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Road Safety for the under 5's
"Simon and Friends" is a fun, educational road safety programme for children under five years, and is the newest addition to the RSA's (Road Safety Authority) child-centred road safety initiatives.
The resource includes a colourful case with four illustrated storybooks, an audio CD with songs and recordings of the stories, as well as an accompanying guide for teachers. The stories are cantered around Simon and his friends, Charlie, Josie, Sarah and Sophia. The activities within the Teachers guide support and reinforce the book's main road safety message; they also contain the words to related road safety songs that are included on the CD.
All childcare services including childminders and parent and toddler should aim to organise a Beep Beep Day at some time throughout the yea. A Beep Beep day is a planned day or planned event that will highlighting the key messages from the programme which are Stopping, Look and Listen, Holding Hands and setting a good example. The Beep Beep Day will give services, childminders and parents an opportunity to put into practice some of the road safety messages learned through the programme.
Simon and Friends is also available in Irish. Contact us on 046-9073010 for more details
Preventing the spread of Swineflu
Stay Healthy: stop the spread of infection by:
- Avoiding close contact with people who appear unwell and have fever and cough
- Always carrying tissues
- Always covering your nose and mouth with clean tissues, when coughing or sneezing
- Always disposing of used tissues into a bin immediately
- Washing your hands thoroughly with soap and water or alcohol based hand cleaners regularly
- Cleaning surfaces regularly to get rid of germs
Guidance for crèches/preschool settings in preparing for and managing Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (Swine Flu) (File Size: 52KB)
New Resources for Childminders - "Childminders Support Pack" for Voluntary Notification
The new National Guidelines for Childminders, launched in December 2006, are intended to provide guidance for good practice to assist childminders working in their own home. The guidelines promote and encourage a professional approach to providing a childminding service. They highlight four nationally recognised core areas where certain requirements should be met by childminders, namely Suitability of the person, wellbeing of the child, physical environment and health and safety.
In order to further support childminders to comply with the national guidelines Meath County Childcare Committee in conjunction with county committees from the region have developed a "Childminders Support Pack"
The support pack which contains information, sample forms and policies, checklists, advice and a step by step guide was launched by Minister for Children Mr. Brendan Smith TD in the Kilmore Hotel. In his speech the minister praised the work of the County Childcare Committees and congratulated them on the production of such a useful user friendly pack. He also praised the work of the Childminding Advisory Officers who work directly with childminders and provide a range of services for childminders. He welcomed the fact that the pack was a collaborative action between ten counties which made better use of the funding available to the childminding initiative.
To download the new Childminders Support Pack and the sample forms please follow the link above to go to the publications section of our website.
 Childminding Advisory Workers and Minister Smith. Minister for children Mr. Brendan Smith.Launch of New Guidelines for Childminders by Minister Lenihan
The National Guidelines for Childminders will support Childminders and parents by providing answers
to their many questions. The publication is another important step in developing standards in the
childcare sector and is aimed at Childminders who care for small groups of children of mixed ages in
the Childminder's own home.
Childminders are the preferred choice of many parents offering parents a home-from-home environment
for their children. Childminders are a crucial part of our childcare sector: they provide an estimated
70% of childcare for parents in this country, who after all are best placed to make decisions about how
to care for their children.
Mr Lenihan went on to say that childminders offer a very personalised, practical and flexible
childcare service meeting the needs of both parents and children. He said the new Guidelines, which
are aimed at Childminders who care for small groups of children of mixed ages in the Childminder's own
home, would provide support for both Childminders and parents. The National Guidelines for Childminders
set down nationally recognized core requirements and guidelines on good practice to assist Childminders
in adopting and maintaining best practice and will also help parents to understand what they should be
looking for in terms of best practice in Childminding. The Guidelines specify the categories of
Childminders that are legally obliged to notify the HSE that they are providing a childminding
service as well as giving information on how to use the Voluntary Notification system operated
through the HSE in County Meath and the benefits it provides to Childminders.
If you wish to discuss the benefits of voluntary notification, you should contact Marina Cunningham,
Childminding Advisory Officer for County Meath on 046 9073010. To view a copy of the new
Childminding regulations please follow this link:
Guidelines for Childminders (File Size: 4.8MB)
Parent's Information Officer
Meath County Childcare Committee has a new Parents officer, Maria Lynch.
Her role is to provide support and information to parents on their childcare enquiries and options assisting them in all their childcare needs. If you are looking for childcare in Meath, please do not hesitate to contact Maria. She will provide you with links to childminders in your area, list of childcare services and parent and toddler groups locally, and support your family to access suitable childcare in Meath.
You can contact Maria directly on the office on 046-9073010 or 086 6017276.
Tax Relief for Childminders
In his budget speech on 7th December 2005, Minister Cowen announced plans to introduce an income tax exemption for childminders earning less than €15,000 per annum. This support was widely welcomed by childminders throughout the country, it is hoped that the exemption will make more childcare places available
To qualify for the Childminding Tax Relief you need to meet the following criteria
- The Exemption applies only if the total income in a tax year does not exceed €15,000.
- No deductions of any kind are allowed
- You must childmind no more than three children at any one time
- The exemption must be clamed on an annual tax return (each year)
- The childminder must Voluntary Notify their County Childcare Committee
- A claim for relief under this section does not affect mortgage interest relief nor capital gains tax relief if you sell your house
- This income will not affect your entitlement to home carer tax credit.
Even if you are PAYE worker elsewhere part-time, (for example morning in Tesco) you can still claim the childminding tax relief for minding children after school.
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