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Dear colleague,
A very merry Christmas and happy New Year to you from all of us here at Start Strong. Looking back over the year, although some positive steps have been taken, it's clear we are still far below the level of investment needed to achieve high quality early care and education for all our children. We look forward to making this an election issue in the year ahead.
We are also still waiting for the National Early Years Strategy but welcome Minister Reilly's recent announcement at our conference that there will be some consultation on it in the New Year.
In this issue, we review our conference, 'Childcare': Business or Profession? and look at our submission on the DCYA strategy for the next three years. We also update you on plans for a "European Quality Framework" for early care and education and some of the latest findings from the Growing Up in Ireland study. Your feedback and comments are very welcome.
Finally, our offices will be closed from 1.00 pm Friday 19th December and will reopen on Monday January 5th.
With our warmest season's greetings,
Nollaig shona
Ciairín, Toby, Lorraine and Tressan
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'Childcare' - Business or Profession?  On 3 December, Start Strong held a conference called 'Childcare' - Business or Profession? The conference, which also saw the launch of a major report, asked how we can ensure high quality in Ireland's early years services.
Two Government Ministers addressed the conference: the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, and the Minister for Education and Skills. The keynote speaker was Prof. Helen Penn, Emeritus Professor at the International Centre for the Study of the Mixed Economy of Childcare.
The conclusion of the conference was clear: we need to see 'childcare' as a public service, not as a business or a 'market'.
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Department of Children strategy  DCYA recently sought submissions on its strategy for the next three years (2015-2017). The Department's statement of strategy is concerned primarily with how the Department operates, rather than its policy priorities. Nevertheless, how it operates can very much shape the types of policies that are chosen.
Start Strong's submission calls for greater coordination between the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Department of Education and Skills, including the formation of a single, reformed Early Years Inspectorate.
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European Quality Framework
 In 2011, the European Commission published a key document on early years services which called for Governments to make quality a priority. Since then, the European Commission and EU Member States have been working towards a "European Quality Framework" for early care and education.
The Commission has now published the report of the working group it established, which proposes a new European benchmark on quality.
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Big rise in child poverty during recession
UNICEF has published a report on the impact of recession on children across 41 countries in the EU and OECD.
Ireland's record during the years of recession is one of the worst. According to UNICEF, Ireland's families with children have lost the equivalent of 10 years of progress in incomes, second only to Greece in the reversal in children's fortunes.
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10 years of learning
Over the last 10 years, The Atlantic Philanthropies - with co-funding from Government Departments - has invested heavily in major projects for prevention and early intervention. We are now at a point when we can look back through the many evaluation reports and identify lessons learned.
That is what the Centre for Effective Services has been trying to do in its "Capturing the Learning" project, which recently culminated in the launch of an overarching report, Ten Years of Learning.
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Growing Up in Ireland - latest research
The Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) study continues to generate further important research. At the end of November, the annual GUI conference took place, at which a large number of research projects based on GUI data were presented.
The conference included the launch of a major new report on the impact of children's economic situation (especially during recession) on their socio-emotional development.
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Political Update
In each issue of the newsletter, "Political update" provides links to some of the most relevant political developments since the previous issue.
The section includes links to debates and key questions raised in the Oireachtas, as well as policy documents and press releases issued by Government Ministers and political parties.
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Start StrongAdvancing children's early care and education in Ireland
  www.startstrong.ie+353-1-662-4018
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 | Christmas Greetings from all at Start Strong
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