Mayo County Childcare Committee

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january 2010 free pre-school scheme starts in

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Mayo County Childcare Committee are delighted to be in a position to conďŹ rm that the free Pre-School Year Scheme in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) starts in January 2010. The scheme is being introduced by the OfďŹ ce of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (OMCYA), with the local work being done by the Mayo County childcare Committee.

Children in the pre-school year who were born between 2 February 2005 and 30 June 2006, will be eligible for the scheme from January 2010. This is a new scheme which was announced in April 2009. As it was not possible to have arrangements in place by September of this year, the ďŹ rst year of the scheme will be shorter than in future years, starting in January 2010 rather than September.

Parents of children in this age range can avail of the pre-school year by enrolling their child in a local participating pre-school service. Almost all preschool services in the country are participating in the scheme and many of these are advertising that they will have places available. If a parent has not yet enrolled a child in this age range for a Pre-School Year place, they should do so now. If a parent is unsure of how to go about doing this, s/he should contact Mayo County Childcare Committee for this information.

Parents of children who were born between 2 February 2006 and 30 June 2007 will be eligible for the next free Pre-School Year in September 2010, provided they did not register to start the scheme this January. Again, they should avail of the pre-school year by enrolling their child in a local participating pre-school service during 2010.

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Playschool Services: Where the free Pre-School Year is provided in a playschool, it will generally last for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week over the primary school year (38 weeks). The service will be paid in full by the OMCYA for each pre-school place and parents of children in this age range will not have to make any payment to the service.

Crèche places: Where the free Pre-School Year is provided in a crèche, it will generally consist of a daily session of 2 hours 15 minutes duration, 5 days a week over the full year (50 weeks). The service will be paid ₏48.50 per week by the OMCYA for each pre-school place. Parents of participating children who are paying for full or part-time day-care must be given a reduction in their day-care fees of ₏48.50 per week by the crèche.

Additional Services: Playschools and crèches can offer additional services to parents for which charges will be made, however, these can only be offered on an optional basis and parents who do not want to avail of such services must still be provided with a full Pre-School Year service in early learning for their children. Additional services would include extra hours, meals, special outings, special classes etc. If parents are unsure about how this works, Mayo County Childcare Committee will be able to answer their queries. Additional charges in such cases for extras must be optional for a service to comply with the rules of the scheme, and if a parent feels that this rule is being broken, they can approach their MCCC in conďŹ dence who will take the matter up with the service, and with the OMCYA if necessary.

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Chairperson’s Foreword ................... 02 Mayo County Childcare Committee and Mayo County Council Initiative Promotes Green Pre-Schools ............................. 02 MCCC Initiative Promotes Involvement of Grandparents in Play Schools ................................... 03 Childminding News ........................... 03 Mayo County Childcare Committee Training & Events Plan 2010 ............................................... 04

ish w o t e k i l d mccc wcohuilldminders & all s a m t s i r h a happy rcous new year a prospe

Chairperson’s Foreword

Lily Cunningham

No doubt at this stage you are looking forward to a well earned Christmas break. But also I am sure you are all very busy with Christmas “concerts” and visits from Santa.

It is a very special and magical time for children when they look forward to receiving their presents and surprises from Santa.

Looking back over 2009 it has been another very busy year in the childcare sector. It was especially gratifying to see Large Scale Capital funding secured in 2009 for 3 developments in the county, Foxford, Aghagower and Kilkelly. The announcement came as a great and welcomed surprise to all involved as it had been indicated that no capital funding would be allocated this year So well done to all involved and I know that the Mayo CCC Development workers are working hard with these services to get their buildings built within the time frame of the funding contract.

Also congratulations to all the services in Mayo who have successfully signed their contracts for entry into the Free Pre school Year scheme. 2010 promises to be a very exciting year in childcare as the long a waited free pre school year for every child in the state will finally arrive.

I was delighted to attend the recognition night for Childminders in Ballyheane Community Centre recently.

It was wonderful to see so many childminders receiving their certificates, having completed the Quality Assurance Scheme and voluntary notification to the HSE and MCC. The purpose of the scheme is to offer guidance to the childminders to provide a service to young children that is based on quality and best practice. I congratulate each of you for your commitment to quality childcare.

The chidcare sector in Mayo are also to be congratulated for the forward thinking and commitment to quality they have shown over the past year. The Childcare services in Mayo have embraced all the changes and have shown that they are prepared to meet the challenges which lie ahead in these recessionary times by engaging and working closely with the MCCC in implementing the new Free Pre School Year Scheme which will ultimately improve access for children into quality pre school education.

The MCCC believe strongly that investment in childcare now will have significant benefits to our society, families and the economy.

mayo county childcare committee and mayo county council initiative promotes green pre-schools Mayo County Childcare Committee and Mayo County Council have collaborated to provide training for childcare services in the county to make their services more environmentally friendly.

Jim Power County Childcare Coordinator said that the initiative has proved very successful with 50 services attending training on Monday the 19th of October. The training was provided by Mary Hunt on behalf of Mayo CCC and Sharon Cameron and Mary Forde Environmental Officers with Mayo County Council.

Feedback from childcare services who attended the training has been very positive.

The childcare services were informed about how to engage in the 7 step programme to attain a ‘Green Flag’ for their Childcare Service. This is a comprehensive programme which requires services to write up an action plan and an evaluation and monitoring system on how the programme is going.

Jim Power stated, “This is a very exciting initiative as very young children are taught through play and enjoyable activities how to be more environmentally friendly.

Research shows that young children learn behaviours , which they carry into teenage and adult life. By teaching through play children in Mayo will learn how to reuse, recycle and reduce. Each childcare service which attended the training received a lovely A3 size children’s book called “Ellen, Eoin & Great Rubbish Adventure. It is through stories and play activities that the children will learn” The initiative was formally launched at Stepping Stones Montessori which is owned and run by Bernadette Frazer.

Bernadette’s pre school is the first pre school in the county to have attained the Green Flag status. Mayo CCC hope that more pre schools around the county will follow Bernadette’s lead and attain the Green Flag status. It is hoped that all the 50 services which attended the training on Monday will implement the Green Flag programme and/or implement some of the ‘green’ activities described in the training.

If you would like more information on Green Flag training please contact MCCC office.

As chair of the MCCC I wish to sincerely thank firstly our very hard working and dedicated team and staff. I also thank all of you who work on a daily basis caring for the most precious asset our country has our children and I thank the volunteers who give of their private time to sit on committees etc solely in the interest of making a better society that puts our children first.

I would like to finish by wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and New Year and again to congratulate you on another effective year of delivering quality childcare.

Lily Cunningham, Chairperson MCCC.

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childminding news Childminder to Childminder

support

mayo county childcare committee initiative promotes involvement of grandparents in play schools

When you decide to set up as a childminder it is important to avail of all the supports that are on offer in Mayo.

The childminders in Mayo have identified that childminders that had attended training were perfectly placed to encourage other people to become quality childminders. In 2009 some childminders expressed an interest in being available to other childminder to act as mentors/buddies to guide them through the steps involved in becoming a quality childminder. The Childminders attended a Barnardos workshop that trained them to become mentors/buddies here in the county. These women have taken on this role voluntary and have shown an enormous commitment and interest in supporting new childminders.

Mayo County Childcare Committee were delighted to engage with childcare services in the county, in the implementation of the county’s first ‘Grand Parents Day’ in childcare settings, which was launched in Brickens Childcare Centre, Claremorris.

The initiative aimed to acknowledge the important role of Grand Parents in the lives of very young children and to encourage childcare services to use the potentially vital resource of ‘Grand Parents’ in their local area. It was also envisaged and hoped that the children’s Grand Parents would enjoy the day too as they receive encouragement to engage in their local play school.

If you would like to know What’s involved in setting up as a childminder Do I need insurance or policies Where can I find out more information about what is involved in childminding Is there any Free training that I can do while I am childminding or before I become a childminder } How do I get started how to advertise and support around getting parents } Is there a starter pack that I can get that will help me in setting up in my home } } } }

Mayo County Childcare Committee provided training for childcare services in the county to encourage them to engage with the Grand Parents of children in their care. It is widely acknowledged that grand parents can play a key role in the provision of quality Early Childhood Care & Education to very young children. This role can potentially, be seen in many ways such as telling stories to children to encourage their listening and concentration skills or in very practical ways such as collecting children from play school. Jim Power County Childcare Coordinator said that the initiative has proved very successful with 64 services attending training on Monday the 23/11/09. The training was provided by Anne Halligan on behalf of Mayo CCC. Feedback from childcare services who attended the training has been very positive.

At the training childcare services were informed about how to engage positively with Grand Parents and were shown activities to encourage Grand Parents involvement in the play school.

Jim Power stated, “This is a very exciting initiative as childcare services are encouraged to use a valuable resource within their community to further increase the quality of their service”. The services were shown activities and provided with simple resources to use in their childcare settings which could be used on ‘Grand Parents Day’ and through out the year.

If you would like to talk to another childminder call: Anna Ballina - 096-76821

Mary Castlebar - 094-9024507

Linda Westport - 098-55123

Josephine Belmullet - 097-81529

Geraldine Carracastle - 094-9254128

Jenny Ballinobe - 094-9545909

You could be one phone call away from finding the answer to a question you always wanted to know about childminding.

This Initiative is supported by: The Childminding Advisory Officer Ms. Mary O Hara-Gavin HSE at 087-2168496 or 094-9034776/7 Childminding Ireland Development worker Ms. Mary Heavey at 096-72084 Mayo County Childcare Committee at 094-9047010

childminding in mayo

The initiative was formally launched at Little Acorns Childcare Centre, Brickeens, Claremorris on Friday the 4th of December. The staff and management of this purpose built childcare centre are to be congratulated on the professional and friendly manner in which they hosted the launch of the Grand Parents Day. Mayo CCC thanked all the Grand Parents, parents, children and childcare staff who engaged in Grand Parents Day and Mayo CCC looks forward to continuing to work with childcare services in the continued development of quality Early Childhood Care & Education.

Another successful year has passed for the Childminding Services here in Mayo and the Mayo CCC and HSE were delighted to welcome all the childminders to our recognition event in Ballyheane on Dec 1st. Here the childminder who have signed up to the “national guidelines for Childminders” or Voluntary Notified have received a bucket of resource materials for the children in their childminding service.

Over the year these childminders and many more have attended training in “Play & Development, Language development, Fire Safety” Oral hygiene & Pead First Aid.

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mayo county childcare committee

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training & events plan 2010

Mayo Co. Childcare Committee will be holding 2 Training & Events Registration nights in early 2010. One registration night will be in Ballina and one in Castlebar.

Bookings and Payment will be taken for all training events being organised by Mayo CCC in 2010 on these nights. The proposed nights for registration are Wednesday 27/1/2010 in Days Hotel and Thursday 28/1/2010 in the Ramada Hotel, Ballina. Registration will commence at 7pm to 8.30pm. It is envisaged that all training places for 2010 will be booked at this event. See below for list of training events which we hope to take bookings/payment for at registration nights. A final list will be mailed out to you early in New Year.

Date

Topic

Venue

27/1/10

Training and Registration Night

Castlebar

28/1/10

Training and Registration Night

Ballina

24/2/10

In service training ‘Using Observations In Your Service’

Castlebar

In service training ‘Using Observations In Your Service’

Castlebar

Buntus Start, (Refresher) For services

Ballina

13/3/10

Buntus Start

Ballyheane

23/3/10

Management Support & Development Meeting

Castlebar

24/3/10

Management Support & Development Meeting

Ballina

25/3/10

Management Support & Development Meeting

Westport

17/4/10

1st Aid Refresher

Ballina

21/4/10

In Service Training ‘Planning your Enrolments Night’

Castlebar

22/4/10

In Service Training ‘Planning your Enrolment Nights’

Ballina

26/4/10

Planning for ‘Grand Parents Day’

Ballyheane

Planning for ‘Grand Parents Day’

Ballyheane

6/3/10

17/5/10

Planning for ‘Beep Beep Day’

Ballyheane

Planning for ‘Beep Beep Day’

Ballyheane

29/5/10

Buntus Start Training

Ballina

12/6/10

Buntus Start Refresher

Ballyheane

14/9/10

Management Support & Development Meeting

Castlebar

15/9/10

Management Support & Development Meeting

Ballina

16/9/10

Management Support & Development Meeting

Westport

25/9/10

1st Aid (Full Course Day 1)

Ballyheane

25/9/10

1st Aid Refresher

Ballyheane

2/10/10

1st Aid (Full Course Day 2 )

Ballyheane

2/10/10

1st Aid refresher

Castlebar

12/10/10

In Service Training ‘Using Music in your Childcare Setting’

Castlebar

18/10/10 9/11/10

Mayo County Childcare Committee contact details: Mayo County Childcare Committee, First Floor, Chambers House, Ellison St., Castlebar, Co. Mayo.

Tel: 094 9047010 Email: mayochildcare@mayococo.ie Website: www.mayochildcare.ie Jim Power, Co-ordinator Email: jpower@mayococo.ie Mary Conway, Administrator Email: maryconway@mayococo.ie Angela Cope, Development Worker Email: acope@mayococo.ie Olivia Donohoe, Development Worker Email: odonohoe@mayococo.ie Michelle Basquille, Development Worker (job-share) Email: mbasquil@mayococo.ie

Funded by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan 2007-2013

Disclaimer

In Service Training ‘Using Music in your Childcare Setting’

Castlebar

Planning for Green Flag Day

Ballyheane

Planning for Green Flag Day

Ballyheane

In Service Training ‘Promoting Positive Behaviour’- Barnardos

Ballyheane

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this publication is accurate and up to date. No responsibility for loss or distress occasioned to any person acting or refraining from acting as a result of material in this publication can be accepted by Mayo County Childcare Committee and/or their respective servants or agents.

Check out our website

www.mayochildare.ie for a complete list of

training events

organised by MCCC and other organisations...

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Cashin Print, Castlebar. 094 9026622

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