5. Reacting to the Problem

This section gives You the tools to react after You have noticed warning signs or there are chronic absences or student has already dropped out. Remember that in most cases the progress is slow and demands many professionals intervention. Do not try to solve it out alone!

Keep sensing the athmosphere!

Task 8

List some of the phrases You could use with Your students to show that they all have strenghts and skills that You respect.

React at an early stage!

Task 9

Sometimes school absences become chronic because the school is not reacting fast enough. Could you think out some boundaries, for example how many absence hours one can have, before you will react?

Task 10

The exercise for you to use in your class

You can tell your students that these five core strengths are natural and those are easily used when we are doing good things to others without any burden to ourselves. 

At the end everyone can tell the others their own five core strengths. You can write them down on leaves and make a tree of the ultimate strengths and put it on display in the classroom. 

What concrete things can be done in Finnish school

There are different models and resources in different countries. This is a list of some of the arrangements that we can use in Finnish schools. You can think if those could be useful in your system also. 

1. Students with anxiety disorders and mental health problems

• It is important that we do not let them be at home. They have to leave home every day. If it is totally impossible, we can give some tasks to the home so that studying is not stopping entirely. In some situations the remote teaching can be used too. That ensures that a student gets some kind of structure in his or her day and connection in the school remains and his or her studies are going on.
• We keep regular meetings with parents and health services so that we can plan together the best rehabilitation for every child. Usually the health service professionals see that going to school is the very best way for the child to feel better.
• Students can come to the school building when everyone else is in the classrooms. First when they return to school, they can study alone or in smaller groups. Usually they are teached by the special needs teachers. 
• In Finland we can make an administrative decision that the child can study only a few hours per day. That is better than nothing so that he or she is not alienated from the whole school. The student can make only a couple of subjects and they can spend extra years in comprehensive studies.

2. Students with behavioral or motivational problems

• We try to make good rules for the student in co-operation with parents and social services.
• If the student does not show up in the morning, we try to contact them during the first lesson (message or call). If we do not get in touch with the student, we inform the parents and, if needed, the social services.
• In the meeting we discuss together with the student what will happen and what are the consequences if the school refusal continues. There should also be rewards if the student manages to improve their attendance in the school. That can be something nice in the free time or at school. Let the student themselves make a suggestion what the reward could be.
• If the parents do not co-operate, we are forced by law to contact the social services. They will sort out what kind of help the student needs at home and if there is anything that risks his or her wellbeing. 

Task 10

Is there something in Finnish system that You could adapt to Your work easily?

If you have any questions, contact us