Job Shadowing - Järvenpää Thursday 26th January

This morning I have had some free time which I have spent walking around Järvenpää.

I went for a walk to lake Tuusulanjärvi. There was a class of small children ice-skating, a few people skiing on the frozen lake and some others walking their dogs. And ducks swimming in a quite freezing water!

Afterwards I had something to eat at Kulma konditoria before going to scholl. You need to have a snack to stay concentrated in the meetings!                        

At school I met two of the four Counsellors of the school. Katarina explained me that the two main tasks of a counsellor are: helping students make their plans and see that they syick to them and planning their "life" after graduation (vocational studies, university, ...). She also told me that students must have a "session" with his/her counsellor once a week during three of the four periods of the school year. In these sessions the counsellor discuss the student's decissions about the courses he is going to take so that he can achieve his final objective. It is compulsory for all students to take two sessions about "career day" (two days of speeches and information sessions from universities and schools).

With Sanna Konttinen, also a counsellor, I was told that in Järvenpään lukio there are five periods per school year and each one lasts 6 weeks, after each period there are two weeks for the exams. Students have to take 75 courses to graduate and they usually spend three years at the lukio. The average amount of courses per period is six. As students plan their timetable and the courses they are going to take, those students that partyicipate in the exchange with my school can "move" some courses so they do not skip classes while they are in Valencia, they simply take more courses before and after and they can follow the normal development of the year.

Each counsellor has about 300 students to be cared about. The sessions with the counsellor are compulsory and this is the biggest difference with the duties of the counsellor in our school. Students must go to see and talk with the counsellor about their academic decissions and sometimes they are not so happy and communicative. In our case, students must have a first personal meeting with the counsellor, but then it is not compulsory to go on with these meetings. Although it is very common that students ask for personal meetings.

There is also a nurse, a psychiatrist and a social worker in the school, and a doctor comes o a regular basis. This has nothing to do with the staff we have in secondary schools.

To finish the day I met Marjo Uotila to have a feedback about my presentations in the differents Spanish and English classes. We also commented on the students exchange we are carrying out for four years now. I have met the candidates and they are really willing to be chosen to participate. as I told them in their classes, we are also looking forward receiving them at IES Ramon Llull.

Angels Romeu

Erasmus+ Coordinator