About Us

Childcare guidelines and us

Giraffe Childcare first opened its doors in its IFSC crèche in 2001 and has been caring for many children and their families ever since. It is Irish-managed and has 21 settings in the greater Dublin area that are an integral part of the communities which they serve and support.

We know that your peace of mind is paramount and we offer a fully transparent, safe, nurturing and secure environment for your child. In cooperation with a number of state bodies, Giraffe Childcare conforms fully to all the relevant state guidelines.

Tusla

We work closely with Tusla, the dedicated Child and Family Agency responsible for the regulation and inspection of all early years settings to ensure that high-quality childcare services are delivered to children and families.

Aistear

Aistear is the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) curriculum framework for all children under the age of six. Aistear’s Early Childhood Curriculum Framework has been developed in partnership with practitioners, children, parents, people in education and training, researchers, and policymakers from the early childhood sector in order to provide the sector with guidelines and suggestions. At Giraffe, our planning is underpinned by Aistear’s best practice. Link to Aistear PDF

Síolta

Siolta has been developed on behalf of the department of education by the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education. Siolta defines, assesses and supports the improvement of quality practice in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) settings where children aged birth to six years are present. At Giraffe, we work within the quality framework and ensure that all our settings strive to meet these quality standards.

Children First

All our crèches fully comply with Children First, the national guidelines for the protection and welfare of children. In addition, all our staff undergo an initial training period and attend ongoing refresher courses to keep abreast of evolving child protection policies, procedures and best practices.

Better Start Quality Programme

Our crèches are participating in the Better Start quality programme which was launched by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in consultation with the Department of Education and Skills to promote and enhance the quality of early childhood care and education for children from birth to six years in Ireland.

Working closely with our parents and the advisors on the programme, we have had some wonderful feedback on our practice which is very rewarding for our staff teams and parents. Some of the feedback is on display on our parent noticeboards in our crèches.

Healthy Ireland- Smart Start Programme

Giraffe is participating in the Healthy Ireland Award Smart Start programme. Smart Start is a Pre-school Health Promotion training programme led by the HSE, in partnership with Healthy Ireland and the National Childhood Network, which ensures children in the preschool settings are supported to adopt healthy lifestyle behaviours in early childhood. The aim is to bring all people together into a national movement with a single aim to ensure the best possible health and well-being of our nation.

 REACH

Giraffe’s own REACH curriculum encourages children in our care to become confident and independent learners who marvel, value, and respect their world.

Our REACH curriculum is built on a philosophy of engaging with children’s natural energy and curiosity to promote their learning and development. Children enjoy indoor and outdoor play activities which meet with their evolving abilities during this period of rapid and exciting development.

Central to our ethos is our belief that learning should be playful and that our task as educators is to provide diverse and exciting learning opportunities for your child’s enjoyment and development.

 Contact us at (01) 2450935 to learn more. 

What our Parents say about us