Goals
The following rules try to make sure that everybody in Ressu has a pleasant and safe working environment and that the school can operate successfully.
General
The rules apply to the school premises, school hours and events linked with the school. The premises include the building, the yard and the street area. School hours start with the first lesson and end with the last, and they also include any other events organised by the school.
General behaviour
According to Finnish law (lukiolaki 25§), students must attend school unless they have been granted permission to be absent. Students must take care of their duties diligently and behave appropriately.
Students must conduct themselves in manner where they do not behave inappropriately or discriminate others. Nor should they act in a manner where they compromise the safety or health of other students, the school community or the school environment.
Members of the Ressu school community treat each other politely and fairly. Lessons start and end punctually, according to the timetable in use. Tardiness disrupts everybody’s concentration, thus interfering with everyone’s right to work efficiently and effectively. It is not allowed to bring to school anything that is illegal, can be used to harm someone or can be used for destructive purposes (if there is no acceptable reason to bring it along).
During morning assembly (broadcast via the PA system) students must remain quiet.
Mobile phones must not be used in class outside of study use. Order and cleanliness are important in the school.
Students cannot use the car park in the yard in Kalevankatu.
School property must be handled carefully. In case of any damage, inform the principal/teacher/custodian immediately. The person responsible must compensate for the damage. If somebody is hurt in an accident, inform the nurse/ teacher/ custodian immediately, and if appropriate, provide first aid.
Ruoholahdenkatu 23 building
Certain aspects that apply to R23 building specifically:
- The use of elevators is forbidden to students. Contact Deputy Principal Pia-Helena Bär in case of health-related conditions which may require the use of the elevator.
- The windows are kept closed because of safety reasons and the automated ventilation system.
- Outdoor shoes must be left in the entrance lobby — indoor shoes are required.
- Lunch is served from 11 to 11:45. (During the exam week also from 12:30 to 13:00)
- The Ruoholahdenkatu building is open from 7:30 until 17:30 (Mon-Thu), on Fridays from 7:30 until 17.00.
School food
School lunch is for Ressu students/teachers only. Bags and coats must be left outside the cafeteria! Because the cafeteria space is limited, students must eat during the time frame assigned to their class. Students should leave the cafeteria promptly when they have finished their meals to make room for others. Chairs must be lifted up and slid back into their slot under the table.
Special diet requests should be reported to the nurse and the cafeteria staff.
After-school activities
School rules apply to students’ after-school activities that take place on the school premises. Organisations are responsible for their own events. Students attending clubs without the leadership of a teacher are not covered by the school’s insurance policy.
The school building is open from 7.30 am until 17:30 (on Friday only until 17:00).
The school’s insurance policy only covers official school trips. Cruises and other such events organised by the students themselves are not official school trips. Such activities must not occur during school time.
Harassment and bullying
Every Ressu student is important in contributing to our shared study environment and well-being. Everyone here must be treated politely and appropriately. We have zero tolerance for bullying, inappropriate behaviour, harassment and discrimination. Any form of gender-based or sexual harassment is, of course, forbidden. If you feel you have been treated inappropriately or been bullied or harassed: contact someone in the school: your group teacher, school nurse/psychologist/social worker, student counsellors or the principal!
Plagiarism and cheating
All forms of plagiarism and cheating are forbidden and students caught will be penalised. Plagiarism refers to the use of any material or ideas (text, pictures, diagrams, and the like) created by another person and the representation of it as one’s own original work. Academic integrity in all its forms is a cornerstone of all studies.
Smoking and intoxicating substances
Students are not allowed to smoke either on the school premises or at any school-related events outside the school building. Students are forbidden to appear intoxicated in the school or in any event organised by the school. This means that alcohol, tobacco, snuff and drugs are forbidden.
Discipline
Students disrupting the teaching can be asked to leave the room for the duration of the lesson. Students showing disruptive, threatening or violent behaviour can be deprived of their right to attend classes for the remainder of the day or up to three days, if there is a danger of teaching being disrupted or others’ safety is at stake. Students who disrupt teaching, break rules, are found guilty of academic dishonesty (e.g. plagiarism, cheating in an exam) or improper behaviour can be punished.
Punishments include written warnings and suspension (max 1 year). Students suspected of having committed a crime can be deprived of their right to attend school for the duration of the police investigation.
Work and school balance
Upper secondary school studies are demanding. Students must take care of their well-being if they work part-time during their studies. Students cannot work during the school day (8:15-16:15), and it is essential to schedule free time, as well. It is also important to have a proper summer holiday!
Other rules
In matters not specifically mentioned in these rules, Ressun lukio follows the general laws and ordinances which apply to lukio schools in Finland.
Absences
Students can miss classes only if they are ill or have applied and been granted permission to be absent. If a student is absent, the teacher will make a note of this in the Wilma computer system. These absences must then be explained and cleared in Wilma by the guardian (or students themselves if over 18) within a week. In order to clear the absence, the guardian must provide a short explanation for the absence. NB! When a student is sick, there is no need to specify the nature of the illness — "sick" is information enough.
If a student has more than three missed lessons (regardless of the reason), they need to contact the subject teacher to ask if there is anything they need to do to compensate for the missed teaching. It does not mean that they will fail the course, this is the case only on very rare occasions. This way both the teacher and student can make sure the student can master the content of the course regardless of the missed lessons. Otherwise the teacher will consider the course incomplete, which results in a lowered course grade. The teachers will communicate the impact of missed lessons on course assessment at the beginning of each course. The teacher can also contact the student support team if necessary.
If more than 1/3 of the lessons of the course are missed without providing evidence supporting a valid reason, the school has the right to remove the student from the course, which results in grade K (course discontinued) in Wilma. In the IB DP Programme this means that the student needs to retake the year.
The student or guardian must contact the group teacher if an illness lasts for three or more days.
The lessons that finish the course (Feedback day) are vitally important for success. Make sure you attend! Even if absences during these days do not automatically show up in Wilma, they will be added to total absence count and will have an effect on course assessment. Being absent without a valid reason can affect course grades.
The group teacher can give permission to be absent for 1-3 days (when the absence is known about in advance). For a longer absence request, the request must be submitted to Principal Huovinen. The head principal does not grant leaves of absence which are more than 5 school days long. We kindly ask you to take this into consideration when e.g. planning family vacations. Note that it is the students’ responsibility to contact the subject teachers beforehand to agree on the possible extra tasks.
All requests must be made beforehand and via Wilma.
Instructions for Ressun lukio IB students regarding course exam retakes
Exam retake day allows students to take a test they missed, usually due to an illness during exam week or if they got too low of a course grade:
-
PreDP course grades 7 and below – student is allowed to retake, except in Math (more information from Math teachers)
-
DP course grades 3 and below – student is allowed to retake
The retake days + sign-up deadlines for all subject groups are visible in the school calendar.
Students sign up for the retake via the Wilma system. Students must sign up by the deadlines stated in the calendar.
Missing components need to be completed by the end of next term.
Missing exam retake is only acceptable if the student can produce a doctor’s note explaining the absence.
If the student does not attend the course exam and misses the exam retake (without a valid excuse) the final course grade cannot be higher than 2D. The subject teacher will add to additional information in Wilma if effort grade D is given due to too many absences or because of a missed exam retake. Effort grade D due to a missed exam retake means that retaking is no longer possible. In all cases the matter should be discussed with the subject teacher.
Approaches to teaching and learning in the diploma programme
ATL are deliberate strategies, skills and attitudes that permeate the IB teaching and learning environment.
ATL supports the IB belief that a large influence on a student’s education is not only what you learn but also how you learn.
In the IB concept of ATL, there are five approaches to learning and six approaches to teaching.
Approaches to learning consist of interrelated skill categories, which also have close links to the IB Learner profile. The aim is to help students to take responsibility for their learning by identifying their best learning processes and developing their learning strategies with regard to
- Thinking skills
- Communication skills
- Social skills
- Self-management skills
- Research skills
Approaches to teaching are the six pedagogical principles behind all IB programmes.
Teaching in the Diploma programme aims to be
- based on inquiry
- focused on conceptual understanding
- developed in local and global contexts
- focused on effective teamwork and collaboration
- differentiated to meet the needs of all learners
- informed by assessment (formative and summative)
Ressun lukio IB World School has a library that supports the IB Diploma Programme. The library operates in both premises, Kalevankatu and Ruoholahdenkatu.
All our science books are in the Ruoholahdenkatu library and the fiction in the Kalevankatu library.
You can find the Kalevankatu library in the basement, next to student council room (room 017), and the Ruoholahdenkatu library on the sixth floor.
Opening hours
Both libraries are open daily according to the school’s opening hours.
Tha library assistant is available as follows: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at Kalevankatu and Tuesday at Ruoholahdenkatu from 9 am. till 4 pm. Exceptions to this schedule will be posted at the library doors.
The library assistant is there to help you with all library-related issues and information search.
Borrowing books
The borrowing of the books can be done either with the help of the library assistant or by marking the loan on the yellow map situated on the desk of the library assistant. The loan period for books is 28 days. You can renew your loans if there are no reservations.
The library is catalogued according to the YKL- cataloging system for public libraries.
Magazines to borrow
You can borrow the following magazines from the Kalevankatu library:
Geo
Hufvudstadsbladet
Kanava
L´Obs
National Geographic
Psykologia
Suomen Kuvalehti
Svensk Damtidning
Talouselämä
Tiede-lehti
Time Magazine Tiedelehti, Time Magazine
The most recent issues of these magazines are on the windowsill of the library and the older ones in the red folders on the opposite wall.
Other activities
Both libraries have room for studying. There´s a printer in the Kalevankatu library, which can be used for printing study materials.
Contact information
Klaus Kiljunen, Library assistant
Phone: 09-31079632, 040 038 1080