Welcome to Smart Teachers Play More in Iceland
Our course centre
Our courses during this week will be held in and around the Laugardalur Valley (Hot Spring Valley) which is a major centre for sports and recreation in Reykjavík. It is like a large campus, and we use many of it’s buildings, so you will receive the exact location of our welcome event and your course the week before your course begins.
Sunday Welcome
We always have a welcome and registration session on the Sunday of the course week. Here we will introduce the Smart Teachers Play More concept and the courses running during the week. You will also meet your course leaders, learn some interesting facts about Iceland and receive useful information to help you orientate the week. Registration will be from 17:00 to 17:30 and our introduction and games will start at 17:30. This is a great opportunity to meet all the participants on your course and on the other courses taking place during the week. We offer optional pizza and refreshments for people who wish to stay longer. Information about this will be shared via our WhatsApp groups.
Lunch
The Sports Association also has its own cafeteria Easy Cafe where you can have lunch if you choose for around 16€. There is a good choice of food including typical Icelandic home-cooked meals.
School visits
On Wednesday you will get the opportunity to visit one of two Icelandic schools:
Helgafellsskoli in Mosfellsbær town, just outside Reykjavík. It is a recently built and growing school with Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary school all in one building or:
Dalskoli, one of Reykjavík´s newest schools from kindergarten to secondary. They have a unique school and public library combined with local swimming pool.
Cultural activities (included in the course price)
On Wednesday evening, you are all invited to a cultural evening where you will sample some typical Icelandic home-cooked soup and where you will have the opportunity if you wish to share something traditional from your own country too. We kindly ask if you could bring a flag or some labels to display with your food. We will give you each a little space to display your food so we all know where it is from. This is always great fun and you never go home hungry! After dinner, there will be plenty of time to dance and play a few games.
Relax and reflect!
On Saturday morning, we visit a local outside swimming pool and hot tubs called Laugardalslaug. A great way to relax after a busy week and reflect on all our experiences. You will also witness how Icelandic people enjoy this activity whatever the weather! You can also do this activity on Thursday or Friday afternoon. You will receive your tickets from your course leader on Thursday.
Sharing good practice
As part of our Sharing Good Practice session on Thursday morning, we invite you to present a favourite activity or game which you enjoy using with your students – just something that you could share with a little demonstration to the rest of the group (5 minutes). Please make it a practical activity (not a presentation), if you can, so we can all take part. A big thank you in advance for this!
Icelandic School System presentation
On Thursday afternoon, we invite you to the Icelandic School System presentation. You will see how outdoors, sport and practical subjects are given the same priority as academic subjects at all stages of education and learn about the latest developments and community projects in Iceland.
Erasmus partner search
On Thursday after the Icelandic School System presentation, we will also hold a meeting for those schools that are interested in finding future project partners. During the meeting, you will have the opportunity to briefly present your school/organisation and explain any projects or collaborations you would be interested in having. Then there will be time to chat and exchange contacts. We will also share an online form for those looking for partners so we have everyone’s details on one excel sheet. We will make this sheet available the week after the course. This meeting is an optional activity.
Evaluation and vision planning
On Friday at 11:15 – 13:00 we will have our evaluation and vision planning session. If you have any documents you need signing or stamping you need to bring these on Friday. You will receive your certificate of attendance in digital format once the course is complete. Please return you plastic badge holder to us to reduce plastic use.
STPM tour
For those of you that have booked optional the STPM tour. Here is the timetable of activities:
Monday: Tour to the an Icelandic Lagoon. Remember to bring your swimsuit and you may wish to take a snack with you.
Tuesday: Guided tour of Reykjavík. Everyone will meet in front of Hallgrimskirkja at the statue of Leifur Eiríksson. A team of local guides will meet you to take you on a guided walk of historical and cultural sights. This lasts approximately 1.5 hours.
Wednesday: Golden Circle Tour
Make sure you bring warm and waterproof clothes. You can bring a sandwich for lunch if you wish however there are restaurants at each main stop where you can buy food. The tour is all day and will return around 18.00 and drop us off for the cultural evening.
If you have not booked the tour but would like to visit the school on Wednesday, please contact us and we will help you organise this.
You can find the exact timing of tour activities in your course schedule and each day we will share the information for the following day in your WhatsApp groups.
If you need any other information, just let us know.
We are really looking forward to meeting you.
