Delivered
free to over 30,000 houses in Dublin 15
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| Delivered
free to over 30,000 houses in Dublin 15 |
| Study of childcare services published With
such a young population it’s not surprising that local workers
in the childcare field in Dublin 15 were to the fore in the recent publication
of an excellent new study of community childcare services in Fingal. According to Pauline Mangan, community development worker with Blanchardstown Area Partnership, the need for the research was identified through her work and that of a member of the staff of Barnardos, Olivia Speight. “The focus of our study was to research the demands on community childcare services in Fingal on a daily basis and to identify if there is a need for higher staff ratios,” said Pauline. “This in turn would lead to the question of whether there was also a need for increased staffing funding due to the additional supports needed within childcare services operating in the community sector.” Of the 32 community childcare services operating in Fingal, 18 are located in the Dublin 15 area and five of these were used as a sample for the research. The five services studied were Blakestown Community Crèche, Mountview Community Crèche, Huntstown Community Crèche, Kidzone Crèche and Little Learners in Mulhuddart. The report makes a number of recommendations covering such areas as developing a strategy for the service, the needs for additional accredited training, support services, administrative support and a greater coordination of the work of the various service agencies. According to Pauline, “among the key recommendations of the report would be our proposal for the commissioning of a childcare needs analysis and strategy for development for the entire Blanchardstown area. We also identified that there is an onerous amount of administration attached to the operation of these services and we recommend that consideration be given to the employment of a communal administrator to undertake some of these tasks. We also felt there was a need for greater co-ordination between childcare facilities and the different arms of the health system,” she said. Copies of the report, which has just been published, are available from the Blanchardstown Area Partnership (tel. 01 8209 550) or online at www.bap.ie In
the meantime Pauline says she will be meeting with Barnardos, Fingal
County Council and various crèche managers to bring forward the
recommendations of the report.
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