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Free Pre-School Year 
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Careers in Childcare
Free Pre-School Year
Introduction
The early years sector has seen a lot of changes in 2009- most notably the introduction of a free pre school year for children born between 02/02/2005 and 30/06/2006 known as ECCE (Early Years Care & Education) Scheme. In this section we aim to provide as much up to date, relevant information as we can whilst also giving members the insight to the changes that taken place since April when ECCE was first announced.
New Free Pre School Year for Pre Primary Children
Since the announcement in the budget on April 7, 2009 of the introduction of a new Scheme of one year free pre primary education for 3 & 4 year old children, the National Children’s Nurseries Association (NCNA) has received hundreds of calls from members across the country about the detail of the Scheme.
In January 2010, the Government will begin to provide a free pre school year for children in the year before they start primary school.
All voluntary and private pre-school services which meet the requirements of the scheme will be invited to apply for entry to the scheme and all notified pre-school services will be contacted by the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (OMCYA. An annual capitation grant of between €2,425 and €2,450 will be payable, over a full year, to participating pre-school services for each enrolled child. Both playschools, which generally operate in line with the school year and full- and part-time childcare services, will be eligible to apply under the scheme to facilitate as many parents as possible. Equally the Scheme will be available to Montessori schools, High/Scope services, Steiner services etc.
Parents should begin to ask the existing providers in their area if they are going to enrol in the Scheme and if they are compliant with the Pre School Regulations. Advice on choosing a childcare place is available in the NCNA 9 steps to Choosing Childcare, available on www.ncna.ie.
Children entering the scheme in January 2010 will be eligible if they are born between 2nd February 2005 and 30th June 2006. Parents seeking to enrol their children in January 2010 will be able to apply to participating services from October of 2009 and, in future years, the selection period is expected to begin in June. We believe that there will be no cap on the numbers of children a service may enrol in a given year, assuming that the service continues to operate within the parameters of the Pre School Regulations.
From September 2010, the pre-school year will run from September of each year in line with the school year.
If a child moves to a different service during the year the grant will be transferred to the new service the term following the change over. The first service will retain the capitation for the whole of the first term.
Children enrolled in playschools will receive free pre-school provision of 3 hours per day, 5 days each week over a 38 week year. This equates to a weekly capitation grant to the service of €64.50 and currently the Office of the Minster for Children and Youth Affairs (OMCYA) are stating that parents with children enrolled in these services will not be charged.
Children enrolled in full or part-time childcare services will receive free pre-school provision of 2 hours and 15 minutes per day, 5 days a week over a 50 week period. This equates to a weekly capitation grant to the service of €48.50, with parents paying a childcare fee net of this amount.
Payments will be made directly to the childcare service. To participate in the scheme, a service must be willing to provide the pre-school provision within the capitation rates. Services who do not meet the requirements cannot participate.
Three payments will be made to participating services, coinciding with the school year terms of September, January, April. For services covering 50 weeks, the third payment may be paid in 2 instalments.
The pre-school year will be guided by the principles of Siolta, the early years care and education framework developed by the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education (CECDE) under the Department of Education and Science. The expertise of the CECDE is now part of the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (OMCYA) and, steps are underway to implement Siolta as part of the National Childcare Strategy. This new development will feed into supporting services participating in the pre-school year.
€170 million has been allocated to the Scheme on an annual basis. The OMCYA believe that there is enough capacity in the sector currently to deliver the Free Pre primary scheme. The NCNA has over 850 members nationwide and information on these members is available on www.ncna.ie. In addition the Pre School Inspectorate in each local HSE area will have a list of notified providers in their area, and the City and County Childcare Committees will have details of childcare providers in their regions as well.
There are clearly more details which remain to be answered-
- Will the service receive pro-rata capitation if a child only attends 3 days per week?
- What reporting procedures will be put in place?
NCNA will be addressing these and lots of other questions in the coming weeks with the OMCYA on behalf of our members. NCNA members, other childcare providers or parents can continue to contact NCNA with queries about the Scheme. Call 01 4601138, ext 6 or email info@ncna.ie.
Teresa Heeney
Director of Services
National Children’s Nurseries Association
01 4601138
