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Dear Service Provider,

Core Funding – Review and Confirm Reminder

This is a reminder the Review and Confirm window is open until Monday 12 June inclusive. If a Partner Service does not complete the Review and Confirm process within the required timeframe, Core Funding payments will be placed on hold until such a time as the process is completed.

Please note, the late submission of a Review and Confirm form noting a decrease to the base rate value will be effective from the change effective date rather than the last day of the review and confirm window.

Preparing for Review and Confirm

Core Funding applications/application changes must be at an Approved status prior to completing the Review and Confirm form.

If your previous application/application change is at ‘Approved’ and you have an application change at a ‘Draft’ status you must abandon the draft application prior to completing the Review and Confirm form.

If an application is at ‘Referred back’ Service Providers are required to submit an application change to rectify the refer back reason outlined. Once the application change is approved, you must then proceed to complete the Review & Confirm form.

To support services in completing a Review & Confirm form, a detailed guidance document and tailored training videos are available here.

Core Funding Programme 2023/24

Partner services who have completed the June Review and Confirm process will be able to transfer their most recent Core Funding application data into their new Core Funding application for the 2023/24 programme year. Therefore, partner services are encouraged to complete the June Review and Confirm process as soon as possible within the specified timeframe.

Further information on the Core Funding application process for the 2023/24 programme year will be available in the coming weeks.

Best wishes,

The Early Years Team

💢Childminders  

📣Calling new, existing and potential childminders to a network meeting.
Introduction to Aistear, Curriculum Framework for Children from birth to six years in Ireland.

Family Resource Centre. Arden View, Tullamore.
19th June 7pm – 8:30pm

This information session will focus on Aistear, which is the curriculum framework for children from birth to six years in Ireland.

Aistear describes the types of learning that are important for children and the exciting opportunities for supporting children’s learning and development that happen in everyday activities.

During the session we will consider ideas and practical suggestions to help you use Aistear to support children’s learning and holistic development. We will also discuss practical examples of how you can use Aistear to build on and extend the work you are already doing with the children in your childminding setting.

📱💻🖥Book your place on Eventbrite 👇
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/childminders-network-meeting-aistear-for-childminders-tickets-648188959627

Please contact Siobhán for a booking reference number on 057 913 5878 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. on Wednesday's, Thursday's and Friday's.

Learning Outdoors

Today the Early Years Inspectorate published a guidance document designed specifically for settings operating mainly or fully outdoors.

The document provides support and advice on how services can meet the requirements of the Early Years Regulations in an outdoor environment.

The document can be accessed here:

https://www.tusla.ie/uploads/content/EYI-GDE12.65_When_the_Roof_is_the_Sky_.pdf?fbclid=IwAR27r1SaMlKSy6Buwbv3vkG2scEvJq7XeR0E5OTxMQHzVsE9023an755WXQ

From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

Published on 1 June 2023

Last updated on 1 June 2023

The Garden is the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth’s inaugural gardenGarden designed by children for children to promote the importance of outdoor playThe Garden achieved overall ‘Gold Medal’, ‘Best in Category – Large Garden’ and ‘Best Planting’. 

Oliver Schumann - Designer and Paula Crilly and Bernadetta Laboni from Mount Venus Nursery

Following a rigorous two-day judging process by a panel of independent expert judges, a garden designed by children for the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has won three prestigious awards at this year’s Bord Bia Bloom Festival.

The purpose of the garden is to promote the importance of outdoor play for a child’s learning and development, demonstrate the benefit of consulting young children on matters affecting them and to raise awareness of First 5: the whole-of-Government strategy to improve the lives of babies, young children and their families.

Minister Roderic O’Gorman said today

“I am delighted that my Department has won a medal for its First 5 Garden of Wonder and Discovery. I would like to congratulate garden designers Oliver and Liat Schurman and the 20 pre-school children from Creative Kids & Co in Walkinstown with whom they collaborated with on the design of this garden. The final garden design – a natural and untouched woodland - shows that children are the real experts in their lives.

"I would encourage anyone visiting the Phoenix Park this Bank Holiday weekend to see this for yourself. I would also encourage parents to visit the National Childcare Scheme stall in the Budding Bloomers section this weekend to find out more this Scheme and the benefits it can bring to their families.”

The award-winning garden was co-designed with young children. The Educators from Creative Kids & Co in Walkinstown, Dublin, supported 20 pre-schoolers to participate in the development of the garden with the garden designers Oliver and Liat Schurmann.

This process followed the Participation Framework championed by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. The Framework is based on the child-rights model of participation developed by Professor Laura Lundy, Queens University, which provides guidance for decision-makers on the steps to take in giving children and young people a meaningful voice in decision-making.

First 5

First 5 is the whole-of-Government strategy to improve the lives of babies, young children and their families. This ten-year plan aims to ensure all children in Ireland have positive early experiences and get a great start in life. Find out more here.

The National Childcare Scheme is one of a number of schemes under Together for Better, the new funding model for early learning and childcare that also includes the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) and the Core Funding Scheme. The new funding model is being backed by record levels of State investment in early learning and childcare – which will for the first time exceed €1 billion this year.

Visit the First 5 Garden of Wonder and Discovery at the Show Garden Section and the National Childcare Scheme Stall in the Budding Bloomers Section and meet Department staff to talk about the importance of outdoor play and how the Department of Children is enhancing the lives of children and recognising diversity and promoting equality of opportunity.

The First 5 Garden funded by Dormant Accounts Funding.

Dear Service Provider,

We are writing to inform you that the Pobal Compliance team will conduct unannounced visits over the summer months to ELC/SAC services whose calendars indicate that they are operational during the summer.

Services operating during the summer should ensure that all records relating to all programmes are available for review during such visits. This includes records for programmes that are paused over the summer months (e.g. ECCE). Records that should be available for inspection include all ECCE Roll books /Attendance records, Fee records, Parent declarations etc.

Outcomes notifications for compliance inspections carried out during the last weeks of term may issue to services during the summer closure period. All instances of non-compliance now require some form of rectification action within a timeline set out in the compliance report notified to service providers e.g. submit a declaration of compliance, submit documentary evidence. Please note that if the deadline for taking the requisite rectification action falls during a service’s summer closure period, Compliance will allow the service provider to take their rectification actions within 30 working days of their 2023/24 calendar.

The individual NCS, ECCE and CCSP Compliance Checklists 2022/2023 are available under the Resources /Compliance sections of the Hive. These Checklists will assist in collating the relevant information that form part of each programme’s compliance checks.

Regards

DCEDIY and Pobal Compliance teams

Dear Service Provider, 

The Finance and Impact Returns (FIRs) for April 2023 now need to be completed and should be submitted through Pobal Online.

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) have advised:

• The importance for all community services to continue to submit FIRs to Pobal.
• These returns provide key information that allows DCEDIY and Pobal identify and help community services to help and resolve problems.
• They act as an informative tool for services in the effective planning of their financial future.

The deadline for submission has been extended to Friday, 16 June 2023 at 5pm and submissions should include information relating to January- April 2023 inclusive.

You can contact the Early Years Provider Centre (EYPC) with queries by raising a ‘Service Request’ on the Early Years Hive.

Please follow the steps below:

1. Login to the Early Years Hive
2. Select ‘request type’
3. Select the programme: “Financial and Impact Returns”.
4. Click the relevant sub-category.

Regards

The Pobal Early Years Team