12.01.2017 Bursary for certain childcare staff who have completed degrees in early childhood education and care (ECEC) - Department of Children and Youth Affairs - Ireland

Thursday 12th January, 2017 The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone TD, is delighted to announce that funding has been made available to provide a bursary to certain childcare staff who have completed degrees in early childhood education and care at their own expense. http://www.dcya.gov.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=4088

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Wishing everyone a Happy New Year. Office will reopen on Wednesday 4 January 2017.

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Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas. Office will reopen on Wednesday 4th January 2017

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Looking to buy a present for a Child, books are always a good idea... see below suggested link http://time.com/100-best-childrens-books/

West Wicklow/ Kildare area Parents Plus: Children’s Programme in February 2017. Venue: Blessington Library, Blessington, Co Wicklow The Parents Plus Programme is a practical and positive course for parents of children aged 6- 11 years who want to: • Help their children learn and reach their full potential, • Develop a close and warm relationship with their child/ children, • Set rules and establish positive routines in the home, • Manage difficult behaviour and discipline problems, • Solve childhood problems in a positive way that helps the child to learn. Who Should Attend? The course is open to all parents from the West Wicklow/ Kildare area. Parents need to commit to attending this six week parenting programme. Practical Details: The course will commence on Thursday 02nd of February 2017 from 10.30am to 12.30pm and will consist of six weeks of parent group meetings which will run in Blessington Library, Blessington, Co. Wicklow. €3 contribution towards materials for the 6 weeks of the programme. This course is being hosted by trained facilitators from the H.S.E. and The Child and Family Agency. For details contact norah.byrne@hse.ie, Norah Byrne, Athy Health Centre, Woodstock Street, Athy, Co. Kildare, (059 86 33500)

28.10.2016 Consultation on new Affordable Childcare Scheme - Department of Children and Youth Affairs - Ireland

Don't forget to make your opinion count and fill out the public consultation on the single affordable childcare scheme. Last to to share your view is Friday the 25th November. http://www.dcya.gov.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=4019

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Childminding Ireland are sponsoring Childminding Research. Childminding Ireland is very pleased to announce that it is sponsoring Miriam O’Regan in her PhD research focused on Childminding in Ireland. Miriam was a Childminding Advisory Officer at Wicklow CCC and in January 2017 will be starting her PhD with Dublin Institute of Technology.

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The Single Affordable Childcare Scheme Policy Paper A response from the Childminder’s Perspective The inclusion of Childminders in the universal subsidy scheme is a welcome step in the right direction. It is also a positive that the scheme will operate on the principle of parental choice when considering the childcare service best suited to their child and family. (pp 4, 6) However, the Single Affordable Childcare Scheme has been prepared with centre based provision in mind. In practice, since only 3% of services are Childminders registered with TUSLA, (=119 Childminders) this means that parental preference cannot be respected since so many have children with Childminders unable to register with TUSLA -– approximately 76,000 based on the estimates in this DCYA Policy Paper. (pp.103, 77) There are concerns about insufficient childcare places – it is thought that an extra 20,000 places may be needed. However, it is unlikely that Childminders will be able fill the gap since the majority of Childminders are excluded from registration with TUSLA under current legislation. As it stands, the majority of Childminders, those who care for three or fewer pre-school children or care for school age children, cannot register with TUSLA because they continue to be exempt from the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016, and are therefore effectively excluded from participation in the scheme. It is completely unrealistic to expect that this scheme will encourage Childminders to become registered with TUSLA, unless some of them are able to increase their numbers. (p.67) It is evident that Childminding reform, with amendment of current legislation, is needed to include this valuable form of childcare in national provision, However, unless an interim solution is found to allow Childminders join the SACS, the proposed reduction of centre based prices by various subsidies could also drive Childminding hourly rates down, and possibly lead to Childminders closing down despite the many benefits this intimate form of care has for very young children in particular. > Lower rates of illness (McGinnity at al, 2013:21) > ‘In home-based childcare, children experienced higher caregiver sensitivity, lower noise levels, and showed higher wellbeing compared to children in childcare centers. Caregiver sensitivity in home-based childcare--but not in center care--was positively associated with children's wellbeing.’ (Groeneveld et al, 2010:5022) However, in looking at ways to increase the number of childcare places, it is misleading to suggest that capital grants to increase centre based provision would be less costly than regulating Childminding. (p.78) It might only be so because of the far greater number of children that would be involved. In fact, the average cost of creating a childcare place was intended to be €11,500 per place under the National Childcare Investment Programme, up to a maximum of €20,000 per childcare place. (Value for Money, 2007:543) Since it only cost a Childminder Development Grant of €1,000 in the same period to create up to three places, it cannot be argued that it would cost more to fund Childminding places. Many more children and families would benefit from the universal subsidy if Childminding were regulated and progressively included in SACS over time. This truly is an issue of parental choice and equity for young children. To read the complete Single Affordable Childcare Scheme Policy Paper, please click link below http://www.dcya.gov.ie/documents/earlyyears/20161028PolicyPaper.pdf

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Childminding Ireland 2017 AGM Saturday 4th March 2017 Tullamore Court Hotel

Health Promotion - Publications - Home

The National Poisons Information Centre (NPIC) at Beaumont Hospital is organising a Poisons Awareness Day on Thursday 8th December to raise awareness of the importance of poison prevention to keep children safe and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the NPIC. To mark the occasion, the NPIC in collaboration with the HSE's Child Safety Awareness Programme, would like to encourage crèches and child-minding facilities across the country to order our poison prevention resources and host their own Poisons Awareness Day. The County Childcare Committees have also been informed. Posters, poison prevention leaflets and key-fobs for parents are available to order free-of-charge online at www.healthpromotion.ie (under the ‘Safety & Accident Prevention’ category). In addition, the NPIC has 100 ‘Poisons Awareness Day’ packs to give away! If local schools or crèches would like to host a Poisons Awareness Day they can contact the NPIC via the link http://www.poisons.ie/Contact-Us to request a “Say No to Poisons” storybook and lesson plan.

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The Association of Childhood Professionals are organising a protest to highlight the poor pay and working conditions of many childcare professionals. The protest will take place from 2-3pm on Tuesday 15th November, outside Dáil Éireann.