All city departments will adopt a coherent approach to prevent and address bullying when the early childhood education and pre-primary education term starts in August, said the City of Helsinki in a press release on Monday.
The Anti-Bullying Programme has already been in use for years in the City of Helsinki's daycare centres and schools, and it has now been adapted to better meet the needs of daycare centres.
“A safe and caring community where everyone is included in play is essential for a child's wellbeing and learning. By investing in these fundamental emotional and interaction skills, we are building a foundation that will last a lifetime," said Head of Early Childhood Education Miia Kemppi in the press release.
The anti-bullying programme for early childhood education and pre-primary education was built together with children and staff and piloted in 19 daycare centres.
The programme was updated to make it more suitable for early childhood education, as daycare centres wanted their own programme that suits their environment better.
A report by the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC) on tackling bullying in early childhood education served as background material for the update.
Eduction Division's project specialists, pedagogical specialists and pupil welfare staff have been involved in the preparation of the programme.
Bullying emerged as a frequent experience in the recent Child Barometer study by the Ombudsman for Children consisting of more than 400 telephone interviews with pre-primary education children nationwide where one per cent of children said they were continuously bullied in pre-primary education.
About 56% said they were sometimes bullied. Seventeen per cent of the respondents also said that they do not always have a friend at pre-primary school.
In the autumn, Helsinki's early childhood education staff will receive an introduction to the updated anti-bullying programme and support material for parent-teacher conferences.
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
