
Dear guardians!
Around 600 first-graders will start their basic education at schools in Vaasa next autumn. The school year for basic education in Vaasa begins on Monday 11th of August 2025 and ends on Saturday 30th of May 2026. This guide presents important things to know when going to school.
Familiarisation day
Preschool children come to see their future school in May. Schools and pre-school teachers inform the homes about the time of the visitation day.
If possible, a meeting will also be arranged for guardians before the start of the school year.
Basic education year and holidays 2025-2026
• Autumn term 11 August-21 December, 2025
Autumn holiday 13–17 October, 2025
Christmas holiday 22 December, 2025–2 January, 2026
• Spring term 3 January–30 May, 2026
Winter holiday 23–27 February, 2026
Please try to arrange your family’s vacations during the school’s holidays
At the beginning of the academic year, the pupil’s personal timetable is sent home, which shows the start and end times of the school days.
The school staff will help and guide families in all questions regarding the start of school and going to school.
Voit lukea tämän esitteen myös suomeksi!
Du kan läsa den här broschyren också på svenska!
Teaching in Grade 1
A Grade 1 pupil has around 20 to 21 hours of teaching per week.
Subjects in Grade 1:
• mother tongue and reading & writing skills / S2
• mathematics
• environmental studies
• religion or ethics
• A1 language (English in Finnish-language basic education, Finnish in Swedish-language basic education)
• handicrafts
• fine art
• music
• physical education
The school also teaches multidisciplinary learning modules, where pupils learn about themes and phenomena that cross subject boundaries.
Language studies
Basic education in Finnish:
• Grade 1: English language study begins (A1 language)
• Grade 4: A2 language study begins: you can choose another national language, i.e. Swedish or a foreign language (French, German, Russian). The choice of language is made during Grade 3, and guardians are informed about it separately through Wilma.
Basic education in Swedish:
• Grade 1: Finnish language study begins (A1 language)
• Grade 3: pupils can start studying English as an optional subject
• Grade 4: pupils continue studying English as an A2 language
Curriculum and objectives
The school works according to the city’s curriculum, which follows the principles of the national curriculum. The teacher chooses the teaching methods and working methods that are the most suitable for the class to achieve the curriculum goals.
Meals
School meals are provided during the morning. Educational aspects are taken into account during school meals: we taste all the dishes and learn good eating habits.
At schools in Vaasa, pupils are offered food according to a special diet, if there are clear medical or ethical reasons for doing so. If the child is in need of a special diet, a form must be filled in by the guardians and returned to the school.
Read more: vaasa.fi/en/information-about-basic-education
School transportation
A child must learn the safest way to school together with a guardian.
Pupils attending basic education in the City of Vaasa are entitled to free school transportation provided that the school trip in one direction is:
• more than three kilometres for pupils in Grades 1-2
• more than five kilometres for pupils in Grades 3-9
Read more: vaasa.fi/en/living/early-childhood-education-and-schools/basic-education/school-transportation
Morning and afternoon activities
Morning and afternoon activities aim to reduce the time children spend alone, away from the presence of a responsible adult, before and after the school day.
The City of Vaasa arranges morning and afternoon activities for pupils in Grades 1 and 2 as well as for pupils in other grades who are eligible for special support.
Activities are voluntary and paid for by the families. Morning and afternoon activities are organised during school days from 8am to 4pm.
Read more: vaasa.fi/en/living/early-childhood-education-andschools/basic-education/morning-and-afternoon-activities
School club activities
School club activities are free and voluntary hobby activities for pupils in Grades 1-9 in basic education. The school’s club activities are defined in the Basic Education Act and the core curriculum.
Club activities can be organised by the schools themselves, clubs, associations or other units of the city (e.g. sports services, basic art education). Families are informed about the clubs through Wilma.
Cooperation between school and home
Successful school attendance is based on confidential cooperation between the home and the school. The most important forms of cooperation are parents’ evenings, short parent-teacher meetings, evaluation discussions as well as Wilma. Wilma is an online service intended for communication between the home and the school.
The school can also have a parents’ association, which consists of representatives from the school and parents.
Basic school education is public, so parents can familiarise themselves with school work if they wish. You should get in touch with the teacher or principal and agree on a familiarisation visit in advance.
KiVa-skola
Bullying is not accepted at school. Every school has a plan to prevent bullying. Schools act according to the plan if bullying occurs. It is worth asking at home too about how things are going with friends at school and journeys to and from school. Contact the teacher immediately if a child talks about bullying.
School and class rules
Schools in the City of Vaasa have common rules of order. Schools also have their own comfort rules, as well as class rules agreed upon by classes.
A pupil must take care of the textbooks and other equipment they receive. If a pupil loses a book, the home can be obliged to replace the book with a new one. Recycling textbooks is common.
Absences
A guardian is obliged to notify the school if a child is absent from school due to illness.
A guardian must request permission from the teacher (maximum 5 days) or the school principal (more than 5 days) if the reason for the absence is because of something other than illness. Absence requests can be made electronically in Wilma.
Support for learning and schooling
Every student has the right to receive guidance and support in their learning and schooling immediately when the need arises. Read more: vaasa.fi/en/living/early-childhood-education-and-schools/basic-education/support-for-schooling
Pupil welfare
Pupil welfare refers to the promotion and maintenance of matters related to a child’s good learning, good mental and physical health, and social wellbeing. Every child in preschool and basic education is entitled to pupil welfare.
Each school has access to a:
• school psychologist
• school curator
• school nurse
• school doctor
• school dental care
Read more: vaasa.fi/en/living/early-childhood-education-and-schools/basic-education/pupil-welfare
Wilma quick guide
Wilma is an online service designed for communication between home and school. At the school’s parent evening, more details will be provided on how communication is carried out in your child’s school using Wilma. Wilma can be accessed via a web browser (on a computer and mobile device) or through a separate application.
vaasa.inschool.fi
Messages
You can send messages to the school’s teachers and other staff through Wilma. Teachers can also send messages to parents.
Announcements
Announcements provide information about matters that concern a broader audience than just an individual class (e.g., important school events, instructions that apply to the entire basic education).
Tests
Here you can find the upcoming tests for your child’s class.
Lesson notes
• Teachers record absences and other feedback on schoolwork in Wilma.
• In the web version of Wilma, you can report a student’s absence from the ‘Lesson Markings’ tab. In the Wilma app, you can report an absence by pressing the “thermometer icon”.
Please notice, that the app does not have all the same functions as the web version.
These sections can only be seen when using Wilma through a browser (computer or mobile device):
• Forms (E.g., permissions for using photos and videos)
• Applications and Decisions (E.g. absence forms)
• Grades and Credits (Student’s grades)
• Support (Recorded support measures for the student)
• Annual Planning (School’s annual plan)
Forgot you password?
You can easily order a new password by clicking the “Forgot your password” link at the bottom of the login screen.
Contact us!
Basic education administration
Basic education in Finnish
• School Director Kari Nummela 040 754 7702
• Regional principal Johanna Olsson 040 510 0717 (Hietalahden koulu, Isolahden koulu, Keskuskoulu, Länsimetsän koulu, Merenkurkun koulu, Onkilahden yhtenäiskoulu, Suvilahden koulu)
• Regional principal 040 196 2843 (Huutoniemen koulu, Nummen koulu, Variskan yhtenäiskoulu, Merikaarron koulu, Savilahden yhtenäiskoulu, Tervajoen koulu)
Basic education in Swedish
• School Director Marianne West 040 777 3225
• Head of education Ann-Sofie Nygård 040 592 8709
Morning and afternoon activities
• Service planner, 040 127 2699, apip@edu.vaasa.fi
Administrative secretaries
• Therése Kangas 040 647 5611
• Annika Härkönen 040 520 4516
e-mail: firstname.lastname@edu.vaasa.fi or firstname.lastname@vaasa.fi
Photo: cover page and p.4: Mikael Matikainen. Other photos: Christoffer Björklund.