Best Montessori, Pre/Post School care?

[ForeverLearningMum]

Hi All,
i will be starting to look for schools for my now-3yr-old boy. i am completely new to irish education system and childcare system. i think with school i would also be required to advance book a pre school and post school care as i am full time working and my partner too. our current creche doesn't provide this facility so might not be an option. could you guys people suggest few good places near Dublin09 or anything around towards City center ( ~20 min drive is manageable). so my queries:

Do we need to book Pre/Post school care in advance too?
Suggest few places near around Dublin 09 or towards city center?

Thanks!

Sorry OP, I’m not in Dublin so no help with practical suggestions of appropriate places. Just wanted to mention the terminology is usually before/after school care. Or I see wraparound care used on MN a lot…not certain if the term is used in Ireland (even though I’m Irish so feel I should know!)

The reason I’m bringing this up is that ‘preschool’ is the term often used for Montessori/creche/playschool so when I first saw your post I thought you were asking a different question.

You do know that Ireland has an ECCE scheme where half-day care for this age group is funded?
https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/education/pre-school-education-and-childcare/early-childhood-care-and-education-scheme/

You would definitely need to book before and after school care in advance.

To add, school itself usually starts about age 5 here (depending on when the birthday falls…a child turning five in Sept-Dec will probably start age 4, but others will have turned 5 before they start school).

Also, if you ask MN to move your post to Craicnet (the Irish section of the site) more people from Dublin would see it.

You can just report your post to make the request if you decide you want to do that.

Many schools offer a breakfast club and aftershool in the school building. Check with the schools you are interested in if they have this. If not schools would usually have a list of providers that offer the service. After school care would be much more common than before school. Have a look at start times for the schools, they usually range from 8.30 -9.10 so that might help you when choosing a school. You need to apply to the schools the year before they are due to start and you need to apply to each school individually. Keep an eye on their websites and social media for dates. As others have said children usually begin school at age 5 ( 4 if they will turn 5 before the Christmas break). Best of luck!

Just to clarify OP…are you looking for a preschool at the moment with before and after care? Preschool is usually 2 years from age 2.5 to 5 approx.
Or a school (from age 5 approx) with the same?
Or both?

Montessori as in your title suggests preschool (mostly but not always), but you say school in the body of your post so just wanted to check. I think the terminology and the systems vary from country to country so it could be tripping us up.

Thanks for helping here requested the post to be moved to irish forum.

And you are correct, my question is about before and after school care.

Please share of you know any good facilities around dublin 09 or towards city center from Dublin 09.

I will have to get into wait list ASAP to secure the place next year it seems.

Thanks a mill!!

You need to find a school first. Certain places drop and pick up to certain schools so you need to know the school and get a list of the childcare providers from them that pick up from them.

You apply for primary school places the year before they start - usually around October. Is he in Playschool in D9 now? If so I’d start asking parents about schools in the area. Most children do two years of playschool and then start school in and around 5 years old.