Heilsuleikskólinn Kór (ICE-31)


Type: Education: Kindergarden - Country: Iceland

Brief description and main aims

The Kindergarten started operating on first of June 2006 and the motto of the preschool is "a healthy soul in a healthy body". The preschool has six departments / puffins with 122 students from 18 months of age to six years. The wards / groves derive their name on the one hand, from Guðmundalundur which is one of the landmarks of the immediate surroundings and on the other hand, from virtues but they are called Friðarlundur, Vinalundur, Gleðilundur, Gæðalundur, Tryggðarlundur and Kærleikslundur.

Since the opening of the kindergarten, there has been great interest in environmental education, but in early 2010 a conscious decision was made to strengthen it even further in the kindergarten. Environmentalists fit in well with the Health Policy, to take good care of their environment on an equal footing with body and soul.

Main Activities

Taking care of children aged 18 months to six years old.

Volunteer tasks

The volunteer is always supported by the staff, especially at the very beginning. The volunteer is expected to fulfill the appropriate needs of the children, as any childcaring staff member would. There is nappy changing, feeding during breakfast and lunch time, appropriate cleaning of the kids as well as organizing and following through with arts and crafts projects. Volunteers have the option of going on designated field trips with the children, which can serve as a fun way of breaking up the structured routine work of the kindergarden.

The volunteer's main tasks consist of spending time with a group of children and caring for them. Even though the daily routine is the same for all children, each day is different and the volunteer is encouraged to take initiative and come up with creative projects. This is a great learning opportunity, as the volunteer will need to find expressive activities to do with the children, especially before learning Icelandic – which tends to happen quite quickly because the children speak Icelandic to the volunteer.
 
Having a young foreigner allows the children to meet people from different cultures and to be exposed to different languages at an early age, which is one of the reasons why the presence of an international volunteer is so desired and appreciated.This position may be considered as quite hard work but it is very rewarding. It rewards the volunteer with some very important life skills which can be applied in real life. 

Volunteer requirements / Skills

Flexibility, strong initiative and independence are strong personality traits on this project. A person that is open to new experiences and is not afraid to take the initiative in challenging circumstances.

Children are a very unpredictable bunch of tiny humans so a certain level of flexibility on the job will be needed. A light spirit but firm when needed. The volunteer has to be flexible, enjoy working with young children and caring for them, be open to new experiences and interested in discovering a different society and culture.
 
The preschool always supports all volunteers in their development and shows them how the newly acquired skills can be harnessed to be valuable for the organization. The preschool emphasizes the wellbeing of the children that are in the preschool and aims to motivate and stimulate them through good nutrition, physical activity and creativity as mentioned before. It is therefore important to have both staff and volunteers that are invested in the wellbeing of the children and are willing to care and stimulate them.

Location

Heilsuleikskólinn Kór is located at Baugakór 25 in Kópavogur.

Hosting Situation (Board and Lodging)

The volunteer will be living in AUS housing which is located in Barmahlíð, 105 RVK. The apartment is located in Kópavogur which is a town just next to Reykjavík and is part of the greater Reykjavík. The bus ride to the project from the AUS housing in Barmahlíð can vary from 25 min to 40 min.

More Information

Number of volunteers in the project: 1

Explore our projects world-wide

Explore our Projects Database and find placements among over 800 volunteering opportunities in 41 countries.

Long-term Projects

You can see all the projects on a country leaving the Project Type field empty and selecting a country.

Project Type:

Countries:

Short-term Projects

You can see all the projects on a country leaving the Project Type field empty and selecting a country.

Project Type:

Countries: