TWO teachers from primary schools in Ruthin have visited Finland as part of a national delegation to learn from the country’s world-renowned education system ahead of a new curriculum in Wales in 2022.

Richard Monteiro, head of Federated Schools Ysgol Gellifor and Ysgol Bryn Clwyd, and Vicky Lyon, deputy headteacher at Ysgol Bryn Clwyd, joined a 16-person delegation representing Wales on a visit to Kuopio, Finland’s best academic performing region, to learn from the country’s education system and its innovative approaches.

Mr Monteiro, who visited 10 schools from primary to university level during the visit, said: “Meeting and speaking with teachers, headteachers and students gave a real insight into the workings of schools within Finland.

“We have come away from the visit with a strong link with a school in Kuopio that is keen to work collaboratively with us through connected classrooms. In due course, pupils from his classes will be corresponding with classes in both our schools via email and video.”

Aspects of the system that were seen as innovative were its ‘techno classes’, which give children opportunities to use technology to make their own project, its relaxed ‘no-shoes’ policy that was common to all 10 schools visited, and ‘flipped learning’, in which primary school pupils review material independently and in teams in morning sessions, followed by teacher support meetings in the afternoon to guide pupils’ learning.

Mr Monteiro said: “Whilst we saw lots of original approaches to education we also saw that Finland has retained certain approaches that here in the UK we have moved away from. Work books are used regularly to teach and reinforce basic concepts, classroom displays are simple while classroom timetables are less prescriptive than here.”

In Wales, a new curriculum announced by the Welsh Government last year will be introduced from nursery to year 7 in 2022 with a range of goals, such as the reduction of class sizes, improved teacher training and the relaxation of the ‘unnecessary’ bureaucracy over teachers.

Schools in Ruthin have been working together in ‘cluster meetings’ to ensure the changes are communicated and implemented effectively across all schools.

Looking forward to the changes after visiting Finland, Mr Monteiro said: “With a new curriculum expected in Wales for 2022 staff at Ysgol Bryn Clwyd and Ysgol Gellifor have been working on new teaching approaches to meet the ethos of the new curriculum. The curriculum is expected to give a lot more freedom to teachers and it was useful to see an education system in Finland that historically has given teachers a great deal of autonomy.

“The Federated Schools will look at to arrange more extracurricular opportunities for pupils, more opportunities to apply their digital skills to projects of their own choosing, and to trial flipped learning.

“I believe both Ysgol Bryn Clwyd and Ysgol Gellifor have a track record of innovation and, whilst the Welsh educational system is very different from that of Finland’s, with a new curriculum for Wales on the way now is the perfect time to be looking outward and trying new things.”