Pilot project - Early Transition After-School Program
The 'Early Transition After-School Program' pilot project will not be offered during summer 2025.
Summer 2024 continued the 'Early Transition After-School Program' pilot project, which operated in three primary schools, three after-school programs and six preschools during summer 2023. This summer's project will be larger, with more schools and after-school programs participating and for a longer period.
The goal of the project is to make this significant transition from preschool to after-school and primary school activities as enjoyable as possible by allowing children and parents to ease into the activities before the primary schools start in full swing. It also provides an opportunity to start the adaptation of new children to preschool for the next school year earlier, with some children starting adaptation in June.
Children starting primary school in the fall of 2024 at a few primary schools in two city districts are offered participation in the project.
Participating school and after-school program?
Primary schools: Borgaskóli, Breiðholtsskóli, Engjaskóli, Foldaskóli, Hamraskóli, Húsaskóli, Norðlingaskóli, Seljaskóli, Ölduselsskóli, and Rimaskóli.
After-school program: Hvergiland, Bakkasel, Brosbær, Regnbogaland, Simbað, Kastali, Klapparholt, Vinasel, Vinaheimar, and Tígrisbær.
Preschools: Hamrar, Hulduheimar, Bakkaborg, Borg, Engjaborg, Sunnufold, Funaborg, Klettaborg, Brekkuborg, Rauðhóll, Hálsaskógur, Jöklaborg, Seljaborg, Seljakot, Lyngheimar, Laufskálar, and Fífuborg.
Questions and answers
Changes to the hours have been approved to accommodate suggestions. The "Early Transition After-School Program" will be open 8am-4:30pm.
Changes have been approved to the fees to address suggestions about high costs, considering that meals are not provided for the children. The fee for the "Early Transition After-School Program" will be the same as the tuition fee for preschool, regardless of the daily hours of stay. The meal fee has been deducted from the total cost.
Price for 20 days, June 10 to July 5
Category 1 – 18,560 ISK
Category 2 – 7,700 ISK
Category 2 – 7,700 ISK
Category 1 – 10,208 ISK
Category 2 – 4,235 ISK
- Category 1 - Married parents, cohabiting partners, one parent in school.
- Category 2 – Applicants for discount including; single parents, both parents in school, one or both parents with disabilities or on rehabilitation pension from the Social Insurance Administration, and Reykjavík preschool staff.
No, all children in participating preschools born in 2018 will be automatically withdrawn starting June 10. If the child is not in a participating preschool but attends a primary school involved in the project, and the parents choose to participate in the 'Early Transition After-School Program,' the preschool director must receive a withdrawal notice by May 1.
The summer closure will be from July 8 to August 5. It has been noted that preschools participating in the project do not all have their summer closures at the same time, and many parents have made arrangements based on the summer vacation period of the preschool. Efforts are underway to address this.
It is the parents' choice to enroll their children in the 'Early Transition After-School Program'. However, all children born in 2018 in participating preschools will be withdrawn starting June 10 and cannot attend the preschool after that. The exception may apply to children who have been allocated support in the preschool, in which case a discussion will take place between the preschool director, special education director, and parents regarding the child's needs.
Yes, all children who are going into 1st grade at the participating primary schools can take part in 'the 'Early Transition After-School Program' operating at the primary school. The preschool principal must receive the withdrawal notice by May 1.
All children starting primary school at the relevant school, and who apply before the registration deadline, are offered participation in the project without a waiting list.
We are actively hiring staff for the project in the participating after-school programs and have started preparation in the respective neighborhoods. In most cases, the staff consists of individuals who have worked at the after-school programs during the school year.
A training and professional development day will be held for those participating in the project. The program will include education from those who have worked with the oldest children in preschool, and staff from both Reykjavík and neighboring municipalities experienced in summer activities for this age group at after-school programs. There will also be education on singing and discussion groups where staff learn from each other, exchange ideas on suitable topics for the age group, reflect on how the project's objectives can be achieved, and collectively develop the project.
In all participating preschools, there have been regular visits by the oldest children to the primary school over the winter. Visits to the after-school program have also been made, or will be made before the end of the school year.
Preschool staff will work with the after-school program staff during the first days of the project to ensure the children feel comfortable and adapt to new situations. The experience from the project in summer 2023 shows that this was successful and most children did not need the preschool staff except for the very first days.
Two sessions are available: June 10 – July 5 and August 6 – August 20. You can register your child for one session or both.
No, meals will not be provided. The arrangement will be like other summer activities at after-school programs where children bring their lunch since they are often on the move.
All children born in 2018 in participating preschools will lose their preschool spot as of June 10. Therefore, they cannot return to the preschool once the after-school program closes.
- No. Preschool children will likely be in a separate space in all cases. We want to create a calmer space for them while they are getting to know the new environment. However, once they become more comfortable, it is entirely possible that the activities will be varied, groups mixed, and they will participate in shared activities.
When children have allocated support, a discussion will take place between the preschool director, special education director, and parent regarding the arrangement of support. If all parties agree that it's best for the child to remain in the preschool, this will be accommodated.
- For children with allocated support, a discussion will take place between the preschool director, special education director, and parent regarding the arrangement of support. A preschool staff member will accompany the child to the after-school program and perform the same tasks there as they would have in the preschool.
- No, the Recreation Card cannot be used for either the 'Early Transition After-School Program' or summer activities at after-school programs.
Registration starts on April 23 at 10am on the registration website http://sumar.fristund.is
The summer closure for each preschool was determined during the creation of their school operation plans for the 2023-2024 school year, which were approved by the Education & Youth Council in October 2023. The final decision on the arrangement of the 'Early Transition After-School Program' project was made by the City Executive Council on March 14. There has been no requirement for the summer closure of preschools to be uniform, making it difficult to tailor the summer activities of after-school programs to each preschool's closure.
The project's preparation didn't start until early 2024 and then went into full swing after a proposal was approved by the City Executive Council on March 14, following discussion in the Education & Youth Council on February 12. Before the project was introduced to parents, an assessment of participating schools and after-school programs, cost analysis, presentation, and discussion with administrators participating in the project were conducted, and official statements from stakeholders were sought.
Official statements were sought from the parent councils of the preschools and the school councils of the primary schools intended to participate in the project. Additionally, official statements were sought from the directors of recreation centers, the Association of Recreation Service Professionals, the Preschool Teacher Association, the Association of Preschool Administrators, associations of parents of preschool children in Reykjavík, the Reykjavík School Administrators Association, the Reykjavík Teachers' Union, and SAMFOK. These parties and administrators of the relevant workplaces were thus given a presentation on the project before it was introduced to other parents in the respective schools. The submitted official statements have been processed and will be presented to the Education & Youth Council. The official statements will be considered in the planning of the project.
Before Easter, an informational letter for parents was prepared, which was translated into English, Polish, Filipino, and Arabic before sending it to parents, considering the language skills of parents in the respective preschools. The letter was sent to parents immediately after Easter.
If the child has siblings in preschool (legal residence/legal residence affiliation), a 100% sibling discount is provided on the day care fee for the 'Early Transition After-School Program', as if the child were still in preschool.
If the child has siblings (legal residence/legal residence affiliation) in the 'Early Transition After-School Program', summer recreation for 6-9-year-olds, or specific youth center activities for 10-16-year-olds at the same time, a 20% sibling discount is provided on the day care fee for the older sibling.
The staff of the 'Early Transition After-School Program' will primarily come from the after-school programs. In most cases, this is experienced staff who have worked there over the school year and are expected to continue working there into the next school year. While the staff of after-school programs typically decreases in the summer, this project provides an opportunity to hire more year-round, contributing to increased stability in after-school program staffing.
A preschool teacher will accompany children who are allocated support.
It is expected that preschool staff will accompany the children to the after-school programs for a few days at the beginning. In August, a similar participation of primary school staff is expected for adaptation into primary schools.
Preschool staff will accompany children who are allocated support according to their support needs.