Föli for first-graders teaches how to use public transport

For many years, Föli has organised a school tour to encourage young pupils to take the bus and to teach them how to act on the bus and at the bus stop. The school tour is called Föli for first-graders, and it visits all grades one in the Föli region every year: Turku, Kaarina, Raisio, Naantali, Lieto and Rusko. There are around 150 grades one and around 3,000 first year pupils in the Föli region.

Föli for first-graders includes discussion and quizzes on public transport. During the presentation, pupils also take an imaginary bus journey as their classroom is transformed into a bus.

Pupils are always eager to participate in the presentation. Photo: Pasi Leino

“What should you do when you see the bus coming and want to hop on?” the host of the presentation Nina Koiranen-Kortemäki asks the pupils.

“We wave at it,” the pupils reply.

“If it is dark, it is a good idea to use a reflector or your phone’s light in addition to waving to ensure that the driver can see you at the stop,” advises Koiranen-Kortemäki.

Each pupil receives a bus-shaped reflector as a souvenir for participating in the lesson.

“If you take two steps back or even stand two street tiles away from the edge of the roadway, the driver can drive the bus on the very edge and it will be much easier for you to hop on,” says Koiranen-Kortemäki to the pupils. Photo: Pasi Leino

 

The pupils take an imaginary journey to Ruissalo led by a Föli guide. Along the way, they see Föli bikes, the railway station, the Botanic Garden and a Föli inspector, who tells the passengers about Föli’s electric bus fleet. At their destination, Ruissalo, they take a quiz. They guess, for example, whether it would be polite to give their seat to an older person on the bus, whether they can stick a chewing gum under the bus bench, whether their backpack can have its own seat and whether they can eat something on the bus.

“The tour has received a huge amount of good feedback from pupils, their parents and teachers. We have organised Föli for first-graders since 2016, which means that the first pupils who participated in the tour are already in upper comprehensive school,” rejoices Koiranen-Kortemäki, who has been involved from the beginning.

Pupils taking part in the Föli for first-graders tour will all have to take a Föli journey with a familiar adult as homework and, if necessary, to inform the adult of proper bus etiquette. For this assignment, each pupil receives two single tickets, for children and adults respectively, which are valid for two hours from the first use. In that time, you could travel to Ruissalo by water bus in a summery Turku.