Sinéad Mc Glacken a Development Officer with Galway Childcare Committee

My name is Sinéad Mc Glacken. I am a Development Officer with Galway Childcare Committee and also, a PhD research student with the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, at NUI Galway.

I am hoping to talk to parents with children who are attending the ‘free pre-school’ years now, or who have attended in the past two years, and who have a home language other than English or Irish. I am also interested in talking to parents who have decided for any reason not to avail of the free pre-school for their child.

I am very happy to come to your school next Saturday if parents are available to talk. I have attached Information sheets and consent forms to give to any parents who are interested and will also bring some with me on the day. I am hoping to talk with a group of three to six parents and to record what the parents say. I will talk about this with the parents before we start any recording and parents are free to decide to stop at any stage should they wish to. If you all need more time to think about this, then we could start the following Saturday. Please let me know which suits you best.

The study has been subject to rigorous scrutiny by the Research Ethics Committee at NUIG and full ethical approval has been granted. Please see attached. The study also has the support of Galway Childcare Committee.

The title of the study is; Exploring the role of early years services for families with English as an Additional Language in contemporary Ireland: supports, barriers, interaction and participation.

The study intends to explore what partnership with parents in an Early Years setting means to the people involved. This includes the child’s parent/guardian/carer and preschool staff. Phase 2 of the project, to take place early next year, will seek to capture the views of Early Years practitioners.

As we know, partnership between parents and practitioners in Early Years settings and schools plays a central role in nurturing children’s development and in laying the foundations for further learning.  By thinking about what parental partnership means to both parents and practitioners, identifying successes and barriers that impact on these relationships, we may discover the supports to building parental partnership. Together, we can help inform a more unified approach which will benefit children and families and will deepen the quality of early years provision. Therefore, the participation of each group in this research is very important to the success of this study.

I would be most grateful if you can please circulate the poster attached and if possible ask parents if they would be happy to talk with me either next Saturday the 17th November. If this date does not suit, we could start on the 24th November. I am very happy to talk to parents about the project any time that suits you all. Informed consent to participate will be sought. Participants can withdraw consent at any time.

If you would like further information, have any thoughts or queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards
Sinéad Mc Glacken
Development Officer
Galway Childcare Committee
9b, Liosban Retail Centre,
Tuam Road,
Galway.
Eircode: H91 Y6D2
Tel: 091-752039
Fax: 091- 735701
E-Mail; [email protected]