Kerry County Childcare Committee will be hosting online network meetings on Wednesday 29th September at 3.30pm and at 7.30pm.
We will be covering the following topics at the meetings:
- Upcoming workshops & Training
- Always Children First – resumption of in person training
- NCS compliance
- Understanding your income & expenditure
And providing updates and information on:
- The Gardening Project
- Publishing Fees Lists
- Re-registration with Tusla
- Governance Code for registered Charities
If you would like to attend please email catherine@kerrycountychildcare.com stating name/s and the meeting time and I will email you the link.
Staff Support & Supervision in the Early Years
Kerry CCC would like to inform you of a forthcoming Free discussion forum with regards to Staff Support & Supervision in the Early Years. It will be an opportunity to look at the key messages and an overview of what Support & Supervision can do to build relationships between supervisors and employees and also motivate each other in our practice as well as supporting a quality early years experience for children and their families. There will be a supporting resource provided from Barnardos “Support & Supervision in Early Learning Care”.
Places are limited to a maximum of 10 to allow for discussion , and will be agreed on a first come first served basis.
There are two dates to choose from:
Wednesday 18th November 2020, 3-4pm
OR
Wednesday 18th November 2020, 7.30-8.30pm.
These Forums will be facilitated by Kathryn O’Donnell, Support & Development Officer, and if you are interested in taking part, please email your expression of interest to kathryn@kerrycountychildcare.com and I you will receive via email a link to the Zoom call for the date of your choice
First 5
Continuing professional development resources for practitioners are available on the First 5 website, you will have access to free E-Learning courses
Click Here
Diversity, Equality & Inclusion Training
This training programme was developed to support educators to engage with the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Charter and Guidelines for Early Childhood Care and Education published in 2016. The training aims to foster awareness about Diversity, Equality and Inclusion and to encourage and support those working in the early years sector to actively advocate for inclusion for all children and their families within the ECCE setting. It explores the key issues surrounding Diversity, Equality and Inclusion and promotes good practice in terms of supporting Diversity, Equality and Inclusion in an early childhood education and care setting.
This training programme is 15 hours and is delivered by Kerry County Childcare staff. Two ECCE staff members from each childcare setting are invited to attend the training programme. Attendees receive a certificate of participation. Participants must attend all 4 sessions.
**Please note: where possible we will endeavour to deliver the workshops as advertised above, however dates may be subject to change. **
Always Children First: Child Safeguarding Awareness Training for Organisations: Foundation Training
Always Children First is a standardised child protection training course which is available to Early Years Practitioners. This training programme is delivered by the Childcare Committees.
The training has been developed by the Tusla in partnership with the National Early Years Children First Committee. This co-ordinated approach to child protection training aims to provide access to a standardised training course for everyone working with children and families in the early years sector as well as promoting consistent implementation of child protection policies and procedures across the sector.
Always Children First – Child Safeguarding Awareness Training: Foundation Level: This is a quality assured child protection training course tailored for the Early Years sector. Kerry County Childcare staff deliver training to practitioners working in preschools, full-day care services, afterschools and childminding settings. The training is delivered in Irish through Forbairt Naionrai Teoranta and Comhar Naionrai na Gaeltachta. The 6 hour workshop is usually delivered over one full day or over two consecutive evenings. Attendees at the workshop receive a certificate of participation. Childcare practitioners are required to renew their Always Children First certificate every 3 years.
Due to changes in Children First legislation, the Always Children First workshop is being updated. Kerry CCC will resume delivery of workshops in the coming months.
For further information on Always Children First Child Safeguarding Awareness Training, please contact Catherine / Kathryn at Kerry Childcare Committee on (066) 7181582.
Always Children First Online Resource for students
An online information resource for early years students has been launched. Students can access the course through their college. To participate on the on-line course students will be instructed to set up their own accounts and complete the course in the class room setting. For further information contact your course tutor.
Child Protection Policy Development Workshop
The National Early Years Children First Committee has developed a publication ‘Developing a Child Protection & Welfare Policy a Resource for Early Years Settings, March 2015.
This practical resource aims to support early childhood services to develop and implement a Child Protection & Welfare Policy for their service, in line with Always Children First. The resource is designed to be tailored to the management structure, number of employees, age of children in the service and other policies and procedures in operation in the service.
As part of our National Early Years Child Protection and Welfare Training Programme remit, Kerry CCC delivers Child Protection Policy Workshops to support and guide services in this area.
For further details or to book a place on a workshop contact Kathryn O’Donnell on 066 7181582 / 087 2751760 / kathryn@kerrycountychildcare.com
The National Síolta Aistear Initiative
The National Síolta Aistear Initiative has been developed to provide central support and coordination of Síolta and Aistear implementation across the early childhood sector.
The initiative has two strands:
The first will focus on Síolta, including the introduction of four Síolta awareness raising workshops
The second strand relates to Aistear, and will see the delivery of workshops and coaching to support practitioners to use Aistear in their setting.
Catherine was selected as a Siolta/Aistear mentor and has participated in a number of seminars on specific areas of practice to further support her work with practitioners.
The Síolta Aistear Introductory Workshop
The Síolta Aistear Introductory Workshop provides an overview of the two national early years’ frameworks, Síolta and Aistear, and the online support tool, the Aistear Síolta Practice Guide. The 2.5 hour workshop will support participants to:
- learn about the purpose and structure of Síolta and Aistear
- explore the connections between the two frameworks
- find out more about the Aistear Síolta Practice Guide
- examine the possibilities for further support and guidance in relation to Aistear and Siolta
Contact Catherine if you are interested.
Additional workshops and coaching are provided by Better Start and expressions of interest are periodically called for those services wishing to participate in the initiative.
Services who are interested in should contact Catherine Callaghan on 066 7181582 / 087 9675212 / catherine@kerrycountychildcare.com
The Practice Guide Resources
The Aistear Síolta Practice Guide is an online resource to support practitioners to use Aistear and Síolta together to improve the quality of their curriculum. The Practice Guide can be accessed at at www.aistearsiolta.ie
