Inclusive student welfare builds community and wellbeing
Student welfare is an essential part of everyday functions at schools and supporting children’s wellbeing. It ensures that each pupil has a safe and encouraging learning environment. Student welfare social workers, psychologists and school and student health nurses work in close cooperation with teachers, parents and pupils.
The new strategy of our wellbeing services county focuses on primary services, which entails reinforcing the basic level and providing preventive support close to the people who need it. The aim is that light challenges are primarily addressed in student welfare, and referral to higher-calibre services is done only when the basic-level measures are not enough.
Everyday agency for children and young people
In recent years, the focus has increasingly shifted to inclusive methods. This means that children and young people have active agency, and they are not just passive recipients of services. Their views and wishes are taken into account in individual support and in the development of the entire school community.
An inclusive approach strengthens trust and lowers the threshold for seeking help. When it is commonplace for pupils to see student welfare employees and they know that their opinions hold weight, it creates a safer and more open atmosphere. The aim is that even the quietest pupils are heard in the everyday of the school.
In our wellbeing services county, student welfare psychologist Kaisa Viitala, social worker Noora Seppä and public health nurse Heli Veikkola work daily with children and young people in Espoo. The work includes seeing children and young people and their families as well as close network cooperation between professionals. Engaging children and young people and hearing them out is at the core of their daily work.
"We introduce ourselves to all pupils at the beginning of the school year, so that they know us and can approach us easily", Viitala explains.
Inclusion in practice
Inclusion is everyday actions, keeping your ears open, and working in a systematic way.The communal wellbeing group circulates classrooms regularly and conducts atmosphere surveys where pupils can express their wishes and share their suggestions for improvement. The communal wellbeing group is a multidisciplinary team responsible for planning, evaluating and developing the wellbeing of the school community. The group includes representatives from teachers, student welfare services, parents and pupils.
"We’ve done pupil surveys in classrooms – for example about classroom atmosphere or rules. In the classroom rounds, we focus on the phenomena that come up in the pupils’ discussions. This makes their voices genuinely heard", Viitala says.
"Pupils can also make the initiative for a discussion session, and they always have the option to make an appointment with someone."
In addition to the usual services at school, pupils are offered low-threshold encounters. Pupils can make an appointment with a student welfare employee or come to an open appointment without asking their parents. Pupils come to the school nurse with all kinds of matters – big and small.
"We have open appointments where pupils can come and talk about anything. They’ll come alone or with a group, and we’ll make a separate appointment if necessary", Veikkola describes.
"Showing your face in classrooms and having the open appointment builds trust with the children – it’s easier to come see the nurse when you know their face."
The student welfare social worker organises friendship and emotional skills clubs where the pupils can influence the activities and learn skills for working together. The pupils’ wishes and ideas are also integrated in the contents of clubs and groups.
"Clubs and groups start off from the children’s needs, and the rules are agreed together. The clubs offer a safe environment where kids practise recognising, expressing and regulating emotions and learn constructive ways of resolving conflicts. When children develop friendship and emotional skills at an early stage, it prevents bullying and supports a positive atmosphere for the entire school community", Seppä explains.
Voluntary services based on trust
Student welfare services are voluntary and based on trust. The aim is to support pupils comprehensively in learning, social relationships and promoting mental health. There is close cooperation between teachers and parents, but the child is always listened to as well.
Student welfare professionals emphasise that the inclusion of children and young people is not only made up of individual acts, but also of continuous cooperation and listening.
"The most important thing is that one of us takes the matter on and works to help the child – in a flexible way that takes the child’s situation into account."
- Family centre