Finnish Education in Perth
Perth is home to Australia's only school built entirely around the IB curriculum, alongside several independent schools that blend the IB Primary Years Programme with the Australian Curriculum. Finnish pedagogy is a newer option for K-5 families.
- The International School of Western Australia (ISWA) is described as Australia's only school with a dedicated IB curriculum from Kindergarten to Year 12.
- ISWA's primary years follow the IB Primary Years Programme, running six inquiry-based units per year from Kindergarten to Year 6.
- Scotch College Junior School was the first school in Western Australia to adopt the IB Primary Years Programme.
- Presbyterian Ladies' College Perth and Penrhos College also combine the IB Primary Years Programme with the Australian Curriculum.
Perth's existing international school landscape
Perth families looking beyond mainstream state schooling can choose the International School of Western Australia, Australia's only school built entirely around a dedicated IB curriculum, or independent schools such as Scotch College, Presbyterian Ladies' College and Penrhos College, all of which blend the IB Primary Years Programme with the Australian Curriculum. This gives Perth a comparatively strong concentration of IB primary options for a city of its size.
Finnish pedagogy has not yet arrived in Perth as a dedicated school, but the demand for inquiry-led, less test-driven primary education is the same demand that has made the IB Primary Years Programme popular there.
What a Finnish-pedagogy K-5 school would change
The shift centres on the primary years: phenomenon-based, cross-subject projects replace single-subject blocks, one class teacher stays with the same group across several years, feedback is descriptive rather than frequently graded, and long outdoor breaks are built into the daily timetable. Reading and numeracy are still taught systematically, at a pace set more by the individual child than by standardised, grade-by-grade benchmarks.
How Finnish pedagogy reaches a city like Perth
A school in a city such as Perth typically becomes Finnish-pedagogy through affiliation with a Finnish education partner, adopting the curriculum approach and teacher training while remaining a locally registered Western Australian school, rather than opening as a branch of a Finnish exam board.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a Finnish curriculum school in Perth?
Not yet as a dedicated school. Finnish pedagogy would most likely arrive through a K-5 school affiliating with a Finnish partner for curriculum and teacher training, in the same way Perth's IB schools built their programmes.
How does Finnish pedagogy compare with the IB Primary Years Programme already common in Perth?
Both approaches favour inquiry over rote learning and limit formal testing in the primary years, so the two sit closer together than a Finnish school would to Australia's own NAPLAN-tested state curriculum; the main differences are Finland's single class teacher model and its emphasis on outdoor breaks between lessons.
Why does Perth have an unusually strong concentration of IB primary schools?
Several long-established independent schools in Perth adopted the IB Primary Years Programme early, and the International School of Western Australia was purpose-built around the IB curriculum, giving the city more dedicated options than its size might suggest.
Related reading
Bring Finnish pedagogy to your school
OPPI affiliates a selective cohort of schools each year for its K-5 Finnish-pedagogy programme, backed by Education Finland. Tell us about your school and our team will reach out.
Backed by Education Finland. Over 20 schools have already affiliated, including DPS, Radcliffe and Sanctus. Places in each cohort are limited.
Apply to the affiliation cohort →