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Early Years Service

The Early Years Service registers, monitors and inspects day care facilities for children under 12 years of age. This includes childminders, playgroups, day nurseries, crèches and out of school provision.

This service is responsible for registration, monitoring and inspection of day care provision for children under 12 years in the Northern Trust area. The service is committed to raising the quality, range and accessibility of day care provision for children and their families. This is pursued through working in partnership with families, providers and relevant agencies to ensure children benefit from safe, stimulating, caring experiences.

The following is a summary of what the social workers in the Early Years Teams do:

Register, monitor and inspect childminders, playgroups, day nurseries, crèches and out of school provision.
Offer training and support for day care providers and act as link workers to each childminder and day care facility.
Liaise with statutory and voluntary agencies to raise the profile of high quality early years provision and maintain a register of all Early Years Day Care Facilities in the Northern Trust.
Develop publicity and information strategies for public use and identify areas lacking in registered day care provision and work towards new provision.
Provide advice and guidance for potential and exiting day care providers.
Promote equality of opportunity.
Develop, innovate and provide guidance for potential and existing day care providers and promote equality of opportunity.
Develop innovative projects, which benefit parents and children in need of support and network throughout Northern Ireland with other Early Years specialists.
Encourage partnership with all relevant people and promote imaginative community development and help groups to access funding.
Advise parents on the choices available to them and their children.

Early Years registration and inspection

The primary responsibility of the Early Years Service is the registration and inspection of day care provision in the Northern Trust area for children under 12 years of age.

Any individual(s) providing care for children aged 12 and under must meet certain requirements concerning people, premises and provision of the service.

Once a person or facility has been registered by the Trust’s Early Years Service they are inspected on a regular basis to ensure that they continue to meet the required minimum standards and are committed to best practice principles.

Childcare provision regulated by the Trust’s Early Years Service includes childminders, day care providers and home child carers.

Childminders are those individuals who provide day care for children in the childminder’s premises. Child day-care providers, which include, day nurseries, pre-school groups, out of school groups, creches and summer schemes, care for children in non-domestic premises. Home child carers are employed to care for children in the children’s own homes.

The Northern Trust’s Early Years Service holds two registers of childminders and child day care providers within the Trust area. Information on the range of services and guidance on the registration process will be available from your local Early Years Teams.

For information on how to register, contact your local Early Years team.