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Dear colleague,
This newsletter focuses on two big ideas whose time seems to have come: that high quality care and education is positively good for children, and that prevention and early intervention are both effective and cost-effective.
Following the formal establishment of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, and the adoption by the EU Council of Ministers of Conclusions on early care and education, these two big ideas have been clearly acknowledged at both Government and EU levels.
With Minister Frances Fitzgerald in office, commitments in the new Programme for Government, and a new direction at EU level, we believe there is more scope now than ever before to push the policy agenda for children's early care and education forwards.
We also take this opportunity to pay tribute to Brian Lenihan, who has passed away. Brian Lenihan was a great advocate for children, who as Minister for Children oversaw the formation of the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, and who - as Minister for Finance - announced the most important policy breakthrough for young children in many years, the creation of the Free Pre-School Year. We send our deepest sympathy to his family and friends.
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Minister commits to build on Free Pre-School Year
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 The new Department of Children and Youth Affairs formally came into being on 3 June. In her press release announcing this, Minister Frances Fitzgerald TD spelled out the department's priorities. We are delighted to see that these include a clear focus on early care and education, and a specific commitment to the Free Pre-School Year as an "essential building block"... Read more |
New research project on early childhood hubs
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 We are currently embarking on a new research project exploring the potential for integrating services and supports for young children and their families. The project arises out of one of the recommendations of our Children 2020 report ("early childhood hubs"), and also links to two key commitments in the new Programme for Government... Read more |
| Prevention and early intervention - 2 conferences | |
 Two major conferences in the last month - one in Dublin, one in Belfast - focused on prevention and early intervention as critical approaches in supporting children and families. There is increasing recognition that prevention and early intervention are both more effective and more cost-effective than remedial interventions.... Read more |
Europe - pushing for quality and universal access
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 There is growing consensus at European level on the direction early childhood care and education should take. In a statement just issued by the Council of Ministers, there is clear recognition that children's interests should come first, and that children's interests make a powerful case for high quality early care and education... Read more
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Supporting parental engagement
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 As part of the Early Learning Initiative based in the NCI, an evaluation has just been published of a programme to strengthen parental engagement through upskilling early years practitioners. The programme is an excellent example of how children's early care and education should be seen as a partnership between parents and practitioners, working together in the best interests of the child... Read more |
Australia - a practical vision for early childhood
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 PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PwC) in Australia recently brought together what it called a "global thought leadership group" to develop a practical vision for the future of early childhood education and care in Australia. The group's report is clear and convincing - and remarkably similar in its conclusions to our own vision for early care and education in Ireland, Children 2020... Read more |
