Nursery School Norðurberg celebrates 40 years

The school community at Nursery school Norðurberg Along with many other distinguished guests, the school celebrated its 40th anniversary with singing, laughter, light-hearted speeches and good food yesterday, 1st December, on Iceland's National Day.  Norðurberg is located in the north of Hafnarfjörður and opened in 1982. It is a six-unit nursery school with up to 105 children and 30 staff members. The common thread in the nursery's work is an environmental and nature-based approach that is constantly evolving and being reassessed.

Environmental education, green thinking and outdoor teaching are characteristic of the nursery's work.

Much has changed over the years in the overall framework and inner workings of nurseries. The demands for a good education for children and staff, based on a professional foundation, have developed significantly and rapidly during these years and are still in constant development, and will remain so for the foreseeable future. This development gives the work value, making it creative and enjoyable. The staff at Norðurberg have undertaken many development projects and implemented them successfully. These projects generally have in common that they are connected in one way or another to environmental education, green thinking, nature trips and outdoor teaching, and these elements are very characteristic of the school's work and the nursery as a whole.

The first nursery in the country to fly the Green Flag

Norðurberg has proudly flown the Green Flag environmental award for almost a decade. The Green Flag is an international recognition for schools that have worked purposefully on environmental issues and education for sustainability. Norðurberg was the first nursery school in the country to fly the Green Flag and has been at the forefront of this work nationally. Other implementation projects include reception plans and early intervention in the language stimulation of young children. All projects are carried out with the students' best interests at heart and with the future in mind. The latest project is participation in the development of Laufið, software that manages the nursery's environmental matters; including procurement, carbon footprint and more. At the same time, a new working schedule is being introduced for the nursery school teachers and other staff.

Unique work environment, high level of education and extensive work experience

Norðurberg, like all nurseries, is first and foremost the people who work in it; adults and children alike. The atmosphere at Norðurberg is unique, and the staff satisfaction is reflected not least in a rather high average length of service of almost 13 years. The proportion of professionally qualified staff at the school is high and has increased over the years, partly thanks to encouragement and incentives from the City of Hafnarfjörður for combining work with play-school studies. Today, 17 nursery teachers, 6 of whom are university-educated, 1 occupational therapist, 1 cook, and 10 staff with other qualifications and varying experience in nursery work are employed at Norðurberg.

Heartfelt congratulations on forty years of professional and beautiful work!