Kauhajoki Senior High School Address: Puistotie 18, 61800 Kauhajoki Finland Email: lukio@kauhajoki.fi Location: Western Finland, 70km south from Vaasa Students: About 300, aged 16-18 Staff: Headmaster and about 20 teachers School year: Mid August - End of May - divided into 6 periods (1 period = six weeks) - exams at the end of each period - holidays: 4 longer holidays (autumn, Christmas, winter, Easter) School subjects: Finnish English Swedish German Russian Latin Math long course Math short course Physics Chemistry Biology Geography Religious Education Philosophy Psychology History Music Art Physical Education Drama club Computer Science Student councelling Each student has to take at least 75 courses during his schooltime. Each course consists of about 30 lessons. (1 lesson = 45 minutes) Matriculation examination: The formal exam: at least 4 subjects. Except the compulsory subjects (Finnish, English, Swedish, Maths or Humanities and Natural sciences) the student can also take some optional subjects (German, Latin, Russian etc.). According to new regulations stud ents can, if they have taken the required number of subjects, take the finals after 2 years of study (instead of the the normal 3 years). They can also take an extra 4th year, if they need to. Student activities: The student council organizes different event during the school year (the Unicef happening, Independence Day festivals etc.) and trips for example to the theatre and the National Opera. 2-3 students take part in the international student exchange progr ammes every year. Similarly we get 2-3 foreign studentst to our school. Traditionally our Latin students have paid a one-week visit to Rome every spring. We also have a twin-school in Zambia: Koweni Primary School which we contribute to every year. A new contact we have with a Dutch School, Rayland Senior Secondary School. So far we have had some student exchange with this school.