Helsinki to explore seamless path from childcare to school

Helsinki City Council has approved an initiative to investigate how children could move from early childhood education through pre-primary education and into school without interruptions, Yle reports.

The proposed pathway would aim to prevent children aged five to eight from having to move between different buildings or locations as they progress from early childhood education to pre-primary education and school.

The city says organising services for children aged five to eight would require several issues to be examined, including the intended use of buildings and building permit requirements. Under current regulations, pre-primary education can be provided in school premises, but facilities used by younger children must be licensed as day-care centres.

Helsinki will also investigate how joint groups for five- and six-year-olds could be organised more easily. The two age groups are currently governed by different legislation and educational plans.

According to the city, more flexible use of premises would improve both the organisation of a continuous learning path for children and the shared use of buildings.

As part of the Green group initiative, Helsinki will also begin preparing a model in which every five-year-old is allocated a place in early childhood education. Currently, 5 per cent of children in Helsinki receive no early childhood education at all.

Bike buses will not go ahead

Helsinki will not implement a separate initiative proposing supervised bicycle convoys for schoolchildren during school renovations.

The initiative, signed by Green councillor Anni Sinnemäki and other councillors, proposed that adults would lead bicycle groups to temporary facilities located farther away while schools were being renovated.

The proposal concerned three schools in Helsinki: Katajanokka, Koskela and Pitäjänmäki. School assistants or active parents could have accompanied the cycling pupils, according to the proposal.

The city’s review found that there were not enough resources to organise the so-called bike buses at the schools in question.