Featured News

Welcome to your Early Years e-bulletin. 

 Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth

Update on the Review of Regulation of Early Learning and Childcare Services

Draft Principles for Engaging with the Arts in Early Learning and Care consultation

Launch of Nutrition Standards for Early Learning and Care Services

National Child Safeguarding Programme on the Trainer CPD and Recognition Ceremony

Get SunSmart Children’s Art competition

Bloom Competition

Pobal

Core Funding: Review and Confirm

Training

Annual Early Years Sector Profile Survey

Payment dates

Better Start

Annual Customer Survey

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) Project

Access and Inclusion Model/AIM

Application Opening Dates for AIM Levels 4, 5, 7 and 1 for 2023/24 Programme Year

Learning and Development

Lámh Module One

Quality Development Service

Tusla

New Applications and Change in Circumstances 2023

Consultation on Inspection report template

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From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth 

Published on 4 May 2023 

Last updated on 4 May 2023

Roderic O’Gorman, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, together with Hildegarde Naughton, Minister of State with responsibility for Public Health, Well Being and the National Drugs Strategy, has today, launched the Nutrition Standards for Early Learning and Care Services.

The aim of these Nutrition Standards, developed in collaboration with Healthy Ireland and the Department of Health, is to inform the development and implementation of Healthy Eating Policy and practice in Early Learning and Care Services. This is to ensure agreement on the promotion of healthy foods and drinks in main meals, snacks and celebrations in partnership with children, parents, service providers and the wider community.

These standards show the importance of the need to recognise that small children have small tummies and as a result Educators and parents need to be mindful of the portion sizes that children receive when eating. The Children’s Food Pyramid will assist families in making healthier choices for their child as it provides a range of information on the number of servings from each shelf needed at different ages. It also recognises that some children of the same age will need more food and some will need less.

Minister Naughton said:

“These standards are another step to help make the healthy choice the easier choice for everyone”.

I am confident that these standards will assist parents and Early Learning and Care Services to help children develop a healthy relationship with food which will set them up for a healthier life."

The Nutrition Standards for Early Learning and Care Service can be found here:

Nutrition Standards for Early Learning and Care Services - English
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Nutrition Standards for Early Learning and Care Services - Irish
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Dear Service Provider,

Important Information

The application process for Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) Level 4,5 & 7 supports will open on the Early Years Hive on Friday 5th May at 12 noon. Please refer to the AIM Hive Guides to support you with the submission of your AIM applications.

Services are reminded to submit AIM Level 4,5 & 7 applications at least three months prior to a child’s planned start date in ECCE.

Training Documents

Following on from the AIM Refresher webinars which took place on 27 and 28 April 2023, a number of training documents have been uploaded to the Early Years Hive.

We would advise that service providers review the links below, prior to submitting applications:

• Slides from the training webinar
• Q&A Document from the webinar
• AIM 4, 5 and 7 Refresher Training Webinar

Help & Support

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

• Programme: (select the AIM level)
• Request type: Application
• Request type detail: How To

Yours Sincerely,

AIM Team

From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth  

Published on 27 April 2023

Last updated on 27 April 2023

This report on The Mental Health of Children and Youth People in Ireland is the tenth report in the Statistical Spotlights series. These Spotlight publications are focused on a specific topic, and gather available statistical data to highlight trends or patterns. This Spotlight is focused on youth mental health, aiming to gather the most relevant data available in the Irish context, and in comparison internationally. The Spotlight has been developed in cooperation with the Tusla Programme Development unit and the Youth Reform Strategy & Participation unit to ensure that it meets their policy needs.

The Spotlight is structured into five sections and a number of statistical tables are presented under each section. The first section studies protective factors, characteristics which may improve the likelihood that a person will respond well to the stresses of life, while the second section concerns risk factors, characteristics that may increase the possibility of a person developing a mental health disorder. The third section outlines the prevalence of mental health disorders among children and young people in Ireland, and is focused primarily on depressive and anxiety disorders. The fourth section investigates the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health, and the fifth and final section examines mental health service provision for children and young people in Ireland.

Statistical Spotlight #10: The Mental Health of Children and Young People in Ireland

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Data Sheet: The Mental Health of Children and Young People in Ireland

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You can find previous volumes in the series here

Dear Service Provider,

The Review and Confirm window closed on Friday 7 April 2023. 

It is important to note that although the window has now closed, services who have not yet completed the Review and Confirm are still required to complete the process and the Review and Confirm form will remain open on the Early Years Hive.

Please note: Core Funding payments will be placed on hold until such a time as the process is completed. However, once your Review and Confirm is approved, Partner Services will receive payment on the next available catch-up payment.

Core Funding applications/application changes must be at an Approved status prior to completing the Review and Confirm form.

If your previous application/application change is at “Approved” and you have an application change at a “Draft” status you must abandon the draft application prior to completing the Review and Confirm form.

If an application is at “Referred back” Service Providers are required to submit an application change to rectify the refer back reason outlined. Once the application change is approved, you must then proceed to complete the Review & Confirm form.

To support services in completing a Review & Confirm form, a detailed guidance document and new tailored training videos are available here.

Best wishes,

The Early Years Team