The Victorian schools that have caught the attention of Finland

While policy makers and politicians from around the world have traditionally looked to Finland to improve their schools, the organisation has been studying what's happening in Victorian classrooms.

Last year, HundrED which receives funding from the Finnish government, chose the "education state" as its first location for a new project that identifies innovations and then shares them with the world.

It has spent the past 10 months weighing up the state’s best education initiatives and will now publish guidelines to help other schools implement similar ideas.

Other Victorian projects on the list include;

The organisation’s head of operations, Lasse Leponiemi​, said the successful innovations all involved “fresh” thinking, improved student outcomes and had the ability to be scaled up.

“Knowing that Victoria was the education state, we wanted to look at what was happening here,” he said.

“We were excited to see that there are innovations all around the state, not just in Melbourne, and these are serving all sorts of different needs.”

The Finnish organisation partnered with the Melbourne-based Education Changemakers, which runs teacher training, to assess the state’s best initiatives. As well as calling for submissions, they reached out to groups they thought were doing interesting, important work.

Education Changemakers co-founder Aaron Tait said Victoria was a “hot bed” when it came to schools and education startups.

“Finland is the gold medallist in education globally,” he said. “For them to choose one spot globally, and to choose Victoria, is a great thing.”

Amy runs the cafe, which is supported by Save the Children, with eight classmates every Tuesday and takes great pride in brewing coffee for teachers and parents. She also cooks them quiches and pasta dishes using ingredients from the kitchen garden at the Caroline Springs state school in Melbourne's west.

She said it's wonderful that the cafe, which has been expanded to two other western suburbs state schools, has been recognised internationally.

According to Amy, the cafe has changed her life. It's taught her important social and entrepreneurial skills and also boosted her confidence.

“There is a reason for me to come to school,” she said.

Amy's teachers have also noticed changes.

She is happier, more engaged and her attendance has improved dramatically. She's gone from skipping up to three days of school a week, to attending full-time.

She also has a goal: becoming a child care worker.

“I care about school a lot more," she said. "And know I can pick up new skills.”