Development of the ECCE Sector in Ireland

Development of the ECCE Sector in Ireland Anne-Marie Keegan Historical development the role of the government of the ECCE sector in Ireland from the 1960’s up to and including the present day. I am going to explain the historical development of the ECCE sector in Ireland from the 1960’s up to and including the present day. I will also cover the following points: Historical development of the ECCE. Equal opportunity legislation. Historical development of the ECCE. Over the past 50 years Ireland has changed completely regarding the government, childcare and its families. Ireland conventionally had a laissez-faire policy approach with regarding the children. Laissez-faire means† the policy of leaving things to take their own course, without interfering. A laissez-faire attitude to life (Oxford dictionaries, 2014). The government have now come up with the idea of funding a free preschool year; this was aimed at families that could not afford to send their children to preschool, so therefore this is an advantage for the children aged 3-4 years as they are getting the education they need. As seen in the 1960’s it was quite a tradition for the men to work on the likes of farms and for the women to stay at home and mind their children. The women were not allowed in the work place in the 1960’s. All of this change so much during the ‘Celtic Tiger’. Nowadays you would rarely see as tradition was before, a housewife and a working father. This has also changed family structure over the past 60 years. Whereas nowadays it would be more natural for children to be raised by a one parent family or even step parents. Also now divorce has become more acceptance than before in the 1960’s where it would have been frown upon. Childcare has been more about mothers than fathers, whereas now the childcare settings are trying to introduce the fathers into this setting as part of diversity. From this setting there are more groups which have been set up to help the children like the following: special needs assistant, childcare committees and after school groups which is a one on one session. Equal opportunity legislation During the past 50 years there has been a major change to equal opportunity in Ireland. The government has brought in the employment equality act 1998. This is based on the 9 grounds of discrimination, which are: Gender Family status Marital status Age Disability Sexual orientation Religion Race Membership of the traveller community. So from the above 9 grounds the childcare setting will abide by these for example there will be no judgement on the children who attend the crà ¨che for example their race or even religion. So I think that the government had the right idea bringing in this legislation as in the 1960’s they would have discriminated against many people, but now its quite right and fair how people are been treated. There are many different types of discrimination for example: â€Å"Direct Discrimination: Happens where a person is treated less favourably specifically on one of the nine discriminatory grounds. Indirect Discrimination: Happens where there is less favourable treatment in effect e.g. where people are refused a service or employment not explicitly on account of a discriminatory reason but because of a practice or requirement which they find harder to satisfy – resident’s association for example. Discrimination by Association: Happens where a person associated with another person is treated less favourably because of that association.† (Equal at work) Other important legislation which the government have brought in regarding the ecce setting is: White paper on early childhood education. Ready to learn (1999) Q2. Discuss two pieces of statutory legislation that the ECCE settings must adhere to protect the welfare of children. I will discuss the following two: 1. Equal Opportunity Act (2000) This act is based on the 9 grounds of discrimination, which are as follows: Marital Status Family Status Race Religion Age Disability Sexual Orientation Gender Membership of the Traveller Community The above 9 grounds of discrimination allow for everybody to receive the same opportunity’s, without been discriminated for example their sexuality or nationality. My understanding of this act is that everyone is entitled to be treated with the same amount of respect as any other person. It also promotes equality and diversity, which is an excellent thing. Childcare Act 1991. From my understanding of this that it has the best interests of the child at heart. It also has high quality standards, for example, the childcare setting should be fully staffed to the national ratios and also to the space provided. The act has now been implemented and basic rights of the children should be met. There has been great measures been met daily to protect children from danger, for example, â€Å"no one waits until a child has been burned by fire or run down by a car to teach them about fires and road safety. â€Å" Donohue and Gaynor. Q3. Discuss and evaluate the children first guidelines for the protection and welfare of children in Ireland. Discuss: This Act came about in 2011, by the minister for children and youth affairs, Ms. Frances Fitzgerald TD. The guidance it’s self-deals with recognising, reporting and the management of child safety concerns. It sets out a number of key points in relation to the protection of children. Some of the key points are the safety and welfare of children, children’s wellbeing, saver lives for children and also the reporting of concerns and co-operation with statutory bodies. Children first is national guidance that promotes the protection of children from abuse and neglect. It also states what organisations need to do to keep children safe, and what the general public should do if they have a query about a child’s safety and welfare. The guidelines are set out specifically for the HSE social workers, Gardaà ­ and other forms of professionals working with suspected abuse and neglect. It’s very important that the different agencies share the information that they have as, as it is in the best interest of the children, which is what the guidance is all about to ensure better outcomes in the future. Anybody can read the children’s first document, but it is especially for the HSE social workers, Gardaà ­ and children first staff working directly with the children for example teachers, the health sector and clubs. All organisations have responsibilities, including the likes of schools, Government Departments, public sector agencies, funded organisations and health services. They all have the responsibility to safeguard the children by: Raising awareness within the organisation about potential risks to childrens safety and welfare. Promoting the general welfare, health, development and safety of children. Adopting and consistently applying a safe and clearly defined method of recruiting and selecting staff and volunteers. Developing effective procedures for responding to accidents and complaints. If organisations have concerns for children they should contact the HSE as they will deal with them effectively. Children first was first published in 1999. The principle and substance of the document (2011) are unchanged. The guidance has been updated to reflect new policy, legislation and organisation (HSE, HIQA, DoCYA). The document reflects the ongoing of bullying as a feature of abuse. The guidance will make children safer as the guidance is made fit for purpose. If the public need information on this guidance they can get it in each Garda station, general practioner, primary schools and secondary schools as one hard copy has been provided. People can also get their information off the following sites: www.dcya.ie and www.hse.ie . Evaluation: From reading about the Children First National Guidance 2011, I myself have come up with the following conclusion. It focuses on the child needs, which is quite important. The child is always the Centre, meaning the child always comes first in any of the situations which occur. A person apply to work in the childcare sector, now needs to be fully garda vetted as to the child’s protection is the main priority. The guidance is focused on a saver life for the children and all agencies working together to achieve this. Q4. Outline two pieces of social policy one national and one international. Discuss the impact on the wellbeing of children and families. International: UN Convention. This policy consists of 54 different articles regarding to the rights of a child. It basically gives everyone under the age of 18 the following rights: The right to a name. The right to an education. The right to know their rights and responsibilities. The right to clean water. The right to live and develop. The right to be safe from harm and neglect. The right to privacy. The right to heath care. The right to a nationality. The right to be treated equally and fairly. So as you can see from the above points, the UN Convention is all about focusing on the rights of the child. A from some of the articles which I will mention below, they focus on the wellbeing of the children and their families. Article 2 All children have these rights, no matter who they are, where they live, what their parents do, what language they speak, what their religion is, whether they are a boy or girl, what their culture is, whether they have a disability, whether they are rich or poor. No child should be treated unfairly on any basis. I think this article explains itself really as not one person should feel any different, and everyone should be treated the same so that the families and their children all feel the same and no different from other people. Article 7 You have the right to a name, and this should be officially recognised by the government. You have the right to a nationality (to belong to a country). This means that all is welcome in to a country without feeling left out. Article 9 You have the right to live with your parent(s), unless it is bad for you. You have the right to live with a family who cares for you. All children and their families have the right to live a happy life of their own without any interference from others. This is necessary for their wellbeing. Article 11 You have the right to be protected from kidnapping. All children should be safe from any kind of kidnapping no matter where they live. Article 12 You have the right to give your opinion, and for adults to listen and take it seriously. I really like this article a lot as I believe that if each and every child spoke out about their problems, that it could save lives in later years. It would definitely create a bond with the child and their parents, which is great for both of their wellbeing’s. Article 13 You have the right to find out things and share what you think with others, by talking, drawing, and writing or in any other way unless it harms or offends other people. All children and adults are and should be allowed to express their feelings in whichever way they like, as it’s not a good idea to hold it all inside, As said above its alright unless it harms or offends others. Article 14 You have the right to choose your own religion and beliefs. Your parents should help you decide what is right and wrong, and what is best for you. I believe that everyone should choose their own religion, as there is too much fighting over what religion people are. People should feel safe in which religion they wish to choose, as it is their own choice and they should not be bullied into it. Article 17 You have the right to get information that is important to your well-being, from radio, newspaper, books, computers and other sources. Adults should make sure that the information you are getting is not harmful, and help you find and understand the information you need. Article 20 You have the right to special care and help if you cannot live with your parents. This is necessary in some situations, and sometimes it is for the wellbeing of the child. So therefore it is alright. Article 21 You have the right to care and protection if you were adopted or are in foster care. Article 23 You have the right to special education and care if you have a disability, as well as all the rights in this Convention, so that you can live a full life. I really agree with this article as I believe no matter what all children even with a disability should be entitled to a fair education. An everyone should be treated the same. Article 26 You have the right to help from the government if you are poor or in need. This is very well needed, as some families need help and have nowhere to get it from. This could cause the child to get bullied in school and could lead to low self-esteem, which is not good for their health or well-being. So yes the government should help out. Article 27 You have the right to food, clothing, and a safe place to live and to have your basic needs met. You should not be disadvantaged so that you can’t do many of the things other kids can do. Again this is similar to the above article. Article 29 Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. It should also help you learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people. If this is done the right way without the child been forced to develop their skills, the child will be amazing at their talent. This will give them a huge confidence boost and make them happy. Article 33 You have the right to protection from harmful drugs and from the drug trade. Each and every child is entitled to live a drug free life; this should not be forced upon them in anyway. Article 34 You have the right to be free from sexual abuse. Article 42 You have the right to know your rights! Adults should know about these rights and help you learn about them, too. All adults should explain the rights of a child to their children, as its good for the adult to learn them too. Articles 43 to 54 These articles explain how governments and international organisations like UNICEF will work to ensure children are protected with their rights. The above articles (italic only) were cited on: http://www.oco.ie/education-and-human-rights/un-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child.html So from reading the above and finding out about them, I have learned that the UN Convention is definitely well and truly needed for the safety and well-being of the child and also their families. An each and every person is entitled to these no matter what their circumstances are. An also it’s good that the government will help out those who are in need. People dont actually realise this, but this is actually saving some peoples life’s knowing that there is help out there, in which is excellent for their health and well-being in a way. National Constitution of Ireland The constitution is a document in which recognises and declares that the people living in Ireland have certain fundamental rights. These are natural human rights and are protected by the constitution. Not every fundamental right which we have is set out by the constitution, only the rights which are specifically stated in the constitution. Fundamental rights can be limited or even restricted by the oireachtas on the grounds, for example, public order or for the common good. Some of the main constitution rights are: Equality before the law Right to life Freedom of expression Freedom of association Bodily integrity Trial by jury The right to privacy The right to earn a livelihood Freedom to travel The rights of the family All of the above are in relation to the wellbeing of children and their families as they were made to give or make their lives happier. The constitution is all about giving children and their families their basic rights, as one of the above rights is, â€Å"right to life†, every single human should be entitled to this and live it in which way they possibly feel like, without any interference from others. The constitution was made so that everyone including children and their families can live a life of their own, without and interference and to which happiness they would like. This increases their confidence knowing that they have these rights. It was also set up for their protection for example, no person can working the childcare sector without being garda vetted first. This is needed as you need to feel save leave your children a childcare setting, and also the child needs to feel safe and secure. So to sum all of this up the constitution has an extremely important part in a child’s and family’s health and wellbeing. It is there to help all, an people need to know and learn more about their rights. References Oxford dictionaries. (2014). ‘oxford dictionaries’. Oxford university press. UK. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/laissez-faire [assessed 20/02/2014]. Equal at work. ‘Equality legislation-a summary’. Ireland: equal at work. Cited on: www.dublinpact.ie/word/equalitylegislation-irl.doc‎. Accessed on: 21/02/2104. The Ombudsman for children (2110). UN Convention on the rights of the child. The Ombudsman for children. Ireland. Cited on:http://www.oco.ie/education-and-human-rights/un-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child.html accessed on: 25/02/2014. Donohue,J and Gaynor, f. (2011). EDUCATION AND CARE 4TH EDITION in the early years. Spain. Gill and McMillan. Page 162. Word count: 2735. Anne-Marie KeeganPage 1 Development of the ECCE Sector in Ireland Development of the ECCE Sector in Ireland Contents (Jump to) Introduction Historical development of the ECCE sector in Ireland Provisions for ECCE ECCE Scheme DAI Child benefit welfare Public Health Nurses Health Equal opportunity legislation and mention at least three items of legislation and relevant to children Show how you maintain a quality ECCE environment that complies with relevant regulations and standards. First aid Behaviour management Sà ­olta Conclusion Bibliography Introduction This report will research and discuss the historical development of the ECCE sector in Ireland with relation to the Child Care Act 1991, equal opportunity act and more legislation that set up the grounds in developing the ecce sector. Next it will look at two ECCE provisions set up by the state such as public health nurses and child benefit. Then it will have a look at one health and welfare provision set up by the state. Then it will have a look at the equal opportunity legislation with legislation and policy that affect children in the ECCE sector. Lastly it will show how to maintain a quality ECCE environment that complies with current ECCE regulation and standers with relation to the pre-school regulations and the equal opportunity act. Historical development of the ECCE sector in Ireland In early Ireland most childcare was done at home by the mother or the grandparents. This is because the father in the family main role was to provide for the family and the mothers main role was a home carer. Only a limited few mothers worked outside the home. From the 1960-1990 Ireland was changing immensely with Ireland opening up to European and international ideas and technology base economy urbanizing Ireland causing families to move to cities and towns away from their extended family. More women were joining the workforce by the 1990s because the Celtic tiger, this made advocate support services to start such as Early Childhood Ireland. The Child Care Act 1991 and preschool regulations started the improvement of childcare in Ireland. The 1991 act gave the HSE the duty to promote the welfare of the child but this act was largely unregulated because an inspection system wasn’t established until 1997. The preschool regulation act improved the structure and the process of ch ildcare in Ireland and also set up an inspection system. In 2000 the government came in with the equal Opportunities Childcare Programme for a national development plan was established to improve the quality of childcare and also increased participation. In September 2007 the updated pre-school regulations 2006 came into effect, these regulation gave the childcare practitioners very specific requirements on how their childcare service should be ran such as child to adult ratio, suitable nutritious foods, and register for the children and many more regulations. These are set to improve the quality of all ECCE sectors. The ECCE set up a scheme called the free year programme. This programme is set up to give children a pre-school year to get them ready for primary school and give them the first learning experiences and becomes the start of their social and learning development Provisions for ECCE ECCE Scheme The Early Childhood Care and Education scheme gives parents the choice to put their children into a free year of early childhood care an education if they are aged between 3 years and 3 months and 4 years and 6 months on the first of September in which the service starts. Exceptions can be made if a child is verified as having a special need making a later starting date acceptable. The normal pattern for the free pre-school year is three hours a day over a 38 week period, if you go over these three hours you will be charged extra. Children over the age limit due to special needs might be able to be exempt from the age limit on the ECCE scheme if parents write to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs asking for an exemption from the age limit .Children with a disability are allowed to spread their free year programme over a two year period if they would benefit from this. There is no charge for parents availing this service. The state capitation fee pays these childcare service s to provide the ECCE hours. Parents might be asked to pay for extra activities but these have to be optional and there must be other appropriate activities set up for the children not taking part. DAI The dyslexia association of Ireland (DAI) was founded in 1972 to work with and for people that are affected by dyslexia. The DAI provides information, offers suitable support services and help in representing and raising awareness about dyslexia. Their vision is for a society that is dyslexia friendly where they are able to reach their maximum potential. Everyone with dyslexia has appropriate support and identification to achieve their maximum potential in all aspects in life. Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that affects reading and spelling skills with around 10% of Ireland affected. There are a lot of services the DAI provide such as information services through every form of communication. They have an assessment service that has a team of educational psychologists that work with children young people and adults. They also have other services like tuition for both adults and children who have been diagnosed with dyslexia. For people with dyslexia the dyslexia associatio n website has every single bit of information that someone with dyslexia would need even putting a feature on their page so people with dyslexia who struggle reading black on white can change the background colour of the page to make is easier for them to read Child benefit welfare Parents or guardians can claim child benefit for a child under the age of 16 or under 18 if that child is in a youth reach programme, full time education or has a disability. Child benefit is not eligible for children age 18 of over because in the eyes of the law they are now an adult Child benefit for twins is paid at one and half of the monthly rate for each individual child, other multiple births is double the rate. To apply for child benefit you need to apply within the first month of your childs birth. The month you became guardian of the child or the month you family came to live in Ireland. To keep on child benefit after age 16 for a child with a disability you have to apply a month before the childs 16th birthday. For children in full time education child benefit will continue until the month of June stop and resume that September when they start back at education. EU citizens living in Ireland can claim child benefit even if your child is not in the country, but if he is living in an EU country where regulations apply you should claim for family benefit that you are entitled to there. The child benefit monthly rate is â‚ ¬140 per child it increased by â‚ ¬5 in January of 2015 Public Health Nurses Health Public Health Nurses are usually based in a towns local health centre and they are each assigned to different places and geographical areas all over Ireland. These public health nurses are employed by the health service executive to provide the community with a range of health care services. These services are provided in a range of different places such as community centres, day care centres, schools, health centres and in peoples homes they provide basic nursing care, advice and assistance to all their patients. For terminally ill patients they can provide weekend nursing and twilight nursing. Sometimes public health nurses sometimes visit mothers and their new-born babies. They also visit primary schools in arrangements with the school health services. Public health nurses keep a register for old people and people with a disability and visit them in some areas in Ireland. For people in Ireland with communication difficulties or disorders public health nurses can provide a speech a nd language therapy. Equal opportunity legislation and mention at least three items of legislation and relevant to children The main principles behind the equal status acts are that everyone equally has the right to live and participate in society’s services without being discriminated against. The people who provide these public services cannot discriminate against the nine grounds of discrimination that are: Race Religion Age Gender Sexuality Disabilities Travelling community Marital status The civil partnership ground In relation to a child care setting all these grounds have to be followed, for example. A member of the travelling community has to be allowed to use all ECCE services and that child cannot be bullied or discriminated against in that service because of the family they come from where they live. A childcare worker has to treat that child the same as any other in their service Another example is for children with a disability such as a child in a wheel chair. Public services must have the facilities to be able to cater for the child’s needs such as wheel care ramps and elevators so the child can freely move around the building Another example is sex; a young boy cannot be discriminated against if he wants to do an activity such as ballet. Just because the majority of people who do ballet are female does not mean the young child should be discriminated against and also girls who want to do activities such as a physically sport such as rugby, this child’s decisions should be respected Show how you maintain a quality ECCE environment that complies with relevant regulations and standards. The preschool regulations are set to improve the standards in child care and to ensure the health, welfare and safety of pre-school children in promoting their development First aid In a childcare building there should always be a first aid box in the building. Should also be a person who has a qualification in first aid in the building at all times. On days outside the building with the children a first aid box should be brought along and the person with the first aid qualification should also come along with the children. This is to make sure if anything happened the child the child-minder is able to help the child. This links with the pre-school regulations 2006 regulation 6 Behaviour management In the 2006 pre-school regulations it clearly states in regulation 9 that: â€Å"A person carrying on a pre-school service shall ensure that no corporal punishment is inflicted on a pre-school child attending the service† (Anon., 2008) Therefore in the childcare setting every child should be respected there should be no practices that are neglectful emotionally or physically harmful, intimidating, degrading or disrespectful. Sà ­olta Sà ­olta is the national quality framework for early childhood education, sà ­olta is made to asses, define and support the improvement of the quality of practice in all ECCE sectors with children in their service ages 0-6 years. The16 standards give all childcare practitioners’ a vision to apply to all aspects of the ECCE practice; some examples of these are standards are: Each child in the service has the right to make their own choices and decisions and all their own choices made should be respected, this is stated in the 4th standards of Sà ­olta Each child is allowed to take their own initiate in the activities that they do giving them the appropriately level of independence and support in the child problem solving, this is stated in the 1st standard of Sà ­olta These 12 standards give early childhood and care practitioners a standard of quality in which all sectors of the ECCE must apply in their services. Conclusion In this report it has looked at the historical development of the ECCE sector in Ireland talking about the roles of the family before the Celtic tiger, the childcare act 1991 the pre-school regulations 1996 and 2006, the equal opportunity act 2000 and the ECCE scheme 2010. The report then looks at two state provisions set up by the state, talking about the ECCE scheme set up to help people in disadvantaged and disabled children in Ireland, and the DAI (Dyslexia association of Ireland) set up to help and give people with dyslexia the information needed. Next the report looks at one health and welfare provision state up by the state that are, child benefit for welfare, set up to help parents with children in full time education or children with disabilities and public health nurses as health, set up to provide the community with range of health care services. The report then has a look at the equal opportunity legislation and mentions three items of policy and legislation that are rele vant to children in the ECCE sector. Lastly, the report shows you how to maintain a quality ECCE setting with relevant regulations and standards talking about sà ­olta and the preschool rights. Bibliography Anon., 2008. northtipperarychild.ie. [Online] Available at: http://www.northtipperarychildcare.ie/docs/Guideline-on-Developing-a-Behaviour-Management-Policy-for-pre-school-services.pdf [Accessed 29 5 2015]. Anon., 2015. [Online] Available at: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/social_welfare_payments_to_families_and_children/child_benefit.html [Accessed 29 may 2015]. Anon., n.d. gillmacmillan.ie. [Online] Available at: http://www.gillmacmillan.ie/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/058/Early_Care_and_Education_Practice_-_Look_Inside_Sample.pdf [Accessed 29 may 2015]. Anon., n.d. siolta.ie. [Online] Available at: http://siolta.ie/ [Accessed 1 june 2015]. Anon., n.d. www.hse.ie. [Online] Available at: http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/1/LHO/CavanMonaghan/Public_Health_Nurse/ [Accessed 30 may 2015]. dyslexia.ie, n.d. www.dyslexia.ie. [Online] Available at: http://www.dyslexia.ie/