Registrations open for Little Stars Ballyshannon

Registrations are now open for the Little Stars Preschool and After-School Programme at Ballyshannon National School ahead of its September opening.

A limited number of places remain available in both the preschool and after-school service. Children enrolled in the preschool may also avail of the after-school programme if needed.

Parents or guardians seeking enrolment information or a registration form can contact littlestarsballyshannon@gmail.com. Early registration is advised as spaces are limited.

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Childcare centre appeal on dog fouling

Kilcullen Community Childcare and Education Centre has issued an appeal to dog owners following persistent issues with dog fouling outside its premises. 

The centre reported that some owners are allowing their dogs to foul directly outside the facility, and that waste bags have been left beside bins during children's collection periods and, more recently, disposed of in recycling bins. 

Dog owners are respectfully requested to act responsibly by cleaning up after their pets and taking waste home, thereby maintaining a clean, safe, and welcoming environment for children, families, staff, and visitors.

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Kilcullen Community Childcare AGM

Kilcullen Community Childcare and Education Centre will hold its Annual General Meeting at the centre on 15 June at 6.30pm. There’s a general invitation to the event with organisers saying all are welcome.

The community-based service has been providing early years education in Kilcullen since 1974, in a purpose-built centre since 2014.

The facility includes ECCE classrooms, full-day care and afterschool services for local children.

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ELMS Open Day today

A reminder that the ELMS Early Learning Montessori School will hold an Open Day TODAY, Saturday, 9 May at 10.30am in its premises at Kilcullen Community Centre.

The event will give parents and guardians an opportunity to meet the team, explore the classrooms, and learn more about the school’s Montessori approach in a child-centred environment. Information will also be available on free ECCE places offered by the school.

The open day is aimed at families interested in early years education and those considering Montessori for their children.

For further details, contact ELMS Montessori on 087 6343037 or visit www.elmsmontessori.ie.

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ELMS Montessori to Host Open Day

ELMS Early Learning Montessori School will hold an Open Day on Saturday, 9 May at 10.30am in its premises at Kilcullen Community Centre.

The event will give parents and guardians an opportunity to meet the team, explore the classrooms, and learn more about the school’s Montessori approach in a child-centred environment. Information will also be available on free ECCE places offered by the school.

The open day is aimed at families interested in early years education and those considering Montessori for their children.

For further details, contact ELMS Montessori on 087 6343037 or visit www.elmsmontessori.ie.

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ECCE Places at Kidz Academy

A few places are now open for ECCE-eligible children from 9:30 to 12:30 at Kidz Akademy in Kilcullen. 

If interested, contact kidzakademycreche@gmail.com or call 045 484823. 

Limited places available.

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Childcare positions at KCCEC

The Kilcullen Community Childcare and Education Centre has vacancies for two Lead Early Years & School Aged childcare practitioners.

The successful applicants will be responsible for assisting in developing, coordinating, and directing a range of activities in a busy pre-school and after-school programme.

Reporting to the KCCEC Manager, the duties and responsibilities include collaborating with the Manager and the KCCEC Team to implement and maintain services and programmes.

A minimum FETAC level 7 in Childcare, and a minimum of 1 year of work experience in a busy childcare environment is essential.

The positions are full-time, 40 hours a week.

The full description of the positions and the application process can be viewed at this link. 

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Childcare activists hoping for suitable building

Some of the childcare action group with Deputy Wall.

The Kilcullen Needs Childcare community group is hoping that a 'fit for purpose' building can be sourced for childcare providers to supply after-school childcare services in the town, writes Brian Byrne. This follows a recent survey that indicates more than 150 children in the community are waiting for pre-school and after-school services.

Alice Malone O'Neill from the group has also welcomed the prospect of the group meeting with Minister for Children Norma Foley, which was mentioned by Deputy Mark Wall in a KFM radio interview last week. "That would be great," she told the Diary. "I'm waiting to hear when this will be."

During the interview, Deputy Wall discussed the survey findings, which his office had conducted in conjunction with Kilcullen Needs Childcare. Amongst the 110 people who responded to the survey, nearly eight in ten were already travelling outside Kilcullen to find childcare, and more than two-thirds of these were relying on family members or other informal arrangements.

When the situation was first publicly highlighted in July, the deputy told the Diary that he had been approached by a number of childcare providers from outside Kilcullen who would consider setting up services in the town if suitable premises could be made available. 

During August, the situation made national attention through an article in the Irish Times and on the RTE News at One.

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150 Kilcullen children need childcare places - survey

More than 150 children in Kilcullen need an early years or after-school place, according to responses to a survey of parents in the town, writes Brian Byrne. One hundred and ten parents responded to the study, carried out during July and August.

Almost half of those who responded said they have considered giving up employment because of the lack of childcare places in the town. Deputy Mark Wall conducted the survey with a community group, Kilcullen Needs Childcare. Deputy Wall says it's a crisis reflected across the whole county of Kildare.

"This is all going on while we have purpose-built facilities lying vacant across Kildare," he said today. "Many small-to-medium-sized childcare settings are struggling to break even. We need to see the State stepping into places like Kilcullen that have become a childcare desert, we need publicly funded, State-led childcare facilities set up, and we need to finally recognise early years education as a vital investment in our children’s future and a key part of the education system.”

He noted that the majority of those affected are women in jobs in high demand, such as education, healthcare, construction, and finance. "The lack of childcare is also having a negative impact on the careers of these parents, as one in five have already given up their careers."

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Appeal for participation in childcare needs survey

A comprehensive survey on the needs for childcare in Kilcullen will stay live until the middle of August, and all parents having difficulty finding places for both pre-school and after-school childcare are urged to participate, writes Brian Byrne. The survey has been organised by the Kilcullen Needs Childcare community group in association with Deputy Mark Wall.

Preliminary analysis of early responses indicates that almost half of those who have taken part are considering giving up their careers because of the lack of childcare services. A high 45 per cent of respondents indicated that they have had to reduce their working hours, and in some cases, both parents have had to. Describing the situation as 'shocking', co-founder of Kilcullen Needs Childcare, Alice Malone O'Neill, says she is also aware of one person who has had their house valued and is considering moving to be closer to family for childcare support.

Availability of after-school care in Kilcullen has been reduced by changes in policy at existing childcare providers in the town. Alice, a teacher, and her chef husband are directly affected. “I'm fortunate that our two younger children have pre-school places, but we will have an after-school problem with our eldest child from September," she says. "We don't have family nearby to help out.” In June, she organised a simple online survey to gauge the extent of the issue. “I set it up on a platform linked to my phone, and for the next three days, it was beeping non-stop. I was absolutely in shock — I got 82 responses, involving 120 children.”

That prompted Alice and her friend Gina Begley to form Kilcullen Needs Childcare and get in touch with local politicians. Deputy Mark Wall met with several mothers in Kilcullen on 18 July. He set up the current survey, this time seeking more detailed information, including on issues such as affordability. 

Long-term remedies are needed to deal with childcare shortages on a national level, but the matter is immediately critical for many families in Kilcullen. Alice suggests that the use of local schools' space for after-school care could be one fast-track solution. She references a Naas school, where an after-school provider works in a room not used by any teachers outside school hours. "They have that, and then they go to the school hall, and they have a kitchenette and the school's outdoor facility as well. Sixty or seventy children are using that service, and it also gets government support."

Pending the outcome of the current survey, the group is planning a public meeting in Kilcullen on the issue for early autumn.

READ: Kilcullen will lose families, if no childcare solution - Mark Wall TD 

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New local group campaigns for more childcare

A new Kilcullen group, Kilcullen Needs Childcare, is carrying out a survey to assess the need for more childcare facilities in the town, writes Brian Byrne. The group has been established by a number of parents campaigning for additional childcare and after-school places in Kilcullen.

They were prompted by the inability of existing childcare facilities in the town to offer a service because they are full and already have wait lists.

Access to the survey is here. 

READ: Kilcullen will lose families, if no childcare solution - Mark Wall TD 

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Kilcullen will lose families, if no childcare solution - Mark Wall TD

Deputy Wall meeting some Kilcullen families last week.

People with important skills could leave Kilcullen if a childcare crisis in the town isn't quickly dealt with, writes Brian Byrne. According to local TD Mark Wall, there's an urgent need for a premises to accommodate the childcare needs of more than 50 families, and a solution will require a direct state intervention.

He was speaking following a meeting with a number of families in Kilcullen where he heard about difficult choices being made, such as reducing working hours or even considering giving up careers. Adding that the Kilcullen situation is reflected in many other towns in the county, he warns that what he calls a 'massive' crisis threatens pushing women out of the workforce, with consequent loss of incomes and skill sets to the community. 

The issue disproportionately affects women, he notes, as they are the ones who typically must make the choices between careers and looking after children. "Many in Kilcullen have moved there because it's a growing, vibrant town. They're professional women in the main, many of them in the public service. But they can't get childcare, and in many cases, because they moved, they are separated from family backup such as parents and grandparents who might have been able to help."

The deputy told the Diary that he has been approached by a number of childcare providers from outside Kilcullen who would consider setting up services in the town if a suitable premises could be made available. "The existing childcare providers in the town are fully stretched, with waiting lists, and these people are scrambling to find places for their young children. Unless something is done, Kilcullen could lose these families, who have brought important skill sets to the area, and that would really be sad."

Without an urgent state-led effort to meet the needs, communities like Kilcullen will lose doctors, nurses, gardaí and other public servants who would have to give up employment because they have to mind their children, or leave the town for places where they can get childcare, the deputy warns. In the immediate situation, he wants the government to step in and work with schools, sports clubs, HSE centres or any other location that might provide space for childcare.

The deputy emphasises that he is not suggesting taking over childcare from the private sector, but stepping in where the private services are not able to provide enough spaces. School aftercare is another part of the problem, as is getting enough qualified staff and playing them properly.

Licensed home-based childcare is under consideration at government level, as part of a range of solutions to the crisis. How childcare is managed in other parts of the world, like Scandinavia and Australia, is being looked at. But changes like these won't come quickly enough, Deputy Wall says. "We're also a long way still from the government ambition of making childcare affordable at €200 a month, and I'm in constant touch with Minister Norma Foley on that. But the bottom line at the moment, particularly in Kilcullen, is not enough places, and we have to deal with that now."  

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Peggy Walker Bursary deadline

A reminder that the closing date for applications  for the Peggy Walker Childcare Bursary is 30 October 2024, writes Brian Byrne. The funding is available to someone doing a recognised Early Years course with NFQ Level 5 and upwards.

Named in honour of the late Peggy Walker, founder of the original Naomh Bhride playgroup in 1974, the bursary has a value of €2,000 and applications are open to local students, school leavers and adult learners who have a proven place on any qualifying early years course. 

Applicants must live within 15km of Kilcullen Community Childcare & Education Centre, and need to have confirmation of a place on their course.

The funding could be used to support tuition fees, accommodation, transport or acquisition of computer equipment.

Application forms and further information available by emailing bursary@kccec.ie.

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Creche and Daycare chain sets up HQ in Kilcullen

Annette Akerlind, Amanda McManus and Audrey Murray.

A rapidly expanding Kildare-based chain of creches have established their administration headquarters in Kilcullen, writes Brian Byrne. Tots Creche & Daycare currently have eight locations across Kildare, and expect to increase that number to 12 by September.

The new HQ is in the former Reidy Stafford offices suite in the Market Square building, and it was officially launched last evening with a reception. The administration facilities include a bespoke IT system that can keep a real-time tally of children and staff in each room of every location.

Tots Creche was established in 2002 by two sisters, Audrey Murray and Annette Akerlind, with four children in just one room. They were joined by Amanda McManus in 2006, and today the business has more than 100 staff looking after some 600 children in fully-equipped facilities. That there is an extensive waiting list for their service is one reason why Tots Creche & Daycare are in expansion mode since last year. "We have doubled our facilities in a year and simply outgrew our office space," Amanda McManus told the Diary last evening at the launch event. "We came to Kilcullen because the Market Square offices are the perfect space for us, and we have been made feel very welcome in the community."

The current Tots Creche & Daycare facilities are in Newbridge, Naas, Sallins, Prosperous, and Maynooth, and further ones are planned this year for Newbridge, Naas and Kildare town. Each has a dedicated space for babies and cruisers, wobblers and toddlers, pre-schoolers and after-schoolers. Parents have the option of using a Parent Portal app which provides individual daily updates about the care of their child. The portal can also be accessed on the business's website. A fleet of private buses drop off and collect the children who attend 'big school' and come back for after-school care or need to be transported to or from other activities such as dancing or football during the afternoons.

In addition to the facilities within Kildare, the company has plans in train to expand outside the county over the coming year. As smaller creche operators close, in part because of the increased administrative requirements that come with expanding state support, an enterprise like Tots Creche & Daycare is trying to fill a widening gap between demand and availability for child care spaces. "We have the central administration to manage growth," Amanda says, acknowledging that it is 'very sad' that smaller individual creche operations are closing. "But the increased state provision for daycare does mean that more women can afford to go back into the workforce."

Tara Murphy, Liz Murphy and Lisa Midleton.

Rachel Akerlind, Ben Murray and Ella Hannon.

Martina Daňhelová and Zenka Daňhelová.

Melissa McEvoy, Natasha Enright, and Lisa Gaffney.

Alan O'Connell and Malcolm Akerlind.

Alex Lyons and Greg Curran.

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