yblive Summer 2009, 3,4,5 Learning Years
3,4,5 Learning Years - Siolta
I am Joanne Waters, the Early Years Quality Coordinator employed by Barnardos as part of the work of youngballymun. My work is all about supporting early years services – early years centres, childminders and junior classes in schools – to engage with Siolta. In this article for yblive I tell you about Siolta, about who I am working with and how to get in touch with me if you want to know more. I also bring you up to date on the work of my colleagues in Barnardos on the service design of Highscope.
Siolta
Siolta is the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and was developed quite recently by the CECDE (Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education). The work of the CECDE has become part of the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs and is now called the Early Years Education Policy Unit (EYEPU).
Siolta is a a set of national standards for early childhood education, a quality assurance programme which is intended to provide support and guidance for all those working with, and on behalf, of children.
Siolta is applicable to different types of childcare services that work with children from 0-6 years of age including sessional, full & part time day care, childminding services and infants classes in primary Schools.
As soon as I was appointed I was one of the first three Siolta coordinators trained by the EYEPU in the application of Siolta as a quality framework.
Siolta in Ballymun
Early Years services in Ballymun are among the first nationally to implement Siolta. This means that children in early years services are in services that are benchmarking their quality early care and education – this is vital for the children and is a great support to parents.
In my role as quality coordinator I engage with services in a number of ways depending on interest and need. The first level is to explain Siolta as it is brand new and ground-breaking, therefore it is unfamiliar at present. I go out to visit and meet staff, explain Siolta, what it is and how services may use it within their individual settings. All of my work is conducted at the pace that is right for the service and meets with their needs. Right now I am engaged at level one, awareness-rasing with four services, including a group of ten child-minders. I have linked in with the Childminders Advisory Offiers and have joined the Childcare Working Group of the Ballymun Whitehall Area Partnership, to support services engagement with Siolta.
The second level of involvement after awareness-raising is to give services the option to explore and implement one or more of the 16 Siolta standards. Services can make their own choices about where to start and the pace of the work.
The third and most intensive level of work is the provision of individualised support and guidance through the whole Siolta quality assurance process. It is this third level that services in Ballymun so far have opted for, after the awareness-raising / information level.
Right now I am working with six early years service providers in Ballymun, who are starting the Siolta quality assurance process. Over the next 6 months each one will be completing a baseline assessment of their services in relation to the Siolta standards and beginning to develop their action plans for ensuring that their work meets and reflects the Siolta standards.
Highscope
Alongside my work on Siolta I am linking in closely with the work Barnardos are doing with youngballymun to establish Highscope in pre-school settings in Ballymun.
High/Scope is a well known pre-school programme which is underpinned by long term research. It enables children to become independent, responsible and confident – ready for school and ready for life.
The Highscope programme achieves this through the child:
- being part of a learning environment which is welcoming, interesting, flexible and accessible.
- learning through active involvement with people, material, events and ideas (active learning).
- learning to plan their activities, carry them out and talk with others about what they have done and what they have learned (plan-do-review).
- having an established daily routine which gives the child a sense of structure and security. This sense of security allows them to make choices and take risks.
- gaining knowledge and skills in important learning, social, and physical areas of development.
The new Highscope programme begins in the autumn. Highscope coaches will mentor and support staff as they bring in Highscope to their centres and we will also be providing Highscope training for early years staff.
This is a great opportunity to thank the early years services managers and staff teams for the commitment they have brought to the work and for the support they have given us. Between Siolta and Highscope we have lots to look forward to in September in 3,4,5 Learning Years!
Next Steps
I will also be linking in closely with the Ready, Steady, Grow service and with any junior infants classes who would like to know more about Siolta and what it might look like in a infant class setting. I am also keeping in close contact with my colleagues in other youngballymun services so that together we provide integrated and seamless supports to children right through their early years and to their parents and carers. I am always interested in hearing from other service providers who would like to know more about 3,4,5 Learning Years.
Just to say, the door is always open for more early years providers in Ballymun to join in with 3,4,5 Learning Years – all you have to do is give me a call on 01 – 883 2103 – or email me at joanne@youngballymun.org.
I look forward to hearing from you.
