Ressun peruskoulu (Ressu Comprehensive School) is a City of Helsinki unified comprehensive school in Kamppi for grades 1 to 9, with about 750 pupils. It is a separate school from Ressun lukio. The school has Finnish-language classes, weighted English-language classes where about 80% of teaching is in English, and a preparatory class for grades 7-9. The school states the language of instruction directly: the teaching language is Finnish, and English in the weighted English classes; the school stresses that it is not a bilingual school. Learning objectives and content in the English classes are the same as in the Finnish classes. The school implements the city curriculum through two IB programmes in Finnish and English: the PYP in grades 1-6 and the MYP in grades 7-9. English as the first foreign language starts in grade 1, optional Spanish or French in grade 3, Swedish in grade 6, and Spanish, French or German in grade 8. In grades 8-9 pupils complete a week of working life introduction (TET).
Key facts
Programmes
IB · PYP, MYP · National programme
Languages of instruction
Finnish, English
Languages taught
Swedish, Spanish, French, German
About the fees The school is municipal, and its page does not state tuition fees. According to the city, lunch is free every school day; the school organises clubs free of charge. Only after-school activities for grades 1-2 and pupils with special needs are charged.
Admissions The Finnish-language classes primarily admit children living in the school's area. The weighted English classes admit by a language test assessing readiness to study in English; the teaching is intended for children of internationally mobile families with native-level English. These classes require a home address in Helsinki (the application may be sent before moving). Continuous admission to grades 1-9 requires native or near-native English or English-medium study abroad within the last 18 months, and applicants to grades 8-9 also need spoken Finnish at A1 level; the test is held once a month except in June and July. For children staying in Finland for no more than two years the school has a temporary, primarily English-language class: the family must live in Helsinki and prove the temporary stay, for example with an A or B residence permit. Pupils in grades 7-9 who do not yet speak Finnish can join the preparatory class.
Stages and year groups Grades 1-9. A unified comprehensive school (perusopetus), grades 1-6 primary and grades 7-9 lower secondary. Finnish-language classes, weighted English classes (about 80% of teaching in English) and a preparatory class for grades 7-9. The school runs two IB programmes in Finnish and English: the PYP in grades 1-6 and the MYP in grades 7-9, through which it implements the city curriculum; after grade 9 pupils receive the Finnish basic education certificate. There is no upper secondary school (lukio) and no leaving exam at this school.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP · authorised programmeThe IB register lists the Primary Years and Middle Years programmes at the school: PYP in grades 1-6 and MYP in grades 7-9 of the English-language line. It is a municipal comprehensive school, separate from Ressun lukio.
school is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
IBInternational Baccalaureate
A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: PYP (ages 3-12), MYP (ages 11-16). PYP is the primary stage, ages 3 to 12. It is not a set of subjects but a frame for the whole school: learning is built around lines of inquiry, and there are no exams at the end. MYP is the middle stage, ages 11 to 16. There are no exams here either; at the end an optional electronic assessment of pupils' work is possible.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →National programme
The state school programme of the country the school stands in: it is set by that country's ministry of education, which also licenses the school and awards the leaving certificate. That certificate is used for entry to local universities, and abroad it is matched to the local one.
What this means for this school. This entry does not count towards the score, and that is deliberate. Every lawful school in a country works to the national programme, so on its own it tells one school apart from no other - unlike the French, German or Russian programmes, which are carried abroad and confirmed by the register of their organisation. We show it because a parent needs to know what programme their child is taught and what certificate the child will get. Counting it would lift the whole ranking at once and still tell nobody apart.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
The school publishes nothing about where its leavers go: no share going on to university, no exam results, no list of universities.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
·Librarynot stated on the website
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: The school in Kamppi occupies a building on Lapinlahdenkatu (four floors, a lift, a gym hall) and a second building on Ruoholahdenkatu with a cafeteria. Lunch is free: two main dishes every day, with basic and vegetarian menus on a six-week cycle.
Clubs and activities: Field and Indoor Hockey · Show dance club · PPJ football club · Art clubs · Art Oksa (art group) · Nyt pelittää! (game making)
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
The school page names its class teachers and subject teachers (several dozen people), as well as the principal, the deputy principal, the PYP and MYP coordinators, four special education teachers, three classroom assistants, two guidance counsellors and a school coach.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
·Access controlnot stated on the website
✓Nurse or medical room
✓Counsellor
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The school has two nurses, two school social workers (kuraattori), two psychologists, four special education teachers, two guidance counsellors and a school coach; visits to the social worker and psychologist are recorded in the city's health care system. The school follows the city's anti-bullying programme for comprehensive schools; unauthorised use of mobile devices during lessons and meals is not allowed.
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)72 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data65 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data70 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data76 Value for money (6%) scored at the median95 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 7 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country
Helsinki, Finland · State