These are the deadlines, information, and announcements for the week 27th -31st March 2023.
DEADLINES / IMPORTANT DATES:
Friday 31st March *TODAY*
Deadline for submission of your Core Funding Quality Action Plan amendment if required (see below)
Wednesday 29th March until Friday 7th April inclusive
The second Core Funding ‘Review and Confirm’ window will be open for all Partner Services (see below)
Friday 14th April
Closing date for Parent and Toddler Grant Applications
Tuesday 25th April
Little Libraries Book Bags Initiative Consultation – local online workshop (see details below)
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
Core Funding Quality Action Plan amendment if required.
When submitting your Core Funding Quality Action plan services were informed there would be an opportunity mid-year to amend your plan if necessary. Now you are being asked to review your Quality Action Plan. If you do not require any changes to be made you do not need to do anything.
However, if you selected an option which you would now like to change please email your Development Worker or info@westmeathchildcare.ie and we will send you a new link to complete your revised Quality Action Plan.
If you would like to discuss your Core Funding QAP please don’t hesitate to contact your Development Worker.
The deadline for completion of the changes to your QAP, if required, is TODAY 31st March 2023.
Core Funding Review and Confirm – Window 2
The second Review and Confirm window opened Wednesday 29 March until Friday 7 April inclusive. It is important the Review and Confirm process is completed within the required timeframe, as Core Funding payments will be placed on hold until such a time as the process is completed.
Please note, the late submission of a Review and Confirm form noting a decrease to the base rate value will be effective from the change effective date rather than the last day of the review and confirm window.
To complete the Review and Confirm process your Core Funding Application Module must be at status Approved. If your application is at ‘Referred Back’ you must address the reason for refer back and then complete the review and confirm process.
To support services in completing a Review & Confirm form, a detailed guidance document is attached and tailored training videos are available on the Hive.
Parent and Toddler Group Grants Initiative 2023
Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman recently launched The Parent and Toddler Groups Grants Initiative 2023. This year the emphasis will be on supporting Parent and Toddler Groups that offer a welcome to families who are newly arrived in Ireland. Following from the success of the additional funding streams in last year’s Initiative, the Parent and Toddler Group Grants Initiative 2023 will again offer three streams of funding:
1. Funding of €800 for existing groups and €1,100 for the establishment of new groups.
2. Funding of up to €300 is available to establish and operate Buggy Walking Groups. These Buggy Walking Groups are organised social walks for parents/guardians and young children. The grant is open to any existing or new organisations or groups who wish to offer a minimum of six organised walks within their community.
3. Additional funding of up to €300 is available for new or existing Parent and Toddler Groups to provide a second session to meet demand.
Closing date for receipt of applications is 14th April. For further details or for an application form please contact kmurray@westmeathchildcare.ie or call 0449335454.
Building Blocks Improvement Grant
The appraisal of applications for the Building Blocks – Improvement Grant has now been completed and applicants will be informed of the outcome early next week by a notification to the PAU of the organisation through the Early Years Hive.
The Early Years Team in Pobal would like to thank you for your patience while they worked through the very high volume of applications received for this Grant to identify the cohort of successful applicants.
Please monitor your notifications which will include details of next steps and timelines.
AIM Level 7 Funding over the Easter Holidays (Non-payable weeks)
AIM Level 7 funding is paid weekly, one week in advance.
The Early Years Team in Pobal would like to remind services receiving AIM Level 7 funding, that they will not receive payment for the next two weeks if they have confirmed in their service calendar that they will be closed over the Easter period.
Payments will resume week ending 14 April 2023.
Little Libraries Book Bags Initiative
S3 Solutions are currently completing an evaluation of the Little Libraries Book Bags initiatives in 2021 and 2022.
Central to this evaluation will be ensuring widespread consultation to better understand the impact of the initiative on the following:
- Parental and child engagement with library services,
- Transition to school,
- Parent-child engagement through reading and on children’s independent reading
- Impact on other household behaviours.
The evaluation will be used to inform policy decisions and direction of travel for a proposed annual rollout of the Little Libraries Book-Bags Initiative, and to identify any areas where processes for engagement and distribution could be improved.
There are a number of ways you can contribute to this consultation:
Completing Online Survey
You can also share your views by completing our online survey, by clicking the link below:
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/LittleLibraryStakeholdersSurvey
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/LittleLibraryStakeholdersSurveyIrish
