Featured News

This year’s Home-Based Summer Programme is now available for students with complex special educational needs where the school-based Summer Programme is unavailable. 

Closing date for registration is 9 June 2023.

This year, all schools can offer a summer programme for students with complex special educational needs and those at risk of educational disadvantage. 

The theme for this year’s programme is ‘Building Confidence and Connections’.

The Summer Programme is intended to be an enjoyable experience for both students and staff. The range of activities available will reflect this year’s theme and include opportunities for student-centred, play-based engagement.

This year’s programme is designed and developed to ensure supports are targeted to better assist children and young people to have access to a school based programme.

The in-class staffing for the programme is determined the profile of students participating.

The programme this year also introduces a new organiser role in schools, replacing preparation hours in previous years. This will help support schools in their planning from a much earlier stage for summer 2023.

Read the announcement - Ministers Foley and Madigan announce 2023 Summer Programme

For more information 👉 http://gov.ie/summerprogramme

Dear Service Provider,

We would like to highlight new Core Funding how-to videos recently added to the Early Years Hive, which were created based on feedback from service providers.

These videos answer the below frequently asked allocations and payments questions for Core Funding:

• What am I going to get paid for Core Funding?
• How much Core Funding have I been awarded?
• How to find a breakdown of your Core Funding Payment?

The videos are available in the ‘Core Funding how-to training videos’ dropdown on the Training Videos page. Click HERE to access the Training Videos page.

If you would like further support or clarification on the terminology used on the Funding tab on the Hive, please click HERE  for a "Funding Tab Definitions" document.

Help & Support

Should you have any queries in relation to Core Funding – Funding , please contact the Early Years Provider Centre (EYPC) by raising a Request on Hive using the following categories:

• Programme: Core Funding
• Request type: Funding
• Request type detail: (select relevant request type)

Regards,

The Early Years Team

Dear Service Provider,

The Finance and Impact Returns (FIRs) for April 2023 now need to be completed and should be submitted through Pobal Online.

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) have advised:

• The importance for all community services to continue to submit FIRs to Pobal.
• These returns provide key information that allows DCEDIY and Pobal identify and help community services to help and resolve problems.
• They act as an informative tool for services in the effective planning of their financial future.

The deadline for submission is Friday, 26 May 2023 at 5pm and submissions should include information relating to January- April 2023 inclusive.

You can contact the Early Years Provider Centre (EYPC) with queries by raising a ‘Service Request’ on the Early Years Hive.

Please follow the steps below:

1. Login to the Early Years Hive
2. Select ‘Service Request’
3. Select the programme: “Financial and Impact Returns”.
4. Click the relevant sub-category.

Regards

The Pobal Early Years Team

First ‘Baby Bundles’ to be delivered to expectant parents 
From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

Published on 7 May 2023

Last updated on 5 May 2023

Hundreds of expectant parents will receive a new ‘baby bundle’ in the coming days as part of a pilot announced by Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman.

The scheme - a first of its kind in Ireland - will see a ‘Little Baby Bundle’ 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.

300 families from the Rotunda Hospital and 150 families attending Waterford University Hospital were invited to take part in the pilot. The Baby Bundle will be delivered to the homes of participating parents at a time of their choosing. Parents participating in the pilot initiative will subsequently be asked to share their views and experiences of the Baby Bundle and its contents, which will inform the development of proposals for wider national rollout.

Welcoming rollout of the pilot, Minister Roderic O’Gorman said:

“I’m delighted to see the new Baby Bundles arrive at the doors of new parents. We have seen how well this scheme works in other jurisdictions, and through this pilot, we can get a real sense from parents of how well the scheme works. Our hope is that the bundles will be a welcome gift from the State for the new arrivals, full of the kind of practical items that parents need in those first few weeks and months."

Click here to read the press release

Dear Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare provider, 

We are pleased to advise you that the Annual Early Years Sector Profile 2022/2023 survey will be available on the Early Years Hive from 2pm today, Friday 5 May.
The survey will remain open until Tuesday 6 June 2023 and can be accessed through the Early Years Hive - Expand the My Account menu and select Surveys from the dropdown. A training video and guidelines are also available on the Early Years Hive.

This comprehensive survey of all Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) settings in the country is the primary data source on this sector. It is developed and published by Pobal in collaboration with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY).

The survey, which has been running for 21 years, plays a central role in informing policy development, assessing the impact of policy change and provides a comprehensive national analysis of approximately 4,400 ELC and SAC services throughout Ireland.

The data collected will be used to produce in-depth analysis of the sector across a range of areas. These include:
• Service detail and provision
• Capacity and attendance
• Staffing (numbers, qualifications, staffing retention, level of turnover etc.)

While we encourage all services to complete the survey, the completion of this year’s survey within the open window is mandatory for all existing Core Funding Partner Services. Services who wish to become a Core Funding Partner Service in the future must also complete the survey in advance of submitting their Core Funding application.

Regards,
The Early Years team