Preschool education in Tampere

[FinCa]

Dear all,
We are moving to Tampere this coming summer, and our 6 year-old is in need of a school. It seems that the only option is a pre-school, since the schooling starts at age 7 in Finland? The matter is; she has been educated in the British system, i.e. she started at age 5 and furthermore, she does not speak any Finnish. Putting her into a preschool seems like 'going backwards' - but are there really any options?!
Another matter is the school itself; can anyone recommend a good preschool in Tampere, her 3 siblings will be going to the Amuri English school (btw- is this a good choice)?
Thank you in advance,
TMV

[Rosamunda]

My advice (take it or leave it):

If you are planning on staying in Finland permanently, then put all your kids straight into the Finnish system (there are immigrant programmes for fast-track intensive Finnish language).
Your youngest will not be out of place in a Finnish language pre-school, it will be a challenge for her (and girls are generally good at that). She would probably be bored in a bilingual or English speaking school if her language skills are already quite advanced. OTOH, you can apply for her to go into 1st grade. I know plenty of kids who came to Finland from abroad and joined classes with the older age cohort.

You really need to think long term. What do you think your kids will do in high school (A levels, IB, Finnish matriculation?). A levels are not worth much and are so restrictive. IB is highly competitive (difficult to be sure of a place in Finland, much more demand than availability). To sit the Finnish matriculation your children will need to have good Finnish skills.

Maybe your children are bilingual already? In which case an English school is fine (I don't know the one you are talking about I am in Helsinki/Espoo). But generally speaking, it is hard for non- Finnish speakers to acquire good Finnish skills if they are in an English speaking school programme.

HTH!

[ajdias]

Dear all,
We are moving to Tampere this coming summer, and our 6 year-old is in need of a school. It seems that the only option is a pre-school, since the schooling starts at age 7 in Finland?

Most kids yes, but parents can apply to have their kids start school at age of 6 if their kid shows enough maturity to cope with school - AFAIK the kid must be interviewed by a psychologist, the whole process costs a few hundred euros. A "normal" child, born in the first few months of the year, with older siblings could qualify for this.
I am not sure there's a chance to apply anymore for the coming year, or that your child, coming straight from abroad, would qualify, I am just sharing the info.

[FinCa]

Dear Penelope,

Thank you for your excellent post, and for the food for thought. Our kids are not bilingual and regarding the future plans, well... we honestly don't know at this stage how long will we stay...few years probably and the IB thought/challenge has already crossed our minds with our eldest (now 13) - we must do some more thinking...
Regarding our youngest star, we asked the school originally about her starting early, at the age of 6 that is, but the staff was strongly not in favour of the option, however giving us all the relevant information in this regard. We decided to leave it, but having now seen some Finnish `English` preschools, we are having second thoughts (Tampere region). We are not saying that they do not feel `professional`, just so different from the British system we are used to.
I think we'll just have to choose one, and play it by ear - part of the uncertainties & challenges of relocation I guess.

Rgds,
FinCa

[FinCa]

Dear Ajdias,

Thank you for your advise. As you can see from my answer to Penelope, we decided not to opt for the `early start` option..mistake, perhaps but as you said, it seems too late now.
Rgds,
FinCa

[Rosamunda]

If your youngest goes to Finnish pre-school she will learn the language quickly and effortlessly and you can continue reading and writing in English at home. Rather than waste a year in a FInglish daycare, it would IMO be better for her to be in a 100% Finnish environment. If you then decide to put her in an English primary school at least she would stand a chance of getting into a FInnish MT language class rather than being dumped in an FFL class for 4h a week. The Finnish Foreign Language programmes are cr@p (except for some of the immigrant intensive courses). I don't know about the Tampere English school but down here the kids who don't speak Finnish get dumped into random FFL classes. These classes are taught by Finnish MT teachers who have no training and/or qualifications in foreign language teaching. The kids are not given individualised programmes, are not assessed independently on a regular basis and their progress is measured according to the same scale used for Swedish Finns who have Finnish as their second language. This means that when applying for lukio with the magic number (the 9th grade, average score) they are at a HUGE disadvantage versus native speakers. Ironically this prevents many foreign kids getting into the IB programme (which is taught in English).

[oompah18]

I live just outside the Tampere border, in Kangasala district. My eldest, now 7, spoke 99% English until he went to preschool the year he turned 6. Now he is almost at the end of 1st grade, & is pretty fluent in Finnish, according to the teacher! he has made many friends. If I had sent him to the English School in Tampere, the "easy" option, he would probably have never had any friends in our village, & I wonder what could have happened education wise as he gets older, uni chances etc.... (excuse MY bad grammar right now )
I agree with Penelope that it really is better to get young kids into finnish language schools, as they learn languages so much faster when they are young.My boy still speaks great English with me at home, & happily swaps from one to another, whether reading or speaking (spelling in English is another story altogether, it´s not there quite yet!). Now his Finnish is helping his younger brothers too, and even I am learning Finnish from him. Another tip, but just my opinion, if any of you don´t speak Finnish, but are living in Tampere, it is so very important to get to classes & learn at least the basics. I know of at least 2 families, each with one English partner who refused to learn Finnish, saying they could survive in English in Tampere, but now both families have divorced. (Of course this is not exactly the only reason, what do I know?)Tampere is not little England, not an expat community, & I have now found that some Finns really appreciate me trying to speak their language, however bad I am! But it is also important to learn Finnish to encourage your child learner. My eldest loves the fact that he now speaks better Finnish than me!
Good luck!!!!

[Rosamunda]

Totally agree.