Teresa Heeney and Elaine Hynes were delighted to represent Early Childhood Ireland at the recent ISSA Conference in Ghent, Belgium.

The conference; Local Responses ,Global Advances: Towards Competent Early Childhood Systems, brought together a wide range of professionals to share their knowledge and experience of working in the field of early childhood and provided a valuable space for dialogue, reflection and sharing practice. The focus of the conference centred around the importance of competent Early Childhood Education and Care systems in working towards quality in early years provision.

As representatives of Early Childhood Ireland, Teresa and Elaine presented with Dr. Jan Peeters, Director of VBJK, Ghent University , Belgium and Lucia Balduzzi , University of Bologna, Italy. They presented on the Irish ECEC context, including the recent developments in up-skilling the sector and the ways in which the introduction of a minimum qualification requirement has contributed to the professionalisation of the early childhood sector. They provided an insight into our developing sector and discussed the strategies required to further support professionalisation, ultimately leading to improved experiences for children, families and educators.

Early Childhood Ireland will continue to highlight the importance of competent systems and the investment that is needed to support the ongoing professionalisation of the ECEC workforce by engaging stakeholders in conversation, nationally and internationally over the coming months .