Major changes in Hafnarfjörður´s preschool system

Increased flexibility and fees are significantly reduced for a six-hour stay

At the beginning of 2023, the town of Hafnarfjörður took a great step in the promotion and development of future preschool activities, with certain measures to better respond to the needs of the preschool system. Now those steps have been taken and major changes have been announced in all preschools in Hafnarfjörður. The changes are essentially these:

• The preschool day will be divided into teaching and leisure activities
• Tuition fees for 6 hours of care decrease significantly
• The Preschool calendar, will be 180 days of formal teaching
• Shortening of the work week for employees will be pinned down to specific days and periods
• Flexible stay periods will be offered for children
• Preschool opening hours will be from 7:30-16:30

“We are calling for major changes beyond what we have already implemented this year. The results of these measures are visible, especially when considering the proportion of professionals within our preschools, which has increased during the year. But it was clear that further changes would have to be made to the organization of the preschool day to meet expectations and demands. Childcare is a huge challenge for society at large and it is a priority that this system works. Therefore, every effort must be made to develop the preschool system, in order to offer the services required. I have high hopes that we are shaping and creating a new future for our preschools with these changes,” says Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir, Mayor of Hafnarfjörður.

The measures implemented earlier this year included a 36-hour work week for all preschool staff, increased coordination between the first levels of schooling, home payments to parents, as well as start-up and facility grants for daycare parents. Simultaneously, a restructuring of the school day was announced, and a task force recently produced a report with eleven actions, based on in-depth analyses and dialogue with relevant members of the preschool community.

Dual activities of the preschool day – teaching and leisure activities

The task force submitted its recommendations at the end of November 2023 and their implementation were approved at a meeting of the Board of Education. In short, the recommendations of the group involved defining dual activities within the preschool day. On one hand, as formal teaching and on the other as leisure activities, from a professional and organizational point of view, within the normal preschool day and year. The change will be made to the preschool calendar, to be comparable to the elementary school calendar, with 180 teaching days per year and the days beyond that are leisurely activities with other emphasis.

Detailed description of the task force´s proposals:

• The organization of the preschool day – activities within the school day and year, will be twofold. On one hand, teaching and the other hand, leisure activities
• Preschool calendar – teaching days will be 180 days throughout the year. On other days, when parents and guardians have to specially register their children, leisure activities are offered during the same hours as a normal school day.
• Shortening of the work week – a proposal for shortening the work week has already been implemented. Professionals take out the cumulative reduction in leisure activity days. School and leisure employees shorten their working hours within each month.
• Flexible residence periods for children – parents are offered flexible daily residence periods with a maximum of 42.5 hours per week, which is the average number of residence hours in Icelandic preschools.
• Opening hours – opening hours will be from 7:30 – 16:30 from autumn 2024, given that the utilization of the time from 16:30 – 17:00 has decreased considerably in recent years.
• Tariffs – tuition fees for an 8 hour day remain unchanged. Preschool fees for 6 hours of stay, per day, are significantly reduced or equivalent to 30% of the total cost of 40 hours of stay. The aim is to encourage families to shorten their child´s stay and thereby reduce the burden on them. The cost of meals remains the same, and there will continue to be income-related discounts and sibling discounts.
• FTE values – For each FTE (Full-time equivalent) in preschool´s today, there is an average of 8 child value´s, with each cohort having a different weight depending on age. The basic staffing criteria will be updated and the FTE will, upon the change, have fewer child values. The aim is to reduce the pressure on children and strengthen staffing in preschools. The change does not affect the total number of children in local preschools.
• Preparation classes – a review of the utilization of preparation classes. The importance of preparation classes has greatly increased in recent years and it is important to examine which methods and ways are the most useful for the future of the preschool levels.
• Education of preschool teachers – there will be three organized days of re-education and continuing education for preschool teachers each year at the end of formal school activities in June and/or at the beginning of the school year.
• Icelandic language courses for preschool staff with another native language – the work of this group is incredibly valuable to preschools. There is a great willingness to strengthen this group professionally, as well as personally, through professional courses in Icelandic during working hours.
• Staff training and guidance – increased professional education for new entrants to jobs in Hafnarfjörður´s preschools. Research shows that systematic education, guidance and training, increases job satisfaction and safety, right from the start, and staff turnover has been shown to decrease.

The aim of all these measures, both those that have been implemented and those announced for the upcoming new year, is to increase flexibility within the school day, year, and to increase the number of professionals in local preschools. The measures will be presented to parents and custodians at the beginning of the new year. This year, Hafnarfjörður received the preschool motivation Award, for coordinating working hours in the town’s preschools and elementary schools and coordinating the school year at these two levels. The introduction of one teaching license in 2019 resulted, among other things, in more people choosing to work within the primary school system, instead of the preschool system, reason being the working environment, flexibility and organization of the school year. It is highly hoped for that these new arrangements and measures within the preschool system will reverse this trend and strengthen the profession within preschools even further, and that the number of professionals will increase during the important formative years of young children.

A report with the recommendations from the task force can be found here (Icelandic)

Information about the Hafnarfjörður route the towns preschools (Icelandic)