Crisis support at Viertola Comprehensive School continues

Workers from the student welfare and social and crisis emergency services of the Wellbeing Services County of Vantaa and Kerava worked at Viertola School on both Tuesday and Wednesday. On Wednesday, the school day at Viertola was slightly shorter than usual, from 9:00 to 12 noon. Almost all pupils were present at school. The school day started with a moment of silence. During the day, crisis workers were present at the school. They visited classes and provided personal support.  

“According to teachers, younger pupils had a lot of questions. They wanted to discuss the incident. Older pupils did not have much to discuss and normal school work soon continued for them,” says Director of Basic Education in Vantaa Ilkka Kalo who visited Viertola School on Wednesday.

The Wellbeing Services County of Vantaa and Kerava has provided the pupils who witnessed the shooting with special support.

“Workers from the social and crisis emergency services have talked with the children and teachers who were present in the classroom where the incident took place and they have assessed the need for acute crisis work. They have also called families whose children witnessed the shooting and assessed the children’s and families’ need for support, and they have provided psychosocial support by phone,” says Henna Niskanen , Director of Social and Crisis Emergency Services at the Wellbeing Services County of Vantaa and Kerava. 

Student welfare staff have been transferred from other educational institutions to strengthen the resourcing of schools in the area. Student welfare workers include school social workers, psychologists and nurses. The services for children, young people and families in Vantaa and Kerava coordinate further actions on psychosocial support in cooperation with the City of Vantaa’s Education and Learning Department.

Viertola School has two teaching facilities. The incident took place in a mainstream education classroom in Jokiranta 

Viertola School is located in the city district of Viertola, in the Tikkurila major region of Vantaa. The school has 830 pupils and two teaching facilities, Liljatie and Jokiranta. 

The shooting occurred in the pavilion-type building of the Jokiranta teaching facility, in the classroom of class 6CD, which is a mainstream education class. 

“Incorrect information about what happened has been spread in public. The class in which the shooting occurred is a mainstream education class. The class consists of 38 pupils, and two teachers work with the class all the time. In practice, the two classes work separately for some of the lessons and then some of the lessons are under the guidance of two teachers. So there are 19 pupils per teacher,” says Ilkka Kalo, Director of Basic Education.  

In Vantaa, the average class size in grades 1–6 is 20.5 pupils per teacher.

Information about Viertola School

• Viertola School is located in the city district of Viertola, in the Tikkurila major region of Vantaa. The school has 830 pupils and is divided into two locations, the teaching facilities of Liljatie and Jokiranta. 
• There are about 560 pupils and 60 adults at the Liljatie teaching facility. Grades 1–6 are taught in the Liljatie school building and pavilion-type building. 
• The Jokiranta teaching facility has about 270 pupils, most of whom are in grades 1–6, and 30 adults. Education is provided in the school building and in a pavilion-type building. 
• Outpatient clinic teaching is provided at Jokiranta. These classes have a little over 40 students, about 20 of whom attend grades 7–9. 
• Viertola School has POP classes (teaching for disabled pupils) in grades 1–5. There are approximately 20 POP pupils.
• S2 pupils who speak Finnish as a second language make up 27% of the whole student body. In Vantaa, S2 pupils make up an average of 30% of schools’ pupils. 

Help and support for children, young people and adults

A list of parties providing help is available here.