National Early Years Access Initiative

Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce in County Donegal

Overview Application Process Management Structure NEYAI Vision National Policy Objectives Rationale for the Donegal

Proposal The Professional Pedagogy

Project Profile of Participants and

Eligibility National Evaluation Timeframes

Application Process

The Professional Pedagogy Project

Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce

• In July 2010 agencies nationally were invited to an information meeting in the Department of Education and Skills in Dublin. 3 representatives from Donegal Agencies were in attendance.• Interested parties would be required to put together a local consortium partner group, identify a lead partner and submit an Expression of Interest and project outline by 6th September 2010.• The expression of interest process was competitive with a scoring criteria applied. This would determine which projects would go through to the full application stage.

Application Process

The Professional Pedagogy Project

Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce

• 21st July 2010 DCCC facilitated a meeting inviting all those agencies with an interest in being part of an initiative for Donegal to attend.

•16 different agency representatives from across the county attended. 4 agency representatives - Donegal VEC, Inishowen Development Partnership, FAS and Children’s Services Committee Donegal expressed a commitment to be part of the consortium and voted that DCCC was best placed to be the lead partner.

Application Process

The Professional Pedagogy Project

Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce

• A project proposal was developed and the Expression of Interest was submitted by the 6th September deadline. • We were informed in October that this was successful and we were now down to a shortlist of 25 projects and asked to proceed to full application stage. •The full application was submitted for 26th November 2010 deadline –a most comprehensive and detailed application.

Application Process

The Professional Pedagogy Project

Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce

• Informed on 22nd February 2011 that the Donegal application was successful in being awarded €320,000 for the proposal.

•The pre-contract stage would take a further 3 months of providing further information, detailed project plans, budgets, staffing docs etc. before the contract was forwarded in May 2011.

•The NEYAI was officially launched in Dept Ed. on 20th June 2011. • The Donegal NEYAI PPP was launched in Letterkenny in Sep 2011.

Management Structure • NEYAI Steering Group (EYPU, CES, HSE, DES, AP)• Pobal • National Evaluation Team • Donegal County Childcare (Lead Partner)• NEYAI Consortium (VEC, FAS, IDP, CSC) • NEYAI Strategic Planning Group• Donegal Project Coordinator• PPP TEAM

Supporting Government Policy Objectives for ECCE

The Professional Pedagogy Project

Síolta Aistear Workforce Development Plan National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy

Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce

What is the vision for the NEYAI?

The Professional Pedagogy Project

Evidence-based policy making EPPI Studies, EPPNI and Perry Pre-School Projects Improve services for approximately 360,000 0-6 year old children in Ireland A sustainable legacy for the future €5.25M Robust, focussed evaluation.

Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce

Rationale for the Donegal Proposal

Identified Need

Identified Need Donegal ECCE Sector Donegal ECCE Sector

1: Implement ECCE Policy

The Professional Pedagogy Project

Síolta, Aistear, WDP – cornerstones for future growth and development of ECCE Sector

A strategic, resourced implementation plan

Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce

2. Build Educator Capacity

The Professional Pedagogy Project

Lighting a fire or filling a bucket?

‘How’ to teach young children

Contemporary teaching techniques

Gaps in training

Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce

Overall Conceptual Framework

The Professional Pedagogy Project Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce

BuildEducator Capacity

BuildEducator Capacity

Improved outcomes for

children

Improved outcomes for

children

Improved Parental

Involvement

Improved Parental

Involvement

The Professional Pedagogy Project

The Professional Pedagogy Project

Training Programme Mentoring and Support Cluster Sessions Information Sessions for Parents On line Discussion Forum Ongoing Consultation with Children

Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce

Key Focal Points for Training and Mentoring

The Professional Pedagogy Project Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce

Child Development and Learning The Early Childhood Curriculum and Play Pedagogical Techniques and Strategies Planning and Reflecting on Professional Practice Extending Learning through Assessment Effective Transitions from Pre-School to Primary School

Accreditation

The Professional Pedagogy Project

PPP will be put forward for Accreditation through LYIT – HETAC 6/7

Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce

Profile of Participants

The Professional Pedagogy Project

3 Delivery Areas – Inis Eoghain, Letterkenny, Donegal Area.

11 early childhood services

Approximately 80 educators

Approximately 300 children and their parents

Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce

Eligibility and Selection

The Professional Pedagogy Project

1. FDC, Sessional, ECCE Childminder

2. Pre-School Unit as part of service

3. Whole Service Approach

4. Whole Staff Team Approach

5. Core Training – Minimum Level 5

6. Commitment – past record of CPD

Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce

National Evaluation

The Professional Pedagogy Project

Rigorous National Evaluation of all 11 projects

Treatment Group vs. Comparison Group

A sample group of 70 children and their parents from Donegal – 35 randomly drawn from sample

Core evaluation questions

Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce

Baseline Measures

National Evaluation Timeframe

The Professional Pedagogy Project

October/November 2011: Staff and Early Childhood Service Baseline Evaluation (prior to training taking place) September 2012: Parent and Child Baseline Evaluation

(Prior to commencing Pre-School) June 2013: Staff, Parent and Child Follow-up Evaluation

(End Pre-School Year) October 2013: Parent and Child Transition Evaluation (Primary School)

Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce

Supports and Outcomes

NEYAI PPP Opportunities