Early Childhood Ireland is introducing our new monthly feature Making the News, designed to provide updates about media coverage of Early Years and School Age Care issues. Our coverage in January reached a potential 1.8 million people with 40 pieces of coverage across national and local media. A 5-year plan for Early Years and School
Last week, Early Childhood Ireland launched our Policy Proposal, A Single Agency for the Early Years and School Age Care sector. Since 2019 Early Childhood Ireland has been advocating for a Single Agency for the Early Years (EY) and School Age Care (SAC) sector. We were successful in having this added to the Programme for
The United Kingdom (UK) Government’s plans to provide 30 hours of “free childcare” in England “not only risk exacerbating inequalities, but also worsening the quality of education for all young children,” according to a recent policy briefing entitled ‘Inequality in Early Years Education’, published by the Sutton Trust. The 30 hours of free childcare scheme
In this week’s Policy in Action, Early Childhood Ireland provides an update on Early Years (EY) and School Age Care (SAC) matters that have been raised recently in the Dáil. Oireachtas Update Early Childhood Ireland monitors the relevant work of the Oireachtas each week. Part of this work is to review Oireachtas debates and Parliamentary
Minister Roderic O’Gorman recently launched the 2023 State of the Nation’s Children (SONC) report. This report provides a comprehensive picture of the lives of children in Ireland, including key information on children’s health, behavioural and educational outcomes, and their relationships with their parents and their friends. The SONC report provides the most up-to-date data on
In Policy in Action this week, we examine a recent Irish Times article addressing closures in Early Years settings (available here to publication subscribers). This article features our Director of Policy, Frances Byrne, and Early Years provider and long-time member Louise Kilbane. This piece is an excellent example of how our media and policy teams
Earlier this month, the Scottish Government released guidance on taking a children’s human rights approach. The document was developed to provide information and resources to support public authorities and other organisations in implementing a children’s human rights approach. The guidance covers the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the UNCRC (Incorporation)(Scotland)
Last week, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) published the End of Year Three Evaluation Report of the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM). The independent evaluation, undertaken by the University of Derby, involved almost 2,000 stakeholders – parents, educators, providers and representative groups. The Report The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM)
Early Childhood Ireland has called on the Government to reduce the consistent poverty rate for children living in Ireland from 7.5 per cent to 2 per cent over five years. This ambitious target is one of many proposals that Early Childhood Ireland has made as part of a recent submission to the Public Consultation on
This week, our Policy in Focus outlines the main recommendations from a recently published study entitled The Early Years Sector: A Case Study in Policy Development, written by Dr Fergal Lynch from the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, University Galway, who is also the former Secretary General of the Department of Children. Overview For
Funded by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan, 2018-2027 Company Registration No: 506235
Charity No CHY: 19987
Registered Charity No: 20078904
Funded by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan, 2018-2027 Company Registration No: 506235
Charity No CHY: 19987
Registered Charity No: 20078904
Funded by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan, 2018-2027 Company Registration No: 506235
Charity No CHY: 19987
Registered Charity No: 20078904
