The Voice of the Child project was initiated by The Genesis Programme under Louth LEADER Partnership’s ABC Programme and funded by Louth Children and Young People’s Services Committee (CYPSC). This quality intervention initiative had an overall aim of enhancing the participation and voice of the child in early childhood settings in County Louth in line with the Participation Framework (DCEDIY, 2021).
The research and intervention element of the initiative was facilitated and delivered by Avril McMonagle, CEO of MOSAIC Digital Solutions for Early Education.
A total of 288 children aged 1-5 years and 56 educators took part in the training initiative.
The project had three main components. Firstly, the extent to which the voice of the child was prevalent in everyday practice in the participating services. This was achieved by carrying out and evaluating a baseline audit as a starting point for the intervention.
Secondly, a suite of training and mentoring – specifically aimed at enabling educators to recognise and interpret children’s participation and voice was provided. This included the introduction of ‘MOSAIC Educator’ – a professional educator app to record, support, and share children’s learning and development with parents.
Finally, learning and progress made as reported by participating early learning and care services was collated and presented in this report.