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Maintaining Relationships with Children and Families
Get PDFInformation sheetDuring these difficult and scary times, we all have worries about our families, our friends and ourselves. Some of you might also be thinking about the children and families who avail of your services. As an early years educator, you have a wealth of knowledge and experience that will be a valuable asset for parents and children over the coming weeks. With this in mind, we have come up with a few suggestions to help keep a sense of connectedness through text, phone, email or social media
ChildLinks Issue 1: Nature-based Preschools
No full textBarnardos Journal ChildLinksSpending time in natural outdoor environments offers many positive physiological and psychological benefits for us all, reducing stress and increasing our general feeling of well-being. For children, the opportunities for physical exercise and outdoor play that natural environments offer impact positively on all facets of development including gross and fine motor skills, cognitive development, co-ordination, memory, language development, and communication and social skills. Free outdoor play in nature also increases children’s confidence and independence, and offers opportunities for children to persevere, take risks and solve problems, as well as nurturing their curiosity and enhancing their innate love of nature. In today’s world, many young children have limited opportunities for free outdoor play, instead spending time engaged in structured and supervised activities and, in particular during recent Covid restrictions, indoors using electronic devices of one kind or another. For some children, their local area may have little or no natural outdoor space for play, and playgrounds with manufactured equipment do not offer the rich play and learning environments that allow children to experience the vegetation, animals, insects, water, sand and mud the natural outdoors offers. Indeed, the outdoor area of their early learning and care setting may provide some young children with the only outdoor play opportunities they experience. In this issue of ChildLinks we look at nature-based preschools, where children spend most of their time engaged in free-play outdoors in a natural setting. Natural environments are the ideal place for children to develop the confidence and skills to explore, take on new challenges and test their theories about how the world works. In articles from Ireland, Lesley McIvenna from DCU considers how the outdoors provides opportunities for children to learn through play, movement, and communication and sensory experiences on a much larger scale outdoors in nature, as well as allowing children to explore and experience the natural world. Two providers of Irish preschools then outline how children thrive in their nature-based settings, eating, relaxing, playing and exploring outdoors in all weathers. Finally, Joan Whelan from the Irish Forest School Association outlines the history and development of Forest Schools in Ireland and how these work in practice, explaining how they offer positive outcomes for children’s learning and development. Also in this issue, researchers from the US outline how nature preschools can help cultivate a successful transition from preschool to school while other international articles consider how sustainability education can be cultivated in nature-based early childhood programmes and how a socially- and ecologically conscious critical pedagogy can be applied to nature-based programmes in early childhood care and education
Submission for Public Consultation on Future Funding of Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare in Ireland
Get PDFPaperThe Expert Group has developed a set of principles to guide them in their work. The draft guiding principles and a description of each principle are set out here
Early Years eNews: Issue 1
No full textNewsletterIt has been an eventful year so far for the early learning and care sector. On 5th February, tens of thousands marched through Dublin city centre calling on the next government to increase funding in order to reduce fees for parents, increase pay for educators and support the sustainability of services. This was then followed a few days later by a General Election, in which early learning and care was a key issue. While we await the formation of a new Government, the work on the ground continues to provide quality services for young children and their families
Impact on Family Life During Covid 19 Pandemic
Get PDFInformation sheetSince the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Barnardos has been providing essential social care and family support services to over 1,700 families. The purpose of this survey was to help us understand the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on children and families across Ireland. The survey focused on the Heart, Body, Mind and Wellbeing. There were 15 questions, primarily based on the experiences of families that Barnardos were working with during the pandemic. The survey included the standardised outcome measure - ‘Family Life Satisfaction Scale1’. All responses were anonymous. The online survey was active for a period of one week in May 2020
A Look Back on 2020
Get PDFInformation sheetActivity to encourage children to reflect on 2020 and plan for 2021
Guidance for Childminders: Providing for Play
No full textBookletPlay is of great importance to children, not only for the enjoyment and fun it affords, but also for the powerful contribution it makes to their learning and development. Everyone who cares for and educates children needs to recognise the value and importance of play, and the many benefits it offers. As a childminder, you are, along with parents, one of a child’s first teachers and a main supporter of their learning. You have an important role in creating the space and opportunities for their learning through play, and while the provision of play opportunities is not complicated or expensive, it does need some thought. This is especially important for the youngest children in your care. This resource highlights the value of play and offers guidance on how you can provide rich opportunities for children to experience high quality play, both indoors and outdoors
Promoting Wellbeing in your Team
Get PDFInformation sheetAs early learning and care settings begin to reopen, many early years educators will be looking forward to returning to work. Others will understandably be anxious as they make the transition back. We have heard a lot about caring for children and parents during the Covid-19 pandemic but it is just as important that those working with children and families also look after themselves during this period
T is for Think Smart: Video Lesson Worksheet
No full textInformation sheetT is for Think Smart, video lesson worksheet
Submission to Department of Rural and Community Development on the Working Draft of the National Volunteering Strategy 2020-2025
Get PDFPaperBarnardos mission is to help transform children’s lives through our services; support parents; and challenge society where it fails our children. In 2019, we had 367 (2018: 320) volunteers involved across the organisation. These volunteers were involved in Barnardos in such roles as manning helplines, providing administration support, assisting in parent and toddler groups, breakfast clubs, after school groups and playgrounds, facilitating the Roots of Empathy programme and the Wizards of Words reading programme in numerous primary schools and sorting and selling both new and preloved goods which are donated to our seven shops and as members of our Board. Without the dedication, enthusiasm and generosity of these committed volunteers Barnardos could not do the work it does. Barnardos welcomes the opportunity to comment on the working draft of the National Volunteering Strategy 2020 - 2025 which has been developed by the Department of Rural and Community Development