Preparing for Life Early Years Supports Educators

The Preparing For Life Early Years Programme is providing support to early years educators who work in the Northside Partnership catchment area of Dublin. In the wake of the Covid19 crisis the team has had to rethink the programme and is currently providing professional development sessions via Zoom.

They are taking a trauma-informed approach and have been working on topics such as:

• Children’s transitions to school
• Children’s transitioning back into early years services
• Dealing with children’s grief or loss

There has also been an element of self-care involved in the sessions, so consideration has been given to how the crisis has affected everyone and will continue to affect them in the future

Adults need to be aware of this so that they can ease children’s worries and avoid unnecessary stress. There is a lot of talk of children’s natural resilience but the truth is we all need the support of others and relationships to get through hard times.

Educators benefit as they feel ready and confident returning to work, they explore how this crisis may have affected children and families and they feel more prepared and confident dealing with whatever they may be presented with. Children benefit because they will have an adult who understands them and is willing to help them to settle back into their routine.

Local educators have really shown their commitment to the children they work with. Between 40-45 educators attend each session and feedback has been really positive, so much so that Preparing For Life will be making the session more widely available. The Zoom sessions are approx. 90 minutes long and take place fortnightly. Early Years Educators will be able to book the sessions via Eventbrite. 

How do people get in touch?

For more information people can visit the Preparing For Life Early Years Education Facebook page @preparingforlifeearlyyearseducation or email us PFL.Info@nspartnership.ie