Your child’s happiness is paramount to everything we do.

No! Kickstart will never take a deposit off you; we understand that sometimes circumstances change, but we ask you to let us know as soon as possible if you are not going to start with us. When we receive your registration form, and you receive a confirmation email, you will be considered registered with us.

We offer a part-time service in the mornings 5-hour session for children from 12 months – to 6 years.

Sessional and ECCE classes in the afternoons 2.15 pm – 5.15 pm

From September 2022, we are considering offering a full-time service operating from 8.30 – 5.15 pm.

In addition to this, we are considering offering an Afterschool service for children aged 6-8years from Riverchapel National school.

This is subject to the level of interest so if interested, please send an Expression of Interest to Wynette on 0863776939.

We ask for one month’s notice in writing.

We ask that all payments are made via standing order. We prefer monthly payments, but please enquire if you wish to pay weekly. Payments are due on the 28th of each month.

Yes, your payment will be calculated using a 38-week calculation (as we are open 38 weeks of the year) and then divided by ten months which will be your monthly payment. We do this to spread your payment as much as possible to keep the cost down for you. If your child is absent, their place will be kept, so payment will still be due.

ECCE is available for all children 2 years eight months at the beginning of the school year and is available for two years. This is a two-year programme that provides early childhood care and education, free for three hours each day over 38 weeks ( similar to primary schools )

Yes, please apply through NCS on the following link: when approved, please supply us with your CHICK number, and we will calculate and let you know how much you need to pay. This is not backdated, so please ensure this is in place before your child starts.

https://www.cs.gov.ie/en/

We have ECCE only classes in the afternoons but our morning sessions run as part-time ECCE classes for five hours, which is three hours free and a cost of €25.00 each week for the extra hours. NCS can be applied to subsidise this.

If your child shows any signs of illness, we ask you to keep your child at home. If they show any signs of the following symptoms: vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, body hives or rashes, or any contagious diseases, please wait 48 hours for all symptoms to disappear before bringing your child back to school. We would appreciate it if you could let us know on the morning of absence and the expected return date.

We ask that you provide crocs for inside, a complete change of clothes, and suitable rain gear as we often go outside in the rain for short plays and wellies. We ask that you leave all these items in school.

Yes, we ask you to bring a supply of nappies and wipes if your child is not yet toilet trained. Please bring at the beginning of the week with your child’s name clearly marked. Your teacher will then keep you updated when you need to replenish.

We ask that you begin toilet training on a Friday evening or over a holiday period, but we are delighted to help you along your journey. We invite you to send in lots of changes for the day, and our teachers are happy to change your child as often as necessary. We feel that this method works really well, but we also ask that you please do not put pull-ups on one day and not the next. Please chat with the teachers; they will be only too happy to offer advice.

No, we decided not to have potties as we felt with so many children it was unhygienic, but we have three different sized toilets, with a combination of steps and ladders. We have never had any problems with children using them.

If there is a conflict, we will simply redirect the children’s attention. We try to turn a negative situation into a positive one for children. We encourage them to resolve their own conflicts and build on conflict resolution skills, and if appropriate, encourage them to articulate and share their perspectives and or apologise to each other.

Yes, of course, we have children of all abilities and pride ourselves on being fully inclusive. We will be opening our new sensory room shortly, which will be accessible to all children. All our teachers are highly qualified. We have access to Early Years Specialists through the AIM scheme. AIM is a holistic model designed to empower preschool providers to deliver inclusive settings and to support them by providing them with expert advice tailored to each individual child. We work closely with the children’s specialists and the parent to ensure the best possible outcome for all children.

No, we have a very strict pickup policy. You can list as many people as you like on our registration form to allow them to pick up your child, but we do not let children leave with people who are not on this form. In extreme emergencies, you can call and let Wynette know if someone who is not the person will be picking up, but we ask you not to do this unless it is an emergency.

Yes, please; if your child is in the mornings part-time, they will have two lunch breaks. We ask that all lunches be healthy and easily eaten independently by the children. Please ensure both the drink container and lunchbox are clearly labelled. The afternoon classes will have one lunch. Please also send a drink container which will be accessible to your child throughout the day. Please do not send in fizzy drinks.

No, unless in an emergency. If your child needs medication, we would deem that the child should be at home. Please discuss any medical concerns with Wynette or Maria.

All policies and procedures will be emailed to each parent upon commencement. The parent handbook will be available for download in the download section of this website. Our Calendar will also be available to download.

We encourage parents to prepare their children for their first day of school by talking to them, reading books, and getting them excited about going to school before they arrive for the first day. We think it’s best for the child when you say your goodbyes during drop-off with confidence and assurance; your positive energy will help them adjust to their new environment smoothly. We suggest starting with short days first, maybe half an hour, an hour the next day etc. However, each child is different and please chat with your teacher or Wynette or Maria, about your settling week.

All the teachers will be delighted to chat with you, but unfortunately, pick up time is really busy. So we have chosen to use ClassDojo; this is an app that you can download onto your phone, and each day, you will see pictures of your child learning and playing, and each teacher will give you a summary of what happened that day. There is also a facility to private message the teacher. We encourage everyone to look on DOJO every day and please interact with the teachers and let us know any news that might be of interest. We love to hear about your child, and there is nothing more the children like for the teacher to say something like, “I heard your nanny was over at the weekend; that must have been lovely. What did you do together.”

If you would like to chat longer with the teachers or Wynette, give us a call, and we can arrange a time.