A reminder of the Covid-19 Support Helpline for ELC and SAC Providers – 1800 940341 is available from 10am – 1pm & 1.30pm – 4pm this weekend.
Please also make note of the Covid support helpline times for over the festive period.
This section provides helpful information and guidance for parents on children in settings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) services operate during COVID-19, it is important for babies, toddlers and young children that child-centredness continues to be a basis for how we develop our response for children. When all the child’s most important adults—parents and practitioners—work together, going to childcare can be a positive experience for everyone.
Everyone will need to remain vigilant and continue to follow Public Health guidance.
https://first5.gov.ie/guidance/parents
Click in below for Minister O’Gorman`s message of appreciation to all Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare educators and practitioners.
A reminder of the Covid-19 Support Helpline for ELC and SAC Providers – 1800 940341 is available from 10am – 1pm & 1.30pm – 4pm at the weekend only.
Please also make note of the Covid support helpline times for over the festive period.
Storm Barra Update
The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is advising that all ELC and SAC services throughout the country will open tomorrow (9 December) as usual.
22:32
Further to the update issued to the sector this evening, Dublin has now been upgraded to Status Orange. As referenced in the earlier update, all early learning and childcare in Status Orange and Status Red areas will remain closed tomorrow, Wednesday 8 December. This update now applies to early learning and childcare services in Dublin.
DCEDIY
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19:02 07/12/2021
The Department of Children Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is advising that all early learning and care and school age childcare services that are currently or forecast to be in a Red or Orange alert area should remain closed tomorrow, 8th December. This will allow for assessment of the impact of Storm Barra to take place. Services located in the areas subject to the red or orange alerts are not required to apply for force majeure.
This includes counties Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Limerick, Clare, Galway, Mayo and Wexford.
Early learning and care and school age childcare services who are no longer in a Red or Orange Alert area can reopen provided, if there are concerns, managers have had an opportunity to check for fallen wires and other serious damage in the vicinity of their service. If an individual service (in a yellow area) is still experiencing a particular local issue relating to the storm and cannot open, they can apply for Force Majeure funding.
All services should keep up-to-date with the current weather warnings which are carried on all national and local news bulletins and in particular any change in the status warning for their area.
DCEDIY
The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, T.D., today launched Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, 2022-2028. Nurturing Skills aims to strengthen the ongoing process of professionalisation for those working in early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC).
Early Years Educators, School-Age Childcare Practitioners and childminders play a key role in supporting children’s development and well-being, working in partnership with families. Recognising their central importance for the quality of ELC and SAC, Nurturing Skills aims to support the professional development of the workforce and raise the profile of careers in the sector.
Nurturing Skills sets out actions to achieve workforce commitments in First 5, the Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families, including:
Across ELC, SAC and childminding, the sector has a total workforce of more than 45,000, and each year several thousand students qualify to work in the sector. The national infrastructure and wider resources for Continuing Professional Development are expected to bring benefits right across the workforce. In addition, over the next 7 years, new financial supports will enable more than 5,000 Early Years Educators and 4,000 School-Age Childcare Practitioners to study for qualifications while continuing to work.
Actions in Nurturing Skills to develop career pathways, promote careers in the sector and support staff recruitment will complement efforts under way to improve pay and conditions of employment in the sector. In particular, a key enabler for the Workforce Plan will be the Joint Labour Committee for Early Years Services, which was recently established following a process begun in December 2020 by Minister O’Gorman.
Likewise, the new Core Funding stream announced in Budget 2022, will support service providers to meet higher costs arising from pay increases and from staff participation in training and professional development activities, without raising fees for parents.
Speaking at the launch, Minister O’Gorman said:
“It gives me great pleasure to publish Nurturing Skills. Through the new and enhanced supports it makes available, I am confident that this Workforce Plan will be a turning-point in the professional development of Early Years Educators and School-Age Childcare Practitioners and also in the recognition of the profession’s importance in supporting children’s development, learning and well-being.”
Nurturing Skills aims to build on the significant progress already made in raising skill levels across the workforce. New 2021 data released for the first time in the Workforce Plan indicates that the proportion of Early Years Educators with a relevant qualification at level 7 or higher on the National Framework of Qualifications has risen from 12% in 2012 to 34% in 2021, thus surpassing the 30% interim target for 2021 that was set in First 5. Nurturing Skills aims to increase this proportion to at least 50% by 2028. At the same time, it aims to increase the proportion of Early Years Educators with at least a level 6 qualification from 72% in 2021 to 85% in 2028.
The development of Nurturing Skills was informed by an OECD Country Policy Review of Early Childhood Education and Care in Ireland, which was conducted in parallel. The OECD Review, which was published on 2 December, found that Ireland is pursuing a strong policy agenda for early learning and care, and included a series of workforce-related recommendations that are reflected in commitments in Nurturing Skills.
An information webinar on this report, and Partnership for the Public Good, A New Funding Model for the Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare Sector, 2022-2028, will be made available to the sector later today, providing a detailed overview of both reports.
