Written by Sanjee GOONETILAKE (Coordinator of the School Community Building WG) with contributions from Sabrina FASOLI (Coordinator of the CEES WG)

Last Friday I had the honour to interview Ms Kristiina Siimes, our new Secondary school director who recently arrived from Finland exactly six months ago.  

It was also 7 March, the day before the International Womens’ Day and I could already feel the excitement as I entered the school grounds. Many things were happening.

I was welcomed into the office of Ms Siimes on the first floor of the Malala building. It was 1 pm and I realised that Ms Siimes was probably missing her lunch break to fulfill my request to have this interview.  

As we do not know each other, I introduced myself as an APEEE Board member who will work on School Community Building. I explained that I have been a parent at the school for 8 years, and that I lived in 3 African countries, Eritrea, Zimbabwe and Namibia where my children have been exposed to different school systems. Ms Siimes was open to chit chat and seemed very relaxed. After the welcome chat, we started with the interview.

From Finland to Belgium

Ms Siimes moved from Finland to Belgium for this new school year in August 2024, but she has previously visited Belgium as the Director of the Accredited European School of Helsinki for meetings of the Joint Teaching Committee, Management trainings, pedagogical networks etc. She has been the director of the ES Helsinki for 6 years and she has been the Deputy Director there for 8 years. Therefore, she explained to me that she is familiar with the European School system, having been in this system for 14 years. She was in a smaller school with students from the nursery to BAC with 3 language sections. There were around 300 students, and she explained that they had combined classes with different grades. They worked on differentiation, inclusion and often with a lot of individual contact with students.

Culture Shock

I asked Ms Siimes about culture shock and she explained that at the beginning one expects a “factory like environment” with a big school, but she found that was not true. She found the school environment human and welcoming with normal challenges like in any other school. She said there are lot of advantages in a big school and that she was inspired by all the pedagogical projects outside the classroom like Debate club, Feminist Club, Brumun, Podcast and CdE (Pupils Committee). She explained to me that a lot of things were happening today to celebrate the International Womens Day as well.  

Missing Finland?

She said she is happy here and she starts missing Finland just before the holidays because she knows that soon she will visit friends and family. After six months of being here, she misses the sea, the beautiful Pine trees and most of all the Finnish nature.  She has started taking walks in the Woluwe park where it gives her a feeling of Finnish nature. She enjoys the architecture of  Brussels and now she has started walking to the school admiring the architecture on her way. She said she feels settled in Brussels if she starts doing this. 😊

Background and Inspiration for rainy Brussels

She explained that her background was in teacher education for primary school and in French Philology at the University of Turku. She became a teacher for primary and lower secondary schools. She was a class teacher for 13 years before she took up Management positions. She also did Educational leadership studies in the University of Jyväskylä.

She has been in the accredited European School in Helsinki since 2010 and has been in Brussels for various meetings which made her consider a move to another ES.

She said that as a student she had done a semester in Paris and she has a soft spot for the French language. This inspired her to choose Brussels as a destination.

At this point, I realised that Ms Siimes is probably missing her lunch for this interview, and I asked what her plan was for lunch. She explained that she was planning to have lunch at the canteen. I understood that the lunch time was nearly over. So, I convinced Ms Siimes to continue the interview while we took lunch. The canteen was having the Burgher day and we both had burghers. I write this to tell you that Ms Siimes is a relaxed and empathetic person who is willing to listen to parents and is open to talking in an informal way. I was touched by her openness and humility.  

Finnish Educational System

Finnish Educational System is known all over the world after the success with worldwide PISA test results and also for its progressive nature. I asked Ms Siimes some deep questions on the Finnish Education System. These are her answers.

1: How do you define Education?

Education is the result of the education policies chosen at any given time. It is the knowledge, skills and competences we want young generations to learn for the future and be able to meet the needs of society. Through education we aim at raising and educating pupils to become responsible, autonomous adults, and fostering their growth as human beings. Education takes place not only in the classrooms and but in all the school’s pedagogical projects and in learning to live together.  

2: What are the priorities for you?

My priorities lie in supporting students in gaining the confidence to reach their own potential, to acquire good study skills, to achieve good results and to continue successfully in their field of interest in the future. I want to promote the high quality of teaching and learning, and the wellbeing of students. I wish the school’s dynamic culture to support, empower and motivate students in their learning and to enable them to have good faith in the future.

3:How do you see “Discipline” in education, and do you plan to reform the current disciplinary procedures in place?

Discipline teaches students to adapt and maintain a safe and supportive learning environment at school. It teaches students to understand the consequences of their own behaviour and to take responsibility for their own actions. It is important to discuss misconduct and think about where one could have done things differently to avoid the misconduct. Disciplinary action is always a learning experience for students. Disciplinary procedures are evaluated annually and developed collaboratively between teachers, students, parents and school management in a CEES meeting. I think it is good to gather feedback from all stakeholders to develop the disciplinary measures together. Disciplinary procedures are based on the European School’s rules and regulations. The school management has the final say on the disciplinary procedures.  

4: If you were a school subject, which one would you choose to be?

I think I am closest to philosophy as a school subject. I think and reflect phenomena and things in life, in school communities and in work communities to find meaningfulness and right way to proceed.  

5: We have heard so much about KiVa which is an anti bullying system developed by the university of Turku in Finland. As you may be aware the 3 other Brussels schools & even ES in Mol are KiVa schools. Do you also plan to introduce KiVa to EEB2?

The KiVa anti-bullying programme from Finland aims to prevent and stop bullying. It has these two approaches.  The programme was probably discussed in EEB2 in 2019. The school took in use another anti-bullying programme, initiated by a primary teacher, called 180 degrees, which aims equally at intervention and putting a stop to bullying. Teachers have been trained to implement it. The programme is used in the school, in addition individual cases of bullying and misbehaviour are dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Solving and stopping bullying always involves talking to both parties, informing parents and offering support to both the bully and the victim. The school has been using the life skills programme, and for the last two years under the name of Class Time Moments. Class Time Moments was introduced based on the Pupil Wellbeing Questionnaire and the pupils’ desire to develop their social and emotional skills and group dynamics. These two approaches in the school currently fulfil the same objectives as the KiVa programme. In order to ensure the sustainable development and systematic improvement of the organisation of Class Time Moments, I don’t currently see the need to switch from it to the KiVa programme.    

6: We understand that Finland is also ahead of the rest of the world in Learning Support in Education and you have an excellent teacher training institute in Jyväskylä for Learning Support to the rest of the world. Do you think we could perhaps in the future organise some teacher training in Finland for these invisible disabilities so that we have more support at EEB2 or arrange a conference with experts from Finland?

Yes, this is an ongoing area of interest for the European Schools to become more inclusive school and find effective ways to support pupils in classrooms. The teachers in EEB2 are very well educated in the idea of Inclusive education and differentiation in classrooms during the past two years. We are on a good path. This and next school year we continue be trained by experts from England. In future, we can surely think about sharing the expertise from Finland and develop the collaborative approach between home and school.  

7: We also have been admiring the way Finland has become a pioneer in combating fake news and Misinformation. We have followed how the former Secretary General of European Schools Kari Kivinen has been developing pedagogical material with the EU to enhance critical thinking skills of students to identify Misinformation and Disinformation etc. Would you be open to introduce such fun projects to EEB2?

I had a great opportunity to promote the sharing of pedagogical materials with the EU from Kari Kivinen, the former Secretary General of the European Schools, in the accredited European School of Helsinki. In EEB2 we have a working group for AI and BYOD and I am sure they are ready to take this on board to be developed and introduced in EEB2 from next school year.  

8: What role do you think the school plays in supporting students’ social and emotional development?

There is a growing need to support pupils’ wellbeing in schools, and this includes supporting pupils’ social and emotional wellbeing. Priorities of the Cypriot Presidency  of the European Schools 2024-2025 are centred on the concept of the students and teachers collective wellbeing. In April, the second edition of the Teachers’ Forum between European and Accredited European Schools will take place in in Cyprus to share best practices and strengthen the know-how of wellbeing work  in each European School.  We will equally participate in the Teachers’ Forum.

9: The results of the anonymous wellbeing survey of EEB2 in 2019 highlighted issues such as self harm, suicidal thoughts, eating disorders, academic stress etc. What are your thoughts on addressing such challenges? How do you see wellbeing addressed in this ES system? Are there areas that you think we should improve on?

Since the last survey the school has revisited, updated and implemented various policies to meet the needs of safety and security and to promote the wellbeing of pupils at school. There are regular trainings organised for teachers and members of staff to share the knowledge and knowhow between the European Schools. These policies are available on the school website. They are regularly implemented and followed up in the school.  

Preventive work is also important, as discussed earlier in relation to the Class Time Moment and the Teachers’ Forum. In order to support the mental wellbeing of the pupils, we have several projects in the school that we work with: Active Bystander Training for students to prevent bullying, Tolerance of Diversity, Gender Equality and Diversity, Feminist Club, a policy against sexual harassment to name a few.

I believe that multidisciplinary working between pupils, parents, the school support team, teachers and external professionals plays a crucial role in supporting pupils who need support.  It is crucial that we and parents contact external professionals at an early stage. We all need to listen to the students, help them integrate into the school and into Belgian society, find their place, help them identify their resources, support them, make them feel seen, heard and understood. We all should help the students to navigate in the complex world and avoid pressuring them with too high expectations. We, home and school, must help children and adolescents to find a good balance between study, hobbies, rest and being together with family and friends.

10: In your view what are some of the biggest challenges facing the school, and how do you plan to address them?

The biggest challenge is Overcrowding. Luckily, we have a solution ahead of us. This will have a great impact on student and staff wellbeing, giving more space and peace to add personal touch in school and not to feel continuously overloaded by the big amount of work.  

11: How do you see the school evolving in the next few years, and what opportunities are you excited about?

I am excited continuing the implementation of the skill and competence-based curriculum of the European Schools and development of the assessment system to help pupils to become more engaged in their learning. I am willing to support the teachers and pupils to reach their best potential and feel confident in what they are doing.  

12: Do you have ideas on how the school could further engage with parents and the wider community, and what opportunities are there for parents to get involved? What do you think of the idea of parent volunteers?

I think there could be some more face-to-face meetings with the parents’ association or with parents to help them to better understand the European Schools programme. The parent volunteers would be a great asset in cooperation with the different school projects. I am sure this happens already in many occasions.  

When possible, invite parents to the school. At the moment, it is restricted due to overpopulation. However, it was very nice to meet parents in the Christmas market. Next time, I think we will have an opportunity to meet at the Footfest.  

13:What role do you think technology plays in education, and how is the school using technology to enhance teaching and learning?

Teaching and learning technology should be used as one of the teaching and learning methods like any other teaching method.  

Students need to have the necessary skills and competences for their further studies and to become active and confident users of technology as European citizens in society. Currently, teachers can ask their students to bring their own device to class, and in years S6-7 it is compulsory to have a laptop. We are planning to extend this approach to S4-5 classes so that S6-7 classes can take full advantage of teaching technology without having to practice using the devices. Teachers already share their materials on Teams, it would be great if they could also access them during the school day, for example when a teacher is absent.  

14: What advice would you give to students, parents, or teachers who are new to the school like you?

Be curious about your new school and host  country. Connect, network, be active. Accept invitations and possibilities to connect even if the proposed activity  wouldn’t always be your first field of interest. This helps you to find your place and social network. It will not be created in one year but I am sure the second year will start to look more like your own life already.  

15: Is there anything you’d like to add or any final thoughts you’d like to share about the school or your role as secondary director?

It was a great pleasure to meet and get to know each other.  

Before I left her office, Ms Siimes told me that one of her daily pleasures was to see the students in action in different clubs such as the Feminist Club, Debate Club, Media Club, Green Team etc. This brought me tears of joy as I remember the creation of the Feminist Club in late 2018 when the previous Secondary Director Mr Joaquin Schmelz introduced me to teacher Sarah Chambers for some of their projects.  

I ran into Assistant Deputy Director of the Secondary Cycle Kirsten Meeus who informed me that there were some fun activities at the Salle Polyvalent to celebrate the International Womens Day. She encouraged me to take a look as it was about to end. I went to the Salle Polyvalent to see lower Secondary students happily participating in different activities/games related to empowerment of girls and women. There were bookmarks to make and crochet creations to sell, and a polaroid camera stall to take pictures. The idea was to engage in activities to celebrate the International Womens Day.  

As I left the school surrounded by students who were happily engaging in pedagogical activities outside the classroom, one young student who looked like a S1 student came up to me with a basket full of rolled up letters that were beautifully tied up with a recycled red thread.

She asked if I wanted a gift in English, French or Portuguese. I chose the English one. It is a beautiful poem starting with :

‘Woman, you are magical poetry,

When you open your eyes, you are a sunrise

Your voice enchants the world,

And from your tears, the waves of the sea emerge.’

The parents leaving the school grounds after pick up received these rolled up beautiful messages.

We would like to thank the school for all this creativity and the positive energy you spread with our children. It was a reassuring glimpse into the world of the Secondary school.

Written by Sanjee GOONETILAKE (Coordinator of the School Community Building WG) with contributions from Sabrina FASOLI (Coordinator of the CEES WG)