Tallinn European School ( et, Tallinna Euroopa Kool), or TES, is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Accredited European School An Accredited European School is a type of international school under national jurisdiction and financing, within the member states of the European Union, which have been approved, by the Board of Governors of the international organisation "The ...

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. Founded in 2013, it is an all-through school which offers a multicultural and

multilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

education leading to the

European Baccalaureate The European Baccalaureate (or EB) is a bilingual educational diploma, which certifies the completion of secondary studies in a European School or Accredited European School by the Board of Governors of the intergovernmental organisation, "The E ...

as its secondary leaving qualification. TES is Estonia's largest

international school An international school is an institution that promotes education in an international environment or framework. Although there is no uniform definition or criteria, international schools are usually characterized by a multinational student body a ...

, and the first of the Accredited European Schools, found across the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, to be established in the

Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

Multilingual curriculum

Tallinn European School currently allows students to enrol in either the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-section or French-section. Students enrolled in the school are generally instructed in the language of the respective section. Students must choose from either English, French or

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

for their second language, which becomes the language of instruction for

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

curriculum from the third-year secondary, as well as the optional

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

course available from fourth year. Students are also expected to take a third language upon entering the secondary school. Students whose

mother-tongue A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

is not covered by a language section, are enrolled in the English section, and can opt for their mother-tongue in place of English-studies, taking English as their designated second language. At present TES provides classes in ten languages for mother-tongue or foreign language programmes.

History

Tallinn European School (TES) was founded in 2013 by the Innove Foundation, an independent "education competence centre" created by the Estonian Ministry of Finance. Initially based in a building at 2, Keevise Street, in the Tallinn subdisctrict of

Ülemiste Ülemiste is a subdistrict ( et, asum) in the district of Lasnamäe, Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It has a population of 1,444 (). Estonian largest airport Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport is located in Ülemiste. Ülemiste is the location of ...

, the school moved to its current location at Tehnika 18, in the Tallinn subdisctrict of

Kelmiküla Kelmiküla (Estonian for ''"Rascal Village"'' or ''"Rogue Village"'') is a subdistrict () in the district of Põhja-Tallinn (North Tallinn), Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It has a population of 1,101 (). Gallery File:Tallinna Transpordikool ...

, in August 2018 following renovation of the buildings.

Campus and facilities

The school's campus includes a

canteen {{Primary sources, date=February 2007 Canteen is an Australian national support organisation for young people (aged 12–25) living with cancer; including cancer patients, their brothers and sisters, and young people with parents or primary carers ...

, a

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

and a

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...

, in addition to around 40

classrooms A classroom or schoolroom is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other places where education ...

. It consists of three blocks (A,B, and C), with a total floor surface area of 7,200

square metres The square metre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or square meter (American spelling) is the unit of area in the International System of Units (SI) with symbol m2. It is the area of a square w ...

Railway heritage

Block A, originally built in 1880 for the "Tallinn Railway Technical School", is listed for

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

under Estonian law. A separate wooden structure, built in 1895, which constituted the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

school's main building no longer stands. Block A incorporates elements of

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

, including a

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' w ...

, neo-Gothic arch windows, and

stepped gable A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in a ...

s. The wooden ceilings, windows, and hinges were restored during renovations. Between 1926 and 1937, the building was used by the Tallinn French School, before, what was now the "Tallinn Railway Vocational School", reoccupied the building in 1939. The school building caught fire in 1969, and was reconstructed in 1978, with the addition of a new four-

storey A storey (British English) or story (American English) is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the word are ''storeys'' (UK) and ''stories'' (US). T ...

study hall, connected directly to the historical school building. Originally installed in 1974, a

Škoda Works The Škoda Works ( cs, Škodovy závody, ) was one of the largest European industrial conglomerates of the 20th century, founded by Czech engineer Emil Škoda in 1859 in Plzeň, then in the Kingdom of Bohemia, Austrian Empire. It is the predece ...

, Kc4-100 model,

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

, is still displayed on the school grounds commemorating the campus' railway heritage.

Legal status

Tallinn European School is a private school owned by the "Foundation Euroopa Kool", established by the Republic of Estonia, and under the remit of the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research.

Accreditation

The Board of Governors of the

European Schools The European Schools ( la, Schola Europaea) is an intergovernmental organisation, which has established, finances, and administers a small group of multilingual international schools, bearing the title "European School", which exist primarily t ...

signed an accreditation and cooperation agreement with TES on 11 February 2014, which accredited the schools' nursery and primary sections, and the secondary section up to the end of year 5 (age 16). The agreement extends to 31 August 2019, when upon it will require renewal. A separate agreement was signed with TES on 21 May 2013 extending the accreditation status to secondary years 6 and 7, and enabling the school to formally offer the European Baccalaureate as its secondary leaving qualification. This agreement is valid until 31 August 2020. In concordance with the rigorous accreditation process, accredited schools are routinely audited by the Boards of Inspectors of the European Schools, with the TES' last audit taking place between 10 and 14 April 2017.

Relationship with the European Commission

TES is recognised as a "Type II" European School by the European Union (EU), permitting it to receive funds proportional to the number of pupils of EU staff enrolled in the school. The arrangement was made in large part due to the proximity of the EU's agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA).

References

External links

*
About Accredited European Schools
{{European Schools Accredited European Schools Schools in Tallinn Educational institutions established in 2013 2013 establishments in Estonia