A week-long focus on friendship

These days, Friendship Week is taking place in the primary schools of Hafnarfjörður, which each school organises in its own unique way. Friendship Week was introduced in connection with the Anti-Bullying Day on 8 November each year, which is dedicated to the fight against bullying. Primary schools in Hafnarfjörður immediately wanted to take the campaign a step further and place a special emphasis on friendship for a whole week in the run-up to this day, which was first celebrated in 2011.

During Friendship Week, empathy and friendship are at the heart of the school's activities. To mark the occasion, a series of friendship games was organised in Öldutúnsskóla and Hvaleyrarskóli. Thus, all students are divided into groups, across year groups and ages, and the groups go together to stations with a variety of tasks. Activities on offer include massage, relaxation, Uno, Ludo and Yahtzee, lessons on how to tell the time and tie shoelaces, playing Snakes and Ladders and Tetris, finding synonyms in Icelandic and Danish, making leaves for a friendship tree, and much, much more. The Friendship Games are intended as a fun and enjoyable change of pace from the school routine, allowing pupils to get to know each other outside of the classroom and across year groups. The Friendship Games also aim to show that everyone has their own strengths and should be given the opportunity to enjoy themselves on their own terms. The older pupils look after the younger ones, guiding them and showing them respect, care and affection. A further benefit of the Friendship Games is that it also gives staff the opportunity to get to know all the pupils in the school.

Í Vidistaðaskóli It is a tradition to start Friendship Week by singing songs together that are related to friendship. The school's Buddy Bench project is launched during Friendship Week, when older friends collect younger friends to go together to the singing assembly. During Friendship Week, the emphasis is on discussing and working with friendship and good relationships, addressing bullying and reviewing the bullying cycle. At Hvaleyrarskóli, the Multisensory Games (the Friendship Games) are held this week.

A day dedicated to the fight against bullying

Every year on 8 November, the focus is on the fight against bullying in schools. On this day, positive relationships are prioritised and the school community is encouraged to unite against bullying. In some schools, pupils and staff wear green to raise awareness of the campaign against bullying.