​Dunlavin Community Playgroup is committed to offering the children in our service a comprehensive play based curriculum combined with other good practice methods. We offer a range of learning opportunities to children, which are appropriate to the child’s stage of development. We aim to deliver a quality care and play curriculum which addresses children’s well-being, identity and belonging, communication and exploring and thinking, along the principles of Aistear, the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework.

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Aistear, the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework

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Aistear is Ireland’s curriculum framework for children from birth to six years. It contains information for parents and practitioners that will help them plan for and provide challenging and enjoyable learning experiences that can enable all children to grow and develop as competent and confident learners in the context of loving relationships with others. Aistear describes the types of learning and development that are important for children in their early years, and offers ideas and suggestions on how these might be nurtured. We use the Aistear guidelines to help plan our curriculum at Dunlavin Community Playgroup. If you would like more information about Aistear, the website is http://www.ncca.biz/Aistear/ 

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Siolta, the National Quality Framework in Early Childhood Education

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The National Quality Framework, known as Síolta, is a set of national standards for early childhood education. Síolta is the Irish word for seeds and it was picked for what it says about the potential of childhood and of this framework to grow and succeed. This framework is the result of three years of consultation and research in partnership with a wide variety of people interested in promoting the welfare and well-being of young children in Ireland. It is intended to provide support and guidance for all those working with, and on behalf of, children. "A Parent’s Guide to Síolta" is available at http://www.siolta.ie

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