Mansikkala's basic education pedagogical plan

1. Operating concept and values

Mansikkala School Center is a school in Imatra that offers high-quality and versatile basic education. Our school creates a foundation for the development of the student's active learning and general education. We guide students to independent and communal learning and encourage them to be creative, physically active and musical.

The values ​​of the Mansikkala school center are:

• respect for humanity
• responsibility
• community spirit
• creativity

2. Concept of learning

Learning is active, independent and responsible activity of the student consequence.  Encouraging feedback and students and staff community spirit effectively supports the learning process. Learning is doing alone and together, thinking, planning, researching and multifaceted evaluation of these processes. The development of learning skills is the basis for goal-oriented and lifelong learning.

The goal is that the student, who is aware of his learning process, learns to act still more self-directed and responsible. With the help of guidance, children and young people learn to connect the things they are learning and new concepts to what they have learned before.

Encouragement and encouragement strengthen the student's confidence in their own possibilities. Giving and receiving positive and realistic feedback is also a key part of interaction that supports learning and expands interests. In our operations, we utilize the strengths of our work community in a versatile way.

Our concept of learning is supported by the focus areas of the school center, music and sports.

3. Teaching methods and assessment

Versatile and appropriate teaching methods for the situation, goals and the matter vunder the cooperation of teachers in teams. Each teacher can also use their own strengths and ideas to further enrich the teaching. Ideas for methods are also shared in the work community for everyone to use.

Individual needs of students we try to take into account as well as possible and support those who need help with the resources we have at our disposal in the school center. We also educate our students that egalitarian and democratic activities also include the acceptance that you can't always get everything you want, but sometimes you have to settle for compromises.

Gender equality is taken into account in the teaching arrangements and operating methods of the school center.

Equal assessment means that students and their performances are not compared to each other and the assessment is not focused on the student's personality, temperament or other personal characteristics. The teachers make sure that the goals and evaluation criteria are known to the students. The students' ages and conditions determine the evaluation practices and the giving of feedback. In an equal evaluation, the student's strengths and a positive and solution-oriented approach are emphasized.

4. Community spirit

We strive to emphasize in all interactions respect for other people and good manners. Open interaction, cooperation and assistance with a low threshold is a natural way of working.

At Mansikkala school center, we act by encouraging and accepting the other person. We strive for openness, community, honesty and positivity. Each member of our working community takes care of the common operating methods of the school and helps when necessary. We try to take into account the opinions of staff, pupils and pupils' guardians in our daily activities, with thought all are equally valuable. We give most of the feedback face-to-face in a constructive spirit.

Communalism, interaction and versatile work is carried out e.g. through joint teaching, team teaching, joint projects, parties, events, trips and visits. Inclusion promoted in student union and support student activities and flexible groupings and cooperation with parent committees and various stakeholders. 

Mansikkala school center's basic education closely cooperates with high school and pre-school education. Cooperation with the high school is carried out regarding joint events, teachers and the use of facilities. In the future school center, the meeting of children and young people of different ages and the cooperation between the staff will make it possible to work together. The strengthening of community spirit also moves forward the joint stages of basic education and upper secondary education, as well as pre-school education and basic education.

5. Structure of the school day

In the Mansikkala school center, the upper grades have the same timing and length of lessons as the upper secondary school. The upper classes have five periods and 75-minute lessons. With regard to the subclasses, it is possible to work in different rhythms and with different sized lessons, e.g. in order to enable versatile after-hours activities. Pre- and initial education builds cooperation based on their own needs, and the rhythm of the day can also take a different shape. School days start times and lesson times can be staggered for different age groups. A flexible school day helps e.g. mobile school activities and enables a versatile school day structure.

6. Music and Exercise

Emphasis on music and exercise is taken into account in all activities of basic education, ideologically cutting across the activities. Emphasis on exercise and music is supported e.g. with the structure of the school day, versatile after-hours activities, long breaks and possible club activities. The sports emphasis is also supported by sports academy activities in grades 5-9. The music classes maintain the emphasis on music and enrich everyday school life with their versatile performances. 

7. Physical learning environment and

Basic education operates in the Mansikkala school center, which will be commissioned in the fall of 2020, together with high school and early childhood education and support services.

The learning facilities for pre-primary education are sized for 750-850 children/youth. It is defined for all pre-primary and basic education students own home nest in a new building. The new spaces are designed to be adaptable, barrier-free, flexible and supportive of community and working together. Special attention is paid to space efficiency and conversion flexibility.

8. Information and communication technology / digitization

The city of Imatra's digital strategy also guides basic education ICT and communication technology solutions.  

1-6 graders use e.g. tablet devices to enrich teaching. Grades 4-6 have personal devices and 1-3 graders have group-specific devices:

• electronic materials are used
• for information acquisition, notes, group work
• e.g. using the ClassroomOneNote internet platform

We consider media education in different subjects, emphasizing media literacy.

Students in grades 7-9 have personal tablets at their disposal. You can also use your own devices (mobile phones) when studying outside of school, for example, in terms of filming, positioning, etc. features.

Media education and digitalization are not separate study units but are strongly present in all subjects almost every day. Through everyday situations, it is concrete and natural to have a joint discussion about the disadvantages and benefits of the media, media and source criticism. Pupils' IT-related skills are developed according to age level, increasing skills and knowledge. In junior high school, digital skills are taught e.g. in the "I'm a stand-alone" course in both long and short optional information technology courses. Utilization and use of information technology is also emphasized in several subjects where information technology is used as appropriate, taking into account the special features and emphasis of the subject in question.

9. The future of the school center/carrying thoughts and ideas

All members of Mansikkala's work community participate in the school's development work and joint planning through teams. The aim is to involve students, student union boards and parent committees in the development work.

The emphasis on music and exercise is being developed with the future in mind.

Cooperation and working together is a factor that strongly guides the activity.

One option could also be the so-called establishing physical education classes alongside music classes. Any special classes also cooperate closely with the entire school community.