News Blog
Keep up to date..
The latest from Donegal Childcare.
As part of the ongoing development of the fee management system under Core Funding, Partner Services entering Year 5 of Core Funding will undergo an approval process for their 2026/2027 Fee Table and ...
Dear Service Provider,
As the October mid-term approaches, please remember to undertake the following tasks for NCS:
Update your NCS service calendar to reflect any changes to your openin...
Please see below, details and booking links for a series of webinars for National Childminding Week – Monday 19th to Friday 23rd October 2026
SongTales in Whistleberry ForestDate: Monday 19th...
The Department of Children, Disability and Equality (DCDE) funded Pavee Point to develop a book pack of three books for Traveller children under 8 years. In the pack is:
The Slug and Snail, writte...
Dear Service Provider,
You are invited to attend an NCS Refresher Training. The sessions will be held on 21 and 22 October 2026.
In this training session we will cover the following:
Introdu...
Donegal County Childcare Committee and Parent Hub Donegal wish to advise you that the Recognition of Baby & Toddler Event, which was due to take place on Tuesday 20th October in the Radisson ...
As Early Learning and Care settings complete their Quality and Inclusive Practice Plans (QIPPs), the Better Start Quality Development Service is available to support the implementation of quality deve...
Dear Service Provider,
As the new programme call 2026/2027 is in operation, on-site inspections for ECCE (including AIM Level 1, AIM Level 7), CCSP Saver and Core Funding programmes will commence s...
Minister Foley releases further details of reductions in early learning and childcare costs for families in Budget 2027
Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley TD has released fu...
As the new programme call 2026/2027 is in operation, on-site inspections for ECCE (including AIM Level 1, AIM Level 7), CCSP Saver and Core Funding programmes will commence shortly. The compliance pro...
Following on from queries, the Department would like to clarify the following:
If, having explored all reasonable options your service closes, please update your service calendar as appropriate. Wh...
Dear Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare provider, Industrial Action in SchoolsThe Department is aware of current industrial action and proposed strike action by teaching unions, Fórsa a...
Dear Service Provider,
AIM Level 1 is an annual application for services with new and existing graduates of the LINC programme. All applicants are encouraged to submit their application a...
Dear Service Provider,
You are invited to attend an information session on ECCE, AIM Levels 1 & 7, CCSP Savers and Core Funding compliance 2026/2027. The sessions will be held on 13 and 14 Octo...
Dear Service Provider,
AIM Level 1 is an annual application for services with new and existing graduates of the LINC programme. All applicants are encouraged to submit their application a...
The National Síolta Aistear Initiative are hosting webinars to celebrate Maths week 2026.
Webinar Title: Using picture books to support early Maths Week 2026
Webinar Date: 8th October
Web...
County Childcare Committees’ supporting quality and inclusion through NSAI Conference with guest speakers.
Join us for Shaping Tomorrow Together — a dynamic conference hosted by Sli...
Donegal Primary Care Speech & Language Department are hosting a series of drop in and online clinics for children.
See link below for booking information:
SLT Virtual Online ClinicsDownload
...
Please see link below to the announcement from the Department of Children, Disability and Equality’s (DCDE) on the opening of the Core Funding Sustainability Review Process.
Announcement on Opening...
Dear Service Provider,
We are pleased to announce that the AIM Level 7 Review functionality is available on the Early Years Hive from today, 25 September 2026.
As previously communic...
Rainbows Ireland is delighted to share a new training initiative focused on supporting children aged 0-6 years who are experiencing grief, loss, separation and significant change.
This development ...
Better Start Traveller and Roma Advisory Specialists are hosting a series of webinars taking place in September and October on supporting meaningful inclusion of Traveller and Roma families.
This ...
Dear Service Provider,
We are pleased to invite you to attend AIM Level 7 reviews training sessions.
These training sessions will provide an overview of the AIM Level 7 Review process and ...
National Public Libraries Open Day takes place across Ireland on 26 September 2026, inviting everyone to visit their local library and discover just how much is available through free library membersh...
Please see link below for details of an upcoming National Síolta Aistear Initiative (NSAI) webinar.
The webinar is directed at anyone working with, or in, an early years settings and will discuss a...
Dear Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare provider,
We are writing to you to inform you of the press release issued yesterday evening by the Department of Children, Disability and Equal...
See link below for information on a series of hands-on sessions, taking place at several venues throughout the Finn Valley.
Places are limited, so booking is required.
https://finnvalleysciencef...
Dear Service Provider,
The AIM Level 1 application process has now opened on the Early Years Hive for services with new graduates of the Leadership for Inclusion (LINC) programme. A ‘new grad...
Dear Service Provider,
We would like to remind all services of the requirement to submit a Service Need Review where a child does not require AIM Level 7 support during their National Childcare Sch...
The 2026/27 Quality and Inclusive Plan (QIP Plan) template opened on the Core Funding Contractual Requirements Reporting System http://www.cfcrrs.ie/ on 17 September 2026.
The deadline for submissi...
Dear Service Provider,
We know there has been a lot of information shared about the redesigned AIM Level 7 programme. To make it easier to find the help you need, we have brought together the key r...
The 2026 Learner Fund Graduate and Childminder Bursary is open for applications between Monday 14th September and 5pm on Friday 9th October 2026.
To receive an application form, please co...
HSE are hosting FREE workshops for parents and carers on Introducing Family Foods to Your Baby.
The workshops will take place in five locations across the county: Letterkenny, Buncrana/Carndonagh, ...
DCDE has developed a suite of new careers promotion resources to support awareness and understanding of careers in the Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) sector.
Career Pa...
Please see link below to the Early Years Inspectorate Regulatory Notice.
Early Years Inspectorate Regulatory NoticeDownload
Please see below details of upcoming webinars for early years educators.
The NSAI will offer these webinars online and registration will be via the Nurturing Skills website.
Direct links to the...
The sessions will be held on 15 and 16 September 2026.
In the information sessions we will cover the following:
What is a compliance inspection.
Preparing for a compliance inspection.
The...
Equal Start Staffing Supports programme year 2026/2027 is now open and will operate from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027.
Services eligible for Equal Start Staffing Supports will have received a...
The SLT department is rolling out an initiative to raise awareness for Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) for DLD Day on October 16th.
As part of this initiative, they are developing training fo...
