The committee and staff at Fermoy Community Pre-school Playgroup Ltd. are delighted to see the facility awarded Síolta status. Síolta is the national quality framework for early childhood education. It was developed by the centre for Early Childhood Development and Education, on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills.

Few services have been able to qualify for the quality assurance process, with only a small number in Cork. The Fermoy Community Pre-school Playground Ltd. was the first in the current group of applicants to be validated for the programme in Cork city and county. "We were delighted and proud to have achieved an overall level 4, which is the highest level awarded to any early years facility," Karina Murphy, their Síolta coordinator said.

Staff and committee members travelled to Croke Park on Saturday for the presentation of the award.

DEDICATION PAYS OFF

The facility has been operating for 32 years, having been set up in 1982. "It's one of the few such community based facilities in existence that long," chairman of its committee, local councillor Tadhg O'Donovan said. "It's non-profit making. It was set up to ensure every child had access to pre-school education," he explained. 

"This national recognition and other awards achieved provincially clearly indicates that it is serving the purpose it was set up for, the promotion of pre-school education," he said. He commended secretary, Catriona Lacey who handles the administrative function. "It's a major task with a lot of red tape necessary for the increased accountability that is required these days. I welcome such accountability. It's far more than it was," he said.

He also paid tribute to financial controller Lisa Crowley, who is treasurer. Lisa is responsible for, among other things, sourcing finance. "If we didn't have the financial resources we couldn't provide the level of service we do," he pointed out.

As for staff, he said, it was a term he used with a certain amount of reluctance as they worked more as part of a team promoting the concept of community education. "Their primary motivation is to ensure every child receives the social and emotional development that is so important to children."

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