North & West Belfast District Childcare Partnership

Mission Statement

“The North and West Belfast District Childcare Partnership will actively champion the rights of children and provide a focus for the implementation of the Children First Document which espouses support for Children and their Families”.

North & West Belfast District Childcare Partnership

A key underlying principle of North and West Belfast District Childcare Partnership is ensuring that the needs of the Early Years Sector within the North and West Trust area are articulated and captured in a timely and representative manner. In order to ensure this, membership of the DCP includes a wide range of statutory, voluntary, community and private sector interests. Such representation seeks to ensure that the needs of the Early Years Sector are quantified and appropriate policy and operational responses are developed and delivered.

The North & West District Childcare Partnership has approximately 30 members. This membership reflects the level of activity of the various stakeholders in the sector within the Trust area. A unique factor for the North and West District Childcare Partnership is the high level activity of the community sector. For example over eighty five per cent of provision is community led. Given this high level of community participation within the sector, the District Childcare Partnership has committed to ensuring that the Chair of the partnership is a community sector representative.

List of Members and Organisations

• Sue Pentel – Chairperson, District Childcare Partnership
  
• Mary Murphy – District Childcare Partnership Co-ordinator
  
• Helen Tomb – Child Protection Adviser
  
• Blanche Thompson – Belfast City Council
  
• Early Years Adviser – BELB
  
• Joe McGinty – CCMS
  
• Stephen Hughes - Ardoyne Early Years Sub Group
  
• Helen Dunne – Barnardos Parenting Matters
  
• Liz Browne – NICMA
  
• Maura Wylie – Mount Vernon Development Worker
  
• Mary Rose Torney – Broomhall Day Nursery
  
• Irene Cooke – Shankill Sure Start
  
• Marie Adams – NIPPA Networking Group
  
• Cathy Crawford – Smile Surestart
  
• Tina Gregory – Clan Mor Surestart
  
• Margaret McAllister – Old Lodge Children’s Centre
  
• Jane Holouhan – Belfast Travellers Support Group
  
• Christine Collins – Upper Andersonstown Community Forum
  
• Liz Fleming – Upper North Belfast Surestart
  
• Christine McKeown – Ashton Centre
  
• Allan Liddell – N&WHSST Early Years Manager
  
• Caroline Bloomfield – Health Action Zone Development Worker
  
• Moira Farrell – Ardmonagh Community Centre
  
• Carolann McGinnis – Childcare Co-ordinator
  
• Caroline Milligan – NIPPA Advisor
  
• Kyra Pauley – Playboard Development Worker
  
• Kathleen McKee – Hobby Horse
  
• Gillian McCaw – Bulrush Day Nursery

At a local level the North and West Belfast District Childcare Partnership works to the following core activities:

• Assessing the demand for local childcare and family support;
  
  
• Setting achievable local targets for filling gaps in services;
  
  
• Acting a source of advice for funding opportunities;
  
  
• Ensuring childcare information services are available ;
  
  
• Raising the quality of childcare;
  
  
• Promoting closer integration of childcare and education;
  
  
• Identifying and meeting training needs;
  
  
• Providing opportunities for parents to contribute to the developments of
  services; and
  
• Securing the involvement and commitment of employers across the child
  care sector.

What we do

The North and West Belfast District Childcare Partnership fulfils the following key roles;

Lobbying
The partnership plays a central lobbying role on behalf of the sector (children, parents and providers) within and beyond the North and West Belfast Trust area

Funding
The partnership is represented on the a range of funding panels including the Eastern Childcare Partnership Funding Panel

Good Practice
The partnership co-ordinates and delivers a range of innovative and groundbreaking events that support further research and promotion of good practice across the sector e.g. Conflict and Trauma Seminars

Grant Scheme
The partnership’s commitment to equality and social inclusion includes management of a number of grants schemes

Sector Needs
The partnership is committed to ensuring that the needs of the sector are recognised and addressed by the key bodies responsible for early years provision. The partnership has recently undertaken a Training Needs Audit of the sector that has lead to the delivery of a focussed programme of training interventions.

The partnership has recently undertaken a Training Needs Audit of the sector that has lead to the delivery of a focussed programme of training interventions.

Planning For The Future

In conclusion the DCP operates in a dynamic and vibrant social and educational context. As a representative body it proactively assists in managing significant change across the Early Years sector. This change management includes ensuring good working relationships between various stakeholders, supporting the implementation of quality standards in the sector and identifying appropriate training interventions for those employed in the sector.

For more information contact:

Mary Murphy (Co-ordinator)
124 Stewartstown Road
Belfast
BT11 9JQ
Tel: 9060 4208
Fax: 9060 2968
email: mary.murphy@belfasttrust.hscni.net