Developing School Age Childcare - Department of Children and ...

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3.6.1 Increasing numbers of childminders are beginning to affiliate to Childminding Ireland,the National Childminding Association of Ireland (NCMAI) and are benefiting from thenetworking and other developmental services which are open to them as members. It isopen to childminders of pre-school children who are exempt from the Child Care (Pre-School Services) Regulations to voluntarily notify the health board of their service.Funding was made available to all Health Boards to facilitate the appointment ofChildminding Advisory Officers to offer additional supports to childminders who wishto notify their service to their health board.3.6.2 Many childminders are providing a quality service for the children in their care. TheCity/County Childcare Committees are also engaging with childminders through theprovision of training, networking and information activities. The Working Group notesthat the Childcare Directorate has put in place a range of initiatives under the EOCP tosupport childminders and is of the view that, in the ongoing delivery of these initiatives,cognisance be taken of the role which childminders can play in the care of children ofschool going age.3.7 An increasing number of private childcare providers including both full day services andpre-school services have extended their service range to include school age childcare.Crèches may incorporate an element of school age childcare, either combining the olderage group with the pre-school group or, increasingly, making separate provision withinthe day care centre. Preliminary results from a census of childcare facilities undertakenby the Childcare Directorate in 2004 suggest that there are now over 8,000 centre basedschool age childcare places in Ireland. Preliminary results from the 2004 AnnualBeneficiary Study of grant beneficiaries under the EOCP prepared by ADM suggest thatsome 6,000 children are now availing of school age childcare in services which havereceived capital or staffing support under the EOCP. These would of course be includedin the figure of 8,000 places referred to earlier in this paragraph.3.8 As demand for school age childcare increases within the childcare sector, there isevidence of an emerging trend of privately provided centres to cater for school agechildren only. A small proportion of primary schools provide school age childcare aspart of the schools’ extended service. These services may be staffed by permanent staffand are frequently only open during term time, although a minority may also provideday care during school closures. Where childcare is not available during extendedholidays, services may link in some cases into summer projects or school holiday playschemes.3.9 Both integrated and separate school age childcare exists as an element of employerprovided childcare, as in the case of private daycare provision. However, the level ofprovision of a school age facility is not universal - indeed, of the sixteen employerprovidedchildcare initiatives reviewed for this study, only five offered a school agechildcare facility and of these, four were Dublin-based.3.10 As in the case of crèches in private day care, community based school age childcareprovision may occasionally be integrated into composite pre- and school age childcareservices, either combining the older age group with pre-school or making separateprovision.3.11 The CSO study looks also at the number of hours of paid childcare used by parents ofprimary school children and found 11 that on average parents paid for 17.1 hours ofchildcare per week in 2002.14 11 CSO ; ibid : Table 8
3.12 The average cost per hour of school age childcare was found 12 to be €4.70 with paidrelatives receiving on average €3.56 while there was little significant difference in thehourly cost of childcare provided by paid carers and in crèches at €5.14 and €5.19respectively. There were regional variations in the costs - from €3.91 per hour across allpaid childcare types in the Mid-West to €5.47 in the Dublin area. Significant usage ofcrèche type school age childcare facilities was confined to three regions - Dublin, theMidlands-East and the Border Region.3.13 Local summer projects at community level have become a feature of both urban and rurallife when school closes in July and August. Organised by local authorities, communitygroups, parish committees, parents, schools, youth clubs, sports clubs and so forth, theyoperate from community centres, school grounds, playing fields, health and fitnesscentres and other such venues. There are also several commercial providers who operatenationwide offering simultaneous specialist activity in different locations. Typically aprogramme will run for one or two weeks and then repeat. A new client group is takenon with each rotation of the programme. The programme may comprise sportingactivities, arts and crafts, games and trips and operate for 4 – 6 hours a day.3.14 Similarly, local authorities may offer a programme of activities centring on a local sportsor community facility. Although frequently used by parents as a substitute for school agechildcare, the unco-ordinated/unplanned nature of these activities and their often shortday makes them a poor alternative for parents who are unable to access a more structuredprogramme of childcare during the school holidays.3.15 In recent years there has been a considerable expansion in the provision of breakfastclubs and homework clubs, particularly in areas of disadvantage. Local PartnershipCompanies, Community Groups and other community groups predominantly operatesuch clubs in conjunction with Youth Services and other Community Organisations. TheWorking Group found that in addition to educational support, the provision of suchclubs enables complementary education support to primarily disadvantaged school agedchildren outside school hours. They can generally be divided into three categories :Those offering homework support;Those offering complementary educational activities with emphasis on buildingpositive relationships with peers and adults and developing intra-personalqualities; andThose offering a combination of the two.3.16 These services usually incorporate elements of physical care through the provision of ameal and a welcoming environment together with social supports and formal or informaleducational supports. Notwithstanding the fact that a care element may be found inschool-based provision, or more commonly, community based provision, these clubssometimes define themselves as Out of School Support Services. Their key focus is oneducational attainment and social inclusion and therefore they cannot be regarded asschool age childcare within the scope of this review.12 CSO ; ibid : Table 915
Page 1: DEVELOPINGSCHOOL AGECHILDCAREREPORT
Page 5: FOREWORDThe early years of the new
Page 8 and 9: The development of this sector also
Page 10 and 11: D.6 The Working Group reviewed mate
Page 12 and 13: G.3 A number of key elements contri
Page 14 and 15: I. Other Key Issues Impacting on a
Page 16 and 17: J. Training for School Age Childcar
Page 18 and 19: L. GuidelinesL.1 In accordance with
Page 20 and 21: aimsire agus forbartha a sholáthar
Page 22 and 23: lianta beaga ó bhunlíne íseal (m
Page 24 and 25: G. Caighdeán an Chúraim Leanaí d
Page 26 and 27: feasacht maidir le cumais an linbh;
Page 28 and 29: molann an Grúpa Oibre go n-úsáid
Page 30 and 31: áitiúil chun cúram leanaí a fho
Page 32 and 33: INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT1.1 Introdu
Page 34 and 35: 1.3.3 The Mid Term Review of the pe
Page 36 and 37: CHAPTER 2WHAT IS SCHOOL AGECHILDCAR
Page 38 and 39: 2.2.2 In a 1996 Report, the Europea
Page 41: SCHOOL AGE CHILDCARE IN IRELAND - C
Page 45 and 46: 3.19 The objectives of each service
Page 47 and 48: THE PROVISION OF SCHOOL AGE CHILDCA
Page 49 and 50: 4.7.2 Within England, as part of an
Page 51 and 52: New Zealand4.11.1 New Zealand also
Page 54 and 55: THE DEMAND FOR SCHOOL AGE CHILDCARE
Page 56 and 57: TABLE 5.3FEMALE PARTICIPATION IN TH
Page 58 and 59: may not have childcare requirements
Page 61 and 62: THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OFSCHOOL AG
Page 63 and 64: 6.4 The provision of School Age Chi
Page 65 and 66: 6.6.3 To encourage private provider
Page 68 and 69: QUALITY IN SCHOOL AGE CHILDCARE7.1
Page 70 and 71: 7.4.2 The box below gives detail of
Page 72 and 73: European Commission Network on Chil
Page 74 and 75: Provides equal opportunities for al
Page 77 and 78: THE CHILD IN THE CONTEXT OF SCHOOL
Page 79 and 80: TABLE 8.3NATIONAL NETWORK FOR CHILD
Page 81 and 82: TABLE 8.4bDEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES
Page 83 and 84: CHAPTER 9QUALITY SCHOOL AGECHILDCAR
Page 85 and 86: “Shot from a cannon, funnelled th
Page 87 and 88: 9.4.3 Play can be either structured
Page 89 and 90: 9.6.2 Children of school going age
Page 91 and 92: 9.8.2 Children, especially older ch
Page 93 and 94:
CHAPTER 10QUALITY SCHOOL AGECHILDCA
Page 95 and 96:
Every facility should have adequate
Page 97 and 98:
All childcare providers who offer s
Page 99 and 100:
Chapter 11QUALITY SCHOOL AGECHILDCA
Page 101 and 102:
11.2.6 IPPA the Early Childhood Org
Page 103 and 104:
11.3.7 Five universities in England
Page 105 and 106:
understand and promote all aspects
Page 108:
THE WAY FORWARD12.1 The Equal Oppor
Page 112 and 113:
APPENDIX 2GUIDELINES FOR THE DEVELO
Page 114 and 115:
It should be clean and well maintai
Page 116 and 117:
AGUISÍN 2TREOIRLÍNTE MAIDIR LE C
Page 118 and 119:
Go n-oireann gach limistéar don mh
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