Early Childhood Ireland Webinar Series 1 – Recordings

Fiona Buckley HR Consultant: will speak about supporting teams as they move towards the challenges that reopening might present for them.

Fiona Buckley is a corporate trainer, keynote speaker and empowerment & executive coach in the areas of Leadership & Management Development, Work Behaviour, Personalities and Interpersonal Skills.. She is also senior associate faculty with the Irish Management Institute (IMI) for the past 4 years facilitating executive programmes and is also a strategic consultant with Mercer. Fiona is also a trained and certified Personality and Emotional Intelligence practitioner and is a regular contributor to the national newspapers.

June O’Sullivan (UK) CEO of LEYF Nurseries @leyfonline : will share her reflections from the last few months and experiences in the United Kingdom

June O’Sullivan, MBE
Chief Executive – London Early Years Foundation

As CEO and creator of the UK’s leading childcare social enterprise, June continues to break new ground in the development of LEYF’s scalable social business model. She remains a tireless campaigner, looking for new ways to influence policy and make society a better place for all children and families.

Dr Derek Grant & Dr Mary Daly NCCA : will share newly developed transition resources for Mo Scéal.

Dr Derek Grant is a Director, Curriculum and Assessment with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA). Derek has responsibility for areas of work across early childhood and primary education. Prior to joining the NCCA, he was a teaching principal and deputy-principal. Derek has a Bachelor of Education degree from Trinity College Dublin, a Master of Science degree in Education Management from the University of Ulster and a Doctorate in Educational Research and Development from the University of Lincoln, England.

Natasha Bryant Yoga Instructor: will share ideas for prioritising self-care during these uncertain times

Natasha Bryant speaks on The Benefits of Yoga and Mindfulness

 How many times did you pick up on a child feeling anxious last year? How many times did you experience behavior problems, lack of focus or disruptions?
Maybe not many, but with changes Covid-19 have bought and the time the children have spent away from their regular routines, this number is threatening to rise. 
Children may be feeling stressed, worried or just unable to trust that it is not all going to go away again. There may be separation anxiety, struggles with social skills or worry around new safety measures that maybe in place (social distancing, hand washing etc).
A study in 2018 showed that one in five primary school children in Ireland experienced general anxiety. 16% of those children had anxiety stemmed from being overwhelmed. This was before this pandemic hit us. We have to be ready for children feeling anxious, children feeling overwhelmed, children experiencing big emotions that they just don’t know how to deal with yet. 

What can we do to help?
We can introduce Yoga and Mindfulness.