A landmark step in the strengthening and development of the nursery school service in Hafnarfjörður  

Full working time reduction and the continued development of an attractive nursery environment.

The Municipality of Hafnarfjörður is currently taking a landmark step in strengthening and developing its nursery school services for the future, with the aim of increasing the number of professional staff in the municipality's nurseries and enhancing flexibility. The council's latest measures include greater consistency between the early years of education and the creation of a nursery environment that better meets the needs of the school community and the developments that have taken place in Icelandic society and the professional environment in recent years. When it was approved in 2019 that a single licence would be valid for teaching at both nursery and primary school levels, the number of professionals in nurseries nationwide decreased, and the City of Hafnarfjörður wants to reverse this trend.

„We are taking important, landmark steps in nursery education here in Hafnarfjörður that are set to revolutionise the working environment for nursery staff and reverse a trend that is doing no one any favours. We want more professionals in our nurseries, and our professionals called for change. These steps will enhance and strengthen the nursery environment and increase vital flexibility for the future.“ says Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir, Mayor of Hafnarfjörður.

The working year for nursery school teachers is comparable to the working year for primary school teachers. 

A full working-time reduction has been implemented in all of the City of Hafnarfjörður's nurseries, following arrangements suited to the operations of each individual centre, which do not compromise either the service or the quality of the nursery's work. The new working hours arrangement applies to all staff at the nurseries, and the implementation varies between staff and locations. The biggest change is that, from 15 December 2022, the academic year for staff in the Félag leikskólakennara (Association of Preschool Teachers) and other university-educated staff within Hafnarfjörður's preschools will be comparable to the academic year for primary school teachers. This means that the staff will take full use of the working-time reduction, in accordance with their contracts and agreements, around the holidays, during the winter break, and with a longer holiday in the summer. At the same time, a reorganisation of the nurseries' academic year is underway, with the aim of aligning it more closely with the organisation of primary school operations, featuring active and professional learning for a large part of the year, and professional leisure and recreational activities with different focuses during the remainder.

Emphasis is placed on empowering and strengthening unskilled staff within the nurseries.

The focus will continue to be on strengthening and supporting unqualified staff within the nurseries, for example by providing support for professional qualifications in the field. Measures are also under consideration that will have a positive and encouraging impact on this important group as a whole. Great hopes are placed on the new arrangement to strengthen and bolster professional work within the nurseries for the future, and to increase the number of qualified professionals during these important formative years in the lives of young children. “Exciting times lie ahead for Hafnarfjörður's nurseries. We have also recently approved home payments to parents, start-up grants, and an increase in the subsidy for childminders as part of the journey to increase options for parents of young children” says Rósa.