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Offaly County Childcare Committee is located at a new address: 8 O'Connor Square, Tullamore, Co. Offaly, R35 Y7PO
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The participation of children and young people is fundamental to a child-centred, rights-based approach to working with children and young people. The Tusla Child and Youth Participation Toolkit supports the best outcomes for children and young people.
Clcik Here to download the toolkit: https://www.tusla.ie/uploads/content/Tusla_-_Toolkit_(web_version).pdf
Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, today announced a public consultation process inviting artists, early years educators, school-age
childcare practitioners and all stakeholders in the arts, early learning and care and school-age childcare sectors to participate in the further development of the recently published Draft Principles for Engaging with the Arts in Early Learning and Care.
Under the Creative Youth Plan, a key pillar of the Creative Ireland Programme, work began in 2019 to develop key principles to underpin young children’s quality engagement with the arts in early learning and care settings. Research was commissioned, a steering group was established and a consultation event with artists and early years educators was held. While the COVID-19 pandemic caused some disruption to original timelines, the Draft Principles for Engaging with the Arts in Early Learning and Care were published in October 2022 for the purpose of public consultation and testing.
While the draft principles were conceived from an early learning and care perspective, this consultation also aims to explore their relevance to school-age childcare and the ways in which they may be adapted to better support engagement with the arts in school-age childcare.
The Principles will purposefully remain in draft form to allow artists, early years educators and school-age practitioners the opportunity to use and explore the validity of the principles in practice.
Welcoming the public consultation, Minister O’Gorman said:
“Participation in cultural and creative activities promotes the wellbeing of the individual, the community and the nation. It is the aim of Government that every baby, child and young person in Ireland will have access to creative activities. I welcome this consultation, on the Draft Principles for Engaging with the Arts in Early Learning and Care, as part of our commitment to the Creative Ireland Programme, and look forward to your feedback so that collectively we can nurture and enhance the creative experiences of babies and children.”
Access the Draft Principles and full details of the submission process.
The closing date for receipt of submissions is Wednesday, 31 May 2023.
https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/0c3b0-minister-ogorman-announces-consultation-on-new-draft-principles-for-engaging-with-the-arts-in-early-learning-and-childcare/
From 8th February, expectant parents from the Rotunda Hospital Dublin and Waterford University Hospital will be invited to participate.
Roderic O’Gorman, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, today met with the first group of expectant parents at Waterford University Hospital to participate in the First 5 Little Baby Bundle Pilot Initiative.
The Little Baby Bundle will be delivered to the homes of 500 participating families at a time of their choosing in the coming months. Expectant parents participating in the initiative will subsequently be asked to share their views and experiences of the Little Baby Bundle and its contents, which will inform the development of proposals for wider national roll-out.
The First 5 Little Baby Bundle will be filled with a range of useful items, including play items to encourage early communication and bonding, household items for help with safe bathing and safe sleep, as well as a range of other items to support new parents after the birth. This welcome gift, from the State for a new arrival, to a family acknowledges this very significant and special moment for parents.
Commenting on reaching this exciting milestone in this Initiative, Minister O’Gorman said:
“It’s great to be in Waterford today to meet with the first group of expectant parents that will participate in this initiative and to hear first-hand about how much they will value the types of supports this Little Baby Bundle will offer them as they navigate those special first few weeks and months in their child’s life.
"I look forward to hearing the views and experiences of all parents participating in this initiative. Their feedback will be instrumental in developing proposals for wider roll-out."
From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Published on 9 February 2023
Last updated on 9 February 2023
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has published its Concluding Observations on the combined fifth and sixth periodic reports of Ireland, which is available to read here .
On 24 and 25 January 2023, Minister O’Gorman led a delegation of officials from relevant Government Departments for the hearing before the Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva. The Experts of the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed admiration for how Ireland had received children fleeing Ukraine.
The Committee’s Concluding Observations published today reflect the constructive dialogue which took place between the Committee and the Irish Delegation. In the Concluding Observations, the Committee recognises the positive steps taken by the State since Ireland’s last review in 2016. In particular, they welcome the progress made with the commencement of the Children First Act, Children and Family Relationships Act, the Irish Sign Language Act and the adoption of a number of other strategies.
Minister O’Gorman welcomes the Concluding Observations saying
“Ireland is a strong supporter of the UN Treaty Body system. We greatly value the role that Treaty Body Committees continue to play in highlighting human rights issues in Ireland and as essential monitors of States’ implementation of the core international human rights treaties thereby helping to generate change. I welcome these observations and I will be examining them in detail, along with colleagues right across Government, with a view to addressing them to the greatest possible extent in the forthcoming new National Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2023-2028.”
ENDS
Note for Editors:
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most rapidly ratified human rights treaty in history with more countries having ratified the Convention than any other human rights treaty in history - 196 countries have become State Parties to the Convention as of December 2021.
• Ireland adopted the UNCRC in 1989 and ratified it in 1992.
• Ireland previously submitted reports in 1996, 2006 and 2013.
• In summer 2021, over 1,200 children and young people throughout Ireland took part in a consultation on their rights under the various UN Conventions which resulted in the “What WE Think” suite of reports which are available here.
• Ireland’s Fifth and Sixth State Report to the Committee was submitted on 15 February 2022.
• Ireland’s hearing before the CRC took place on the 24th and 25th January 2023.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention. All States Parties to the Convention are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on how it is being implemented. Following the hearing, the Committee has made observations and recommendations to Ireland on the implementation of the Convention here.
Ireland’s delegation at the CRC Hearing was led by Minister Roderic O’Gorman and comprised senior officials from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Department of Health, Department of Education, Department of Justice, Department of Social Protection, the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage, Department of Finance, Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Attorney General’s Office.
Issued by the Press and Communications Office at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
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THANK YOU 
Eimear of Naíonra Nóiníní Beaga has kindly shared her parents leaflet on the Benefits of Sensory Play 😁
Topics
There may be some activities of interest to parents for over the weekend 🙂
Leaflet can be downloaded HERE
Offaly County Childcare Committee support the development of quality, affordable, inclusive, accessible childcare and family friendly services for all children in every part of the county.
Offaly County Childcare Committee has been meeting since May 2001 and is made up of representatives from the statutory sector, social partners, community groups, voluntary groups, the Community and Voluntary Forum, National Voluntary Children's Organisations, providers of childcare, and parents - all of whom have a vested interest in childcare provision in the county.
