The Windy Hill Outdoor Preschool

Bottom line - increase ECCE funding NOW. €4.60 per hour simply does not cut it any more.

⚠️CHILDCARE IN IRELAND: THE WARNING SIGNS ARE NO LONGER AHEAD OF US⚠️

Three years ago, providers stood before policymakers and outlined exactly where the sector was heading.

We warned about sustainability.

We warned about staffing shortages.

We warned about service closures.

We warned about provider burnout.

We warned about capacity loss.

We warned that if the underlying economics of the sector were not addressed, the consequences would eventually be felt by children, families, communities and the wider economy.

Today, we are no longer discussing warnings.

We are discussing reality.

Across Ireland, childcare places are becoming harder to access.

Parents are travelling further than ever to secure ECCE and childcare places.

Services have closed.

Rooms are sitting empty.

Not because there is no demand.

Not because there are no children.

But because there are not enough educators available to keep them open.

At the same time, educators and providers are experiencing some of the highest levels of stress and burnout ever recorded within the sector.

Our recent peer-reviewed research with Dublin City University highlighted significant concerns around provider wellbeing, mental health and sustainability.

The evidence is clear.

The pressure is real.

And the warning signs are all around us.

Perhaps the most alarming statistic of all is that more than 1,000 early years services have left the sector in recent years.

For context, that represents over 25% of all early years services in Ireland.

Imagine if over 25% of primary schools disappeared.

Imagine if over 25% of GP practices disappeared.

Imagine if over 25% of fire stations disappeared.

There would be national outrage.

Yet this is happening within a sector that supports hundreds of thousands of children, parents and employers every single day.

This is not simply a childcare issue.

It is a national infrastructure issue.

When childcare services close:

Children lose access.

Parents lose choice.

Employers lose workers.

Communities lose vital services.

The economy feels the impact.

What has become increasingly clear is that many of the challenges being discussed are not separate issues.

Staffing shortages.

Recruitment difficulties.

Provider burnout.

Capacity loss.

Service closures.

Historical fee freezes.

Core Funding challenges.

These are not isolated problems.

They are all symptoms of one central issue.

Provider sustainability.

The childcare sector is not short of children.

It is not short of demand.

It is not short of dedicated educators.

What it is increasingly short of is sustainable providers.

And without sustainable providers there can be no sustainable childcare system.

One of the clearest examples of the financial reality facing providers can be found in the Government’s own actions.

Over the last two years, approximately €90 million in additional funding has been allocated specifically to support wage increases within the sector.

That fact alone tells a powerful story.

Because if providers were operating with sufficient margins, if services had the financial capacity to absorb increasing employment costs, this funding would never have been required.

The Labour Court recognised that educators deserved better pay.

Providers agreed.

Government agreed.

Yet even after those decisions were made, tens of millions of euro in additional funding were still required because the money simply was not available within the existing system.

This is not evidence that providers were unwilling to pay higher wages.

It is evidence that many providers could not.

That distinction matters.

For most businesses, wage growth comes from growth.

From increased turnover.

From increased revenue.

From improved margins.

But childcare providers are operating in an environment where:

Costs continue to rise.

Wages continue to rise.

Regulatory obligations continue to rise.

Expectations continue to rise.

Yet the ability to generate additional revenue has been heavily restricted through years of fee controls, fee freezes and funding structures that do not always reflect the true cost of delivery.

In simple terms:

The costs of delivering childcare have increased dramatically.

The ability to generate additional income has not.

That is not a sustainable business model.

And when a business model becomes unsustainable, the consequences are inevitable.

Investment stops.

Expansion stops.

Recruitment becomes difficult.

Rooms close.

Places are lost.

Services disappear.

The sector is not asking for special treatment.

It is not asking for sympathy.

It is asking for recognition of reality.

Providers have embraced regulation.

Providers have embraced quality frameworks.

Providers have embraced inspections.

Providers have embraced workforce reforms.

Educators continue to show extraordinary commitment to the children in their care.

Parents continue to place their trust in the sector every day.

Everyone has continued carrying their share of the burden.

But there comes a point where carrying more is no longer possible.

The greatest risk facing childcare in Ireland today is not affordability.

It is not recruitment.

It is not administration.

The greatest risk is the continued loss of provider capacity.

Because without providers there are no places.

Without places there is no access.

Without access there is no affordability.

Without sustainability there is no system.

The conversation must now move beyond acknowledging the challenges.

The evidence has been presented.

The experiences have been shared.

The statistics are clear.

The question is no longer whether a problem exists.

The question is whether we are prepared to act before more places are lost, more services close, more educators leave and more families are left without the support they need.

The warning signs are no longer ahead of us.

They are around us.

And the time for action is now.

We had a wonderful trip to Skerries Mills today for National Biodiversity Week 🥰

We stopped off at the Kybe pond where we were very excited to catch a look at the brand new cygnets that hatched there recently, and also visited the beautiful community garden which is in full bloom 🪻 We were met there and shown around by local bee expert Charlie Heasman who had the children fascinated with how easily he handled the bees! Unfortunately we didn't spot the rare carder bee that has been seen there so another trip on a sunnier day is definitely on the cards!

Thank you to Charlie for sharing some of your knowledge with us, to the lovely parents who came along to help out and to everyone involved in looking after the community garden. We are very lucky to have this beautiful place right on our doorstep 💚🙏

A single moment of emergent literacy at an outdoor, fully play based and child led preschool:

A question that often comes up around outdoor education is, "how (or what) do they learn if they're just playing freely outside all the time?"

Well, this morning I managed to snap the perfect moment to illustrate my answer to this question! I looked around and ALL of the children were engaged in mark making, developing their emergent literacy skills.

Did I direct them to these activities? Not at all. As an outdoor, play based educator I do two main things to encourage children to incorporate mark making into their play, developing all of their arm, wrist and hand muscles by writing on different surfaces and in different body positions, and deepening their emerging understanding that their marks carry meaning and can be used as a form of communication.

These two things are:

1. I make sure a variety of mark making materials are available ALL the time and in ALL of the play spaces, including materials that can be transported to any area of the garden.

2. I model mark making whilst playing with the children. For example, if I've been invited to join in building a house with loose parts, I might sketch a plan on the blackboard, or write a list of materials we need on a clipboard. This is integrated into play, and I don't ask the children to do it, I just casually bring it into the game. Usually they spontaneously join me and grab a piece of chalk, but the fact that it is their choice and a part of their game makes it much more meaningful.

It's these moments, these glimpses of true absorption where the learning is so clear, that strengthen my belief in play based learning. I'll never be convinced that a 3, 4, or 5 year old needs anything other than this 😁

Today at outdoor preschool, two children began exploring and talking in depth about the concept of sinking and floating. They had started by washing toy cars and discovered that some were sinking and some were floating. Vocabulary like 'heavy' and 'light' were introduced by a 4 year old.

The most important thing about this discovery, in my opinion, was that I, the adult, did not introduce it. It emerged through spontaneous, child led, free play.

When we wait patiently and allow these discoveries to happen they are infinitely more meaningful and lead to a much deeper level of exploration and learning. As a leader in an outdoor, free play setting, my job is to carefully prepare the environment and then guard the children's freedom as if my life depended on it!

Earlier this week we had a little trip to our local playground. The children were full of energy, living their best lives running around and having fun. Of course after about 10 minutes the hats and gloves came off, next it was the jackets.

Now I've worked in many settings where children were not allowed to take their coats off when playing outside. My own primary school children often refuse to bring a coat to school as they say they will be forced to wear it at yard even if they are running around sweating.

This got me thinking about two concepts we talk about often in the early years sector: children's voice, and regulation.

The UNCRC states that children have a right for their opinions to be considered. So if a child runs up to you, red faced and sweaty, even though you're freezing from standing around the playground, and says 'can I take my coat off?', is the immediate answer going to be 'no it's too cold'? Or should you stop and consider that this child is a living human being who has a right to have a say in whether they wear a coat or not?

In terms of regulation, us early years educators spend oodles of time helping children to learn to regulate their own emotions. You could even say this has become one of the biggest focuses of early years education. But then so often we refuse to let them regulate their own body temperature??! Whilst in the same breath talking about bodily autonomy....need I say more?

So please, please listen to children when they ask to take their coat off. I can guarantee you I have very seldomly seen a child refuse to put their coat back on if they're actually feeling cold.

I think everyone has their own moment when they breathe a sigh of relief that we've made it through another winter. For me, February 1st seems too early (this is when Spring starts in the celtic calendar) but 1st March (meteorological calendar) feels a bit late.

This is the moment for me. It's 5pm, the sun is still up, and my kids are immersed in quiet, calm play in the garden 😍

I love when the evening pottering starts to shift outside. It's just the most lovely, serene way to wrap up the day, hearing the birds sing their evening chorus and savouring those extra few minutes of light each day ❤️🪻☀️

PS. See if you can actually spot the kids, I promise they're in the picture somewhere 😆

We were treated by one of our lovely Polish families today to some donuts, or pączki, for Tłusty Czwartek! In Poland the tradition of eating donuts on Fat Thursday (the equivalent of our pancake Tuesday) brings good luck. The children were delighted to indulge and also learnt some Polish words and worked on a puzzle map of Poland. It was wonderful to see the excitement of our Polish child in sharing her culture with her friends ❤️

We all needed a pick-me-up after this week of relentless rain and wind...so we got cosy indoors with some home-made chocolate chip cookies and milk 😋

Sometimes you just have to treat yourself!

Please do not disturb!

Our class teddy bear, Chestnut, is hibernating 😴

The children have been enjoying our book 'A Field Guide to Winter' and wanted to make a cosy cave so Chestnut could hibernate. They had so much fun stuffing his cave full of comfy 'leaves' (torn up paper') decorating his cave and also making lego toys for him to play with!

This also opened up lovely conversations about slowing down ourselves and resting at this time of year, looking after our bodies and minds ❤️