Internship program for educational leaders brought Viigi School’s principal to the SOL internship - SOL

Internship program for educational leaders brought Viigi School’s principal to the SOL internship

17. February 2023

Kristi Kivipuur, headmaster of Viigi School, started her management internship at SOL in January. The ten-week internship programme for educational leaders was launched in 2019 by the Heateo Educational Foundation and the Tallinn Board of Education in cooperation with Fontes.

Viigi School headmaster Kristi Kivipuur

SOL Baltics, together with nine large Estonian companies, participates in the Fontes program for school leaders, and this is the first time they have hosted an internship like this. During the programme, the leaders of 13 different schools first learn management skills from private companies and then apply their knowledge and ideas in their schools. The programme itself lasts a total of 9 months.

Kivipuur’s own goal is to learn from her SOL experience how to manage and motivate the team even better, learn personnel work and recruitment methods and how to present the school. Throughout the entire internship journey and the program, the headmasters are supported by mentors and coordinators from the company, as well as consultants from the talent management company Fontes.

SOL management visited Viigi School on the intern’s first day of training

On the first day of the internship, SOL’s management visited Haapsalu Viigi School to see her in her everyday environment. Viigi School is a school for children with special educational needs. Children with both mental and physical disabilities study there, with more than eighty students in total. SOL management member Rinel Pius gave feedback on the visit: “We saw what Kristi Kivipuur is like in her everyday work life – an incredibly warm and cheerful person with all the children; everyone knew her and everyone was known by her – she was welcome everywhere.” During the visit, they also met the head teacher, assistant manager and physiotherapist. SOL’s management noted that all the employees they met were shining, and they saw that the employees were similar to their leader. All SOL employees are also excited to meet their new employee/intern Kristi Kivipuur.

In addition to SOL, Bolt, LHV, Pipedrive, SEB, Swedbank, Telia, Töötukassa, Veriff and Wise also offer internships.