14-month-old children have been offered nursery places in Hafnarfjörður.
All fourteen-month-old children who applied by the required deadline have been guaranteed a place in Hafnarfjörður's nurseries from the autumn. The municipality of Hafnarfjörður has until now aimed for a 15-month age, but is now managing to offer places to even younger children for the autumn.
Preschool provision in Hafnarfjörður is good.
„The situation is excellent. It is extremely pleasing to see how positive the development of nursery education has been in recent terms here in Hafnarfjörður,“ says Valdimar Víðisson, the mayor.
The Hafnarfjörður Education Council is pleased with how well the town's nurseries have been filled. In total, 431 children have been offered a nursery place. „The changes that have been made to the nursery school service in Hafnarfjörður are beginning to show results and are contributing to a better service for the town's families,“ states the minutes of the council meeting held on Wednesday, 2 April.
The mayor has visited around 70 of the council's sites since taking over at the turn of the year. Here he is at the nursery school at Hamravellir earlier this year.
The City of Hafnarfjörður has been working systematically to increase the number of qualified professionals in the city's nurseries. Currently, for example, 40 people are studying for a nursery teacher qualification while working in Hafnarfjörður, and receiving study grants for this. The structure of the nursery day has also been changed to increase flexibility in work arrangements. Families have also been offered more flexible hours to reduce nursery fees. The measures have various effects.
„We celebrate this success and aim to continue on this same path. The structure of the nursery day has been deliberately revised in collaboration with the staff. Parents also now have more flexibility to manage their children's attendance. All are parts of strengthening the nursery school work here in Hafnarfjörður,“ says the mayor.
A new nursery, Áshamar, is opening today. It will cater for 120 children. The school's operating licence was approved at a meeting of the education committee yesterday.
It is expected that all registrations for nursery schools in Hafnarfjörður will be completed by the end of next month. At the end of April or May, applications received after the deadline for autumn places, on 11 March, will be considered.