Childcare currently available in
Ireland
Sessional
services - provides
services for a period of time during the day from 9 am to 1pm. One of the sessional
services is Playgroup which operates in a range of settings, usually open for
approximately three hours per day. The
Community playgroups are run by community members and primarily funded by the
government, but some playgroups are privately owned. Many community playgroups
are staffed by individuals on government employment schemes and the staff
members are encouraged to undertake further education and training.
Montessori Schools. These schools usually owned privately and
operates approximately three hours a day.
Some run two sessions, morning and afternoon with children attending one
session a day. It is run according to the principles and educational methods of
Maria Montessori. In Ireland it follows
the Aistear framework and also learn its curriculum and practical methods.
Naíonraí is a playgroup specializes in Irish language and
supported by an organisation called Forbairt Naíonraí Teoranta with 200 of them
nationwide. The nearest one is Athlone.
It also follows the Aistear framework with Irish version and attended by
children ages 3 and 5 for approximately 3 hours.
Early Start Programme.
This is a one-year
preventative intervention scheme offered in selected pre-schools in designated
disadvantaged areas. It is managed and
funded by the Department of Education and Skills. One of the objective of this programme is to
tackle educational disadvantage by targeting children who are at risk of not
reaching their potential within the school system. It was introduced in eight pilot schools in disadvantages
areas in 1994 and expanded to 40 schools the following year. Now it caters almost over 1,650 children in
Ireland and most schools are located in Dublin with 26 of them. There are six schools in Cork and three in
Limerick. There is one each in Galway,
Waterford, Co. Wicklow in Bray, Co. Louth in Dundalk and Co. Louth in
Drogheda. This programme implements the
Aistear framework to enhance the overall development of young children. It is also a way to prevent school failure by
trying to counteract the effects of social disadvantage.
Pre-schools for
Children with Special Needs. These services provided by Local Health
Offices and voluntary bodies for young children with severe or profound
disabilities. It is provided in
specialised centres around the country and run by a clinical director and
staffed by nurses. They are ECEC trained
teachers and often play therapists with and intellectual disability
qualifications. While pre-school
children in Ireland do not have a specific right to education, they are
entitled to certain health services that are related to education. The Health Service Executive is responsible
for providing psychological services and speech and language therapy services
for pre-school children with disabilities who are assessed as needing these
services. Assessments of children under
5 are carried out under the ‘assessment of need’ provisions of the Disability
Act of 2005. The Visiting Teacher Service
of the Department of Education and Skills provides a service to young children
with visual and/or hearing impairment from the age of 2 years old.
Full-time
services - provides
services throughout the day like Creches, Day Care Centre’s and Nurseries offers full-time care and education for babies and
children. These services provided to
children ages 6 months to school-going age.
Many facilities offer afterschool care and/or homework clubs for primary school children. While most full-time services are privately
owned and funded by parental fees, a small number are government funded. These services operate long day from 8am to
6pm and some open at 6 am.
Family Day Care/Childminders. According to Childminding Ireland in 2012,
there is approximately 70% of children in out of home settings are cared
for. There are approximately 37,900
childminders working in Ireland according to National Childcare Strategy of
2006, and I think the numbers gone up now.
All childminders who care for three or fewer children are exempt for the
Child Care (Pre-School) Regulations of 2006.
However, they should register voluntarily with their local Childminder
Advisory Officer (CMO). Their names and
contact details are available through the local City or County Childcare
Committee (CCC). Under Childcare Act of
1991, childminders are required to register with the HSE for caring more than 3
pre-school children, however many don’t bother to do this. The Office of the Minister for Children in
2006 and was updated in 2008, encouraged all childminders to follow the
National Guidelines for Childminders.
Part-time
services – provide
services for more than 3.5 hours and less than 5 hours a day. It may include
sessional pre-school service for pre-schooler not attending part-time day care
service. These are the examples:
Ø Morning club
Ø After school
Ø Child Minding
Ø Casual arrangement with family,
grandparents, neighbor
Ø Au pairs or nanny
Ø Parent/Toddler groups
Ø Breakfast clubs
Ø Drop in childcare (found in shopping
Centre)
Today, the government
spend on childcare to encouraged women to get out to work. Every family have the same opportunity and
children should avail 2 pre-schools.
These services are community funded and subsidized by government.
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