The preschool Grandaborg is now fully enrolled with children after having been closed for nearly four years due to mould and damage. During that time, the children were accommodated at five preschools. The head teacher says this has been a challenge.
Five-year-old pupils at the preschool Grandaborg in the west of Reykjavík, which was closed due to mould for nearly four years, were able to return there yesterday morning after repairs. In the meantime, the children went to various other preschools, but many of them began their preschool education at Grandaborg.
“We are moving back because it was mouldy [and is now fixed],” says Eiríkur Ingi Ellertsson, a five-year-old pupil at Grandaborg. Joao Árelíus Marques Þormóðsson, the same age, was at Grandaborg when he was one year old and said when asked that he remembered everything from that time.
Yesterday the last group was received at Grandaborg, the oldest children who have been attending Hagaborg recently.
They had just completed their settling-in period when they were required to leave Grandaborg in the autumn of 2022 after a sewer pipe burst and mould was found in the building.
Grandaborg is not the only preschool building in Reykjavík that has had to close for a longer or shorter period due to repairs or renovation.
At present there is no activity in five preschool buildings due to repairs or construction: Brákarborg, Árborg, Hagaborg, one of the two buildings of the preschool Borgar, and Vinagerði.
According to information from Skóla- og frístundasvið Reykjavíkurborgar (Department of Education and Youth, City of Reykjavík), the children who were staying at these preschools have all been given placements at other preschools.
The Grandaborg children moved between several locations during the nearly four years that the preschool was closed.
“They first stayed in three places but then ended up in Hagaborg and Gullborg and have been there since,” says Erna Guðlaugsdóttir, head teacher at Grandaborg.
So they were in five places? “Yes, in total.”
Of course it has been a challenge to be in many places.
Is it good to be back at Grandaborg?
Yes, and it was so lovely to see the children out here playing when we arrived earlier in the procession. To see children playing in the garden – it is simply wonderful.
Friends Fanney Ída Ólafsdóttir and Guðrún María Guðfinnsdóttir are both five years old and were returning to Grandaborg after three and a half years away. They were clear about why Grandaborg had had to close.
Because there was mould.
Ísafold A.H. Walker and Vésteinn Kári Atlason, who are both five years old, were convinced that it would be good to stay at Grandaborg again. “It is so cosy,” said Vésteinn Kári. Ísafold agreed.
And there are many rooms.
Source: Ruv.is
