Each school draws up a school curriculum. In the school curriculum, the school explains how it uses the scope for decisions and actions provided by laws, regulations, the National Curriculum Guide and the school policy of the relevant municipality. Schools that are privately run and do not belong to a specific municipality do not have to comply with the provisions of the municipality’s school policy.

The School Curriculum Guide is a more detailed elaboration of the provisions of the National Curriculum Guide and provides the opportunity to adapt official instructions to the specific situation of each school and local circumstances and to explain how those circumstances are utilized to enhance learning and teaching.

The school curriculum outlines the values ​​on which the school’s work is based. It elaborates on the general criteria set out in the National Curriculum Guide.

The school curriculum shall, among other things, publish information about:

• the school’s operations since its foundation and the main aspects of the school’s development since its inception,
• school policy; values, educational and didactic policies and teaching methods,
• the school’s implementation of the basic elements of education and the emphasis areas of the Compulsory Education Act,
• learning objectives in light of the provisions of the National Curriculum Guide,
• school assessment and certification system
• internal assessment of performance and quality,
• plans for reform and development work,
• cooperation between homes and schools, information sharing,
• cooperation between kindergartens and upper secondary schools, reception and transfer program,
• the school’s relationship with the local community and how it can be used for learning and development,
• plans for:
  • welcoming new students,
  • alcohol and drug prevention,
  • measures against bullying and other violence,
  • safety and accident prevention,
  • equality and human rights,
  • response to shocks,
  • disciplinary matters.

Work plan

The annual work plan outlines the school’s operating hours and important dates. The work plan outlines how the 180 school days that a school has at its disposal are spent. The plan includes a published school calendar, which shows when classes begin in the fall and end in the spring.

The work plan shall, among other things, publish information on:

• the school’s administrative structure, including an organizational chart,
• school staff,
• school calendar, including the length of Christmas vacation, Easter vacation and other winter vacations. The 10 days on which student attendance may be reduced shall be identified in the school calendar, with specific explanations,
• teaching arrangements, such as lesson plans,
• the subject of the internal assessment,
• student work schedule, including information about student schedules, parent interviews, major events of the school year, and field trips,
• selection of students in grades 8–10,
• school council, parents’ association and student association and their work plans,
• school rules,
• information about support services, including school health care and specialist services,
• information about leisure activities and social life,
• lifelong learning program,
• evacuation plan,
• response to disasters, such as epidemics, storms, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes,
• other matters concerning the school’s operations each year, including practical information about the school’s opening hours, the presence of specialists, the cafeteria, absences and leave.