Tallinn Tõnismäe Secondary School Children’s Choir

The Tallinn Tõnismäe Reaalkool Children’s Choir participated in the VIII Estonian Children’s Choir Competition Festival held in MUBA on 23-24 May. The choir performed with dignity and musicianship, showing dedication. Participation in the competition provided the singers with valuable experience and inspiration.

The children’s choir was awarded second prize, which is a very good result! A big thank you to all the choir members who were present and performed on both days! You are the best!

Many thanks to my colleague Julia Orlova, who is always a great support and someone you can count on. Many thanks also to Õnne-Ann Roosvee for her warm support and beautiful piano accompaniment.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yFWK9rgxKoEG4h9TZUEe8Tpuke2g0nlc/view

SCHOOLWOOD – 2026

We would like to sincerely thank everyone who visited Kooliwood on 13 February. Thank you for your support, energy and interest – it was your presence that made the day so special!

For those who could not attend, don’t worry. You will now be able to watch all the films as we will give you access to the folder where they are located. To ensure better viewing quality, we ask you to download the films to your device, as the quality may be lower when watching online.

We would also like to say that all our secondary school students did a great job! You showed great effort, creativity and responsibility. In particular, we hope that for the ninth-graders, watching these films will be a great example and inspiration for the future.

Congratulations to everyone on Valentine’s Day! We wish that this holiday brings you joy, warmth and good cheer. We look forward to seeing you in Kollywood next year!

Nikita Nesterov.

GREAT DEEDS 2025

On 13 February, the National Library of Estonia hosted a gala evening dedicated to the Tallinn Youth Work Recognition Contest “Great Deeds 2025“. Each year, the competition is open to nominations in various categories: Great Achievements of Youth; Great Achievements for Youth; Youth Worker of the Year; Volunteer of the Year; Youth Organisation of the Year; and for the first time this year, nominations were open for the category “Innovative Activity of the Year”.

The Mayor of Tallinn, Peeter Raudsepp, and Deputy Mayor Andrei Kante delivered speeches at the event. In their speeches, they stressed the importance of youth work, highlighted the fact that young people are a driving force for progress and development, and recalled how much the development of social skills adds to life. The importance of a safe and trusting environment for young people at school or in a youth centre – and the role of youth workers in creating this – was also discussed.

Two nominations were submitted by TTRK: our “Christmas Ball for secondary school students” and Jevgenia Zovmer’s nomination in the category “Youth Worker of the Year”.

The Christmas Ball is one of the most special events in our school because it is organised by the students themselves from start to finish. This year, the organising team consisted of around 20 students, with more than 10 primary school students volunteering to help, in cooperation with teachers. The students went all the way: from the idea and the search for sponsors, to the budget and the ordering of decorations, to the realisation, organisation and coordination of the event. The ball brings together students from different grades and develops a wide range of social skills, and this year around 140 people took part. This is an event that certainly deserves attention.

This year we did not make it to the prize places. However, it is already a great recognition for us to be invited as guests to such an important event. A big thank you to everyone who joined us and supported us!

Photo by Johan Hallimäe

5. LEARNING SKILLS OLYMPIAD FOR GRADES 5 AND 6 – A FIRST EXPERIENCE

On 4 February, the Tallinn Tõnismäe Reaalkooli 5th grade team participated in the school round of the Study Skills Olympiad.
The aims of the Learning Skills Olympiad are: to deepen students’ ability to search for, find and apply information in a targeted way; to give students the opportunity to show creativity and ingenuity in solving competition problems; to develop accurate and correct answering skills; and to provide teams with experience of teamwork and its organisation.

The Olympiad is organised in teams of 5. This year, representatives from three 5th grades formed one team. They put their learning skills to the test:

  • Stepan Kuzmin (5.A)
  • Milana Suba (5.A)
  • Timur Zumadilov (5.B)
  • Emilia Hanzatjan (5.C)
  • Anna Bella Sõtina (5.C)

The supervising teacher is Irma Grigorjeva, Estonian language teacher and class teacher of 5th C class. Technical support was provided by Anton Ilves. We will find out on 20 February whether our students will qualify for the regional round. In any case, we thank our first participants and wish them success!

B A L T I O N O F P A R T I C U L A R Y 2 0 2 6

On 7 February, the dance ensemble “Neposedõ” took part in the international competition “Baltic Swallows 2026”, which took place on the stage of Viimsi Artium. Our ensemble was represented by three age groups and for each of them this performance was really important.

The group “Solnyshki” took to the big stage for the first time with the dance “When the forest awakes…” (directed by Liina Baranova). In the category “Children’s dance, 8-10 years”, the young artists were awarded first prize – a great start and a brilliant debut!

In the category “estradic dance, 11-13 years old” the group “Zvjozdochki” performed the dance “In our yard!”. (directed by Elvira Prosvetova) and won the title of 1st prize winner and received a special award from jury member Mehis Saaberi.

This weekend’s absolute premiere was the dance “Unframed” (directed by Anna-Maria Laius) performed by the group “Lastotschki”. In the category “contemporary dance, 14-16 years old”, the number was awarded the title of 1st prize winner and a special prize from jury member Annabel Piirma.

Congratulations to our talented dancers and teachers on their excellent results and we wish them further creative success, inspiration and brilliant moments on stage! We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the organisers of the competition, Polly Dance Theatre, for the warm atmosphere, the high level of organisation and the excellent gifts given to the participants.

Liina Baranova

THE GUIDE HAS DONE ITS JOB

The booklet has done its job – it helped children learn to read and now they can move on to other books. This is one of the most important stages for a young child at the beginning of their school journey. For many months, it was an integral part of every Estonian lesson and the children wanted to organise a farewell party in its honour.

As the first book cannot be simply put aside, the children of the first classes of Tallinn Tõnismäe Reaalkool decided to organise a joint Bible party and create a new tradition for the school. The school’s management and the parents of the 1st graders were invited.

On 06.02.2026, a festive event for 1st grade students “Goodbye, Aabits!” was held. Participants were students of class 1.a, 1.b and 1.c.. The children performed the play “Lost Stars” and delighted the audience with songs and dances. Nikita Presnetsov (grade 1) and Serafima Baranova (grade 1.b) from grade 1 starred in the main roles. In addition, 12th grade students Artur Janson and Arseni Melnik also took part in this big and fun event.
At the end of the party, there was a big surprise where the children of the 1st grade received two nice books “Karuraamat. Bears from all over the world report” and “My first book”. The event “Goodbye, Aabits!” gave a big surprise to the children! was organised and led by Monika Jurs-Hellamaa (Year 1). Many thanks also to the parents of the 1st abc classes, who made costumes and stars with the children. Thanks to the class teachers Tatyana Romanova (1.b) and Tatyana Boeva (1.c) for preparing the children and helping with the rehearsals. Thanks to Natalia Jemetsa, the school’s head teacher, and Maire Tänna, marketing manager of Koolibri, for organising the gifts. Jevgenia Zovmer helped to create a festive atmosphere. For the pictures and videos, we thank Mila Chastukhina, Jelena Suitsu, Viktoria Podgornõhh and Elena Ermolaeva, a parent of Year 1.

CAREER FAIR – A STEP CLOSER TO THE FUTURE

On 5.02, our school held a career fair, which turned out to be an important and inspiring event for our students, as well as for invited students and students from other schools. Representatives of different educational institutions, organisations and professions took part in the fair and introduced young people to both formal and non-formal education opportunities. Participants talked about their organisations and professional paths, the specificities of their studies and work, and shared personal experiences and useful advice.

For many students, the event was an opportunity to ask important questions, to better understand their interests and to reflect on their future career choices. The interaction took place in a friendly and open atmosphere, which made the meeting not only useful but also really lively and interesting.

Tallinn University of Applied Sciences, Estonian Entrepreneurship School Mainor, Izym Learning Centre, Ethos NGO, NGO YFU Estonia, Veni-Vidi-Vici, Tallinn University, NGO EstYes, Tallinn Polytechnic, Avara College, Central City Youth Centre, Tallinn Health Care College, NGO ASSE Estonia, Dreamfoundation NGO, Youth for the Future.

We thank all participants and partners for their support. Thanks to you, our students were able to broaden their horizons and see how diverse learning and personal fulfilment can be.

ABC APPLY. BUILD.CHANGE.

The international training “ABC Apply. Build.”, funded by Erasmus+, took place in Tallinn on 24-31 January. Change.”. The project was dedicated to the development of practical skills to create and implement inclusive projects for groups at different levels. The training was attended by youth workers, NGO representatives, teachers and trainers from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany and Portugal. One of the representatives from Estonia was Igor Kalakauskas, a teacher from TTRK, and the trainers were Julia Stolberova and Denis Krivosheev. During the eight days, the participants not only immersed themselves in the topic, but also managed to generate ideas for their own projects. For example, Igor Kalakauskas discussed the details of cooperation with Ljubov Pivareelis (Klaipėda, Lithuania). There are plans to organise a youth exchange programme. In the framework of the study programme, the guests – the participants of the training – visited the Vivera school in the Estonian capital, where they got acquainted with the activities of this rather unusual educational institution. In keeping with tradition, a TTRK teacher took all the foreigners on a guided tour of Tallinn Old Town.

TTRK MISTER AND MISS 2025 ARE REVEALED!

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

ITALIAN GUESTS AT TÕNISMÄE REAALKOOLIS: EXCHANGE OF EXPERIENCES IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE ERASMUS+ PROGRAMME

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 with Natalia 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.

Natalia Yemets

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