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The weather in Akureyri

Useful information:

In Iceland, preschool (leikskóli) is a form of and used interchangeably with, nursery/kindergarten.

Preschools in Akureyri are for children from 18 months until they start primary school (at the age of six).

The city of Akureyri owns and administrates 12 public preschools and there are additionally 2 privately owned preschools here in Akureyri (operating with an aid of public funding from the municipal treasury).

Applications and waiting-lists for preschools are administrated at the city hall, by the department of education, and schools receive a set annual budget from the municipal treasury.


Our school, Naustatjörn:

Naustatjörn is a public preschool established in August 2003. 

The school-building is 704 m² and the playground is large, 3376 m².

Naustatjörn offers education for 120 children in 5 classes, for children aged 18 months to 6 years old.  Each class is provided with 2 classrooms and adjoining W.C. and access to art center, block area, sports center and science corner.  Two classes are intended for youngest, two for 3-4 year old children and one class for the 5-6 year old is in Naustaskóli's building (our next door-neighbour, the elementary school).
The 5 classes are named Tjarnarhóll, Vökuvellir, Huldusteinn, Búðargil and Fífilbrekka.

The school is open Monday-Friday from 7:45 in the morning until 16:15 in the afternoon. 
We close for 2 weeks during the summer (usually in Juli).

Staff:  We have 28 in our group of staff – Principal, assistant principal, 17 teachers (with a bachelor’s-degree), 6 teacher’s assistants, 1 chef and 2 kitchen- assistants.

The kitchen serves food for children and staff; breakfast (at 8:15), lunch (at 11:30) and afternoon-snack (at 14:30).

The department of education in Akureyri also provides the preschools and parents with the service of speech therapists, psychologists, social counseling, special education teachers and access to physical- and occupational therapists and other specialists.


Curriculum:

The Ministry of Education publishes the National Curriculum Guide for Pre-schools (Aðalnámskrá leikskóla).

Our ideology comes from John Dewey, Lev Vygotsky and Howard Gardner.

They tell us it’s important:

- To give the children a chance to try and explore things through spontaneous play, which is based on their ideas and experiences.  It’s also essential for children to learn from what they attempt to do on their own - "learning by doing". Active and inquisitive children learn the most. (Dewey).

- To give children demanding, developmentally appropriate assignments to support their intelligence and growth, in addition to providing  them an inspiring educational environment to learn in social relations with other children and adults. (Vygotsky).

- To allow the children to safely explore and learn in many ways and understand and appreciate their strengths so each and everyone can learn through real-world activities which are compatible to their own interests, intelligence and abilities. (Gardner).


Our daily plan:

7:45 - The school opens
8:15 - Breakfast
8:45 - Group work / Playtime (indoors/outdoors)
11:00 - Singing/ Sharing/ Story time
11:30 - Lunch
12:00 - Sleep/Rest/Quiet play
13:00 - Playtime (indoors/outdoors)
14:10 - Singing/ Sharing/ Story time
14:30 - Afternoon-snack
15:00 - Playtime
16:15 - School’s out for the day


How do we implement culture and society in our curriculum?

In lesson plans for the school we have special activities and themes to learn about our culture and society, for instance:

1) Various assignments in group work.
2) Visiting parents at their workplace.
3) Icelandic specialities on the menu.
4) Occasional big projects and co-operation with various pre-schools, elementary schools and other public organizations.
5) We celebrate festival days in the pre-school, both public and our own.

1) Society and culture are prominent in the classroom and lesson plans. The students get lots of opportunities to acquaint themselves with ideas and curiosities from the past and present and to name a few here's an example of few of our projects:
The youngest children bring photos from home to make their family-tree (parents, siblings and grandparents – even pets!).
They’ve also been learning about the culture of yesteryear, like the old Icelandic farmhouses (partially built of turf), tools and toys from the beginning of last century (when children played with bones and horns from sheep, tufts of wool, pebbles and shells).
The 4 and 5 year old children work on projects inspired by the old Icelandic sagas and folktales, rhymes and poetry. The Icelandic trolls, elves and fairies are also a major theme in our lesson plans. Also a few ravens have been guests here in the neighborhood and the children have fed them leftovers from lunch. A lot of the Icelandic folktales have ravens as main characters.

The structure of group work:

Beginning: We sit in a circle and greet each child and teacher.  We play little mind-games for concentration or language, sing a song or share a story.

Getting ready: Motion and movement, stretching and warming up.

Preparation: The assignment of the day is introduced by the teacher.

Group work: Working on our assignment. Share and evaluate: We sit together in a circle after we have finished our work. The children are encouraged to share their opinion and experience of the assignment and the group work today.

Finish: We come together, often in a circle holding hands. The teacher reads a book or the children learn   a rhyme / poem.  Sometimes we play a little game with a song or rhyme. We thank each other for the time we have shared together in the group.

2) The parents of our 5 year old students frequently invite the group to come visit them at their workplace. That’s always an interesting activity and the children learn a lot about the everyday tasks and obligations of adults.
We also visit the police station, fire-department, the library, art galleries, museums and the town’s recycling center.

3) Traditional Icelandic food is served at lunch. We have fish on the menu at least twice a week and also use every opportunity to offer the children a taste of some of the special Icelandic dishes as it is a vital part of our culture.

4) We participate in large projects with other pre-schools in Akureyri where the children express their experience and knowledge of Akureyri’s culture and daily life through artwork, shows  and demonstrations.

5) We celebrate the many Icelandic and also international festival days on the calendar, for instance Twelfth Day, “Þorrablót” (the beginning of the old month Thorri), the first Monday of Lent (Bolludagur/Bun Day), Shrove Tuesday (Sprengidagur/Bursting Day), Ash Wednesday, the first day of Summer according to the old Icelandic calendar, Earth Day (here in Iceland it’s on April 25th, The Annual Book Week (honoring our Nobel Price author, Halldór Laxness), World Environment Day (June 5th), the National Day of Iceland (June 17th), our school’s founding day on August 18th, the first day of Winter according to the old Icelandic calendar, the International Teddybear Day in October, the Icelandic Language Day on November 16th (to honor one of our greatest poet, Jónas Hallgrímsson), Independence Day on December 1st and of course all the students birthdays!


How do we implement nature and environment in our curriculum?

Our lesson plans also include special activities and themes to learn about our nature and environment, for instance:

1) “Adventure walks”
2) Eco Schools – Green Flag
3) Themed days during summer
4) Explorative tours

1) “Adventure walks”:
Twice every month we have an outdoor lesson to experience something new and exciting.
We “adopt” a suitable area with lots of trees, flowers, insects and natural surroundings in a comfortable walking-distance from our preschool. 

We use whatever materials the area provides for play and discovery. The lesson lasts for up to 2 hours (sometimes longer if the weather is very good). 

Cacao or juice  and crackers is the usual refreshment before going back to Naustatjörn.

Each class has its own little book for taking notes during the lesson and after. 

The teacher talks to the students about the weather, what they found most interesting during the lesson and sometimes we take a closer look at some “treasures” and photos we have brought back from our adventure-walk.

2) Eco-schools and Eco-Schools Green Flag - What is it?
Eco-Schools is a program for environmental management, certification, and sustainable development education for schools. Its holistic, participatory approach and combination of learning and action make it an ideal way for schools to embark on a meaningful path for improving the environments of schools and their local communities, and for influencing the lives of young people, school staff, families, local authorities and more.

How it works: The Eco-Schools program involves seven steps that any school can adopt. Based on the elements of an environmental management program, the process involves a wide range of participants, but it is the pupils who play the most important role.

After a period of participation, an evaluation of the success of these initiatives and the methodology is undertaken, and the whole Eco-Schools-program for each school is assessed.

Successful schools are awarded with the Eco-Schools Green Flag.

Here in Iceland we have 70 schools participating and every year a few of them receive the Eco-Schools Green Flag as a reward for their hard work and successful curriculum.

We have an ambitious long-term goal to maintaining our environment-friendly curriculum and methods of practice. We are ready to take responsibility for our actions and rethink, reuse and recycle.

For more information: www.eco-schools.org

* We use less paper, water and electricity than other preschools of similar size.
* We sort the garbage and try to recycle and reuse as much as we can.
* We make compost from leftover food and garden waste.
* We try to shop locally and choose locally made products whenever we can. When buying toys and other items we look for quality products and durable materials.
* Our next primary goal is to reduce noise and provide a more quiet environment inside the preschool.
 
3) Themes during summer:
* Visiting a farm is a spring-activity we organize in May. During the weeks up to visiting day we learn about the Icelandic farm animals and the day-to-day-life of farmers.
* Preparing the vegetable- and flower garden on our playground (potatoes, carrots, radishes  and also flowers from Icelandic flora).
* Preparation for the Independence day of Iceland, the 17th of June.
* Flower-themed days
* Bird-themed days
* Insects-themed days
* ”Our city” (theme associated with Akureyri’s public festival during the last weekend of August)

4) Explorative tours
We go regularly for walks in the school’s neighborhood and visit places in Akureyri. 
Riding on the bus is always popular, especially among our youngest students, when we are seeing the sights and getting to know our town.
We take a look at the statues and houses, visit parks and the duck-pond, practice the traffic-rules and get a good exercise while walking briskly and getting some fresh air.


But our primary goal is, after all, to enjoy each others company, play and learn together and have fun every day!