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As Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) services operate during COVID-19, it is important for babies, toddlers and young children that child-centredness continues to be a basis for how we develop our response for children. 

When all the child’s most important adults—parents and practitioners—work together, going to childcare can be a positive experience for everyone.

Everyone will need to remain vigilant and continue to follow Public Health guidance.

School, childcare and COVID-19 - HSE.ie https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/covid19/preventing-the-spread/child-returning-to-school-or-childcare/?fbclid=IwAR33E7j2rg_TeDjjwjSr5uOppQ41E2gzn5SnuA1hKSh2BcP8izKQFrQQHY8

Management of Infectious Disease in Childcare Facilities and Other Childcare Settings

Download Booklet: https://www.hpsc.ie/.../lifes.../childcare/File,13444,en.pdf

 KEY MESSAGES

When to keep your child at home from school or childcare
Keep your child at home if they:

• have symptoms of COVID-19 https://www2.hse.ie/.../covid19/symptoms/symptoms-child/...
• have got a positive COVID-19 test result
• have diarrhoea and are aged 12 or younger https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/diarrhoea-vomiting/

When it's OK to send your child to school or childcare?
It is usually OK to send your child to school or childcare if they:

• only have nasal symptoms, such as a runny nose or a sneeze, but otherwise feel well
• have tested negative and have not had any new symptoms for 48 hours
• have not had diarrhoea for 48 hours

RSV
The HSE are seeing a significant increase in the rates of RSV infection; a respiratory virus which causes Bronchiolitis in young children. Symptoms of bronchiolitis usually include a runny/blocked nose, mild fever and cough. In babies, however, it can cause more significant difficulties in breathing and feeding, and young babies are more likely to need hospital care.

More details on Bronchiolitis can be found here: https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/bronchiolitis/ 

Dear Service Provider, 

Following on from the recent announcement in relation to the ongoing NCS compliance inspections, inspections on the ECCE (inc. AIM) and CCSP Saver programmes will commence shortly. These on-site inspections will continue for the 2022/23 programme call and as previously, the compliance process will involve a series of standardised checks aimed at confirming adherence with programme rules and contract conditions as set out by the Department of Children Equality Disability Integration & Youth (DCEDIY).

It is advised that services prepare for an unannounced compliance visit by collating relevant information for review e.g. in a Compliance File which can be made readily available to the Visit Officer on arrival. This will ensure minimum disruption and expedite the compliance visit. It is acknowledged that services file their records in different ways which is acceptable, but it should be noted that records must be available to enable the Visit Officer to complete the compliance inspection in a reasonable timescale. In this regard we request that the person in charge on-site has access to the Compliance File / records in the event of an unannounced visit. Please only maintain compliance related information in the Compliance Folder. 

It is important to note, that unlike NCS where the previous 12 months of records up to the visit date are reviewed, for ECCE and CCSP Savers the compliance inspection will review documents from the beginning of the programme year i.e.22nd August 2022 for ECCE and 15th August 2022 for CCSP.

With the commencement of the 2022/23 inspection cycle, Compliance have updated the relevant ECCE support documents which are available on the Hive under the Resources section. These documents are listed below and can also be accessed through this link (The CCSP documents will be finalised and updated shortly):

• ECCE Compliance Service Provider Guide 2022/2023 - a guide on the ECCE compliance process
• ECCE Compliance Checklist 2022/2023 - a checklist to help services to make sure they have all relevant documentation ready for any unannounced compliance visit 
• ECCE Post Inspection Rectification Actions 2022/2023 - a checklist summarising what actions services must take to rectify matters, if a service is found to be non-compliant
• CCSP Saver Compliance Service Provider Guide 2022/2023 - a guide on the CCSP compliance process
• CCSP Saver Compliance Checklist 2022/2023 - a checklist to help services to make sure they have all relevant documentation ready for any unannounced compliance visit 
• CCSP Saver Post Inspection Rectification Actions 2022/2023 - a checklist summarising what actions services must take to rectify matters, if a service is found to be non-compliant
  
  Please note - these documents are only supports, intended to assist you. There is an onus on each service provider to familiarise themselves with their responsibilities under the relevant ECCE and CCSP contractual conditions.

The Visit Officers will adhere to any public health guidance while on-site at Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare facilities. 

We want to take this opportunity to thank services in advance for your continued co-operation with compliance checks.

Regards
Pobal Compliance Team
DCEDIY

Dear Service Provider, 

In certain exceptional circumstances, a service may apply to retain a child’s funding under NCS/ECCE/the CCSP Saver Programme beyond the standard 4 weeks non-attendance allowed under the scheme/programme rules.

Service Providers wishing to apply for Special Circumstances to retain a registration beyond 4 weeks of continuous absence up until 6 weeks, are required to complete an Exemption Request for Continuous Absence due to Special Circumstances declaration form, downloadable from the Programme Documents section of the Early Years Hive (for ECCE and NCS) and PIP Resources (for CCSP Saver). Please also find the form attached here.

One form will be applicable to NCS, ECCE and CCSP for applying for a continuous absence exemption. The form is to be signed by both the service provider and the
parent/guardian.

Please ensure to include the applicable reasons for the child’s absence and clearly specify absence dates. Once complete, please attach the declaration form to the child’s registration on Hive/PIP for Pobal to process.

Please note absences extending beyond 6 weeks to a maximum of 12 weeks, will require Pobal to seek acceptable proof of special circumstances. Acceptable proofs may include a letter or medical certificate which can be uploaded onto the system by the provider.

Declaration form Checklist:

• Signed by parent/guardian
• Signed by service provider
• Special Circumstances reason indicated (tick box)
• Absence period/dates specified
• Attach to child’s registration on PIP/Hive
• Provide additional proof medical letter/certificate (If absence extends beyond 6 weeks).

Regards,

The Early Years Team

As you are aware, ECCE and NCS providers are contractually required to publish their fees lists:

• in an area accessible to parents
• on any online platform maintained by the Approved Provider for the purpose of advertising its service.

In addition, the contract permits the Department to make those fees lists available through its website.

The facility to provide for the publication of fees lists through scheme websites was not available in the first year of operation of the Early Years Hive portal but is now ready for release.

From Thursday 26 August 2021, your fees lists will be viewable to the public through the NCS parent website.

The fees will be those you have entered into Early Years Hive during the Programme Readiness process, so this will require no further action on your part.

This will better inform parents on their choices with regard to Early Learning and Care and School Aged Childcare (ELC/SAC) and increase the transparency of ELC/SAC costs, supplementing the actions providers have already taken to publish those fees lists.

It will also assist City and County Childcare Committees in their role of monitoring certain fees matters.

All services that have fully on-boarded to the Early Years Hive, are open, and have an active Funding Agreement under NCS and/or ECCE, will have their fees published under the Childcare Search on the NCS website https://www.ncs.gov.ie/en/childcare-search/.

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) wish to advise that Service Providers can again accept confirmation of the acceptance  of the ECCE, NCS and CCSP Savers ‘Parental Declarations’ by the relevant parent either by email or by hard copy. This is the written agreement between the parent and the Service Provider.

Parents should be given the option of physically signing the agreement or agreeing to it by email. Parents who wish to avail of the email option should:

• be advised that in regard to data protection, the use of email is a less secure option as this will involve the sharing of personal data over the internet via emails,
• be asked to reconfirm the appropriate email address to use.

The Service Provider should ensure that the correct Parental Declaration issues via the reconfirmed email address to the appropriate family. Providers are reminded that they agree to only process shared personal data for the implementation of the relevant DCEDIY childcare programme.

Parents opting for the email option should be asked to respond to your Parental Declaration email and it should be clear from the email chain that the parents agree to what is set out in their Parental Declaration document. Please see below for instruction on how to email the Parental Declaration.

ECCE – You will have the option to print a Parental Declaration form for each ECCE registration on the Early Years Hive. At this point, choose to save the file on your desktop. This can then be emailed to the parent.

NCS – there is no automated parental agreement available for NCS. Please see this guide on how to create such an agreement. Once you have your template, you can email it to the parent. Please note that a signed copy of the Parental Agreement is required by legislation for NCS.

CCSP Saver - You will have the option to print a Parental Declaration form for each CCSP Saver registration on the PIP Portal. At this point, choose to save the file on your desktop. This can then be emailed to the parent.

Thank you,
Early Years Team