Newsletter Summer 2025
Dear Parents
We hope that you are all keeping well and enjoying all that the summer has to offer.
Sun Safety is so important, especially during the intermittent periods of forecasted warm weather. Enjoying time in the outdoors is important for all, therefore we ask that sun cream, hats and loose clothing are sent in with children each day. We will be exploring a lot more with water play therefore we encourage additional light layers for the children to change in to should their clothing get wet.
Communication is an essential element of any relationship, whether that is between educator and child, or parents and educator. We, as educators, are unable to fulfil our role if there is a lack of mutual respect and acknowledgement. Therefore, we ask that parents, regardless of personal opinion, avoid discussing any educators in a negative manner in front of your child as this impacts the relationship between educator and child.
We have an application in to TUSLA for an additional afterschool and should this be successful we will be in a position to offer afterschool care to all who were left without care when spaces were awarded in April. If this application is successful, we will be able to open the additional afterschool from 22nd September. We understand that parents are patiently waiting for confirmation of care however we are unable to confirm until approval has been secured. We appreciate that this is a pressurised situation and we are working with all relevant agencies to make this happen in a timely fashion. We are very grateful for your patience in this instance.
National Childcare Scheme is a huge benefit to families. We encourage all parents to avail of the subsidy provided by the government to lessen childcare fees. There are certain regulations around the number of claimed hours versus child’s attendance therefore we are required to monitor and adjust accordingly therefore you may see slight variances on your invoice over the year as we may need to make amendments. This will be communicated with you in advance. While KCCC issues invoices on a monthly basis we calculate NCS entitlement from Aug 18th – Dec 31st and then Jan 1st to 17th Aug (or Chick number expiry date/ contract end date). This is split for the purposes of transparency at year end.
**We also ask that everyone logs on and checks that all claims requested have been confirmed on parental portal as payments will not be issued to the service for these claims until after parent has confirmed.
Little Vista is our Communication Platform and although is it a voluntary contribution, we do rely on parents contribution €30.00 per child capped at €60.00 per family. We are a non-profit organisation rely heavily on parental fees and government funding. Little Vista is used by all room and all relevant information shared with parents, including forms etc.
Registration forms
In the coming weeks we will be activating all children for 2025-2026 on Little Vista. We will be sending on registration forms for those who need to complete for preschool or afterschool and ECCE registrations forms for those who are ECCE this year. We will also be circulating the parent declaration form via email. The last page is available for physical signing in the office (one per family).
ECCE Calendar has been emailed to you for your records. Please note ECCE starts on Wednesday 27th August, same as St Joseph’s national school, and will finish up the day before on Tuesday June 23rd 2026. We will have our annual end of year ECCE Party on June 12th with all ECCE parents’ welcome.
Please make note of all important dates.
Kinvara Community Transport study was issued last week. While it has highlighted some great improvements for Kinvara, we are disappointed to see that
- The children’s centre didn’t get a mention at all
- On Page 19, the discussion of second safe access to school for children through a walk away behind the community centre, is in fact identified to go around the children’s centre and not the community centre.
This would have a huge impact on the safety, foot traffic as well as car park during peak drop off and collection times of the service leading to traffic jams and parking issues. As a business, we see an alternative solution that will require less intervention which we are happy to discuss with the relevant agencies, again.
We would appreciate if all parents could make a submission on our behalf that highlights this as a huge concern within the community.
We appreciate all support, patience and kindness throughout the year and look forward to another year with you all. We will have further updates in the coming weeks
Kind Regards
KCCC Management and Team