Blog

02 October, 2019

Making the Design of Childcare Services 'Universal'

Making the Design of Childcare Services 'Universal' - the Universal Design Guidelines for Early Learning and Care Settings The main principle of ‘Universal Design is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people, regardless of their age, size, ability or disability' from aim.gov.ie Here we highlight some key information about internal and external spaces, however, you ca...

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16 September, 2019

Extension to parental leave in Ireland from this month

Recent changes to Parental Leave in Ireland mean that parents now have an additional 4 weeks per child of unpaid parental leave. This leave can allow parents greater flexibility to work, while also being able to spend more time with their children. While there are financial sacrifices to make, these are often not as large as many fear (see Irish Times article: ‘Earn more than you think while working less’). If it is financially viable, the cut in pay can be well worth it. If ...

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26 August, 2019

Help with settling-in

This week and next preschools are welcoming new children and their families to their services. Most parents have already organised a preschool for their child by now and are looking forward to the next stage their child’s life. This may be a very sensitive time for both the child and the parent, it may, for many parents, be the first time their child has been away from them for any length of time. Many preschool services will have sent an introduction letter to the parents l...

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19 August, 2019

Starting school - tips for parents on preparing!

Is your child starting primary school? We have tips for parents.. It won't be long until the next group of Junior Infants are heading to school in September, Marie Dowdall our Information and Training Officer has some tips to help both parents and children prepare over the summer: Make sure your child can do tasks by themselves, like unbutton and button/zip up their coat, use the bathroom independently and open their bag and lunchbox. Practice this as much as possible as...

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19 August, 2019

Safeguarding the Safety, Health and Welfare of the Child

     Safeguarding the Safety, Health and Welfare of the Child (QRF Regulation 23) The purpose of regulation 23 is to ensure that the protection and welfare of the children in any childcare service is paramount, and the children’s safety and wellbeing is the priority. As a registered provider, you must be committed to safeguarding the children in your care, and to providing a safe environment where they can play, learn and develop. The scope of this regulation a...

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29 July, 2019

Do you know the requirements? Recruiting & Managing childcare staff

    Following on from the shocking exposure of bad practice in RTE's recent 'RTE Investigates' documentary, we recognise the high quality of childcare in the majority of cases.   Over the next few weeks we will focus on QRF* standards which are particularly useful in the running of services to a high standard. This week we focus on Standard 9, which deals with Management and Recruitment of Staff. *Tusla's Quality and Regulatory Framework was developed to ...

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11 October, 2018

Update: Helping children whose first language is not English

We all know that for children entering a preschool/ childcare setting for the first time it can be daunting enough. Add to this the introduction of a completely new language, and often a new cultural situation and you can see why settling in is more difficult for these children. As parents from other cultures understandably value their child speaking their own language and aim for them to become bilingual it is often in preschool that children encounter English for the first time. It is ...

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03 October, 2018

Young children and anxiety or worry

By Joanna Fortune   We have to distinguish between anxiety and worry.  All young children will experience worry, or the uh-oh feelings, as I like to call them.  When young children are in a situation that is unfamiliar, they do not know what to expect, they cannot predict with certainty what might happen and perhaps Mam and Dad are not around (if I am at school, a party, a play-date, starting at crèche etc) my body and brain fire up to recognise this as being dangerous a...

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24 August, 2018

KCCC Focus on Outdoor Play - Week 4

To date we have shared the experience of Early Days Montessori and Hillhouse Preschool.     This week’s service is “Shining Stars Academy” based in Athy. “Shining Stars Academy provides a Full day Early Years’ Service and a Homework School Age Childcare Service.  Shining Stars Academy aims to provide an excellent environment for children to develop their social, personal and educational skills and learn through a planned play-based curriculum...

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24 August, 2018

KCCC Focus on Outdoor Play - Week 3

Last week we shared the experience of Early Days Montessori.   This week’s service is “Hillhouse Preschool” based in Naas. “Hill House is a not-for-profit initiative that aims to support the role of parents as the primary educators of their children and offers a programme of parenting, family, faith formation and cultural activities as well as mother-and-toddler groups and a pre-school facility”. Read their story and enjoy the Photo Video Gallery&helli...

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