We would like to advise service providers of a change to the 2026/2027 ECCE Calendar to give greater flexibility to ELC providers to facilitate their obligations under the terms of their ECCE funding agreements i.e. to provide 38 payable weeks/182 days over the 2026/2027 programme year.

The following updates to the minimum payable weeks in Term 1 and Term 3 have been made:

• Term 1: will now require 15 minimum payable weeks (previously 16)
• Term 3: will now require 8 minimum payable weeks (previously 9)

For further information on ECCE Calendar rules, and guidance on how to submit your calendar please, click here.

If you have any questions or need support, please raise a “Request” with the following selections:

• Programme: ECCE
• Request Type: ECCE Calendar
• Request Type Detail: General

Regards,

The Early Years Team

The campaign’s core message, “We Were All Children Once. Now We Are Children First,” underscores that child safeguarding is everyone’s business, whether you are a parent, a volunteer, or a member of a child’s wider community.

This year, we are placing a new focus on reaching parents and responsible adults, aiming to empower them with the knowledge and confidence to recognise and respond to safeguarding concerns. We want to ensure that parents and guardians understand what safeguarding measures they should expect from us and feel safe asking questions.

To learn more please visit Children FirstTusla – Child and Family Agency or Children First

This year’s campaign will focus on parents, guardians, and other responsible adults as the key target audience. The campaign messaging will aim to help parents and guardians to understand what they should expect from organisations working with children on safeguarding matters, including questions to ask on safeguarding policies, safe reporting channels, and respectful, supportive engagement. It seeks to equip adults with the knowledge and confidence to ask appropriate questions of organisations about safeguarding matters.

The overarching Communication Strategy for the 2025 campaign is attached for reference. It includes guidance on the key messaging for this year’s campaign.

How You Can Support

We are now inviting your support for the campaign to ensure wide reach and impact. We would ask that you consider any activities that your organisation can undertake that week to help raise awareness of Children First, whether that’s a digital campaign, a coffee morning, a webinar or newsletter for staff or a creative or consultation event with young people or parents who engage with your organisation.  In the coming weeks, the Department will circulate a suite of social media assets that can be used by your organisation during the campaign.

Always-Children-First-Week-2025

We are pleased to share that the new Nurturing Skills website and Learning Hub was officially launched on 24^th May at the national conference: Continuing the Journey: Exploring the updated Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework.

The website has been developed as a central hub for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare professionals. It brings together key information on how the government is supporting the workforce, outlines opportunities to advance your skills and provides guidance on planning your career, as well as information about entering the profession. We encourage you to explore the Nurturing Skills website and to make full use of the wide range of supports and resources now available.

Access the website here: www.nurturingskills.ie