NCI Blog

This is a guest blog post from the Early Learning Initiative at NCI which works to address the problem of educational underachievement in marginalised communities. Sensory play can be a valuable tool for children's development, but the mess it can create often worries parents. Fortunately, there are ways to enjoy the benefits of sensory play without wrecking your home. In this blog post, we'll explore the benefits of sensory play and provide activities that won't take all day to clean up.

Early Learning Initiative's gift guide puts a 'doctor set' at the top of the recommendation list Christmas is what you make of it. Even as we each negotiate our own path between what the Government is permitting us to do over the festive season and what we know to be the safest and healthiest care to take of our own families, in our own situations, we must remember that there is not one single ‘correct’ way to have a Happy Christmas. We can adapt to current times and still share comfort and joy.

Dr Josephine Bleach, Director of the Early Learning Initiative at National College of Ireland This year will bring a different Hallowe’en. Parties will not be possible in a time of social distancing, nor trick-or-treating sensible when the best health advice is to limit contact with unfamiliar households. However, children can still have a spook-tacular time!

On a normal working week, home visitors from Early Learning Initiative’s ParentChild+ programme bring the gift of playtime into homes across Dublin’s inner city by providing disadvantaged families with the educational materials they need to encourage their child’s early learning and development. Research tells us that a child born into poverty is more likely to start school without the basic knowledge and skills they need to keep up with their peers. One factor of future academic success is a positive and nurturing home-learning environment. By providing families with educational support early in the child’s life we can help to give that child the best possible start.

The Early Learning Initiative at National College of Ireland has a deep and active connection with the community of the North East Inner City. Staffed primarily by people from the area, ELI works with other organisations, community groups and schools, through vital funding partnerships with government, businesses and corporations, to weave a network of support for families and children across the NEIC.

We asked Dr Josephine Bleach, Director of the Early Learning Initiative here at National College of Ireland, for some advice and tips for parents during this particularly challenging time.

We asked Dr Josephine Bleach, Director of the Early Learning Initiative here at National College of Ireland, for some advice and tips for parents during this particularly challenging time.

Yesterday saw the Early Learning Initiative at NCI launch their new report: Building Hope for Brighter Futures (PDF). The report used restorative practices that saw young people from the north east inner city discuss their views on the future of their community.

Recent violence in Dublin’s North Inner City has led to the establishment of a Ministerial Taskforce charged with supporting the community to deal with the present situation and work together to envision and plan for a better future.