Our Services

In 2003 Home-Start Blanchardstown opened its very own respite creche funded by the Pobal (Government Supporting Communities) Subvention Programme. Our service is tailored to the needs of our families with respite ranging from 1 day up to a maximum of 5 days (Monday/Friday) if available.  Initially the creche opened for 3 hours per day but due to increasing demand this soon increased to 4 hours per day eventually extending into the afternoons. Our service is referral based which can consist of Public Health Nurses, General Practitioners, Social Workers, other agencies e.g. Barnardo’s, Oakridge, Early Intervention and Self referrals.

 

Opening Hours

9.00 am to 1.00 pm for children aged from 4mths to 2.08mths.

1.30 pm to 4.30 pm for ECCE children aged from 2.08mths to 5 years.

 

Our Creche Team is made up of our Four Early Years Educator leads along with a fantastic team of both Community Employment and TUS Early Years Educators.

Muireann Ryan – Room Lead                                                                   Emily Kiely – Supervisor for Early Years Crèche
Olufunke Are – Room Lead ECCE                                                            Hasmik Babaeva – Room Lead NCS
Lidia Melinte – Room Lead

4 Age Groups

Babies

Our baby area caters for babies aged 4 months to 1 year. With a 1:3 ratio, babies enjoy lots of interaction and are supported to grow and learn at their own stage of development in a safe and stimulating environment. Babies enjoy tummy time through floor-based play with toys appropriate to their age while strengthening muscles to promote motor skills that are essential for later development. Babies also experience music and story time, as creative and sensory play throughout the day in the Cubs and Bears Room.

Wobblers

At 12-24 months, wobblers take their first steps and really begin to explore the world around them. We encourage and support their new abilities with movement activities such as climbing, dancing, stretching and balancing. This is a great time in your wobblers language development and we promote this with an emphasis on early literacy skills with action songs, story time and puppet play. Activities are based on the childrens interests and include all types of art and creative play, water and sand play, and outdoor play to nurture their development at this stage.

Toddlers

At 2-3 years, your toddlers interests and skills are developing at an amazing rate. Toddlers are very active and need lots of movement so we spend a lot of time outdoors, where there is plenty of room to safely run, jump and climb.

Pre-Schoolers

Preschool age is a different stage of a child’s development in which they demonstrate independence and display determination and perseverance. Pre-schoolers vocabulary becomes broader by showing more participation in storytelling and conversation’s where they share their experiences. At this stage children think about their progress and recognise their achievements.
Pre-schoolers are developing a strong sense of belonging with their peers and in their environment. Children are developing high order thinking skills, such as predicting, analysing, and justifying and are learning to express their views, rights and show an understanding and regard for identity, language, and cultures.