A Ballyporeen-based childcare centre was one of seven early childcare and education services from Cork and Tipperary that showcased their preschool curriculum based on Aistear in Action initiative, run by Early Childhood Ireland and the National Council for Curriculum & Assessment (NCCA)at The Firgrove Hotel, Mitchelstown on Tuesday.

On the day, Happy Days Childcare under Anne Macken, shared their learning stories with some colourful results, showing real benefits to the children, the childcare and education professionals, the parents and the local community involved.

Early Childhood specialist, Maire Corbett from Mitchelstown has been involved with the initiative since it started in 2011. She describes the initiative as being 'hugely rewarding'. "The children participating have benefited greatly from the practitioner's awareness of how young children learn."

Aherlow Community Creche, Lullabies and Laughter, Lisvernane in the charge of Mary Hayes and the Cahir Bears Childcare Centre, Duneske, Cahir (Diane Whybrow) also took part.

Aistear in Action is an initiative involving 24 preschool professionals across 7 services in South Tipperary and North Cork. It began in November 2011 and ends this month. The services are using Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework to develop the curriculum they provide for children aged 3-5 years. The initiative is a collaboration between the services, Early Childhood Ireland and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), with both organisations providing essential mentoring and training to everyone involved.

The resources from the initiative will be published in the Aistear Toolkit (www.ncca.ie/aisteartoolkit ) to support other early childcare & education professionals working with Aistear nationwide.

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