Hafnarfjörður wins Reputation 2023
Hafnarfjörður received the Reputation Award 2023. Haraldur Freyr Gíslason, chairman of the Association of Early Years Teachers, and Sigurður Sigurjónsson, chairman of the Association of Early Years Managers, presented the award to Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir, mayor of Hafnarfjörður, at a ceremony.
Today is Nursery School Day – it is a tradition to present Orðsporið, the nursery school's incentive award, on this special day.
The City of Hafnarfjörður received the Reputation Award 2023. Haraldur Freyr Gíslason, chairman of the Association of Early Childhood Educators, and Sigurður Sigurjónsson, chairman of the Association of Early Childhood Centre Managers, presented the award to Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir, mayor of Hafnarfjörður, at a ceremonial event. The City of Hafnarfjörður receives the Reputation Award for harmonising the working hours in its nurseries and primary schools, thereby making the school year for these two educational stages comparable. Hafnarfjörður is the first municipality to take this step. The management responsibilities of deputy nursery heads have also been significantly increased, in order to provide professional guidance and enhance the induction and training of new staff – thereby further strengthening the internal operations of the nurseries.
The 2023 Reputation Award goes to the Municipality of Hafnarfjörður for harmonising the working hours in the municipality's nurseries and primary schools, thereby making the school year for these two educational stages comparable.
Notice on the website of the Icelandic Teachers' Union
The board of the Nursery Teachers' Association welcomes this step by the town council.
The board of the Early Years Teachers' Association welcomed this change recently. and said the aim was „to create attractive working conditions for nursery school teachers, increase the number of teachers in the town's nursery schools and thereby increase professionalism and improve the quality of learning for the benefit of the children“. A vote was held on the full reduction of working hours in all seventeen of Hafnarfjörður's nurseries, and the proposal was approved everywhere. The working week will remain 40 hours throughout the year. A total of 26 days will be taken out in the so-called 'better working hours' in nurseries, over Christmas, Easter, the summer, and as a winter holiday. The school year in Hafnarfjörður's nurseries is therefore now comparable to the school year in the town's primary schools.
The Reputation is sponsored by the Association of Early Years Educators and the Association of Early Years Management. This is the tenth time the Reputation Awards have been presented on Early Years Day, 6th February. The motto for the day has, from the very beginning, been: We offer a warm welcome – every day. The 6th of February is a significant day in the history of the nursery school, as on this day in 1950, pioneering nursery school teachers founded their first association.
Hafnarfjörður sincerely thanks the Icelandic Teachers' Association, the Association of Early Years Teachers and the Association of Early Years Managers for their encouragement, reputation and kind words.