Every Mum and Dad has concerns when leaving their child for the first time with someone new. This is a huge decision and there will naturally be questions. Will they be ok? Will they be cared for? Will they get a cuddle? Who will pick them up if they cry?
At Scoil Beag we make every effort to tick all these boxes and more. While the loving and attentive staff at Scoil Beag won’t replace mum and dad they will make every effort to step into the role of a parent until it’s time for your child to go home.
Our Baby room provides our youngest children with safe and familiar surroundings. It is a bright, colourful and spacious room. Its offers our crawlers and Waddlers floor space in order to explore. There are individual bouncers, swings, mirrors and first learning toys and activity centers to keep even the most active baby stimulated, including a variety of learn to walk toys and treasure baskets.
Each child has their own daily diary and we will endeavour to continue the routine that the parents have in place. In the adjacent sleep room, each baby has an allocated cot. As well as our plug in baby monitors and our viewing panels, the staff carry out and record regular physical checks on sleeping children every 15 minutes.
The Waddler room provides a happy and caring environment, which encourages children to learn social skills through activities and play. The large, open and vibrant room enables the Waddlers with the freedom to explore, experiment and encourage their independence.
As well as free play and music children also have structured activities and the opportunity to play with sand, water and play dough. Nursery rhymes, singing and dressing up are also on the agenda. At this stage of development children are introduced to feeding themselves.
All this activity is tiring and children have structured periods of rest and sleep time throughout the day. Comfortable sleeping arrangements are made available during the day in the sleep room and are always supervised.
The children are cared for by caring, experienced and reliable staff. A daily diary is kept for each child where their daily activities and development is recorded and shared with parents.
The Junior Pre-school room is an action packed and lively room providing a varied programme with free play and structured activities, such as; arts and crafts, music and movement, sand and water, role play, play dough etc…
Children are encouraged to develop their social skills during meal times by sitting together at the table to eat their meals and learn the desired skills.
Caring and sharing are very important values which are focused on at this age. Quiet time takes place every day; here we have a relaxed quiet atmosphere so that children can take a nap for whatever length of time suits them. Some children don’t sleep and instead engage in quiet activities such as story time or table top activities.
A training toilet is available to encourage young children’s independence when toilet training. Our staff will work with parents at this stage to help continue and encourage your child, however no pressure is placed on the child and each child is allowed to develop at their own pace and as an individual.
Our Pre-School is geared towards giving children a good foundation for further learning in primary school and the emphasis is on fun. We have energetic and dedicated staff in these welcoming and busy rooms.
The classroom is set out into specific areas such as; home corner, library corner, painting area, sand & water area, providing a variety of learning opportunities for the Pre-School child. The children are introduced to letters and numbers, and throughout their time in this room they will develop a solid basis for future learning and a smooth transition into Primary School.
Our Pre-School Children learn while laughing, discovering and exploring making their wonderful imaginations sparkle.
Our After Schools service is available throughout the year. The children are walked to school in the morning and collected after school and returned to the crèche. Children are provided with a snack @3.00pm and have 1 hour of supervised homework.
We want the children to be able to relax and have fun after their busy day at school. So they are provided with opportunities to do arts and crafts, outdoor play, table top activities, read or free play. Our After School children take part in Jumping Clay workshops and during the year fun weeks are planned to keep their imaginations thriving.
Our focus is not just on occupying children safely and productively after school, but on creating a culture of fun that makes the after-school hours their favourite time of day.
A rich and varied outdoor environment supports children’s learning and development. It gives children the confidence to explore and learn in a secure and yet challenging, outdoor space.
Our environment has a colourful child friendly safety surface area and is equipped with a small playhouse and slide and a large wooden play centre. Our outdoor toys include, Cars, Balance bikes, bats and balls, footballs and much much more.
We also have a natural grass garden in which the children plant, nurture and harvest plants and flowers. They learn how the natural environment works and reproduces in a practical manner. We encourage the children to engage in the natural environment. In autumn we use the fallen leaves to “crunch” on or for our art activities.
In summer the children participate in lots of activities outdoors, circle time, story time, art and craft, Teddy bears picnic and gardening.