ECCE SESSIONAL ROOMS – JUNIORS AND SENIORS
STARLINGS & HUMMINGBIRDS ROOM
Age: 2.8 years to 5+ years
Ratio: 1:11 & 1:8
Opening Times: 9am -12 pm
Additional hours offered: 8am -9am (Breakfast hour) & 12.00pm-1.00pm (Dinner hour)
Schemes offered: ECCE (subsidy applied for 38 weeks (183 days) & NCS
Team Leader: Catherine Blake
ABOUT ECCE SESSIONAL ROOMS:
The sessional rooms are designed to provide a fun learning environment for our preschool children while also providing them with skills and knowledge. The children are encouraged to become autonomous, independent, and confident individuals.
A structured daily routine allows children to explore and gain confidence in their developing abilities. The routine includes opportunities to play individually as well as in small and large groups, both indoors and outdoors. Through a daily routine and active participation from both the educator and the children, an educational approach promotes active learning. By being respectful and modelling behaviour to the child, the curriculum actively supports the child’s voice. In the rooms, we have a daily routine that the children must follow. This is based on a combination of child-led and adult-directed activities. The planned environment allows children to interact with peers and adults while engaging with materials.
The environment enables the child to engage productively with it and see themselves as capable learners, developing skills and understanding that will allow them to make sense of and succeed in the world. Work time allows the child to participate in an activity of their choosing, which reinforces to the child that they belong and are respected within the setting, thereby increasing their self-confidence and self-esteem.
Childhood Matters early years is a wonderful environment that nurtures each child as an individual.
JUNIOR ECCE ROOM 9-12
This is the first year of the ECCE year where your child will progress in life skills and become used to sitting on a chair at a table and concentrating for longer periods of time. Children develop at different speeds and preschool allows us to observe the different tasks set for the children throughout the morning
There is an option in this room to avail of a breakfast hour 8.00 am-9.00 pm and an extra hour plus dinner 12.00 am-1.00 pm at a cost.
SENIOR ECCE ROOM 9-12
This is the senior room of the ECCE year where your child will further progress in life skills. Children develop at different speeds and preschool allows us to observe the different tasks set for the children throughout the morning. As we are play-based and follow the Aistear curriculum we thrive to ensure that the children in our care become confident and competent learners. Children need to feel that their room is their home away from and be comfortable enough either to do their own thing or to play in small groups. When children complete their senior year, Primary school is next and we aim to have the children confident and competent learners, full of self-esteem, and ready to take on this totally new challenge in the next stage of their development.
There is an option in this room to avail of a breakfast hour 8.00 am-9.00 pm and an extra hour plus dinner 12.00 am-1.00 pm at a cost.
We encourage parents to review all the information uploaded on the Childpath app as they provide depth reflections on the learning and work of the children in the Starlings and Hummingbirds room.
Starlings & Hummingbirds Room Team Leader
Hi! I’m Catherine Blake, the Team Leader for the ECCE Sessional rooms, which include Starling and Hummingbird rooms.
I hold a Higher Diploma in Early Childhood Studies Level 8 and I have been working in the Early Years sector since 1995.
For me, effective communication between parents and team members is crucial to delivering outstanding care for children across various age groups.
I am a caring and dedicated person who strives to support and inspire every child in my care to reach their full potential.
