Early Years Development
Early Years Mentoring
The role of Barnardos Development Workers is to support and mentor early years services in developing and maintaining quality practice and provision.
Regional Development Workers are also Síolta Aistear Mentors, trained by the Early Years Education Policy Unit (EYEPU) of the Department of Education and Skills to support the implementation of the two national quality frameworks Síolta and Aistear.
Barnardos’ Regional Development Workers are trained, experienced and knowledgeable in early years care and education. They are also experienced in providing information, advice and support to educators and service managers.
Barnardos’ Early Years Development Programme
- Provides information, resources, advice and support to early years service providers and educators including childminders
- Delivers training workshops for early years providers including owners, managers and educators to support quality development
- Provides direct in-service mentoring support to services developing quality practice and provision
- Develops research informed practice resources in collaboration with Barnardos Learning and Development Service’s Publications Coordinator to support quality practice in early years and school age services
- Provides information on the Síolta and Aistear frameworks, the Aistear Síolta Practice Guide, the Tusla Quality and Regulatory Framework (QRF), the Department of Education Early Years Inspection Framework (EYEI) and other relevant national policy and practice guidance.
- Provides mentoring and support to services engaged in practice reviews and quality development
- Supports effective and efficient action planning and development planning to help enhance quality practice
- Assists service teams to document evidence of the quality of their practice
- Collaborates with other national and local agencies and organisations that are working with early years care and education providers, school age providers and educators to support the overall development of quality services for children and families
Useful Resources
