On 19 December, the last day before the school holidays, TTRK hosted its fourth Christmas Ball for secondary school students. This year’s theme was Baroque: the dress code was red, black, gold and brown. The competition dance was a tango to the song “There’s nothing holdin’ me back”. Despite a record number of couples taking part this year – fifteen – the winner was the 12th grade couple Jelizaveta Toštšova and Edgar Zabavin.
In addition to the dance competition, one of the main events of the evening was the election of Mister and Miss TTRK 2025. In order to achieve this title, the participants had to perform both individual tasks and in pairs: girls were asked to take on the role of fencers and young men had the chance to directly participate in a unique performance – the fashion show “Viktor’s secret” on the red carpet. In the next task, the participants had to split into pairs to guess the melodies. The most dedicated music lovers were able to score the points needed to win thanks to their knowledge. The title of Mister and Miss TTRK 2025 was won by Kirill Mahhankov and Polina Volkova.At the end of the evening, the guests were treated to an awards ceremony for the various competitions, including the category “most thematic costume”, which was won by 11th grade student Inessa Kriščiūnaitė. After the ball, those who wished could stay for a disco.
Yelizaveta Chekhonatskaya. Photo by Vassili Osipov and Artur Janson
From 17-19 December, the family of Tallinn Tõnismäe Reaalkool hosted guests – teachers Giovanni Assiratti and Giorgia Ferrari from the Italian city of Vignola, who visited us as part of the Erasmus+ work exchange project. For the guests it was their first visit to Estonia. In addition to general questions, the Italian colleagues were interested in the teaching of mathematics, practical work in science and the organisation of support for pupils with special needs in our school.
Giovanni and Giorgia talked about the organisation of the learning process and student support withNatalia Jemets, Head of Department, and Mila Chastukhin, English teacher, and then visited a maths lesson in class 7b, where the students played maths board games. Artur Janson and Kirill Mahankov (teacher Jelena Grebjolkina), students in grade 12, then took the guests on a tour of the school building. The guests also took part in a number of lessons for Year II (the guests themselves work in a school for children aged 11-15), taught by Mila Chastukhina and Elena Rupski.
A cultural programme was also organised for teachers. TTRK teacher Katrin Vöörmann took Italian colleagues on a tour of the Old Town. On Thursday 18 December, the guests travelled to Rakvere together with classes 1.C and 2.A (class teachers Tatjana Boeva and Jelena Suits), where they watched a performance, took part in workshops and enjoyed a Christmas dinner. On Friday, the guests were invited to a Christmas concert by the choirs of the neighbouring school – Tallinn French Lyceum – in the church of St. Charles.
Giovanni and Giorgia were very touched by the warm welcome from our teachers and students. We sincerely hope that soon family members of the Tõnismäe Reaalkool will also be able to visit the Italian educational institutions that are loved by all.
On the 18th of December, class 2 spent a wonderfully magical day at Rakvere Castle for a Christmas programme. The students were transported to a fairytale world where they were greeted by Christmas magic, merry elves and a jolly Santa Claus.
We were also accompanied by guests from Italy (Erasmus+) who were genuinely excited to have the opportunity to get to know the Estonian Christmas traditions and experience the warm, joyful and fairytale-like atmosphere. A big thank you to the parents and the children for this wonderful and memorable pre-Christmas day!
But it should be added that November set a new record for visits to our educational programmes! This month we visited four different educational sites.
For each programme, we prepared carefully – familiarising ourselves with the topics in advance, brushing up our vocabulary, reading books and creating our own creative work. The children demonstrated their excellent knowledge by confidently answering the museum staff’s questions and working actively in groups.
New programmes await us next year! We wish you all a Happy New Year!
Who hasn’t dreamt of meeting the real Santa Claus as a child? Our students were incredibly lucky – their dream came true! From 18 to 20 December, a group of schoolchildren and their parents set off on a real winter adventure to snowy Lapland. The trip was organised by NOLTA-TUR in cooperation with history teacher Igor Kalakauskas.
In the early morning of 18 December, while the city was still asleep, the group had already gathered at the Viking Line terminal in the harbour to sail to Helsinki. During breakfast, they could watch the dawn over the Gulf of Finland.
At 9.30am the group arrived in the Finnish capital and headed straight north to snowy Lapland (by the way, it’s almost a thousand kilometres from Tallinn to Rovaniemi!). On the way, they stopped at the unusual café Vaskinkello, famous for its collection of a thousand bells and chimes from all over the world. Late in the evening we arrived in the university town of Oulu, where we were welcomed by the cosy Scandic Oulu City hotel – right in the heart of the city.
On the second day, right after breakfast, we drove to Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland – Santa Claus’s homeland. There you will find his official office, post office and the wonderful amusement park “Snowmen’s World”. In the village of Santa Claus, we were treated to a number of experiences: crossing the Arctic Circle – everyone received a certificate confirming that they had been to the Arctic Circle; meeting the real Santa Claus and his helpers, the elves – the very moment we had come all this way for! Some got to meet the Nordic animals – the fluffy huskies and the dignified reindeer. Others visited “Snowmen’s World” – an amusement park where they could drop tubes down the hill, walk in a snow maze and admire ice sculptures. The last stop in Lapland was the unique Arctic Museum, a giant glass tunnel 172 metres long.
In the evening, full of impressions, we returned to our hotel in Oulu, from where we started our return journey the next day. The drive was uneventful: young tourists shared their impressions, looked at photos and explored the souvenirs they had bought in Santa’s village. Igor Kalakauskas was not silent either – both on the way to Lapland and on the way back, he shared interesting information about Finland and told stories about his life.This trip was not just a tour, but a real dive into the winter wonderland. Many thanks to NOLTA-TUR for the excellent organisation of the trip.
On Monday 15. On 1 December, representatives from schools in the three countries met online at Zoom to sing Christmas carols together. The event was a follow-up to the Erasmus+ project for schools, which saw Mila Chastukhina, Inna Rüü, Natalia Jemets and Zinaida Troitski visit the Portuguese city of Figueira da Foz in October. During the visit, pleasant contacts were also established with other participating schools from Italy and Slovenia. In the run-up to Christmas, the idea was to meet again online and sing Christmas carols with the students in their mother tongue.
On our school’s side, 1st grade students participated in this online evening under the guidance of Inna Rüü. Anton Ilves provided technical support. It should be noted that our students performed the most songs and their performances were very emotional and of a high professional level.
Our sincere thanks to all the participants and helpers of this special concert.
This week, primary school students Timofei Voronkov, Sofia Loginova and Ilaria Novikova visited pre-school classes and congratulated the young children on the upcoming holidays. Playing the roles of Santa Claus and Snowman, they created a joyful and festive mood for the children. The children enjoyed reading poems and singing songs. Santa Claus and Snow White did not come empty-handed – they also brought little treats for the children.
Thanks to Timofei, Sofia and Ilari for their initiative, responsibility and friendly attitude towards their youngest schoolmates!
On 9 and 10 December, our school held its traditional charity Christmas fair, where students once again joined Radio 4’s “Blagovest” campaign. This year, the event took place in the auditorium, where the atmosphere was truly festive. Grades 1 to 4 and 10 to 12 attended the fair on 9 December, while grades 5 to 9 took part on 10 December.
The fair delighted shoppers with its diversity. The students presented a wide variety of masterpieces: from culinary – sweet and savoury dishes to handicrafts. Each table was unique and the atmosphere was really warm and friendly. Thanks to the proceeds of the feast, €3517,19 was donated to the Foundation of the Estonian Association of Parents of Children with Cancer to support the treatment of children with cancer.
Students in class 5c and their parents were particularly active, raising €480 – the highest contribution of all classes. Thank you to everyone who took part in the fair – both sellers and generous buyers! Together we did a great job!
