This Weeks News & Information Bulletin
Click HERE for this week in Childcare Bulletin
Deadlines/Important Dates:
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Fee Table and Parent Statement Approvals Process 2026/2027
The Fee Table & Parent Statement Approval Process has begun for 2026/27. Your Development Officer will be in contact with you once they have reviewed the fee table & parent statement for your service. This new process is more complex than approval processes we have completed in previous years. Every effort is being made to review fee tables and parent statements promptly, your patience will be greatly appreciated over the coming weeks and months. Further information on the approvals process can be found in the DCDE announcement here.
Journey Through the Early Years Hive training
Pobal are offering training for new Hive users or people who wish to refresh their Early Years Hive navigation skills. Links to register and details about the online training are available on the Announcement dated 3 September 2026.
AIM Level 7 Applications and Reviews for 2026/2027
As part of the move to the new simplified AIM Level 7 process, submitted AIM Level 7 confirmation forms will remain in a ‘Pending’ status on the Early Years Hive for now. Statuses will move to their next stage soon, and once a status is 'Confirmed', payments will start. No further action is required from you at this stage after submitting the Confirmation form.
The review function for 2026/2027 AIM Level 7 confirmation form will not be available on the Early Years Hive until October. Until then, all review requests should be submitted through the Requests sections of the Early Years Hive. Examples of child needs and service need review scenarios are available in the Frequently Asked Questions Guide available here.
For more information, please refer to the Announcement dated 25 August.
Children First Training for Members of Boards, Committees, Employers and Owners
Tusla have developed a 60 minute eLearning module to provide information and understanding of their role, essential governance and oversight. The module can be accessed here. It is also recommended that that these personnel complete the Tusla Childrens First eLearning programme.
2026 Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Forum
The 2026 Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Forum takes place in Croke Park, Dublin on 17 November 2026. Further inforamtion on the forum and links to register your interest in attending can be found here
NCS Compliance Inspections 2026/27
As the new NCS year begins, Pobal have confirmed that NCS on-site inspections will continue to take place. Pobal recommends collating a Compliance File which can be readily available to the Visiting Officer on arrival. Further information, links to compliance support documents and information in relation to upcoming online training on the NCS Compliance process 2026/27 can be found in the Announcement section of Hive.
Happy Talk Calendar
Please click here for a copy of the September Happy Talk Calendar.
An introduction to Aistear Síolta and the Practice Guide
An updated ‘Introduction to Aistear, Síolta and the Aistear Síolta Practice Guide’ professional development module is now available online. This module has been updated to reflect changes to Aistear in 2024. The e-learning module is self-paced, and educators can sign up via the Nurturing Skills website. Further information available here.
Let’s talk childminding, make your voice heard!
Childminders play an important role in the lives of children and families across Ireland. New regulations introduced in 2024 are designed to reflect the home setting in which childminders work, while supporting quality and safeguarding children. The regulations are now being reviewed to get an understanding of how they are working in practice. Your voice matters.
Find out more about the review here https://www.letstalkchildminding.ie/ and share your views by taking part in our survey here Have your say
Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement
Partner Services have 21 days after submitting a Core Funding Application Module to activate the Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement 2026 or the Application Module will be cancelled and will need to be re-submitted. Partner Services, who do not accept their Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement 2026, on or before 6 September, will not receive the full 52 weeks of allocations, as Core Funding allocations will be representative of an entitlement from the first Monday for the first allocation week of the programme year, or the Monday of the week the Funding Agreement is accepted, whichever is later. This also applies to Service Providers who are also eligible for Equal Start Staffing Supports for the start of the 26/27 programme year.
Equal Start Bia Blasta
If you are an existing Bia Blasta service or are a new Bia Blasta service who has received an invite from DCDE to participate, please review the Announcement on Hive dated 31 August 2026 to check the next steps needed to ensure funding is allocated.
New NCS programme year
The new National Childcare Scheme (NCS) programme year opens on 17 August 2026.
The NCS 2026/2027 funding agreement needs to be activated before the current year’s agreement ends on 16 August 2026. This is to ensure continued participation in the scheme. The funding agreement is available on the All Programme Applications page, and a guide on activating an NCS is available here. Please note that failure to submit this funding agreement may result in a loss of funding. As noted in the NCS Policy Guidelines, funding cannot be backdated, so please submit this application as soon as possible.
Aistear in Practice
Aistear in Practice is a series of online mentoring sessions developed by Better Start to support reflection on practice linked to Aistear, with a focus on quality inclusive experiences for all children. The series will take place throughout August and September and will include three sessions covering The Key Person Approach, Babies, Toddlers and Young Children’s Schemas and Emergent & Inquiry-Based Curriculum. Further information and link to register can be found here.
Focus Group on review of the initial implementation of childminding regulations
DCDE is inviting childminders and parents to share their experiences and perspectives on the implementation of the new childminding regulations. Feedback gathered through these focus groups will help inform the ongoing review of the regulations and shape future developments in the childminding sector. This is an opportunity to discuss how the regulations are working in practice, the supports available to childminders, any challenges or barriers to registration and compliance, and suggestions for how the system could be improved to better meet the needs of childminders, children and families.
To have your say and join a focus group, book your place now
Creative Spaces for Children
The children loved making the leaves and flower as we see them every day on our facility grounds and it depicts the children growing as do leaves and flowers
Their favourite place in our setting is the outdoor area
We love artwork and storytime..we also love the dinners cooked onsite
We do not like coming in sometimes in the early morning but we do not like going home in the evenings as we like to stay and play with our peers and the many resources in the room!
Our friends and Sharon Orla and Shell make this place fun for us everyday..also our pawpatrol figurines. We enjoy playing with sand, painting, playdough, Numberblocks and lego!
Our friends and our teacher are with us when we learn
We think if we had Roblox Minecraft and Peter Rabbit toys it would be magical!!!
The story of our group artwork is the flowers and leaves are growing when we water and take care of them just like we grow when we eat up all our dinners and we get hugs and love!!❤️
The pretty colours on the flower..they are the same colours as vanilla and strawberry ice-cream! We would you to write that we are the best boys and girls for making this artwork together and that we are good at teamwork like our storybook says!
The Bumblebee Room - Le Cheile FRC, Mallow aged from 3-4 years
This is me and my teachers. I like playing with the tuff tray and the kitchen.
Ciara – Age 5
Cottage Childcare, Killavullen
That’s the playhouse outside and that’s the sand tray. That’s my two teachers and my friend, Harry.
I made two soccer balls and I drawed the playdough. I like the zoo and the playdough.
My favourite is the new fruit chart and the sign-in board that we do.
That’s the tuff tray. I drawed the sand and playdough.
Joshua – Age 5
Cottage Childcare, Killavullen
This is the school and me and my teachers. That’s me playing playdough and that’s the balls. I like the tuff tray and I like playing with the chalk.
Méabh – Age 4
Cottage Childcare, Killavullen
I like my teachers putting out the toys. My favourite is the marble race.
I made a chocolate bar.
That’s outside and that right there is the gate. If you want to play soccer, you can play soccer!
That’s the door outside. I like water at the table. I like planting peas and guess what?... they’re almost getting bigger and bigger. Peas will start to grow and they will pop on!
Freddie – Age 4
Cottage Childcare, Killavullen
This is the school. That’s the zoo and that’s a Lego person at the zoo. I love playing with the zoo.
That’s my teachers.
I love pretend the motorbike is a real motorbike.
Before you letted us bring our journals home and we got to show our mums and dads what we made and we got to remember the stuff we putted in our journals.
If we had no teachers we’d get to do whatever we want and mess the school, but we’d tidy it up again!
Harry – Age 4
Cottage Childcare, Killavullen
I wanted to do the school, outside.
This is my teachers - I like the way you have skirts on.
That’s a triangle magnet and that’s a square magnet because that’s my favourite thing to play with.
I don’t play with the playdough that much coz it’s kinda hard to make stuff out of it. There’s loads of toys here that I can play with.
I like being able to put the things out and playing with the zoo together and I liked that you listened to our ideas.
Méabh – Age 5
Cottage Childcare, Killavullen
This is my preschool. It has a chimney. This is my teachers. My teachers always be nice. My favourite activity is the blocks.
Mia – Age 4
Cottage Childcare, Killavullen
The children in Bluebells room, Grà Childcare, Carrignavar expressed their creativity through art, sharing what Grá means to them—the special place where they spend at least three hours each day. Through their drawings and colours, they showed their feelings in the most heartfelt way. As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Amaia - Age 4
Grá Childcare
Sadie - Age 4
Grá Childcare
Daisy - Age 4
Grá Childcare
Rebekah - Age 4
Grá Childcare
Julian - Age 5
Grá Childcare
The Afterschool Club boys and girls (5ys -12yrs) of
School Around the Corner, Glanworth
Creative Artwork on "Where I learn and Play "
The artwork from some of the children at Blue Nest in Midleton. They were all so happy to take part in this initiative, which is lovely.
Art activity for National Conversation on Education Childrens Creative Spaces from Ray of Sunshine Canovee
Cork County Childcare Committee was formed in 2001 and is funded by the Department of Children, Disability, and Youth (DCEDIY) to improve the quality of childcare in Cork County.
In addition to supporting the administration of all Government funding programmes for childcare; City and County Childcare Committees work with early childhood services and childminders looking for support with quality development, HR, governance, financial sustainability and continuing professional development.
We also work with Parents to locate childcare best suited to their families needs, and advise on relevant government funded schemes etc.
