Our Nordplus project “Bridging Minds & Cultures Through Stories” is starting

Exploring New Cultures and Sharing Stories: A Collaborative Nordplus Project

With this project, we will explore new cultures and share stories with our partners from Estonia, Finland, Iceland, and the Finnish-Swedish community. 

In January 2025, Laanila Upper Secondary School teachers Kaisu Mäki, Hanne-Marika Anttila, Tiina Fredriksson, Nina Salmela, and Antti Pekkala (behind the camera) visited Tallinn Europe School in Estonia. In February 2025, Tallinn Europe School teachers Guilherme Struecker, Tom Flowers and Susanna Aija visited Laanila Upper Secondary School and Svenska Privatskolan in Oulu, Finland.

The aim of the project is to support students in overcoming challenges and fostering self-acceptance through language learning, storytelling, and cultural heritage. We intend to promote students’ creativity and critical thinking through creative writing tools. At the same time, we encourage our youth to be active, committed, expressive, and to develop a deeper connection to their own cultural roots. We are looking for students interested in storytelling and international adventure.

Preliminary Program in Tallinn, Autumn 2025:

Tallinn European School, Estonia: Mental Health Through Writing and Culture

During the visit to Tallinn Europe School, we finalized the application with all our partners. Our project will commence with joint planning and travel reservations this spring. On the right, you can see the Tallinn European School building, featuring elements of Gothic Revival architecture.

Mon (13.10): Icebreakers, performances, group games, and a mental health workshop led by a school psychologist.

Tue (14.10): Cultural trip to Tartu, including a workshop at the printing house, a tour of the University of Tartu, and dinner in Viikingite küla.

Wed (15.10): Workshop on writing about the themes "Home," "Wishes," and "Me," followed by a discussion.

Thu (16.10): Producing stories in different formats and an introduction to creating a digital magazine.

Fri (17.10): Assembling the digital magazine, presenting it to parents, and a farewell party.

Preliminary Program in Oulu, Spring 2026:

Laanila High School and Svenska Privatskolan i Uleåborg: Mental Well-being Through Writing, Outdoor Activities, and Animal Friends

Svenska Privatskolan youth and the school building at Sepänkatu 7, in the center of Oulu.

Mon (4.5): Introduction to Swedish-speaking culture, icebreakers, and a video diary workshop.

Tue (5.5): Mindfulness exercises, meeting with a fantasy author, and sausage roasting on a campfire.

Wed (6.5): Visit to an alpaca farm, forest hike, and word art workshop.

Thu (7.5): Visit to the University of Oulu, mental well-being expedition, and video workshop.

Fri (8.5): Presentation of video diaries, introduction to the Oulu International House online magazine, and farewell party.

Preliminary Program in Tröllaskagi, Iceland, Spring 2027:

Tröllaskagi Upper-Secondary School, Iceland: Well-being of the Mind Through Writing and Nature Experiences

Tröllaskagi upper-secondary school students and school building in northern Iceland.

Mon (): School tour, icebreakers, introduction to the "Timeout method," and visual storytelling.

Tue (): Mindfulness walk, group discussions, and a workshop on visual storytelling.

Wed (): Literature and writing workshop, storytelling through comics, and a workshop on creative writing.

Thu (): Finalization of writing projects, peer review, and presentation of the digital magazine.

Fri (): Cultural day trip to the Poetry Museum, Folk Music Center, and Herring Museum, followed by a farewell party.

Tarinasi on tärkeä, jaa se./Sagan þín skiptir máli, deildu henni./ Sinu lugu on oluline, jaga seda./Din berättelse är viktig, dela den.

Nordplus Junior 2025-2027: Partner Introductions

Tallinn European School

https://tes.edu.ee/  

Tallinn European School is an Accredited European School established in 2013 by the 

Estonian Ministry of Education and Research to provide a multilingual international education 

at Nursery, Primary and Secondary levels. The school follows the European Schools’ curriculum 

and delivers the European Baccalaureate diploma.

Tallinn European School is the only Accredited European School in Estonia and in the Baltics. 

The school provides a multilingual international education at Nursery, Primary and Secondary 

levels, for children aged 4 to 19 years old, following the European Schools’ curriculum. The 

school delivers the European Baccalaureate, a demanding examination which is recognized by 

all the Universities within the EU and in many other countries (USA, China, Canada, Japan, 

Russia…). It is the only international school in Estonia offering two linguistic sections, English 

and French. For the school year 2024/2025, lessons are provided in 11 different European languages: 

English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Spanish and 

Romanian. The school provides a child-friendly, healthy, secure and supportive learning environment 

in a fully renovated school building located in the heart of Tallinn, a few steps away from the Old 

Town and the creative district of Telliskivi. Tallinn European School integrates numerous services, 

with multiple Extracurricular activities and Aftercare options until 18:00, professionals dedicated to 

the pupils’ welfare (psychologist, nurse, SEN teacher…), and integrated canteen and library. Tallinn 

European School’s team is composed of more than 100 talented staff members. It is an experienced 

and multicultural team, with multiple profiles and professional backgrounds. The school is the 

biggest international school in Estonia with around 500 pupils for the 2024/2025 school year. 

Tallinn European School is the most affordable international school in Estonia with annual tuition 

fees of 3993 euros in Nursery, 4664 euros in Primary, and 5709 euros in Secondary. 

Laanila High School (Oulu, Finland)

https://www.ouka.fi/laanilan-lukio

Laanila High School is a comprehensive upper secondary school for students aged 15–19.

Our school’s strength lies in its vibrant team spirit, which is evident in the active participation of students in various initiatives, including promoting sustainable development and engaging in student body and tutor activities.

We are passionate about providing general education for young people, driven by a genuine love for science, art, skills, and humanity. Our school atmosphere is welcoming and supportive, fostering a sense of belonging. We are committed to our students’ success, offering support through homework workshops, remedial teaching, and physical activities.

With a long-standing tradition as a UNESCO and Green Flag school, our commitment to global responsibility and humane values is reflected in our students’ daily lives. They engage in international projects, human rights work, and activities focused on sustainable development and climate action. Our school’s solar power plant produces electricity ethically and locally, contributing to a sustainable future.

Located near the city center of Oulu, the Capital of Culture 2026, Laanila High School graduates approximately 100 students each year.

Svenska Privatskolan i Uleåborg

https://www.spsu.fi/

Svenska Privatskolan i Uleåborg offers high-quality education in a safe, familiar environment in the heart of Oulu. We provide:

• Modern equipment
• Small, flexible teaching groups
• Individual supervision and learning
• Borrowable course literature for savings
• Free accommodation and travel for non-local students

Rooted in Finnish-Swedish culture, we have chosen Oulu’s Lucia from our students for many years. We collaborate with local and Swedish-Finland schools, and offer distance studies via Gnet and Aikuislukio.

We participate in international projects like Erasmus and national projects such as TekNatur and Kulturkarnevalen. Top athletes can join our Sports Academy.

We foster a positive, respectful community where everyone can participate and influence. Student health services are provided by the City of Oulu, with additional support from the school, including:

• School coach
• Upcoming school physiotherapist
• Expanded psychology services

Menntaskólinn á Tröllaskaga de Ólafsfirði (Iceland) 

 https://www.mtr.is/

Video

The school Menntaskólinn of Tröllaskaga is 14 years old and functions under Iceland ́s newest legislation for education,it provides more flexibility in study options. The school offers an ambitious program with very diverse teaching methods that focus on student performance and independence. The bulk of learning materials exist in the on-line teaching platform of the school , “Moodle” including instructions and details of assignments, along with instructions on how to access reading materials that are not textbooks or in the online teaching program. 

The program allows the instructors to be creative when incorporating resources from the internet with their curricula alongside more traditional learning materials such as textbooks. Many new subjects have been created as a result of this system and forms an important part of our Erasmus objectives set in our accreditation. All foreign projects become a subject recognized with credits.  

In order to be able to work on line all students are required to have lab-tops, and a wide range of free programs are available for them to use for study and communication purposes. A compulsory ICT course is offered to the students in order to prepare them for their work. On line students and students on campus are all in the same groups in the same subjects. Thanks to the flexibility of the schedule, students have been afforded work time during school hours, which they can use to work on any assignment from any class, collaborate with peers, or take advantage of one-on-one time with instructors. On line students have access to their teachers via email, Moodle messenger and Google meet. 

The motto of menntaskólinn á Tröllaskaga which is  innovation, creativity and courage has become part of the genes of school.  “Innovation” is the hallmark concept of it ́s motto. In Menntaskólinn á Tröllaskaga, it is important that staff and students are innovative in by finding and implementing new ideas. “Creativity” is a basic element that provides focus on arts and culture in schools. We encourage creativity in all areas of study, and use it as a beacon to guide our progress. "Courage” – in other words – daring - is having the strength to follow new paths. The school has approx. 550 students, the staff members are 30. 

Menntaskólinn á Tröllaskaga has been Unesco school since 2022 and we have had  Erasmus accreditation since 2021. It has a wide experience in both Erasmus and Nordplus projects.